Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

D’s are prone to obsession, Rouge knew. In her family there had been many jokes on what the D stood for. Determined. Devoted. Too Dumb to give up. Dreamers.

D’s are prone to obsession, is the thing. They choose a goal and stick with it. Whatever they choose to do, they will do it with all their being. A dream that they will make reality or die trying.

There are many examples. Long lines of D’s forging their dreams into reality. Some publicly known, some not.

The hospitals of Flevance had been the dream of several generations of D’s, and none had been able to dispute that they were indeed some of the greatest and most skilled doctors during their lifetimes. Their family had built the greatest hub of medical knowledge and expertise in the world. They hadn’t been fighters, but there were stories about their bedside manners and how they handled difficult patients. They had only rarely needed the good drugs to get someone to behave. And no one who wasn’t near death from delirium.

Water Seven, the artificial island, the dream of a long forgotten D that was built upon and expanded till most had forgotten its origin. Only a D could build something as crazy as a whole island in a bare stretch of nowhere ocean. But the unknown D had done it, oh yes.

Her own mother had just wanted to be a good baker with a popular bakery. She had often been accused of using dark and arcane magic to addict people to her wares. One time someone had even gone so far as to test her products, but no one could find addictive substances in them. The accusations were always said as a joke, but it rang truest when even pirates from the New World came over to their quiet spot in South Blue to store up on baked goods. When even a visiting Tenryuubito had deemed her wares ‘worthy of feeding a god’. There had been a standing contract right up until her mother died and it had been the most lucrative deal she had ever made. It still was a source of great amusement to those in the know that the start of Borsalino’s career had consisted of being delivery boy for that particular Tenryuubito.

Even Garp was a prime example, though he did not so much as have a dream as he had an ideal, which was almost the same in practice anyway. He certainly fought like the devil to uphold his ideal of Justice, and those exposed to his tutelage often followed in his footsteps.

Her own Roger was, of course, possibly the most famous D who realised his dream. Incidentally also the most famous D at the moment, and the one with the most famous dream to boot.

Rouge’s own dreams had been quieter, though not by much. First, to become the greatest in her chosen trade.

And she was. She had been. She had sailed all of the Blues and all of Paradise and had paid no heed to territories or terror in the New World. No merchant had been as skilled at getting their cargo where it needed to go and selling it for the best price as she. She had taken what she wanted from the world, and it was testament to her skill that people had smiled and paid her to keep doing it. She had seen forgotten islands and isolated civilizations and had teased and stolen treasures from both, and had been welcome to return to most of them to boot.

That dream had been mostly fulfilled by the time she had met Roger, and entirely by the time he returned from his fool’s errant on Laugh Tale.

From him, a new dream had been born. A dream she had desired with all her heart.

A family. With him.

And therein lied the tragedy.

A D realised their dream or died trying.

Yet sometimes, a dream died before it could be achieved. It was rare but it happened, even with a D to protect it.

Rouge’s dream had been shattered and broken for ten years, with no way for her to glue the pieces back together.

Not just her husband gone, but her baby-

She closed her eyes against the setting sun.

There were few things as tragic as a D with a broken dream.

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Shanks regarded at the woman he never expected to find on this peaceful forgotten bit of island in the East Blue.

She was different from when he knew her before. He almost hadn’t recognized her, bereft as she was from both her usual outfit and the ever-blooming flower captain had risked life and limb for to retrieve for her from Laugh Tale as a gift. Instead she was dressed in clothes that weren’t out of place in this little village. A simple light blue skirt paired with a white blouse, topped with a darker blue sleeveless vest with floral patterns, and blond hair in a loose braid. The only thing that suggested she might be anything more was the small knife on her plain leather belt, barely big enough to be called a dagger. In the hands of one like her, Shanks knew that was more than plenty to deal with anything this weak sea might throw at her. With her current appearance, it seemed nothing but an innocent quirk.

She would have been spirited enough if she had been an ordinary villager, but once Shanks realized who she was he could see her as nothing but a shade of her old self, washed out and colourless. All the things that had made her stand as equal to his captain gone and leaving only cold emptiness like an open wound. An empty shell that still held it’s elegant shape, but lacked all life it had harboured within.

Back when he had known her she had been a demoness of the sea, a wandering merchant as ruthless as any pirate. She was the kind to skin a pig and sell it is own hide and steal its hoofs and tail on the side while it wasn’t paying attention. She sheared a sheep down to the skin, and a bit more too, if she felt she could get away with it. Those who displeased her paid in gold and blood before they were kicked down into the deep. She wasn’t greedy, not exactly. But she only allowed money in the hands of those she thought deserved it, or whose hands held too much power to easily rob. Only those she respected or pitied were safe. The poor and honest had nothing to fear, but the rich and arrogant? Oh, if they had any brains they quaked in their boots at the thought of finding her on the other side of a negotiation table.

There were very few who held the kind of power that could keep her from exacting what she laughingly called her special brand of justice. To the rest of them, she held the same amount of respect and fear as any of the Emperors, and her influence had been just as vast. Her flag had been famous across all Blues and the entirety of the Grand Line.

But she had been legal and that had been the magic of it. And the best was that the Marines had loved her. She would sail even through New World territories without fear and with a guarantee that she would get her cargo where it was supposed to go. The Marines would beg her on their knees to take their cargo no matter how she charged them through the nose for it. And if she had to throw a Pirate King-to-be overboard to achieve that, she did it without flinching and a great deal of glee, which only earned her more admiration.

Rumour had it that the times the Marines had tried to recruit her numbered in the hundreds. But she had always laughed them off with a charming smile.

But once she was out of sight of Marines and harbour? Whoof. Legal went right over the railing. And none of those in power were any the wiser because that woman left no survivors if she suspected someone might snitch on her. Every disappearance was blamed on pirates and she got away smelling like roses.

Which, funnily enough, upped the life expectancy of the pirates she ran into compared to all others, which almost made it seem like she favoured them. But only a fool would believe that. No marine would trust an account of a pirate about a demon woman. Most would even pat her on the back for dealing with them. And if their tale told of more ruthlessness an viciousness than a civilian merchant should be capable of, most would think it was only embellishment for the sake of saving some wounded pride out of the wreckage left by the Shark Queen.

They saw the pretty face and the friendly smile and thought that was all there was to her. The Roger Pirates had overheard a marine calling her scrappy once, and that marine had almost succeeded in ending their reign prematurely by making them choke on the drinks they had ordered to recover from a harrowing encounter with her.

They had left the poor fool to his delusions, and had left with an even greater respect for the hellion masquerading as a honest woman.

There was a reason that she had her most terrifying reputation among pirates. Merchants, slavers and other such lot never lived to spread tales when she decided they had something she wanted. And everyone knew pirates lied.

Shanks had a very healthy respect for a lady like that. Even Big Mom wasn’t that scary.

Rouge had been amazing and vicious and without shame or fear.

To see her like this, this quiet shell of the woman she once was… it was disheartening. Like seeing a magnificent predator broken and curled around a mortal wound, inner fire extinguished and naught but ash. It was unbearably tragic.

But that were Ds for you. They would achieve their dreams or die trying, and if their dream died before they could reach it part of them died with it.

It must have been quite a dream that had perished on her. And after the story she told after his gentle and very careful prodding, he understood.

Even though he only just learned about the new dream she had built for herself, he too was mourning its loss. Shanks had heard about the Baterilla Bloodbath. To know Rouge had pulled off a miracle to deceive the marines, to know his captain’s child had survived that cursed purge, to know that the new-born baby had been spirited away to Dawn Island while his mother was still in Baterilla recovering from ‘an illness’ so the marines couldn’t find him while she wasn’t capable of defending him, only for the child to die on the journey…

He had been very quiet and serious when Rouge allowed him to pay his respects. Hat off, flowers in hand, a small wooden dog from the collection Roger once clumsily made for two bratty cabin boys all he could offer this lost child. The gravesite was as lovely a spot anyone could wish for, a garden with a thick carpet of soft grass and clover, with lush flowers and blooming trees everywhere. Full of fragrant shadows and the flashing colourful wings of hummingbirds and butterflies, and the heavy buzz of bees. A small brook bubbled its way along hidden paths, tumbling along secret stones and adding its sweet melody to the chorus of rustling leaves and the song of unseen birds. The perfect spot to drink sake and do some flower viewing. There was even a pretty wooden bench there, just big enough for two adults to sit on comfortably.

But no amount of pretty flowers or dappled sunlight could take away the sharp pang felt upon seeing a child’s name set in one of the ancient rocks this island was made off. The name of a baby who only got to live for a few weeks. Not even long enough to travel from one Blue to another.

Almost as bad was the deep melancholy that took over Rouge in that place. Deep as the ocean, and just as impossible to be lifted.

Buggy had accused him many times of being a D, but seeing the Demoness of the Sea like this, Shanks was glad there had never been any truth in Buggy’s words. He didn’t dream as big as his captain, but at least his dreams couldn’t break him like hers had Rouge.

It made him worry a little about little Anchor. But the only way Luffy’s dream could be taken from him was if someone became Pirate King before him, and in that case he was pretty sure Luffy would just steal the title from whoever had gotten there first. As long as he had his goal he would keep moving.

Possibly the only thing that could make him give up was if the crew he chose died on him.

Death was always a risk in a pirate’s life, but that didn’t lessen the pain when one of your own fell. And as captain, the heaviest burden was felt because the captain was responsible for all. Luffy would have to learn how to handle such a loss when it happened. And it would happen. It was unheard of for a crew to never lose anyone. There was unfortunately little that could be done to prepare for it, except remaining aware of the possibility.

The only thing Shanks hoped was that it would not be a devastating loss. Not like the one Rouge suffered.

He couldn’t watch her like this for long. The air was too full the heavy scent of loss and shattered dreams. Her hand on the rock as if she was still trying to reach her son’s soul through layers of stone and settled earth.

Each step back to the village was full of contemplation.

Yes, he worried.

On the other hand, even with part of their soul dead and buried, Ds remained a hardy bunch. As proven by Rouge punting a bunch of bandits trying to interrupt their drinks straight across the street without breaking a sweat an hour later, once warm sake and company had drained the worst of her mood off. It impressed Anchor to no end, though it left him quite disappointed in Shanks himself, which was a little hurtful to be honest. But Shanks didn’t mind for the brief glimpse of the past he got from it. Anchor would learn in time what the true value of pride and violence was, and when either should be wielded.

Shanks smiled a little. Even broken and bereft Ds were far from helpless, and even depressed they had more fire in them than any ordinary person. As long as no Admiral came for her head – and they wouldn’t, she had been legal, which was to this day nothing short of astonishing – Rouge would be fine.

But Rouge didn’t smile anymore, not for real. Not the wide, wild grins the Ds were known for. Even him complimenting her on her throw only earned him a slight quirking of the lips. A soft, womanly smile for any other lady, but for a D like Rouge she might as well have been frowning. Or weeping.

Someone else might have kindly suggested that maybe it was time to move on since it had been ten years, but Shanks valued his liver no matter what his doctor said and liked it right where it was. It wasn’t his place to comment on a mother’s grief, or decide when it should be over.

But Shanks prayed Luffy would never lose his smile like that. The thought was just too painful.

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“Will you look after him?” he asked as he stepped onto the gangplank, arm heavily bandaged and in a sling, his cloak flaring out behind him.

No matter how striking a figure he made, he knew there was no way for him to impress her, to convince her to fulfil his request with looks and sympathy alone. The question was tentative, hopeful. Because though Rouge not-so-subtly saved his arm from getting bitten off, he knew she mostly did that because she once loved his captain, and remembered the young red-haired boy she almost stumbled over on the Oro Jackson when she was ransacking the ship in retribution for them trying to ransack hers.

She had given him one look and told him to stay out of the way back then, a kindness he still hadn’t forgotten. He didn’t know if she had spared the Oro Jackson because of him and Buggy, but he liked to think she had. She was certainly more than dangerous enough with her daggers to rival Mihawk, and she hadn’t had any qualms about cutting the ground straight from under someone’s feet if she felt it was warranted. She could have reduced the Oro Jackson to kindling if she had wanted, but she hadn’t.

Shanks was still missing about half a hand despite her intervention, and there was still doubt whether he would ever be able to use what remained. Even well-timed Conqueror’s Haki hadn’t been able to halt a seaking’s lunge once the beast had already thrown its weight behind it, but it could have been worse. Far worse. If she hadn’t been out there on the shore because she responded to the distress radiating from the docks Shanks wasn’t sure he would have been able to save his own arm. Might have even died out there, and wouldn’t that have made Benn and Buggy flip?

Rouge had always been kinder than she claimed to be, and willing to hold out a helping hand to children and those lucky few she held some fondness for. Shanks hoped she would be willing to be kind to little Anchor.

“He won’t ever replace my son.”

“I’m not trying to replace your boy,” Shanks hastily assured her. Please, whatever gods are out there, he prayed with sweat beading on his forehead, please don’t let her believe that. I don’t want to be fish-chow. “I just hope you are willing to keep an eye on him. The way he went after those bandits- I’m worried he will do something like that again.”

She tilted her head, face carefully blank. But the shrewd negotiator that was the Shark Queen did not make her appearance. Her eyes remained banked embers instead of a blazing bonfire, and she nodded without asking anything in recompense. The only thing she tacked on was, “I won’t be his minder. And if he strays to far I won’t go out of my way to retrieve him.” A snort. “That boy is far too good at getting into trouble. I won’t be pulled into every foolish thing he gets tangled up in.”

Shanks nodded and did not try to barter for more. He knew she would keep her word, even though she seemed to hate the very thought. She had a soft spot for children, for all that her heart had withered along with her dream and her dead child.

Any demands for more were far too risky anyway, and though Buggy might accuse him otherwise, Shanks wasn’t the kind to poke slumbering dragons any more than necessary. Let alone wounded ones. Not when he was well aware how easily they could bite his head off. Rouge may have been out the running the past ten years, but he bet her skills with a blade hadn’t rusted one bit. She wasn’t the kind such a thing would happen to. He knew better than to get cocky with someone as dangerous as her, especially when he actually liked Rouge in a vague, unidentifiable way. If only because she was someone he respected and his captain had loved her. He had no reason to antagonize her, and every reason to avoid it.

Whatever aid Rouge would be willing to provide would only help his little Anchor, and this village Shanks had grown fond of. With a bit of luck, Luffy and Makino knowing they could trust her strength would be enough for them to keep themselves safe. Rouge had already demonstrated that Foosha wasn’t too far away for her to intervene on their behalf and Shanks hoped that if they came to her with a problem she would be willing to step in.

Shanks boarded the Red Force with heaviness in his step. But he had done what he could and though he wished he could do more, he knew his time was up. Everyone had somewhere they needed to go and his tide was turning. The Grand Line wouldn’t wait for him, and so, even though he still worried and the fresh wounds on his hand and arm ached, he stepped aboard and only looked back to Dawn Island’s shore to wave.

Rouge's blond hair had already vanished from the small crowd bidding them goodbye.

Shanks tried not to worry and waved at little Anchor, whose tears were pouring like twin waterfalls and adding his salt to the sea. The straw of his (captain’s) old hat shone warm in the sun.

Shanks felt his lips curl into a wide smile. Whatever the future might bring, he was sure Luffy would be the one who would shake it down to the foundations.

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Rouge wished to resent that brat Shanks for asking this of her. Watching over the energetic little boy he left behind was exhausting. It pulled at the emptiness inside her, and not in a good way.

Seeing the boy run around, laughing and getting into trouble and begging food of the pretty young bartender every hour of the day made her ache from the tips of her toes to the top of her head, the pain in her chest flaring up with vengeance.

That could have been her little boy. Her little boy could have been that bold and happy. Acid burned in her throat knowing he wasn’t.

She turned away. The villagers seemed more than capable of keeping the boy out of mundane trouble. Unless there was something seriously wrong she would not look at him.

Behind her the boy laughed. A bright ‘shishishishishi’ that followed her home and burrowed into her head, echoing mockingly as she tried not to imagine what her own son’s laughter would have sounded like.

She glared at the flower Roger had once given her. Brought to her from Laugh Tale itself, never wilting and ever fragrant, a relic of bygone days. Now that sweet treasure sat neat and safe in a glass box, where she could look at it but not smell it. The perfect little coffin for the memento of a part of her heart that had died. Half her heart, to be precise, finding death at the falling of the executioners’ blades, the other half buried beneath smooth stone outside.

She resented Shanks for asking this of her.

Most of all, she resented indulging him anyway.

She wished everything would just go away.

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A few weeks later Rouge watched Garp drag the boy away, both of them yelling about pirates and marines all the while.

Well then. That solved one obligation. Garp was the boy’s grandfather. Wherever the man was taking his grandson, she hoped the man would be wise enough to put him somewhere where he would be looked after better this time.

Regardless what Garp decided to do, the boy was no longer her business. Shank’s request was fulfilled. She had watched over the boy, and now the boy’s grandfather was taking responsibility for that task once more. What happened after that was no concern of hers.

A part of her that had reluctantly started to stir settled once more.

Her insides felt empty, void of everything. As if someone had carved out everything her chest contained, leaving only echoing darkness to fill it. Worst was the emptiness in her stomach, where her son had once grown. Where she had once felt his heartbeat and his movements and the first stirring of his presence in her Haki.

She was a D without a dream. And she had no desire to replace the shattered remains of the one which had so tragically broken before it could truly come to fruition. Had no desire even to support someone else’s dream, or take responsibilities upon her so others could chase their own.

Garp had once suggested picking up where she had left of with her first, or choosing a new one to pursue. She had punted him straight into the harbour for that suggestion. It had been the one time her temper had flared as hot and bright as it used to back in the good old days. A fury fit for the New World, wildly out of place in the quiet East Blue. Her kick had send him flying from her house all the way into the ocean. He hadn’t dared return after that one for a long while.

She didn’t care. Her old dreams held little allure and a new dream felt like a betrayal of the one that had shattered into pieces with one call on the den den mushi. She knew no dream could beat her previous ones.

She patted the stone under which her heart was buried and sat down amidst the blooming flowers with a sigh.

Her dreams of little boys in her home were over. There would be no new futures to nurse for her.

For that, the wounds on her heart were too grievous and deep.

She just wanted to sleep.

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Luffy was crying. Ace hated it when Luffy was crying. It was an annoying sound. Especially when he was trying to sleep. He had accepted Bluejam’s job hoping Luffy would be too tired for this shit, but no such luck. Instead he seemed only too tired not to cry.

“Will you stop it?!” he snapped, dragging his threadbare blanket over his head in a vain attempt to block out the sound.

“B-but Ace, Sabo is- Sabo was-“ Luffy wailed. “We gotta get him back, Ace!”

“Shut up!” Ace shouted, snapping upright to thump his idiot little brother on the head. “What do you even think we coulda done, huh? We didn’t stand a chance against the guards and Bluejam, what makes you think his father won’t call ‘em again if we show up?! We prob’ly can’t get Sabo back even if we try real hard! We aren’t- we aren’t strong enough, Luffy!”

Luffy blinked, gaping in incomprehension. Then, suddenly urgent. “Ace-“

Ace didn’t let him finish. “Just- Shut up about getting Sabo back! Weren’t you listening to me? He ran once. If he wanna he can come back on his own-“

“Ace is the one who should shut up!” Luffy yelled, eyes gleaming with excitement. “I know how we can get Sabo back!!”

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It took a lot of explaining before Ace was willing to go along with Luffy’s plan. Outside, they could just see the first rays peek through the heavy canopy.

“Shanks said I should ask her if I was in trouble, ‘cos she’s strong even though she’s sad all the time. And Sabo’s dad stole Sabo and he has a lot of people fighting for him, so we need someone strong. So maybe she can help,” Luffy explained. As he talked, he got more and more excited.

To Luffy it was all simple. They needed strength. This unknown woman was strong, because Shanks said so. And she would help, because Shanks said so. In Luffy’s eyes, it seemed, Sabo was already almost back with them again.

Ace wasn’t nearly that sure. He hadn’t ever met an adult who wasn’t more trouble than they solved. Even Dadan and the bandits barely qualified as helpful since they needed to be paid in meat so often just to get a place to sleep.

But, he supposed, he had met Makino, and so far the older woman seemed alright. She was nowhere near strong enough to help them, but Ace could reluctantly believe that Makino would want to. Maybe this unknown woman would too.

And he did remember Sabo’s face. The tears he’d only barely caught sight of. He knew his arguments had mostly been aimed at himself, to convince himself not to get himself killed by going after a noble when Sabo had sacrificed his freedom to save them from his father’s kill order. Sabo was always yelling at him for pulling stupid shit, and he couldn't afford to do that now. If Ace went and caused a ruckus Sabo’s father would surely have him shot, and Luffy would be stupid and follow him and get killed too, and then Sabo’s sacrifice would be for nothing. He couldn’t do that to his brothers.

Ace knew there were things he wasn’t strong enough to do. Dragging himself out of his father’s shadow was one. Retrieving his brother from his horrible father was another.

Ace hated being weak and helpless. Hated even considering asking for help. Hated it. But his only other option was hoping that Sabo knew how to handle this situation better than him.

Sabo had run once, and had said he never wanted to go back. Had told them how much he hated his parents’ place. Ace hoped he would come back on his own, but if there was a way to get him back faster…

“Okay,” he shouted over Luffy’s excited, overly-loud rambling. Took a deep breath. Glared, when Luffy looked as if Ace had already agreed to whatever crazy plan he had come up with. Which he hadn’t.

Yet. Quite. Oh, whatever- “Okay, fine! We’ll go see that strange woman of yours! Where’s she?”

Luffy brightened so much Ace half expected him to give light, like those strange mushrooms they could find in the valleys at the foot of the mountain. “Back in Foosha, you follow the main road and take the third road from the left after you leave the village-“

“So we need to go to Foosha. Fine. Let’s go then.” Ace scowled as Luffy cheered and rushed off. Ace knew the forest pretty well, and that way… “… Do you even know how to get to Foosha?”

Luffy paused. Looked right. Looked left. Gave them a wide big grin that looked like he tried to stuff half a wheel of cheese into his mouth at once. “Nope!”

Ace sighed, loud and aggrieved. He hated this, but Sabo was worth it. “Come on then. This woman better be as good as you say, cry-baby.”

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The woman turned out to live in a wooden log cottage sounded by a huge garden. There were flowers everywhere. Blooming trellises were competing for the last visible patch of roof. There wasn’t a fence really, but rather a wall of flowering bushes with branches entangled so tightly they might as well have been the fence. The boughs of a massive tree sprouted just to the side of the house to form an expansive second roof.

It looked like the picture in one of the noble’s fairy tale books Sabo had stolen to entertain Luffy. Some kind of fairy’s or peasant’s home. Wait, hadn’t it been a ‘humble woodchopper’ or something? None of the woodchoppers Ace knew were humble, or would want to be caught dead in a house like this. So fake and sugary sweet Ace had thought it couldn't possibly exist. All pretty flowers and nature and shit, as if a house in the woods wouldn't be more built to deal with predators than to be pretty. Yet here it was. It only looked a little better than in the picture.

“Here?” Ace asked, eying the place dubiously. He was hating this plan more and more.

“Here!” Luffy shouted happily.

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Ah. Shanks’ boy was back.

Back, and with company.

Rouge already felt exhausted upon seeing Luffy, and even more so upon seeing the other boy. Young Luffy she had gotten to know well enough that he didn’t stir up too many things best left undisturbed, but the older one-

The older one hurt to look at, because he looked even more like her son might have looked than Luffy.

She averted her eyes, and focused on the little menace that had brought the two of them to her door.

“Hi!” he said brightly. “We got a problem and we want help!”

Definitely Shanks’ fault. Rouge resisted the urge to send them away. She had promised, no matter how she regretted it now.

“Let’s go sit in the garden,” she decided. And please let this be quick.

These children were going to be a headache and a half, she could already tell. More than Luffy had been before on his own. It took a certain kind of child to carry improvised weapons around at that age, and now she had two of them on her doorstep. She needed to have her grieving place close, to remind herself not to fall into delusions. Needed the headstone to be her anchor in reality, now troubled little boys had come knocking on her door. Especially with the freckled boy looking like he did.

She wouldn’t delude herself into thinking she was dreaming.

If this was a dream she would let herself go, not caring about reason or consequences. Ds rarely did. But she was not asleep, she was not dreaming, and she refused to let herself fall over that edge.

If she did she would either crash and burn in the most painful way possible, or she would never want to face reality again.

She knew she had fallen far, but she refused to lower herself further. She still had enough pride to want to avoid reaching the very bottom of the ravine.

That did not mean she wasn’t sometimes tempted to let herself topple into the abyss. It just meant that she had too much pride to give into the temptation.

The boys followed her warily. At least, the older boy did. Shanks’ Anchor just ran ahead. Absently she wondered how often he had visited in her absence to know the way, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. She could probably blame Shanks or Makino. It wasn’t as if finding the way around her garden was that hard with the path she had carefully paved with flat stones.

The older boy watched her with hard, suspicious eyes. Everything from the angle of his eyes to the set of his shoulders to the stiffness in his back sang with the expectation of betrayal and disappointment.

“Ace, hurry up! I’m gonna get there first!”

Ace. The name was a stab to her heart. As if the boy's’ presence could be any more painful.

“Oh no you won’t, you little cry-baby!” With that, the freckled boy rushed past her, very nearly brushing against her as he did so and making her heart leap for her throat. Of course it would be the freckled boy with that name. Of course. She forced back her sudden rush of nausea. Something in her chest twisted like a thrashing snake, or some other strong and sinuous creature; violent and uncontrolled.

She sighed and firmly supressed her inner turmoil. The ease with which the boy had taken Luffy’s bait was painfully familiar. Ah, young pride. It almost reminded her of young Shanks and Buggy.

Her old self would have poked him. Poked and prodded and teased. And maybe given him a hot meal or a place to lay his head for a few days, since the boy looked like he could use a few easy days.

Mostly, Rouge just felt tired.

With the boys having rushed ahead, she allowed herself a moment to lean against one of her fruit trees to gather her resolve. Just a little ahead was her son’s grave and the self-made bench she usually sat at when she spent time with him. But after seeing the freckled boy she felt that even that stark reminder would not make the hurt any less.

She was startled from her pointless ruminating by an angry yell from further ahead. One of the boys. And not just angry. There was an undercurrent there that made Rouge frown to hear. She quickened her step.

It wouldn’t be the first time one of the great creatures of the forest had trespassed on her land. She had thought she had taught all of them to respect her boundaries, but there was always a reckless young thing that hadn’t gotten the message yet.

In mere moments, the yelling became coherent. As she rounded the corner, she was just in time to hear a wild-eyed freckled boy shriek, “There’s a stone with my name on it!! Why’s there a stone with my name on it?!”

The freckled boy really was freaking out, eyes wide and face twisted in an expression that was a strange mix of outrage and shock. Rouge knew she shouldn’t be amused, but it was quite adorable. With pain in her heart she wistfully wondered if her son would have reacted like this to surprises too- But then his complaint registered with her.

Rouge’s mind blanked. Blanked, because the boy – the boy named Ace – was pointing right at her son’s gravestone.

“EEEHHH?! That’s your name?!” Shanks’ little boy yelled.

Rouge barely heard them. Her head was entirely occupied with one single thought. “That can’t be. That is my son’s grave.”

“But it says ‘Portgas D Ace’! And that’s me! Why’s my name here?!” the boy continued to scream, still pointing accusingly at the headstone. The glare he turned on her was achingly familiar.

Rouge blinked. There was a strange buzzing in her ears. “Your name is Portgas?”

The freckled boy suddenly looked wary. She wondered what her voice must have sounded like to him. “Yeah?” he said. The wild look in his eyes hadn’t abated. “Wait… Your son?”

“Yes. My name is Portgas D Rouge.”

The boy’s eyes went wide. Even more wide, she should say. Any wider and they might pop out. His face turned ashen. Then his temper reared like a frightened horse, and angry red splotches appeared on his cheeks. “You’re lying! That’s my mom’s name and my mom’s dead!”

For the second time in about as many minutes, Rouge’s thoughts screeched to a halt. Feelings tumbling in turmoil like storm-tossed cargo that had gotten loose in the hold. As if a great creature had twitched its tail and thrown everything astray.

“I- But- That’s impossible…” she breathed.

Suddenly she lunged forward, startling even herself. Her fingers closed around the boy’s upper arms before she even thought about grabbing him. From the look on his face she truly must have looked very frightening. She did not care. All she cared about was, “How old are you? Do you know a marine named Garp?”

Because a horrible, horrible thought had just occurred to her, but she refused to fall-

“The shitty old man?! Why do you know our shitty Gramps?!”

So he knew Garp.

“And your age?” she demanded.

“T-ten-“

She released him, knees hitting the grass hard.

Her mind was buzzing like a beehive. Like swarming wasps. Her ears were ringing. Her heart was both beating too hard and not at all.

Rouge just- she couldn’t comprehend what was going on. She was shaking, she knew she was. Because here was a boy, claiming the name of her son as his own. A boy whose appearance already ached far too fiercely.

A boy who freaked out about the name on the gravestone under which her whole world had been buried.

There were wasps and hornets in her ears. An impossibly loud buzz that nearly drowned out the shouting. Both boys seemed upset at the discovery. Startled and frightened, and eyed her as if she was a barrel of gunpowder with the fuse burning down. But Rouge mostly felt numb.

The hollowness inside her started to throb. The heartbeat of a great and terrible beast that slowly started back up after years laying frozen and still.

Why would a child claim such a thing?

Why would he be so upset about finding that name?

Why would he, when he had no reason to suspect the weight behind that name? No reason except, possibly, a connection with Garp…

“That is my son’s grave,” she heard herself say distantly. “The real question is, why do you have my son’s name?”

Her breath shook. Beneath her feet, the cliff-face crumbled.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

Ace did not like to admit it even to himself, but this lady Luffy had brought them to intimidated him. Though she was far smaller, she was also far scarier than Dadan. And now she was staring at him. Like a tiger studying him to decide whether he’s prey. Only worse because he knew he could kill tigers, even the big ones. Especially when he had some help.

This lady was scarier than tigers. Scarier than even Bluejam. And they said Bluejam shot his own men when he was bored.

She was scary like only monsters in stories could be scary. The kind that shouldn’t be real.

She was looking at him like she could read every secret and nasty thought Ace had ever had. Or at least, really wanted to and might just achieve it through pure willpower. She was intense, like sun in your eyes. Intense in a way Ace didn’t like, and far too interested in him for his comfort.

Ace wanted to go hide. Because this woman had a stone with his name on it in the garden. A stone that marked a grave.

Ace wasn’t very good at reading but he did know his own name. And that was definitely his name. It really shouldn’t be on a gravestone. That kind of stuff belonged in scary stories. He didn’t want to be in a scary story.

“Are you gonna kill me?” he finally managed to choke out.

That broke the woman’s staring. ”What- Kill? Why would I want to kill you?!”

“Why else would you have a grave ready for me?!”

She grabbed him again, fingers clenched painfully tight around his upper arms. Despite how he didn’t want to show weakness like that, Ace flinched when she shouted, “That is my son’s grave! Do you have any idea how much I wish it wasn’t?! I’m not burying anyone else there, and especially not little boys!”

“I’m not little!” Ace protested automatically.

“Be quiet! Why are you even here?! Why are you claiming my son’s name?! Are you even really Portgas D Ace?!”

“Of course I am! You’re the one who’s claiming my mom’s name! Are you even really my mom?!”

“I am Portgas D Rouge! I am the mother of Portgas D Ace, my son who died ten years ago when Garp brought him here! But you- Do you even know what kind of burden you claim with that name?!”

Fury blazed bright, hot and hurt and lashing out without thought. “Yes I do! I already know that I shouldn’t have been born because I’m the Pirate King’s son!”

Ace slapped his hands over his mouth, but the words had already escaped. He- He hadn’t meant to yell that!

Fearfully, he dared look at the woman.

The woman’s eyes were, possibly, as wide as his.

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Rouge… Rouge wasn’t doing well. Her eyes couldn’t leave the boy’s face. Her ears couldn’t stop hearing his words.

Portgas D Ace…

Are you really… Portgas D Ace?

Are you really my son??

Her breath hitched. There was no reason for Garp to have lied about the death of her baby-

But neither was there a reason why Garp would tell a child not her son that his name was Portgas, that Garp was his grandfather, that his father was the Pirate King.

Neither option made a lick of sense. So which impossibility should she believe?

But-

But it was far easier to lie about a death than it was to raise a child as double for a dead child. A grave was easily made, and why would anyone burden an innocent child with a background like that? She didn’t think Garp was that cruel.

But then, if he wasn’t cruel in that way, he had been in an entirely different one…

Why was this boy a perfect blend of her and Roger? Why did this boy have the colours of her lover and her freckles, the texture of her hair and his eyebrows? Her face but the suggestion of his shoulders on his growing frame?

Why then, if it was not his, did the D of her name suit him so well, screaming back at her even though he was frightened?

But then, if the first option was false, then at whose grave had she been mourning?

Why was his presence in her Haki so much like the little life she had held inside her for twenty months?

What was buried beneath the stone that marked her son’s grave, if not her child?

Her fingers dug into the grass beneath her. Her Haki, sleepy and dormant, roared awake and sunk downwards, fast and deep. Sensing non-living things was far harder than living things, but she was a smuggler and a merchant and a thief, and knew how to find targets that weren’t alive.

There was the cloth, and the small casket that was wrapped within. There was bone, and what was left of soft skin and young muscles after ten years encased in the forest’s soil.

Before, she had shied away the moment her Haki brushed against it, flinching at such definite proof of her baby’s death.

Now she dug further, not just vaguely brushing the little ribs and spine, the soft roundness of the skull, but truly feeling the shape of them. Studying them as seriously as when she was looking for a flaw in a jewel.

The bones… were the wrong shape…

Her blood froze in her marrows. Her heart thumping hard and then staying silent for a far too long moment.

Her breath sat frozen in her lungs, when she realized the shape of the skeleton wasn’t even really human.

Tears spilled over her cheeks unacknowledged.

Her baby… wasn’t there…

But this boy… this boy…

Ace…?

Are you…?

“Are you… really my Ace?”

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 Ace didn’t know what possessed him to nod. It was as if his neck had made a decision all on its own. He was really Ace, he was sure of that, but whether he was hers…

His chest ached fiercely, and no breath he took seemed to be big enough. His skin felt both too large and far too tight at once. There was something locked in his throat that hurt, as if he had a big piece of bone stuck in it, with edges digging in on all sides.

Because he wasn’t the only one with an impossible name.

Ace knew very little about his mom, but he knew that her name was supposed to be Portgas D Rouge.

He knew that she had been blonde.

He knew he got his freckles from her.

The woman before him had long blonde hair all the way to her waist and her skin was dotted with freckles just like him, and she was crying and had a gravestone with his name on it.

He just- What was that even supposed to mean?

Shitty Gramps had said his mom was dead. Gramps wouldn’t lie about such a thing. Not about his mom.

… Right?

Ace stood stock-still as the woman unclenched her fingers from the strangled remains of the turf. His heart had stilled when she had started to cry. Now it started up again, thudding painfully against his ribs. The look on her face was- was- he didn’t know, but it made him entirely unable to move.

Ace remained still as the woman wrapped her arms around him. A hold he had only seen from afar, with other children, and other women.

He- hadn’t considered that this woman –his mother? – would want to hold him like that.

He was too shocked to resist when she pulled him in her lap, enveloping him with her presence.

Deceptively strong arms wrap around him, pressing him against her chest, so close he was almost entirely immobilized. The warmth of her legs beneath him seeped through the worn fabric of his shorts, and his face was gently pressed against her shoulder, with her thumb gently stroking his hair. Ace couldn’t remember having ever been held like this. Couldn’t remember having ever been so close to an adult. He didn’t know if it was him shaking or her, but he trembled down to his bones.

Was she- Was she really-?

“My son. My baby boy. You’re alive.”

There was so much emotion in her words, but he couldn’t identify it at all. But the way she said it- it didn’t sound bad. Said it in a way that made his sight all blurry. Strangely enough, the sound reminded him of Luffy when he was crying, only less loud.

“I- I’m- Are you really my mom?” he choked out. Her hold on him felt suffocating, but he didn’t want her to let go.

“Yes,” the woman – his mom – said, her breath hitching terribly. “Yes, I think so.”

Something warm was soaking his shoulder, pattering down like summer-hot rain. But the air was clear and the sounds next to his ear was almost like Luffy at his worst.

Somewhere in the back of his head he realized he was doing the same to hers.

Ace didn’t know what to think. What to feel. But he was feeling far too much, and his head felt like it was full of pressure. His chest and throat felt as if a big snake was wrapped around him, and it had nothing to do with his mother’s hold.

This- this wasn’t how he thought his reunion with his mother would be, the very few times he had dared to let himself dream about it. There had always been accusations, and him telling her how sorry he was before she forgave him for killing her.

But she wasn’t dead – she wasn’t dead – and accusations seemed the last thing on her mind. She held him like- like-

Like the poor women in Grey Terminal held their little children, like none of the nobles ever did theirs. Desperate, as if someone might snatch them out of their arms like people so often did with other things. Tight, even if it meant they couldn’t carry food or valuables. Like they were more precious than that.

Ace… Ace didn’t understand. Didn’t understand why he felt like a bear was digging its claws into his chest, cracking his ribs and squeezing his heart and making it hard to breathe.

There was a great big racket though. As if two wolves who never heard what howling was supposed to sound like were singing like Luffy did, loud and unashamed. Wails that sounded horrible and cracked their voices.

Oh… that’s us…

His- his mother was crying with him. Just like him.

“Mom,” he hiccupped, clinging to her with all his strength. She didn’t flinch even though Ace was sure Dadan would have been yelling in pain if she was in her place. The word felt strange in his mouth, but he was nothing if stubborn. He wanted to say it again. Keep saying it now he had someone to say it to. “Mom.”

His mom let out a sob that was almost a laugh. “My Ace,” she said, voice just as uneven as his. “My son.”

Rubbery arms wrapped around them, very nearly making them jump. Stupid Luffy, who probably had no clue why Ace was crying but who was trying to comfort him anyway. As if he was a cry-baby that needed it.

He didn’t say anything though. Couldn’t. He was too busy trying to convince himself he really was being held by a person he never expected to meet.

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It took a very long time for Rouge to gather herself again. She was dizzy with joy and confusion. Her boy was here. Really here. Alive in her arms.

Part of her was terrified this was all a dream, or a misunderstanding. Part of her was still convinced her baby was dead and gone forever.

A far larger part of her was shaking with hurt. Because here was her child, alive and warm, and she didn’t know him.

Hadn’t seen him grow up. Didn’t know what he loved or liked. Hadn’t been there for his first steps, his first words, his first everything.

He had stood before her, had watched her and glared at her and even spoken to her, and it had still taken her so long to realize who he was, that he was hers.

She had seen the similarities and hadn’t known. Not until he freaked out at finding his own grave.

She hadn’t recognized him at once. A part of her felt that was utterly unforgivable.

And Garp. Garp whom she had trusted, who she had even liked as a friend.

Garp, who had taken her boy when she was too wounded and exhausted from childbirth and promised to bring him to a safe place.

Garp, who had called her up, choking out how her baby boy had died on the way to Dawn, with something strange in his voice she hadn't been able to pay attention to because he had shattered her heart with a single sentence. An illness, he had said. Something his ship doctor hadn’t been able to heal, he had said.

Garp, who visited faithfully whenever he came to visit his grandson, talking about this and that and looking guilty and sad, and never ever letting on that he had lied to her.

Garp, who had seen her grief, seen her tears, had heard her scream her denial more than once, and still hadn’t confessed that the grave he had presented her with when she finally managed to make the voyage to see and care for it was a fake.

Garp, who better never showed his face to her again, because she was never going to forgive him!

The largest part of her had no time for confusion or hurt. That part of her was fully focussed on the boy in her arms, on the scrapes and bruises on his skin from too many rough tumbles, or whatever her boy did. Was cradling this precious, precious life close, scared that if she let go he would disappear, like mist in the midday sun. Her heart was brimming with possessiveness like a dragon, awake for the first time in a century to curl around its hoard to shield it from harm.

He was here. Alive. She could feel his heartbeat beneath her fingers, his breath against her shoulder, his warmth against her skin. He was hers, had called her mom, and she was never going to let him go.

Something inside her glowed with a bright breath of fire, stretching inside the darkness and stirring forgotten embers back to life.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

An awkward silence had fallen. They had cried and they had hugged and now mother and son were at a loss.

Ace was still rubbing the evidence of his tears from his face, having shyly retreated to Luffy’s side once his crying had calmed down. His mom didn’t bother, seemingly utterly unconcerned with the tear tracks on her cheeks or the redness of her eyes.

So,” Rouge finally said, breaking the fragile silence. Her hands were clenching and unclenching as if she wanted to pull Ace close again but didn’t quite dare. Ace was watching them warily, unsure whether he would let her if she did or not. Luffy was still clinging to him like a baby monkey, and for once Ace let him. “You… had a problem?”

Ace gratefully latched onto the change of topic. “Yeah. You see, our brother-“

“You have a brother?”

Ace swallowed at the interruption, but his mom – and that didn’t stop being one hell of a trip to think – didn’t seem mad. More just… surprised? And maybe a little pleased? Ace really couldn’t make a good guess. “Yeah? Me ’n Luffy 'n Sabo are brothers. Only Sabo’s dad found out he’s still alive and forced him to go back.”

The small smile that had bloomed when Ace confirmed he had two brothers faded as easily as it had formed. “Did Sabo want to go back?”

“No! I mean, I don’t think so…?”

“Sabo didn’t want to go back, he said so himself!” Luffy shouted. “He said he hates it there! And he was crying when he left!”

“I see.” Something hard and flinty had appeared in his mom’s eyes. She didn’t look mad, but she wasn’t happy either. “Why don’t you two come inside? I was nearly done making lunch. You two can tell me exactly what happened and where your brother was taken while we eat.”

“So you’re going to help us?” Ace said hopefully.

She paused, looking at him with something like incredulity. “Ace, you are my son. I’ll always help you. And-“ a short hesitation, there and gone with a flash of determination “-You claim this Sabo as your brother. Any brother of yours is just as important to me as he is to you.”

She strode inside and was gone before Ace stopped blinking in befuddlement. Only the fact that Luffy followed her easily across the threshold as if he came inside her house every day gave Ace the courage to follow the both of them.

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Inside was just as strange as outside. Inside was neat. Far neater than most places he was used to, except High Town because nothing beat High Town in nauseating neatness. Things were scattered around, sure, but not nearly as much as at the bandits’ place, and it wasn’t nearly as dirty either. There was a lot more furniture too. A desk with a big chair with cushions on it instead of just a wooden crate. A low table made from smoothly polished wood instead of one made of random lumps of firewood, standing in front of a really big window with real glass in it so they could look outside. And not the thin stuff the bandits had either. That was noble quality, it was.

His mom directed them to sit on some pillows that sat around the table, even though Ace was more than used to just sitting on the floor without any cushioning whatsoever. Chests and cabinets stood against the walls that were made really nicely, instead of the haphazard construction efforts of the bandits. There was a fluffy carpet just lying on the floor, as if she didn't mind anyone walking on it. It was surprisingly clean, though it probably helped that she had told them to take their shoes off in the little hallway. Ace still had expected something lying on the floor to be a lot dirtier. The kitchen he almost didn’t recognize as a kitchen; it was a lot more than just a fireplace with a pot hanging over it. There was some strange black cast-iron thing standing there that he had seen in some kitchens of restaurants. There was fire in its black belly and even now there was a big pot bubbling on top.

True to her word, the woman who was his mom served them a lunch that was far more suited to their appetite than the amounts Makino usually handed out the rare times they ate there. This meal was nothing like the meals at the bandits. Big plates heaping with rice and vegetables, and meat that had been done more with than just chopped to pieces and turned around in a pan till it was cooked. Everything smelled tasty.

Ace eyed the vegetables warily. Either them being that green was a good thing, or his mom might be even worse at cooking them than the bandits. They looked almost raw, but not quite. He wondered if he could just, not eat them. He hadn’t eaten Makino’s either the few times she fed them when they were in Foosha, though now he thought about it, they looked a little like hers. He wasn’t sure if that was good or not.

But, well. He didn't want to be rude. Not to his mom. He didn’t want his mom mad at him. Not when he only barely met her. And he knew from the bandits’ little vegetable patch how long it took to grow things. Things that took a long time to get always were valuable. His mom probably wouldn’t like it if he threw her vegetables away.

Dadan was always screaming how rude he was, back when he was younger and she still insisted he had to eat them. It was the one thing she had been very firm on. You didn’t waste food. Not ever. As long as you could eat it without knowing for sure it would make you sick, you damn well ate it.

Hesitantly, he took a bite, prepared for the worst. To his surprise it did actually taste okay, with a bit of crunch to it and quite a bit of flavour. The bandits couldn’t cook worth a damn beyond grilling meat, and their vegetables always were just slimy mush. But these were almost nice. Not as good as meat, but he sure could clear them without wanting to spit them out.

The meat on the other hand, was amazing. There were herbs on it that made Ace want to devour a buffalo coated with the stuff all on his own. Even the rice was nice.

The only time they got stuff like this was if they went to Makino or High Town.

He glanced at his mom over the table. She smiled at him. She looked awkward as she did it, but with something scarily much like hopefulness.

Ace really didn’t know if she expected him to smile back or not. He wasn’t sure he could get his face to obey if he tried. He quickly returned his attention to the not-horrible vegetables and the amazing meat.

At least, he thought a little numbly to himself, she seemed just as lost as him on how to go from here.

Thank the seas and skies for Sabo, as horrible as it made him feel to be grateful for that. At least none of them were hesitant about Sabo’s problems. Not even his mom, if her words outside were true. Ace wasn’t sure, but he hoped they were.

Finally, all of them had finished their plates. His mom put down he cutlery and set her plate aside. She folded her hands in front of her.

“Tell me everything,” she said softly.

And even though she was still scary in her intensity and asking for help wasn’t something he ever did, Ace told her.

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Rouge listened attentively, drinking in the sound an sight of her son as much as his words. But the words were the kind that kindled the banked fire that had been slumbering inside her.

The joy from realizing her boy was alive and here that had wrapped her up in a thick haze that excluded anything outside her own living room was fading as her son’s words brought reality back into her awareness. The tale of inequality, of a noble’s power wielded ruthlessly for his own gain and left her son and his brother bleeding with loss. Hearing the shame and self-loathing in her son’s voice when he told her how he had been powerless to stop a noble from taking his brother from him was enough to light a fire in her veins.

It was time, Rouge decided with protective fury burning like a bright flame in her chest, that she abandoned the little world she had built for herself around a false grave and reminded the world of her existence.

Chapter Text

Ace wasn’t sure what he expected his mother’s reaction to be, but deciding she was marching to Goa right now to have a word with Sabo’s parents, he could honestly confess he hadn’t seen coming. Luffy’s and his’ warnings about the guards were smiled at and waved away. “Don’t worry about them, I can handle them,” she told him, and did not say anything else on the subject in favour of focusing on a bag she had been packing.

And then she had promptly set of towards Goa, only waiting long enough to see if they would follow her or stay at her home.

Luffy and Ace had run after her because they sure as hell wouldn’t be left behind on this. Luffy even yelled at her about it, but all she had done in response was smile at them and grasp their hands like they were still little, humming an unfamiliar tune as she navigated the woods with a sureness that did not fit her appearance.

Stunned, Ace let himself be led by her. It struck him as strange that she knew the way. If anything, he had expected them to lead her, but that obviously wasn’t necessary.

She took a path he didn’t usually take. Not one of the wild tracks the three brothers themselves favoured, but the Main Road that was used by those travelling from and to Goa for trade, whenever traders decided that the beasts of the woods and the countless bandit groups were the lesser evil compared to the Lord of the Coast. It was a wide, overgrown path that was barely big enough for two carts to pass each other, with the fading traces of deep ruts. Back when the Road was created traffic had been a lot more common and had left its traces. Even now the ground was hard-packed and only the most stubborn weeds were able to break through. But the Road was relatively smooth even though it winded like a drunk snake, and they made a good time. Faster than Ace expected.

For a while Ace worried about the bandits. They were the reason why Ace and his brothers usually avoided the Main Road. If there was any place on Dawn where you could be sure to find bandits, it was along the winding path of the only true road through the jungle.

Most bandits didn’t venture into the jungle beyond a few hundred meters from the Road’s edges, and the gangs tended to favour the tamer parts of the jungle for their bases. The only bandit gang that was brave enough to live deep in the wildest parts of the jungle was Dadan’s gang. The Dadan Family was the only one that was willing to accept the Lords of the Jungle as neighbours in return for territory that few would ever dare invade.

Ace himself had never really encountered the other gangs. The places he liked to go to lied a lot deeper into the jungle. The wildest, most dangerous parts. But Ace knew that the other groups existed. Teaching him about them and their territories was one of the few things Dadan had actively done to keep him safe. He knew most of those gangs were dangerous. Some almost as dangerous as Bluejam. And while Bluejam avoided the forest, these bandits were more than skilled enough to hunt down a kid that pissed them off and would even chase him into the heart of Dawn’s wilderness.

Ace hoped that the three of them didn’t look worth the effort to rob. And if they did, that his mom was as strong as Luffy seemed to think she was.

Ace glanced at her. His resolve strengthened. If push came to shove, he would protect her. He clenched his pipe a little tighter in his free hand.

They seemed to be in luck. For the first part, they didn’t encounter anyone. The other bandit families seemed to have chosen today to slack off. That, or they were hiding further along the road.

They were just about to pass a rocky cliffside that would frankly be a perfect spot for a lookout or an ambush when their luck ran out.

A large bear shuffled onto the road. It wasn’t quite as large as some of the bears Ace had seen in the forest, but quite a big larger than he expected to run into in this particular part of the jungle. It turned it’s beady eyes on them.

Ace tensed. He knew that look. That was a predator realizing there was something edible in front of them. But before he could lift his pipe and rush in to bash it over the head, it raised its eyes a bit and promptly froze. It let out a pathetic whine and turned tail with a haste that left Ace staring confusingly at the settling dust clouds. 

He looked up to his mother. She was glaring after the bear as if the beast had personally offended her. When she looked back at him the glare was gone.

“Shall we continue?” she said lightly, and then didn’t wait for an answer before she started walking again. Befuddled, Ace allowed her to pull him along.

Ace had no idea what happened but he suspected a bandit had seen that. Overhead there was some suspicious rustling in the bushes, and the familiar sound of someone running through thick undergrowth. Withing seconds the sound of footsteps disappeared in the distance, and Ace scowled after them.

To his surprise no one bothered them when they came upon one better ambush sites Ace had seen. It took them passing three excellent ambush spots before Ace started considering that maybe the scout had run ahead warning their gangs of bad news on the Road. That scout must have went on to warn other bandit groups as well, because they still didn’t see anyone even when Ace was sure they had walked far enough to have passed into another group’s territory.

It was, to be honest, shockingly peaceful. An hour passed and all they saw were animals. Ace was pretty sure of his theory, now, since there was never this little bandit activity along the Road. Even if few travelled along it, there was always a lookout somewhere.

Ace didn’t mind, but seeing no bandits were there should be left him a little off kilter. Though not nearly as much as his company.

It was strange, walking with his mom. Nothing like he expected from the half-forgotten fantasies he came up with as a little kid. She was nice. Uncomfortably curious about his life, but maybe that was what moms did? He would have to ask Sabo. But she was nice about it, never pushing for an answer, just accepting whatever Ace was willing to tell. She didn’t even complain or rebuke Luffy whenever he interrupted and loudly started to tell his own stories. The few details about her own life she offered in return Ace eagerly burned into his memory. He felt as if he was starving for them, thirsting in a way that made him feel ashamed. But every titbit of information she offered he gulped down as if Luffy was going to steal it any moment.

She kept holding their hands too. His and Luffy’s. Not to drag them along, like he had seen some nobles do, she wasn’t pulling nearly enough for that, but… well, Ace didn’t really know the reason. He was grateful for it though. Her hand was warm and firm around his. The feel of warm skin against his a confirmation as good as pinching that he wasn’t dreaming even though everything felt so unreal.

Her pace was quick but not so quick they had to run to keep up. It was more of a steady march than anything else. The edge of her skirt swayed with her steps where it ended halfway down her shins. The fabric brushed occasionally against his own legs. She looked so normal, like Makino, but she held herself with a confidence he’d only ever seen on his grandfather. The gleam in her eyes was unlike anything he was familiar with.

Ace was still trying to process how he had ended up in this situation. Everything about today was too much. From going to his mom for help without knowing it, to finding his own grave (he still wasn’t over that one), to having lunch with his mom and telling her what happened-

It was just. So much. Least of all because she wasn’t soft and sweet like Makino, or harsh and mean like Sabo said his mom was. She was nothing like anything Ace had expected. His mom was nice and really scary and a lot stronger than she looked and he desperately wanted to know more about her even though his head already felt like bursting after all the new information.

Her eyes had gone all hard and cold and she had looked terrifying even when she had only been coming up with a plan for Sabo’s asshole father. And yet for all that it felt like knives being drawn, they were knives drawn at Sabo’s father, not them.

It felt so strange, not to be the focus of animosity. Almost like the times he had helped the bandits with their robberies. Eagerness and bloodlust that he was a part of, not the target of.

But stronger, way stronger.

It still surprised him that his mom was someone scary. He had always expected that the things that made the bandits call him a monster and a demon had come from his dad, but with the way his mom had frightened a giant bear without even trying-

Maybe it wasn’t his old man he got it from.

That thought made him feel all warm inside.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

The sun was shining, the forest was beautiful, and her son was alive. Rouge felt like she was awake for the first time in years.

Her son’s hand was warm in her own. His freckled face was adorable with how flummoxed he was. She could understand. Today was a bit much for her too. Not that she was going to let that stop her. Clearly, her son was of similar mind, if the determination in his eyes whenever his other brother was mentioned was any indication.

She would have to thank Shanks, she decided. If it wasn’t for him and his Little Anchor she wouldn’t have found her son.

As they walked, Rouge subtly interrogated Ace and Luffy about their lives under the guise of learning more about Sabo’s situation. What she learned made her simultaneously angry enough to scream and happy enough to cry. Because even though some bastard noble had threatened her boy with death and a washed up failure of a pirate had dared aim a gun at Ace and his little brother, her son had siblings, had brothers he cared very deeply about. One he missed so much his presence in her Haki churned with worry and longing whenever he was mentioned. Little Luffy was very similar, and when they spoke about their daily activities and their treehouse, it was clear that kind of love was shared between all three of them.

It was the love of true Ds. Limitless and as endless as the horizon. Already, she loved this Sabo a little too, just from the way Ace spoke of him.

She smiled. She was happy her son had forged such powerful bonds with other children.

Her hands tightened slightly around theirs, more possessive than she dared let show. She always loved three-for-one deals. And these three were a package deal, of that she had no doubt. She wondered if they would let her steal them away.

She wanted to, desperately so, and damn whoever had been taking care of them before. This was her son, and her son’s brothers. She wanted him back.

Ace was her son. It would be her right to take him.

Ah, but that was the whole crux of the matter, wasn’t it?

Taking him was her right, yes, but it wouldn’t be right, and damn Garp and his lies for taking him from her in the first place. If her son was anything like her or Roger, she couldn’t just take these boys, no matter how much she wanted to. Couldn’t just snatch them up and bring them home and never let them go. She would have to work for it, for them. Lure them in the way you lured a stray cat into safety with food. Most of all, she would have to prove her intentions to them. That she wanted to take care of them, and did not mean them harm.

She supposed that retrieving their third would be a good way to increase her chances. Yet not doing more still felt like letting go of the helm in the middle of a storm; unnecessarily risky and foolish besides.

It was her foolish heart speaking. A heart was simple as an animal and powerful as a New World storm, and it did not understand waiting when she already held what she desired in her hands.

She couldn’t allow it to rule her. If she wanted to have Ace and his brothers and keep them, she would need to keep her head engaged.

She felt the grooves and calluses on her son’s hands and never wanted to let go. But she would have to. Soon. Time had passed swift as the tide, and a walk of hours seemed only minutes long. They were nearing Grey Terminal, and if she understood Ace's and Luffy’s stories right, they had a reputation here.

A reputation that didn’t lend itself for holding hands with a woman who, Rouge realized with an aching wince in her heart, looked far too soft and gentle for this place. If anyone saw the boys holding her hands like little kids, their reputation could take a hit. Would take a hit, because the reputations of dangerous children were most easily damaged of all. Recovering would demand blood and sweat and likely a few deaths.

It would be a burden on these boys that she could not, in good conscience, allow to be place on them.

For the first time in years, Rouge resented her own appearance. It hadn’t mattered when she had been numbed by loss, and had helped feed the illusion of being nothing but an ordinary woman cast adrift so people would leave her alone. But now? Twelve years ago, people would have known with just one look that she was not one to be trifled with. Today they would see nothing but a sweet, weak village woman, who couldn’t possibly know how to defend herself. Who would be an easy target for the vultures that haunted these fetid hills. And she didn’t have time to correct that appearance. Not even if she caused a bloodbath right here and now, with the swiftness only a New World veteran was capable of. It was already afternoon, and who knew how many hours they would need to set their brother free without having to fight the whole guard roster of Goa?

Twelve years ago, she wouldn’t have hesitated at violence. But she didn’t want to ruin her son’s life here on Dawn, which taking Sabo by force surely would. Nobles were petty like that, and from what Ace told her so far, Sabo's father was more than petty enough to try his worst. She didn’t want to risk Ace and Luffy getting hurt from this. Violence would have to be a last resort today.

She could see that Ace knew it too. See the reluctance and hesitation and longing, the war between his heart and cold calculation.

“It’s alright,” she told him gently, and smiled at his startled look. “I know you worked hard for your reputation. There is no need to spoil it before we even had time to decide how we will continue after this. Let’s not make too many changes before we have thought things through, hm?”

Ace twitched and snapped his gaze to the ground. Rouge's heart clenched painfully at the dejected expression. “Y-yeah, I guess,” he said. 

She smiled warmly and let go of his hand, refusing to let him see her hurt. But not before giving a gentle squeeze, hoping to communicate without words how little she wanted to let go either.

“I don’t get it,” Luffy said bluntly. He was staring at Ace as if he was trying very hard to think. Ace's hand was twitching towards his pipe in response.

Rouge grinned despite herself. “People around here know Ace is strong, right?”

Luffy nodded eagerly, so fast his neck stretched a little. “Yeah! Ace is really cool and strong!”

On Rouge's other side, Ace was turning red, getting closer to the colour of some of Rouge's favourite flowers.

Rouge smiled at the happy little boy, secretly delighted by her son’s reaction. “But Ace is also a child, and people around here are mean to children, aren’t they?”

This time Luffy’s nod was wholly confused.

Ah. It was almost like that time she tried to explain her trading to Roger. How did one explain the bends and twists and winding ways of other people’s thoughts and prejudices to someone whose thoughts and loyalties only ever moved in straight lines? One to whom nuance and trickery and slight would only ever be strangers? Who could never imagine greed to be anything but straightforward?

She smiled. It was a good thing she’d had some practice. “People can be pretty stupid,” she said bluntly. “They want to look down on Ace and you, because they think children should be weak. And they will use anything they can as ‘proof’. Including Ace holding hands with me.”

“So? Then we just beat them up, right?”

Rouge dearly wanted to laugh, but refrained. “We could, but we don’t have time for that now, Luffy. The gates will close in a few hours and we still need to find Sabo before we can go back home.”

In the corner of her eye she saw how Ace startled at the word ‘home’, and the strange mix of confusion and hopefulness. Her heart ached so much for her boy.

Luffy didn’t seem to catch the significance. He just slapped his fist in his hand as if he had an epiphany. “Oh, right. Then we’ll beat them up later!”

It was truly very hard not to laugh. This boy was adorable. “Exactly,” Rouge agreed. “And that’s why right now, we’re not going to draw more attention than we need. We’re going to be sneaky. Can you do that, Luffy?”

“I can! Now come on, let’s go get Sabo! Shishishi!”

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

In the Terminal, the little-used Road was even more faded than it had been in the jungle. Trash had packed up in a dense layer that covered every inch of soil, and the only paths left were those that had remained between the heaps. The only sign that they were still following the original Road was the fact that from here their view of the gate was relatively unobstructed, and no large mounts had built up on the old path despite the residents’ obvious lack of care for maintaining it.

They traversed the uneven terrain quickly. Ace and Luffy navigated the fetid heaps with the ease of mountain goats and the surety of cats prowling their territory. Rouge, steady as a ship in calm waves, followed in their footsteps. The detours they took told her a lot about how much her son knew of the gang turfs and powerplays here. She dared bet that if you drew a map of all the known gang territories, Ace's chosen path would lead unerringly through the no-man’s-land between them. From the way he had spoken of the Terminal, she doubted he was allied to any of the gangs. Though given that Sabo supposedly lived here, it was possible she was wrong on that account.

Nevertheless, she doubted they would have much to do with any of them today.

Ace was constantly glanced back at her. Rouge couldn’t be sure why. She was afraid to read too much in his expressions, and she did not know him well enough to decipher his moods with any kind of certainty. But she hoped it was a good sign.

She also hoped that to any onlookers its looked as if Ace and Luffy were merely guiding her, instead of traveling with her. Being paid as guides and bodyguards would support their reputations as opportunists, instead of gullible children doing tasks for free. She didn’t know how fragile their reputations were, but she didn’t want to endanger them.

Children were always at risk, no matter how strong they were. There were always adults that were stronger. She had confidence her son was plenty powerful, but even so, until he grew into his full strength the people here would pose a risk to him. To Luffy even more, no matter his Devil Fruit. At least Ace clearly knew some caution, and kept a watchful eye on his surroundings no matter his distraction. Luffy could easily run straight into an ambush.

She really wondered what in the world Garp had been thinking, if his chosen caretakers let her son get this familiar with a place like this at such a young age.

Ace turned to glance at her again, and she quickly tucked the edges of her temper away. She had more pressing matters at hand. But someday soon she would be asking questions, oh yes.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

Ace found himself constantly checking on his mom after he had let go of her hand. He had no idea what to make of her. She was so strange.

He hadn’t wanted to let go of her hand. Some stupid childish part of him had been terrified that if he did she would be dead again, and he would be alone with Luffy again, with no way to get Sabo back and no mom to get to know. Part of him rebelled at the thought. That part was something violent and desperate that wanted to hook claws and fangs into her skin, into her everything, so she could never get away.

It was something monstrous. Something wicked and greedy, that was as unnatural as his existence. Ugly and desperate and he hated that part of himself. He fought to keep it leashed.

She still felt more like a dream to him, a hallucination that was incredibly real. But she had wanted him to let go, and he hadn’t wanted to make her mad with his clinginess. What if he irritated her like Luffy had irritated him? He didn’t want her to hate him!

But she didn’t seem happy about it either? And she’d said something about reputations to Luffy, handling him far easier than even Sabo or Makino ever had, and, well, it was true that people were stupid. He had been thinking about that, in fact, once they had gotten close enough to the Grey Terminal to smell it in the distance. But was that really the reason?

Ace didn’t know. He hated not understanding his own mom. She was his mom! Shouldn’t she be easy to understand? Other kids didn’t seem to have any problem with understanding their moms. At least those in Grey Terminal didn’t. And Sabo seemed to understand his mom pretty well even though he didn’t like her. But Ace couldn’t. He felt like such a failure of a son.

At least his mom wasn’t much like Sabo's mom so far. He supposed that was a good thing. Sabo always said moms were horrible and tried to control you, telling you what to do all the time. So far Ace's mom hadn’t done that. But she hadn’t been quite like a Grey Terminal mom or even a Foosha mom either. But then, what kind of mom did he have?

Maybe some moms were just different. That would fit with him being a monster child. Only a strange mom could get a monster kid with the Pirate King.

Ace didn’t know what to do with his strange mom. He could see her thinking as she followed them through the stinking heaps, but he couldn’t guess what, and it put him so on edge. The kind of on edge he only got when he knew there was a venomous snake around somewhere but he didn’t know where, and that was a horrible thing to feel about your mom. Ace thought that might be how Sabo felt about his mom, and Ace didn’t want to feel that way about his. She had saved him from the marines when he was a baby (and didn’t die!), she was helping them, shouldn’t that make him happy?

Sometimes he could see her looking almost angry from the corner of his eyes, but the moment he looked in her direction fully she would smile again. That friendly smile that was so much like Makino’s only even warmer. It left him incredibly confused and he hated it. At the same time he didn’t want her to stop looking, because people usually didn’t smile at him like that, and what if she got too disappointed in him and left? What if her anger was because she was disappointed, but she was still waiting for him to do something she would approve of? He didn’t mind her being angry as long as she was still willing to give him a chance.

She was so strange though. Unlike anyone he had ever known. She looked weak and soft like Makino, but she was as scary as Gramps, and took control of their situation far easier than Dadan ever did with her bandits. And her moods were changing faster than he could track.

She changed again when they neared the wall. Usually, he and Sabo and Luffy had to use their disguise to get in. But this time they didn’t have the cloak with them, and he worried that they would be recognized by one of the guards and kicked out. But then his mom stepped in front of them, hiding them a little from view, and, without any explanation, said, “Stay close behind me.”

He and Luffy shared a look but quickly did as she said because honestly, Ace didn’t have a better idea. And his mom sounded really confident.

Not scary. Not quite. But there was a force to her, one that Dadan never managed and Gramps emanated all the time.

He flinched when her hand landed on his head. Gently, but he hadn’t been expecting it. Dadan would never touch him so gently. He could feel her hesitate and quickly latched onto her skirt, pressing close like he had seen some kids do in the Terminal. He felt relieved when her hand didn’t leave, and then embarrassment for his relief.

He could feel her warmth through his hair and it was unfair how distracting it was. He had the feeling that she might be trying to trick the guards into thinking he and Luffy were normal kids. He didn’t know how that was supposed to work when they still had their pipes and most guards knew what they looked like, but his mom clearly had a plan. No one sounded that confident if they didn’t have a plan unless their name was Luffy.

He shivered when something swirled over them. Like a breeze softly spiralling around them. Ace had no idea what it might be, but he thought it might be his mom doing it.

The guards were being their usual horrible selves. Ace could never remember their faces. Sabo could, but so far his brother had only been able to identify a few who were only marginally better than the rest. They were always a pain to deal with.

One of them was leering after a poor woman’s backside until she turned the corner. It was obvious from her rumpled clothing that at least one of the guards had copped a feel as ‘payment’. Ace very nearly growled at the thought of any of them trying that on his mom.

Ace tensed when one of the guard’s eyes slid towards them. The man’s face twisted in a disgusting leer as he noticed a skirt coming his way. But then, suddenly, it froze.

Ace blinked. The man’s eyes were firmly focused at a point above him, and Ace looked up.

Ace felt a little like freezing himself. The smile on his mom’s face was polite, but it had the same feel to it as the Boss Crocodile’s smile. Calm and tranquil and innocent as a floating log, right until those jaws snapped closed.

His mom’s pace never faltered, moving in a straight line towards the gates. The guard’s face stayed frozen in its incomplete leer.

To Ace’s amazement, none of the guards bothered to question them. They just gave his mom grins that made Ace want to bash their faces in, before their expressions froze into a rigid mask. They were quickly waved through. Luffy and he didn’t even get a glance aimed their way!

And his mom just marched through the gates as if the guards didn’t exist. The guards didn’t even try to touch her! They always did with the younger women and girls, but now they just stood by and even seemed to put a great amount of effort into ignoring them.

Luffy made an excited noise beside him and Ace quickly elbowed him to keep him quiet, afraid of ruining whatever his mom had done to make the usually mean guards behave like that.

Ace made sure to keep an eye on the guards until they were around the corner, just in case whatever strange spell his mom had cast wore off.

They made it into the next alleyway before Luffy exploded in babbling.

“That was so cool! How did you made them do that? Do you have a Devil Fruit like me?!”

His mom smiled just a little smugly. Ace was still staring at her in amazement and couldn’t fault her for it one bit. The guards were never that easy for normal people. Not even for women and girls. Not even for dangerous bandits or pirates. Only nobles might have it that easy.

Ace was pretty damn certain his mom was no noble. She didn’t live or act like one.

“It’s a skill, not a Devil Fruit power,” she said. “Explaining it would take a lot of time, but as you can see it’s really useful.”

“Can you teach us?” Ace and Luffy asked in unison.

His mom’s smile softened. “It’s a rare skill, and not everyone can learn it. But I will certainly try.”

Luffy and Ace grinned wildly at each other. Luffy cheered. For once, Ace felt like following his example. Ace could feel excitement like an itch under his skin. They could steal so much if they could do that!

“Can Sabo learn too?” he asked.

His mom hummed. “That depends on if he has the talent for it. But I will certainly try to teach him. Even if he can’t there are similar abilities that are just as useful to know, and those anyone can learn.”

“COOL!” Luffy shouted again. “We’re gonna be the bestest pirates ever!”

His mom laughed warmly. “If that’s what you want, I’m sure you’ll make amazing pirates.”

Ace felt himself flush with warmth. He was so happy his mom didn’t protest their ambitions like Gramps always did.

She might be strange and scary and have weird powers like Luffy, but so far she was pretty okay.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

Rouge was relieved that their trip to the gates was uneventful. The guards provided little challenge as she convinced them to let the three of them pass. It didn’t require much, just a little pressure at the right moment. Looking harmless always made it so much easier to convince them not to bother her.

Luckily, her abilities didn’t frighten the boys. Ace must have detected something, because she could feel his confusion aimed at her, but fortunately he had enough control of his curiosity not to question her in front of the guards. Their enthusiasm afterwards was really endearing too, when they learned that she might be able to teach them her trick. Even though the edge of hunger to that want made something dark curl in her gut.

But that contemplation was for later. They had different priorities now. Now it wasn’t the boys in the lead. She was fairly certain she knew cities far better than they, and though it had been a while, she had been to Goa before. Just once, but she had a good memory, and the layout of the city hadn't really changed. She found the better commercial neighbourhood near the Town Centre with ease. She wandered around a little while her eyes roved the less-visited streets and alleys for what she knew had to be around somewhere.

“Do you know where Sabo’s family lives?” she asked the boys. Her eyes skimmed a series of shops for the subtle signs she was looking for.

Both boys scowled at themselves and shook their heads. Rouge nodded to herself. “I thought so. Well then, with the surname he shouldn’t be too difficult to find. Especially since rumours will certainly be flying.”

“Why would there be rumours?” Ace questioned suspiciously.

“A sudden and unexpected return of a nobleman’s son and heir after years of absence? Nobles will fall over each other to gossip about it.”

Her eye fell on a discrete green door a little further into a quiet street that seemed mostly to serve as a passageway between two more popular avenues. She smiled.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

Ace didn’t know how his mom did it, but in less than fifteen minutes in a little shop Ace had never noticed himself, they suddenly had disguises.

“Wadda we need this for?” Luffy questioned, struggling with some kind of fancy shirt that looked vaguely like some of the stuff Sabo always picked out from the trash whenever his clothes got too small. Only without holes and with far more ruffles.

Ace was busy washing his face and hands because apparently they were gonna need to look clean for the next part of his mom’s plan, but he paused in his splashing to hear the answer too.

“We want to get Sabo back without his father trying to take him from you again, right?”

Both nodded vigorously. They never wanted to see their brother be forced to walk away from them ever again. Ace added a loud, “Of course!”

“But I thought we were gonna beat up Sabo’s dad?” Luffy said innocently as Ace's mom knelt and helped him get the shirt on the right way.

“That would work if we left the island afterwards, but we’re not doing that,” his mom explained calmly as she tugged one of the rubbery arms through the right sleeve. “In this case, it’s better to put in a little more effort so he won’t bother us at all anymore, and that means that we can’t take the easy way.”

“So what’re we doing?” Ace asked. It came out more of a demand because he felt so on edge, and he clamped his mouth shut before his mom could get mad and try to hit him like Dadan.

His mom didn’t seem to notice his tone. Instead she gave him a smile that made him suck in air sharply before he could stop himself.

Her eyes glittered like Sabo with a scheme and her smile reminded him a little of Gramps. “Why, we’re going to be sneaky of course.”

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

Outlook’s mansion looked like her kinda place, Rouge decided. Mansions like these had always been some of her favourite targets when she wanted to practice her sticky fingers in more honest ways. It was a pity she couldn’t straight up rob the place blind right now.

She subtly rolled her shoulders and adjusted her borrowed hair ornaments slightly. Fashions had changed, but as always, there were plenty places were nobles who didn’t quite have the riches required to follow the hottest trends could rent the items they needed to keep up appearances. It had only taken a few sweet lies and a generous amount of money to get something fitting for the three of them without any questions. Rouge so loved places like that; they were always wonderfully discrete.

She smiled at the boys. She half wished she had a cameko. They both looked so adorably awkward in their rented outfits. Their disguises were perfect. It was a miracle how much could be done with the right clothes and a few strategically placed dabs of make up to hide all tells that would have given them away as commoners.

Her own face felt stiff from the thick layer of foundation and heavy powders and paints high-standing ladies favoured. It brought her right back to old times, back when she put on a show to reel in the providers of her most valuable cargoes and most rewarding swindles.

“Remember the plan,” Rouge reminded, as she stopped Luffy from plucking at a button with a slight touch. “All you need to do is be quiet and obedient and stick to the plan, and we’ll be able to get Sabo back without any fuss.”

Both boys nodded with the determination of D’s shining in their eyes. Even impulsive little Luffy understood how important it was that he behaved. He looked quite constipated in his resolve to not make a sound, but that wouldn’t stand out too terribly among nobles.

Rouge smiled an elegant, crimson smile. “Showtime,” she whispered under her breath.

She schooled her expression and rang the bell.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

Sabo was pacing his room, growling under his breath. He had thought he had almost forgotten how much he had hated living among nobles before, but now he could confidently say he hated this whole place to his very bones. Everything here was so disgusting. All of the worst ugliness humanity had to offer, covered with glitter and gold as if that would make it more appetizing. The air here was even more stifling and choking than in Grey Terminal on hot summer days. His skin crawled beneath the crisp new clothes his parents had forced on him.

There was a knock at his door. “Young master Sabo, Lord Outlook bids you to his office.”

Sabo scowled upon hearing the overly proper voice of the butler. He didn’t want to go to his father, and he definitely didn’t want to go to his father’s office. But he knew that if he didn’t do as he was told his mother would screech at him and his father might threaten his brothers again. With a glare fixed to his face he resentfully obeyed the summons. At least the butler wasn’t waiting around this time. He really didn’t need to be walked to the office like some pet dog.

Glaring at the overly-polished wood of the door, he knocked a bit louder than was necessary and opened the door before his father responded. It was rude and petty, but it was satisfying to see his father just as displeased as he was feeling. His father’s look told him he was in for another scolding later.

“Don’t dawdle there, Sabo, and come here,” his father said icily. “And shut the door behind you.” A gesture made clear where he was supposed to stand.

Before Sabo even started to obey, his father already turned his attention back to the guest that was already present. It was infuriating, as if he fully expected Sabo to fold to his will like a weak dishrag. That made it all the more galling when he did in fact obey his father’s command and stood beside his father’s desk like a piece of living decoration. He felt his jaw creak from how hard he was gritting his teeth.

There had been times that he had doubted if his life with his parents had really been so horrible as he had thought when he was five. Being back here proved that if anything, the long years away had let him to view his past through rose-coloured glasses. In reality, it was far worse, especially now he was older and knew what the rest of the world was like.

It was nothing like this place, nowhere near as fake and petty as the act father was putting up for his guest.

The guest was just as fake as everything else to do with Goa’s nobles. A pretty blonde lady who sat in the high-backed chair for wealthy visitors like it was a throne. Her dress was startlingly crimson and drew his eyes like a magnet. It was the colour of rubies and fire and blood, and it was as deep and rich as all those things. It was cut elegantly, stately and fashionable, with accents of white and gold. It highlighted the pink overtones in the woman’s golden-blonde hair. The woman who wore it made it seem like a gown fit for a queen, and carried herself as if the matching hair ornaments were a crown. Two boys stood beside her, each at one side, rigid and looking about as happy to be here as Sabo.

At first, he didn’t realize at all what he was looking at. He didn’t know the woman, and the boys were only vaguely familiar. Both had dark hair and stood rigidly, like they were tensing every muscle they had to keep themselves from moving. Every few seconds they tensed back up, as if they were actively reminding themselves they had to behave.

Sabo himself didn’t bother. He was too busy puzzling over what it was that was so off about these boys.

The two boys looked at him strangely too. Their faces did that weird spasm thing where they wanted to say something but bit the words back. The looks they sent him weren’t full of the contempt he had come to expect from everyone around here, but with something that made him ache in his lungs.

It took Sabo the longest time to realize why.

It was a good thing his father’s attention was fully focussed on the unknown woman. If it hadn’t been his father would no doubt have called him a disgraceful gormless fool again and would have given him an even worse lecture. But Sabo didn’t have the capacity to think about that right then. He didn’t care a thing about his father, or his mouth dropping open, because…

Where are the freckles? was, funnily enough, his first thought. Where were the scars he knew so well? And their hair…

Ace, hilariously, was dressed in a gold-trimmed jacket and crisp white silk shirt, with sharply pressed trousers and shined shoes that certainly didn’t belong to him. There was even a cravat. And it was tied neatly. It even had lace on it! Sabo had never seen his brother look so strange and uncomfortable, ever. Not even that first time Garp decided they should cosplay him and wanted to do their ties, and it had taken them hours back then to see the joke in that. A red ribbon tied his brother’s shockingly tamed hair back into a neat little ponytail. His hair was barely long enough for the hairdo, and the unruly strands had been pulled flat against his skull to get the necessary length. How it stayed in place, Sabo had no idea. And worst of all was his brother’s lack of freckles. He didn’t look like Ace without them.

Luffy was even more ridiculous. He was dressed in a dark blue outfit not dissimilar to Sabo’s own, only instead of a cravat his shirt was full of ruffles. So much ruffles that the buttoned jacket was barely able to contain them, and they spilled out of the V of the lapels. There was no sign of his characteristic scar, and his straw hat, which Sabo had never seen him leave behind, was nowhere to be seen. Sabo suspected Luffy had it hidden somewhere on his person, and if not that then it was safely hidden away somewhere else. It would possibly be the most touching thing Luffy had ever done for him; to leave behind his precious hat for Sabo. His hair had been tamed with something that looked shiny and somewhat oily, and Sabo then and there decided Luffy was never ever going to attempt anything resembling Stelly’s hairdo again. The flat and neatly combed hair didn’t suit him at all.

Both of them stood stiffly besides the woman’s chair. He almost didn’t recognize them like this.

What the hell were his brothers doing here? And why were they with this strange woman?

Sabo was so absorbed by the baffling sight his brothers made that he barely heard what his father and the woman were discussing. He only snapped back to the conversation between the adults when the woman mentioned his name.

“Now that I have seen your son Sabo I am quite certain. Surely I can convince you to consider my offer, lord Outlook?”

His father sighed, but it did not held nearly the amount of disgruntled faux-tiredness he usually reserved for people who were wasting his time. If Sabo didn’t know better he would almost say it was timid. “Generous as it is, I do hope I have made my position clear. I do not-“

His father abruptly cut himself off. It wasn’t because of anything big. The woman hadn’t interrupted him. She just smiled at his father. On anyone else, it would only be a confident, closed-lipped, sharp-edged smile. Nothing noteworthy.

Somehow, this smile, on this woman, gave Sabo the intense feeling that that red, red lipstick should be dripping.

She folded one leg over the other, making scarlet highlights dance across the rich attention-grabbing crimson of her dress. It flashed like blood in water.

His father quailed. Sabo had never seen his father be anything but in control, but one simple smile from this unknown woman and he not only backed down, but swallowed his words. Sabo had thought only someone from the royal family could make his father do that. Suddenly, it looked as if his father was almost hiding behind his desk.

Who the hell was this woman?!

She made a soft tsk-ing noise. “Surely you do not wish to squander such a splendid opportunity for your son? I do not make offers like these lightly. Are you certain that you have properly considered the consequences of refusing?”

Her voice was smooth like rich cream, but with a purr underneath that reminded Sabo of the growling of wolves.

“You know who I am, and my reputation even now holds great weight and renown. Your son’s reputation would greatly benefit from my tutelage.”

Sabo didn’t know whether to wince or to grin. He knew how much reputation meant to his father. He could see the words impact him. And yet, for all that the woman was blunt almost to the point of rudeness and her demeanour hovered on the edge of belligerence, his father’s reply was uncharacteristically shaky.

“I- I am certainly aware, but his behaviour-“

“Will not be an issue,” the woman interrupted calmly.

“Yes, yes. Your reputation precedes you there, but still-“

The woman leaned forward, her face open and attentive. Crimson silk rustled like soft leaves. There was something strange in the air, something that made that cool, unhurried movement threatening like a giant tiger crouching for a lunge.

Adrenaline pounded in Sabo’s veins, despite him doing nothing but standing still while listening to something that should have been nothing but polite conversation. But instead he felt like he was witnessing the second of stillness before a gang war broke loose. Tension sang in the air. He could see his father sweating. 

If it wasn’t for Ace frantically signalling for him to keep his mouth shut he would have screamed, if only to get an explanation of what the hell was going on here.

“Yes,” the woman said smoothly, when Sabo’s father failed to produce another word. “I think we are in agreement here. Your son needs discipline and a respectable education, both of which I can assure you I can provide. And, well, I would never wish to be crude, but I think we are both aware how difficult it can be to avoid stigma after such a difficult patch in his life. A respectable apprenticeship would serve your family greatly here. I can assure you that your son will get a good and valuable education, while any discrepancies will remain neatly out of sight of anyone important.”

“R-right. Yes, well…”

The woman smiled again, soft and kind and with sympathy as sweet and toxic as azalea honey.

“I understand how difficult it is to let your son leave so soon after having been finally reunited with you. I am sure you were heartbroken when he was stolen, and your joy knew no bounds once he was finally retrieved. But his reputation, and yours… I am sure I don’t need to go into details. A man of your standing no doubt understands how vicious the court of public opinion is, and how cruel and uncouth the whispers exchanged behind dainty hands and raised cups are. The world is cruel, and can turn on good people so easily.”

Sabo’s father seemed almost hypnotised. “I- yes, that is certainly true,” he mumbled. Beads of sweat glistened on his brow and Sabo could see his hands shaking, but he seemed entirely entranced by the woman’s words. “It is truly unjust, how hard we need to work to keep our reputation from being besmirched, though it embarrasses me to admit it, yes. It is truly vexing, how eager people are to drag our pristine reputation through the mud…”

“Precisely,” the red woman purred. “But all that trouble can easily be avoided. I assure you, I am very discrete, and the people around me are too. We might need to limit contact, but I’m sure a satisfactory arrangement can be found-” There were more pretty words and sweet reassurances, but Sabo could barely hear them, so stunned he was with what was happening right before his eyes. 

This woman was like a- a snake-charmer or something. His father was hanging onto her every word as if she was the king himself. And she was playing him like a fiddle, offering polite platitudes as she twisted his words until he was dancing along to her tune.

Where the hell did his brothers find her?!

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

For the first time in more than a decade, Rouge's veins burned with the satisfaction of a scam going well. It had been a long time since Rouge had to work for a swindle like this. It was a tricky balance, not to influence so much to be noticed, but enough to make the pompous man bend to her will. Tricky, and if there were people who knew about her skill, trickier still.

There were many forms of Haki in the world. Many shades of the same thing. Multiple shades even for the ever-rare Conqueror’s Haki, though only one form was widely known of.

Rouge’s Conqueror’s was different from Roger’s or Rayleigh’s. Different from what most people thought of as Conqueror’s Haki. Theirs was loud. Overpowering. Like mountains coming down, like the strongest of winds making even the biggest trees either bow or break. Theirs was Demand, and Power, and unstoppable as a tsunami, halting all off weaker will in their tracks.

Theirs was attention-grabbing and undeniable, and thus known to the world at large and feared as it should.

Hers was different, most of the time. Quieter. Less noticeable. Less overwhelming. And therefore all the more subtle and insidious. She did not demand the world bow to her, though she could if she needed to, and had, in the past. Roger’s preferred approach did not come as easily to her though. Not as easy as it had come to him. It felt like being that loud was like trying to out-shout an army. Hers was softer. Gentler. A kinder subjugation, though subjugation it was still.

Hers was precision in the way Roger’s had never been. He Demanded. She Persuaded. Instead of knocking people numb and taking, she twisted and teased at their desires, their view of the world, pressing down on them until they moved to her will. Roger’s tide washed away everything in one fell sweep. She carved away at the foundations, leaving someone standing and seemingly unchanged, but on the verge of collapsing into nothingness. Like a fortress on a cliff undermined by the sea, seconds from crumbling into a watery grave. Once she started using her Conqueror’s Haki on someone they only required a little push to give in to her wishes.

In all her years she had not yet found her match in this gentler form of Conquering. The man before her certainly had little power to resist her.

Nice and patient was the key here. Her talent was better worked with a bit more time, to cover any track of this being anything but a honest business deal. But patience was an art she had not practiced enough, she realized, though that had more to do with the boys standing beside her than the decade of inactivity. She wanted so badly to be done here. Her impatience made her scam sloppy and heavy-handed enough that she was genuinely embarrassed.

Yet she held little care for that. She was so close. Just a few more mentions of the weak spots she could smell on him, just a few more gentle nudges into the right direction-

Outlook’s resistance crumpled like a wet paper bag.

Rouge felt her lips curve into something more genuine than before.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

Something had shifted. Sabo didn’t know what, but he could feel it.

Evidently, the woman could feel it too. Her smile was a lot like the queen’s right now. Like a woman who knew she was going to get what she wanted, and people would trip over themselves to hand it to her.

“So we are in agreement then?”

The air around her sang with something unnamed.

His father didn’t notice a thing and was completely entranced. “I- Yes, you certainly make good points, lady Portgas-“

Sabo quickly took note of the fact that apparently this woman was using Ace's surname and only barely succeeded in swallowing a startled noise.

“-Very good points indeed.” His father dabbed his forehead with his handkerchief. “Yes. I concur that your offer is indeed very generous. My Sabo has gone through a difficult time, so getting a proper education and the discipline he desperately needs- Yes, on second thought, I certainly would like to accept your offer. I- Are you certain the boy will not get in contact with someone unbefitting of his station? Just, with his special needs…”

Sabo wanted to scoff. ‘Special needs’ his ass. The only special need he had was to be away from here. The way this ‘lady Portgas’ talked in on his father made him uneasy, and the fact that his father was giving in when Sabo would have sworn he didn’t wish to do any of the sort made him even more uneasy. Only his brothers’ presence kept him from shouting that he wasn’t some piece of cattle to be traded off.

“You should not concern yourself, lord Outlook. The tasks assigned will be tailored to fit his capabilities, and I will certainly not be short of firm hands to guide him in the right direction. He will be in suitable company, of that I can assure you. In fact, I have two other apprentices barely more experienced than him, as you can see. I am sure he will set a good example. Time with peers that are a match for him will do him good. And, as you know, I never had any difficulties with dealing with… unusual characters.”

“No, no, your reputation precedes you,” his father hastily agreed. “Certainly. Yes, I have to say, you certainly know how to soothe a parent’s concerns-“

“Splendid,” she said. “Shall I draft the terms then? I have a standard template for my apprenticeship contracts. If you have any concerns we can see what kind of adjustments will be needed.”

“Yes, that sounds excellent,” Sabo’s father warbled. With a flourish that looked more like ungainly flailing, he offered the red woman a blank piece of his best paper and his most expensive pen. That alone made more than clear enough how off kilter this woman made him.

The woman, in contrast, looked entirely at ease. Her calligraphy was as elegant as it was effortless, and in a few minutes she drew up a concise contract. “I like to keep my apprentices until they are eighteen,” she mentioned offhandedly while she wrote. “To ensure the continuity of their education. I’m sure you understand.”

“Of course, of course,” Outlook babbled. “Of course, yes.”

“I’m glad you are so understanding and generous. You won’t regret this, I assure you.”

“Oh, I’m certain I won’t,” Outlook said with a tense chuckle. His eyes were strangely glassy. His face was frozen in a rictus of bland courtesy. “A woman with your reputation… It puts me at ease, knowing someone trustworthy is looking after my heir.”

The woman gave him a last smile and handed him the contract.

Sabo felt himself tense.

Sabo’s father barely glanced at it. “Yes, these are satisfactory,” he mumbled as he signed the paper and added his personal seal to make the document legal and binding while the woman wrote out three more copies. Those received the same treatment.

“Thank you, lord Outlook,” the woman purred. She rolled all four copies into scrolls and tied them neatly with ribbons his father hastily handed to her. One was hastily set aside for his father’s own records. “If you don’t mind, I would like to take Sabo with me straight away.”

It was the first thing in the whole strange exchange that seemed to actually reach his father. “I- So soon?”

“I have a lot to arrange and little time to do it. It will be beneficial for Sabo if he starts his apprenticeship straight away. Waiting would just be a waste of time, don’t you agree?”

“Ah, of course, of course. Yes. That is- Yes, certainly that is probably for the best. Yes. Time is money after all. Sabo, go pack your things.”

“My other apprentices will help him. That should hurry things along.”

“Yes, of course. See to it Sabo. Don’t disappoint me.” To the red woman, he said, “Would you care for a cup of tea before you leave?”

The woman rose from her seat with the grace of a snake rearing its head.

“How could I decline such hospitality?”

The red woman winked at the three boys as she followed Sabo’s father out into the hall, where they turned down the wide stairs towards the sitting room. Sabo gaped after her. Turned to his brothers, who immediately hurried over. “What. The. Fuck,” he said with feeling, before he was very nearly bowled over by Luffy’s frantic hug. He let out an ‘oof’.

Ace grabbed him by the arm. “Not here,” he hissed. “Come on, let’s do what she suggested. What do you need to pack anyway?”

“Right.” Sabo quickly guided his brothers to his room upstairs.

With how weird a day it was turning out to be, showing his brothers his room in his parents’ house barely felt strange anymore.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

The second the door closed behind them, Sabo turned on them. “Okay, spill,” he hissed, keeping his voice low in case a servant or Stelly passed by. They didn’t need to be overheard on top of everything else. “What in the Blues is going on? Where the hell did you find that woman? And who is she?”

Luffy seemed hesitant to answer, which was a new one for Sabo. Usually they had to keep him from yelling secrets from the rooftops. Instead he was glancing at Ace. Surprisingly, Ace provided that answer with uncharacteristic reluctance. “She’s- she’s my mom.”

“Your mom?!” Sabo exclaimed louder than he intended.

Ace flinched. Sabo barely registered it. Quieter, he hissed, “Isn’t your mom dead?”

Ace snorted, and there was an edge of hysteria in the wildness of his eyes. “Apparently not?!”

“What the- Then where in the fucking Blues was she?! Did she abandon you? Why the hell did she-“

“I don’t know! She was living near Foosha! She thought I was dead. And I thought she was dead and she has a gravestone for me, she made me a grave, Sabo, and- and-“

“They both cried a lot,” Luffy helpfully supplied.

Ace went red. “Did not!”

“Did too!’

“You cried? And she did too? What the… how? How did all this happen? I’ve only been gone for a few days!”

And why the hell was she in Foosha when she was dressed like a noble? Sabo wanted to ask. Sabo hadn't known there were nobles in Foosha! Was Ace just like him without knowing it? That would be weird.

“I don’t know.” Ace's face was a picture of misery and his hands were clenched so tight his knuckles had gone white. “I don’t know and I don’t know what to do but Luffy knew her from Shanks and you were gone and she’s helping us and she got a plan and we’ve got you but I don’t know what’s gonna happen now-“

Sabo only hesitated for a moment. Then he pulled Ace as close as he could and clutched him even when he instinctively tried to wriggle out of the hug. It took only a few seconds for Ace to give up with a huff. He clutched Sabo back and wailed into his shoulder. “I don’t know what’s going on!”

Sabo had never felt so confused before, but obviously his confusion had nothing on Ace's distress. Sabo had never seen Ace fall to pieces like that and he hated seeing his usually confident brother like this. It made him feel entirely off kilter. Even more off kilter than he already had.

Though if a helpful relative of his own would rise up from the dead, Sabo supposed he would be pretty upset too. Good thing the red woman didn’t seem like Sabo’s parents for all that she dressed and talked like them.

He only hoped it wouldn’t be Ace they would need to rescue next.

Somehow, Sabo had the feeling she would be even harder to get away from than his father.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

Sabo didn’t get a chance to speak with the red woman who was apparently Ace's not-dead mom until they were standing outside with two suitcases. They had been packed by the servant who ended up interrupting them, because Sabo sure had had better things to do than worry about stuff when his brother was upset.

Sabo's father was nowhere to be seen. The only sign that Ace's mom hadn't murdered him in secret had been the butler passing them on the way out with a bottle of brandy and a big glass.

Sabo was starting to wonder if Ace's mom had clubbed his father over the head at some point. A concussion might just explain how weird his father had been around her. That or she had used her ‘womanly wiles’ – whatever that were, but he had heard a Grey Terminal woman say it and who knew what wiles Ace's not-dead mom had used? – and that was just- urgh. He’d rather never think about his parents again.

“So now what?” he asked no one in particular.

“We’ll go home!” Luffy cheered.

“We get the hell outta here, that’s what.”

“Not yet,” the woman interrupted, and wow, Sabo should really ask what her name was. He couldn’t keep thinking about Ace's not-dead mom as ‘the woman’. But calling her Portgas seemed weird when that was Ace's name too, and ‘lady Portgas’ just left a bad taste in his mouth.

“Aw, why not?” Luffy whined, wriggling and fidgeting with his fancy clothes as if he wanted to take them off right out there in the street. Which, knowing his little brother, might just be the case. Sabo hastily kept him from undoing the buttons of his shirt.

“We still have these to deal with.”

‘These’ were the scrolls she obtained from his father. Sabo eyed them warily.

“Why? Don’t those papers say Sabo belongs with us now?”

A smile pulled at the woman’s lips. Unlike in his father’s office, it didn’t feel like a tiger grinning at you. It was a pretty normal smile, all things considered. It didn’t even show much teeth. It seemed too tame for her somehow. “They do, but for them to work, we need to make sure Sabo's father can’t claim the documents were forged or tampered with. And for that we need to have them officially registered.”

“… Okay. So whadda we gotta do?” Ace scowled at his shiny shoes. Already they were a little scuffed. From the way he walked in them, Sabo suspected they pinched a little. He was acutely aware how stiff and unyieldy his own brand new clothes felt.

“First we go to the hall of records,” Ace's mom said decisively, setting out in a direction that, if Sabo remembered right, led to one of the more important business districts. The three brothers hurried after her. “It will take a pretty penny, but we should be able to get it registered among the Royal Records. Outlook already sent word ahead that I would bring the contract by, and his connections should ensure that it ends up where it’s supposed to be.”

Sabo blinked. His lessons had been a long time ago, but, “Isn’t the Royal Records way too much? Wouldn’t it be cheaper to just register it among the city records?”

“It would, but with the Royal Records it should be a lot harder to bribe a clerk to take the contract out of the registry. Goa is famous for its corruption in that regard, but the higher ups should at least demand a heftier price, and might report any undue dealings to the king regardless of the height of the bribe on offer. Trying to pay them off would be a dangerous gamble for your father.”

Sabo frowned darkly. Right. All of Goa was just a pile of toxic lies that stank worse than the Grey Terminal. He remembered how easily his father had paid off the policeman to adjust the record about him, and frowned deeper. He couldn’t wait to be out of here.

“But if the clerks can be bribed, why do we even bother with the records?” Ace asked shrewdly.

“Because we won’t just register the contract within Goa. In the records hall there should also be a desk where you can have a contract registered outside of Goa. Luckily, that desk will be the least corrupt, since all big trading companies would bring Goa to ruin if they let their games spill over to international agreements. The third contract is for the Hall of Records in Water Seven, and Goa’s clerks make note of that. Double registries are far harder to make disappear, and unless Sabo's father becomes very wealthy indeed and also manages to find a corrupt clerk at Water Seven, it should be nigh impossible for him to make the contract disappear without anyone hearing about it. Nobles respect rules, for all that they prefer ignoring them. As long as our contract stands, the other nobles will merely consider Outlook a fool for signing his parental rights to his heir away. And though it will shame him, that shame holds no candle to the shame he’ll face if he openly proves himself a contract-breaker.”

“What?” Sabo hadn't known that! “That doesn’t make any sense!”

Ace's mom chuckled. “It doesn’t seem to, now does it? But it makes sense from a noble’s point of view. It is all about keeping up appearances. So while bribery is common practice here, no one will ever admit to it. Bribery is for common folk, they will tell you, not for distinguished people who are far too civil for any of that drudgery. They cover it up by calling it ‘investments’, or ‘payment for services rendered’. Having it be known that you use such methods is unthinkable and will have someone quickly excluded from polite society. Because obviously one who is openly corrupt can’t be trusted, and never mind all the vultures and sneak-thieves that infest this place.”

“.. Huh. So then Sabo's dad can’t ever take Sabo back?”

“Not legally, at least,” Ace's mom confirmed calmly as she strode through Goa’s wide avenues. She seemed to glide across the smooth pavement like a crimson galleon across a calm sea, and the stuffy stuck up nobles hurried out of her path like pigeons for a cat, for all that they barely seemed to realize it.

“Wait, does that mean he can do it illegally?” Ace questioned. The three of them had far more experience with illegality than legality, so Ace was rightfully suspicious.

“Oh no! Maybe he’ll send Bluejam again!” Luffy exclaimed upset. Most of what Ace's mother had said seemed to fly right over his head, but he did understand that legality didn’t protect anyone.

To their surprise, Ace's mom just laughed.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

Rouge didn’t mean to laugh. She quickly waved her hands to convey that she wasn’t making mocking the boys’ concerns. “You don’t have to worry about that. You don’t know it, but I have a reputation among merchants and mercenaries both. You are right. Illegally and with stealth Outlook could well try to take Sabo back. But then he’d be a fool twice, because he won’t be the first and most certainly not the best to try and double cross me. The number of people who tried to have me dealt with because they didn’t like a contract in hindsight are great, though I have not kept track after the first thirty. If New World troublemakers didn’t stand a chance then none he can hire in East Blue will either.”

“… Oh.”

“Wow, you’re that strong?” Luffy asked with sparkling eyes. It was adorable.

“I traded all over the world,” Rouge said with a wink at the excitable little boy. “There isn’t a sea where pirates will just leave you alone if they suspect that you have something of value with you. I can proudly say that not even the Pirate King himself ever managed to rob me.”

“Wow!”

Ace's head whipped around. “For real?!”

“Oh, yes.” And because she knew what kind of stories were told about her beloved, she added, “Why else do you think he got interested enough to try to talk to me? The ones he could defeat were a dime a dozen. The ones who could give him a run for his money could be counted on the fingers of your hands. Of course, for the safety of my ship and my crew I didn’t fight fair during our first few encounters, but there’s no such thing as a fair fight with pirates, and he was well aware of that. He considered it a fun challenge.”

“Why did you go see him then?” Ace seemed unreasonably angry as he asked that, his eyes dark with hurt. He most certainly was upset.

Rouge hesitated. Looked around herself and knew that with the boy’s loud voices, they would soon draw attention. She quickly took Ace by the hand and slipped into a far less used alleyway. Luffy and Sabo hurried after them, trading looks that made her want to coo at them. There was an upside to Goa’s obsession with cleanliness; in any other city they would have stood amidst filth and trash. Here the alley was very nearly as clean and well-swept as the other roads of High Town, and far quieter than the more popular roads. She quickly stepped behind a few ornamental bushes growing against a smooth sandstone wall. It would do, for now.

“Be careful how loudly you speak about that. Some conversations are better held in private,” she admonished lightly. “But to answer your question: I spoke to him because for a powerful pirate, Roger wasn’t much of a threat. Occasional theft aside, he was in it for the adventure, not to get rich. And he wasn't cruel or malicious. Those he defeated often got away with their lives and limbs intact. And he detested betrayal. If he gave his word, bar unforeseen circumstances, you could trust him to keep it. Pirate he might have been, but he was as close to honourable as they get. That made him trustworthy enough to have a conversation with, and the tales of his adventures were of great interest to me as a merchant.”

“But he was a monster.”

Rouge looked at her son with grief. To say such a thing with such certainty… no doubt he had heard the tales.

“Not as much as many claim,” she answered helplessly. She wished that words alone were enough to take away the silent despair she could sense in her boy’s words. But she would not lie to him, not about this, even though the truth was that those claims weren’t entirely without cause.

“He certainly doesn’t deserve to be called one,” she added, firmly. Protectiveness roared in her chest, not just for Ace but for Roger as well, for the man she had loved certainly did not deserve to be thought of as a monster by his own son.

Rouge was silent for a moment, searching for the words that might paint Ace an accurate picture of his father. “Roger frightened people, that is true. Not because he was mean or cruel, but because he was so powerful they knew they would not be able to defend themselves against him. That made people uncomfortable, even when Roger swore on his flag that they wouldn't come to harm at his hand. Pirates always have had a bad reputation, and Roger was, without a doubt, a pirate to the bone, even though he was a friendly fool of one most of the time. His kind has always been unusual, so assumptions were made. Most pirates want power and wealth and renown. Roger mostly just wanted adventures and explore the world. He never hurt people who did not provoke him, and while he occasionally raided a merchant ship, he always chose the wealthy ones that could handle a loss and always let people go once he’d gotten what he wanted.”

Ace stared at her for a long moment, something unreadable but cold in his face. His arms were folded over his chest, both mulish and defensive and defiant at once. To Rouge, it looked like he was trying to hold himself together. “But there are all these stories of him destroying armies and such for fun?”

Rouge wanted to sigh, hearing the unspoken denial. Instead she hummed. “Roger could be violent too, of course. Had to be, as a famous pirate, or he would have died before he ever earned his title. Roger liked a good fight, but he preferred making merry with friends. People who were no match for him weren’t interesting enough to try to kill and usually he left them alone. But he would fight like the devil if someone threatened his people. Once his anger had been provoked it didn’t matter to him how powerful or weak his opponents were, and there were unfortunately a lot of people willing to provoke him. Any army that got destroyed did something to earn his wrath.”

She scowled at a blank stretch of wall. “Roger had a lot of rivals after him, and all of the marines too. Often enough, his enemies would follow him into port, and when that happened there was always a lot of destruction and chaos. I know for a fact that if it had been up to Roger those places would never have gotten destroyed. He preferred to fight his enemies on the open sea or in uninhabited areas; somewhere where he wouldn’t ruin the livelihood of people who were friendly to pirates. But most newspapers blamed the destruction that followed all on the pirates and actively demonized Roger, even though the marines were usually the ones to attack first. The government encouraged that those lies by making sure that their version of the events was the only one that got published. Most information the common people held came from the papers, and to this day stories about Roger are popular during boring evenings. And like all tall tales, people added their own twists and embellishments, which is why the stories have only grown worse in telling.”

Rouge hated the look on Ace's face. So resigned, and with such painful disbelief at the suggestion that Roger hadn't been as bad as people painted him as.

Not for the first time, she cursed Garp. If Ace had grown up with her she would have made sure he didn’t think of his own father as a monster. “Everything people know nowadays are mostly lies and twisted truths,” she said softly. “Unlike most, I knew Roger when he was active. I can assure you that everything you hear about him nowadays is wildly exaggerated and pulled out of context. I hope you didn’t pay them too much regard.”

Ace's look was unreadable. He turned away, and from the set of his shoulders, Rouge knew she hadn't convinced him. Her heart ached for her little boy, already with so much defeat written in the lines of his posture.

“Let’s just go,” he said.

Rouge didn’t know what to say. So she decided to abandon the subject of Roger for now. Instead she nodded, and silently led them back to the main road.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

Ace tried to ignore the concerned glances he was getting from Sabo. He knew his brother could read him like a book. He hated that he couldn’t go and take a run in the forest right now.

Inside he was in turmoil. Nothing his mom had said about his father matched with anything he had heard about the man before. He didn’t know how to feel about that. When he was little, he used to go to the bars of the Terminal and Edge Town and ask around. For years he had hoped to hear anything that might prove he wasn’t a monster after all, but he never had. And now here was a woman he didn’t really know, his mother, who told him- well, it wasn’t an outright denial, which was good because he might not trust drunks but he did trust Gramps. But the things she said were possibly what he’d always hoped for, whenever he went around asking. That his dad was scary and strong but not evil. Not a demon. Which might mean that Ace wasn’t evil or a demon. That when people called him a monster child they were talking about his strength, not about all of him.

He'd never gotten what he wanted, until now.

But now he’d finally heard that, he had no idea what to do with it. Today had already knotted him all up inside. His whole self thick and barbed and impossible to untangle as the bramble bushes that grew on the northern slopes of the mountain, and this only made it worse. Made him feel like he was lost in a thorny thistle field, and no matter which way he moved he would suffer the stabs of the sharp spines.

Ace barely noticed them arriving at their destination. There was quite a bit of waiting inside, which left him plenty of time to stew. His mom – and it was still incredibly weird to think that about a living person – was talking to one of the snooty people behind the desks. Two of the scrolls and an amount of money that was likely more than Sabo and he collected in their best year were handed over. His mom didn’t even flinch at giving away such a large sum.

Ace's throat burned, as that was added onto everything else he was already feeling tangled up about. No one had ever willingly spend even a tenth of that for something that benefitted him, and here she did it without a single hesitation, all so they would be able to keep Sabo away from his father.

It was worse because, because- she had to be doing this all for him, right? She couldn’t have done it for Sabo himself because she hadn’t known about Sabo before Ace and Luffy met her, and while she didn’t seem to mind Luffy she had mostly looked tired when they first went to see her, and she hadn't looked like she wanted to help until she realized Ace wasn’t dead.

It had to be all for him, and that- that- Ace couldn’t deal with that.

He didn’t know what the feeling in his chest was, but it ached and burned and felt far too large for his body to contain. He shook with the emotion of it. He resolutely stared at the stupid noble shoes his mom had convinced him to wear and felt his eyes water and threaten to spill over.

He didn’t deserve this. He didn’t deserve her.

“Ace? Are you alright?”

It was Sabo asking, but it were his mother’s eyes that caught his. She looked worried and hesitant, and her hands were reaching out to him again but stopping before they actually touched him.

Her eyes scared him, because they were so concerned, so caring. It hurt and ached, because with each impossible thing that happened or his mother made happen, Ace felt more and more that this was only a very good dream. And he hated that feeling, because for all the pain and hurt and confusion he never wanted this dream to end.

He couldn’t bear the thought of losing his mom and Sabo again, and wake up at the treehouse with only Luffy for company. Even Luffy couldn’t fill the void his mom and Sabo would leave upon waking.

But he couldn’t tell Sabo any of that. Not while his mom was listening. He didn’t want to look like a weak cry-baby in front of his mom.

He quickly wiped at his eyes and sniffed, hoping his mom hadn't noticed.

“’M fine,” he muttered.

Sabo looked like he didn’t believe that one bit.

“Let’s go home then,” his mom said. “We’re finished here.”

That was one of the best suggestions Ace had heard all day.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

In no time they made short work of the disguises and acquired one for Sabo to use. The contents of Sabo's suitcases was dumped out and what he wanted to keep was packed away in an old satchel. It wasn’t much, just a book, a few empty journals and his writing set, which was way better than the one he had in the treehouse. The fancy clothes one of the servants had insisted he packed were sold away to the woman who had rented them the disguises.

“Wouldn’t it be better to give them away to keep her mouth shut?” Sabo asked when they walked out again. “When my father realizes you tricked him he will try to track you down.”

It was a relief to see his brothers looking like they should. Surprisingly, without the disguise the woman looked more like a Foosha villager than a noble. If anything, her clothes reminded him a little of the clothes Miss Makino liked to wear. A practical skirt, shirt and vest, paired with simple but elegant boots. The kind of outfit that was easy to work and walk around and still looked nice. The biggest difference with Makino was that her hair was redone in a long, loose braid and the hair kerchief was missing. There was also a belt with a knife on it, but given that they would travel through the jungle, that wasn’t strange. She looked shockingly ordinary, even though Sabo had personally witnessed the stunt she’d pulled with his father.

Her freckles had caused him to give her a long stare. They were startlingly like Ace's. He guessed that was a good reason for the frankly disgusting amount of makeup she had been wearing.

It was utterly weird, to see his brother’s freckles on an adult woman’s face.

Sabo’s own outfit felt strange and somewhat uncomfortable, but he blended in a lot better with his brothers now, which he supposed was the point. Still, he didn’t really like t-shirts, he decided. The slightly ragged denim jacket was okay, and the trousers weren’t really different from his usual pair, but he missed his usual hat. His top hat with his goggles was safely stored in the satchel, and the cap he had gotten as temporary replacement wasn’t really bad. It just felt weird.

“I already paid her for that,” Ace's mom said. “Giving more would have made her suspicious why I am so desperate to keep our visit quiet. Better to let her think I was just one of her normal customers who wanted to make a good impression on the nobles I was visiting, than to make her wonder what makes me different. Keep that in mind whenever you are bartering for someone’s silence; too much can be just as damaging as too little. That woman is very discrete. Almost all of her clients pay her for her silence, and she keeps it well, or else she wouldn’t have stayed in business as long as she has. I greatly doubt she will give us away. Only the orders of the king himself might make her.”

“Huh,” Sabo said.

Ace and Luffy didn’t verbally react. Luffy because he was Luffy and hadn’t been paying attention, and Ace because something was obviously bothering him. The way he looked at the woman who was his mother made Sabo uneasy. There was far too much vulnerability there. Too much of something that was frighteningly like hope. Ace was never that obvious about his emotions, so this time they had to be particularly bad. He looked like he was only barely able to control them, and that made Sabo uncomfortable.

As glad as it made Sabo to know Ace's mom wasn’t really a noble, he didn’t know this woman. That she put this much effort in getting him away from his parents was a point in her favour, but… well.

Sabo never had good experiences with parents.

If it was Ace's father he wouldn’t worry – at least no more than would be warranted, if the Pirate King would turn up alive – but Ace's mother…

Ace as good as never talked about her before. But the very few times he had…

Sabo worried about his brother.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

Getting out of the city went just as smoothly as they went in, though this time Rouge didn’t need to employ her Haki to convince the guards to let them pass without issue. There was a strange air about the guards, something that reeked of malicious excitement, but Rouge had better things to do than bother herself with whatever the men had planned right now. As long as it didn’t affect her and her boys she didn’t care.

The sun was starting it’s descent to the horizon, and they probably only had two or three hours of light left. Less than that, among the dense foliage of the jungle. Luckily the boys were just as eager to go home – or maybe get away from the city – and they made good time.

Around them, the already uninhabitable trash mountains seemed even more foreboding in the approaching twilight. This was the time for the more dangerous predators of this place to scurry out of their hiding places and bare their teeth at each other. The air itself heavy and pregnant with the potential of violence.

Their progress abruptly halted when near the outskirts of the Grey Terminal, an oily voice came from an alleyway between two particularly steep heaps. “Oi, oi, what have we here? Did the prized heir make a run for it already?”

The boys turned with expressions that told Rouge louder than anything that they knew the speaker, and they did not care for him. There was both hatred and fear there, and though Rouge didn’t really mind the former, the latter fanned her fury.

“Ah! It’s Bluejam!” Luffy exclaimed, an uncharacteristic scowl on his usually cheerful face. All three boys fell in amateurish fighting positions. Luffy and Ace brandished their pipes high.

Rouge felt herself slump just a little. She wanted to go home. Get her son and his brothers somewhere safe were they could process the whole insane, hectic day. Ace and the boys that, through him, were now pretty much her sons too, deserved to rest now and have a good meal. Rouge couldn’t give them that if people kept holding them up.

“Shut up, asshat! We’re taking Sabo back!” Ace snarled. Whatever was bothering him before, it was now funnelled into this confrontation. The fury on his face reminded Rouge of that time when someone was stupid enough to threaten Roger’s cabin boys. With a bit more maturity it would truly be a fearsome expression.

“Will you? Your sound sure of that, boy.” Out of the fetid heaps a balding man in a long coat stepped. Once, the coat had been well made and decorated with gold. Now the blue velvet was ragged and worn thin, and the gold had flaked off, leaving only a patina of filth. The clothes beneath were fit for a beggar and suited this trash-rat thug. He was tall and openly carried guns, and the nonchalant way he did that told her he would not hesitate to kill. His guns were the only well-kept part of him, which told Rouge everything she might want to know about this person. He gave Rouge a single revoltingly appreciative glance and then dismissed her as unimportant.

“And here you were so helpful to me yesterday,” he said to the boys, sighing as if they had greatly disappointed him. “But I suppose me and my men will need to finish the job on our own. And that when there’s only a few hours left. I guess it can’t be helped.”

“Whadda you mean?!” Ace demanded. “Of course we’re not helping you any longer! We don’t need your stinkin’ money!”

“Well, of course you won’t. Didn’t I tell you that I’d have to kill you if you went near that boy again?” he continued, smirking at Ace and Luffy in a way no adult should smirk at a child. Behind Bluejam, more men scurried out of the hidden alleys and hidey-holes like cockroaches. Each was armed with blades and blunt force weapons. Rouge counted nine guns among them. All but a few of the men were fully focused on her boys. The few that weren’t were the kind Rouge loved to castrate.

Rouge's eyes narrowed at the ringleader and straightened her stance. So this was her son’s main adversary. The one who had helped Sabo's father take Sabo away. A washed-up, no-name pirate, who shouldn’t have dared to lift a single finger against Ace, but who nevertheless had caused her son anguish.

This Bluejam had chosen a bad day to reveal himself to her. Today had given her plenty cause for fury, had stoked the flames of rage hot and high, and she had little goodwill left to leash it after having wasted all her patience on those useless nobles. If she’d had wings she would have mantled them over the three boys with her, and bared her fangs at this gutter thug.

Her hand slid to the dagger she carried concealed in the folds of her skirt.

“I wonder,” Bluejam said with a malicious sneer that displayed his badly-kept teeth, “what daddy dearest is willing to pay for a swift return of his boy. Maybe with you two dead he won’t run off again. That’s worth a bonus, I would think. Don’t you?”

With those words, the tension exploded into action, like a loaded spring abruptly unwinding, scything through the air with the whistle of steel.

Chapter Text

With a yell, the three boys lunged forward. Ace and Luffy with their pipes, Sabo with a crooked metal pole he pulled from between the waste around him.

Bluejam grinned nastily, and raised his gun. Around him, his men brandished their weapons, ugly sneers on their faces.

Pure menace fell like a lead blanket over them all. A threat that called to the hindbrain of every living person present. Waking the part that still remembered being nothing but a strange monkey, hearing the tiger roar just a foot away and realizing you were stuck on the ground and would never win the foot race to the tree. A menace that reached the heart of that ancient part of all of them that told them Death itself was among them. All of it focused onto a single, undeniable command;

HALT.

It echoed through every nerve, down every spine. Screamed at all the ancient monkey parts that disobedience was death. Natural selection was here to do its job and movement would be dancing on your chair with your hand raised shouting ‘pick me!’

HALT. DON’T MOVE.

Every single person froze. It was as if the world itself screeched to a standstill.

Even the rats scurrying in the garbage were abruptly silent. Even the flies dropped out of the air in their haste to stop their buzzing. Sabo felt his heart miss a beat, two, and shook. Every muscle in his body had locked in frozen terror. His breathing was suddenly fast and quick and instinctively as silent as he could make it. Their opponents were worse off; some looked like they were too scared to even breathe, while others had collapsed with eyes rolled up and foaming at the mouth. Bluejam himself stood still as a statue, for the first time fully focused on someone other than Sabo and his brothers. His face had gone white as chalk.

“I have had quite enough of this.”

It was said calmly, almost conversationally, but it was edged with tension, like a last nerve about to snap. Underneath, the command still sang.

HALT. DON’T MOVE.

Sabo’s own instincts sang with it, like leaves rattling along with the whistling of the wind. Like the monkey sitting very still and quiet in the short grass, hoping against every bit of common sense that by some miracle the tiger hadn't noticed him.

HALT. DON’T MOVE.

Here is a predator unlike all others. Disobedience is death.

Don’t move. Don’t breathe. Don’t piss her off.

“W-witchc-craft…” one of the least affected ones stuttered with terrified reverence, eyes wide and face ashen, like a monkey that just couldn’t stop himself from letting out a tiny little squeak of fear.

“Witchcraft? That’s not very original of you.”

Haltingly, feeling as if his neck had turned into a rusted and useless hinge, Sabo turned his head. Ace's mom was looking at Bluejam and his gang with an expression that made the hairs on the back of his neck jump to frightened attention. Her lips were curved in a facsimile of a smile.

Sabo shivered. Outwardly it appeared to be a perfectly nice smile, yet despite the frosty friendliness in it, threat hung around her like a dark storm cloud, choking and heavy. An invisible pressure that heralded devastation. Like standing next to a perfectly normal tree when you knew, down to your bones, that lightning was going to strike it in a second.

She stood like a queen among peasants, utterly assured that none would are lift a finger without her command. The first twilight oranges painted the sky and their surroundings, gilding her strawberry-blonde hair with ruby-gold. She loomed like a giant, like certain doom. Stood tall and sure and unmovable as a mountain. Looked at the junkyard pirates like a goddess of the sea might at a dishevelled ship that had haplessly sailed into her storm. No mercy was to be found in her eyes.

Don’t move. Don’t move.

Bluejam was feeling the threat too but rallied himself, which might be the most impressive thing he had ever done in his life. It was the most stupid too.

“Who the hell are you?!” he cried out. His gun was shaking as he shifted the target from Ace to the bigger threat that had presented herself.

“I am Portgas D Rouge. Ace's mother.”

Each and every thug’s face took on the sickly shade of curdled milk. Part of Sabo felt a warm rush of satisfaction at that. His brother’s name was well known. His strength too. And with all of them caught in whatever web Mrs Rouge had spun, it was obvious who had the upper hand here.

Vaguely, he felt a little smug that he knew her name now, and he didn’t even have to ask. But that was a tiny part of him desperately looking for a shred of normality.

In the silence, Ace's mother stepped forward and drew with her knife a single black line in the air.

For a moment, the world held its breath. Then, silent like a sigh, every weapon fell to pieces, cut so cleanly as if they were made already bisected. The sliced-off parts landed with dull thumps on the packed trash beneath their feet. The sound echoed louder than thunder in a bare mountain valley.

The pirates and thugs screamed in panic.

Sabo and his brothers stared.

Okay, Sabo thought shakily. Okay. He had known Ace's mother had weird powers. Had seen it in his father’s office. Was feeling it even now. But that was on a whole other level.

This… this was like the legends of the power of the Pirate King himself.

For the first time since meeting the woman, he actually considered what it meant, that she used to be the Pirate King’s wife.

Fear ran cold prickly fingers over his spine at the casual display of power.

It was the last straw for Bluejam’s men. Their knees hit the ground in echo of their broken weapons. They put up their empty hands, each of them trembling like a reed. “M-mercy,” the bravest one croaked.

Around Mrs Rouge the sense of threat intensified to the point that Sabo had a hard time breathing. Bluejam, who was getting the full brunt, was sweating like a pig and getting somehow increasingly pale, despite the already ghostly shade he sported before. Any more and he would simply fade away into nothingness.  

“Mercy? After you raised your weapons against my sons? My own children?” Mrs Rouge walked forward calmly, as if she was taking a stroll in a garden instead of approaching the pirates that had been the unopposed rulers of the trash heaps since the day they landed on Dawn’s shores. Like the unhurried tread of a tigress, knowing her prey knew they were already caught. The knife – a double-edged dagger, Sabo saw – was more threatening in her hand than the biggest gun in existence.

“P-please…”

“Give me one good reason,” Mrs Rouge said softly, “Why I shouldn’t gut you like the pigs you are right now.”

The pirate’s Adam's apple bobbed. “We’ll… we’ll leave,” the man promised desperately. “We’ll leave and won’t bother you or your boys anymore. We’ll even pay you, just, please, h-have mercy, we don’t wanna die…”

“RAAAH!” All attention snapped to Bluejam, who apparently had lost the last of his marbles, if the wild, maniacal look in his eyes was any indication. He pulled a large dagger from his belt and stormed at Ace's mom with the single-mindedness of an enraged bull. “TO HELL WITH YOU, WENCH! I DON’T FLEE FOR NO WOMAN!”

“Then die,” Mrs Rouge said dispassionately, stepping forward to meet him.

Her dagger met his. His sprung apart in two pieces. Hers continued, trailing black like a dark comet.

There was the sound of a short but sharp rain shower.

This time, the thumps were a lot weightier.

Sabo hastily looked away and yanked Luffy and Ace around too for good measure. They went easily, just as much in shock as he was.

They had killed and gutted prey often enough, witnessed murders and muggings plenty of times here in the Terminal. But this felt different.

This time, it wasn’t just any dumb animal, and it wasn’t just any normal sort of killing. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to see what her black cutting attack did to a human body.

He focused instead on Bluejam’s crew. Most were praying desperately for salvation, crying and watching Mrs Rouge as if the sea itself had risen up to swallow them whole.

Mrs Rouge looked them as if they were less significant than worms. “Leave this island,” she commanded, and her voice brooked not even the thought of argument. The command was echoed by the air itself, like thunder after lightning. “Never return. And if you ever bring trouble to me or my children again, I will personally come to carve out your worthless rotten tongues and feed your corpses to the sea. Now get out of my sight before I change my mind!”

LEAVE. NEVER RETURN.

“And take your trash with you!” she shouted after them as the first made a break for it faster than Sabo had ever seen anyone run. The ones who had been slower to rise hastily grabbed their downed comrades and fled too. Two even had the presence of mind to pick up the remains of Bluejam.

Within mere seconds, all that was left of the confrontation were broken weapons and  the fresh red stains on the ground.

Sabo was left unable to do anything but stare.

Mrs Rouge huffed. The sound was so normal Sabo heard himself let out a somewhat hysterical giggle. He immediately yanked himself back under control and breathed in deeply. He slowly let the breath he’d been holding escape, the way he had learned to do whenever he desperately needed to calm himself down, and was relieved to feel some of the tension in his body dissipate. He still couldn’t take his eyes off her. He could almost see it when she let her strange power go. She went from toweringly tall and as impossible to resist as the ocean itself to a normal ordinary woman again, even though there were not visible changes. The looming air that whispered threatthreatthreat to every single hair he had at the back of his neck finally eased.

“There,” Mrs Rouge said with satisfaction as she sheathed her dagger again. “Those shouldn’t be a problem anymore.”

Beside him, Sabo felt his brothers stir. Ace let out a huff not unlike his mother before, and swung his pipe a few times as if he was trying to shake his arms loose, or maybe was imagining a few thuggish faces as targets. Sabo knew that nonchalance was more a front than anything, an attempt to claw back control the way his own careful breaths were. On his other side, he could feel Luffy’s excitement rise like a balloon now the unnatural pressure was gone.

Sabo himself didn’t stop his silent, wide-eyed staring.

Mrs Rouge's brow furrowed a little. “Sabo?”

“Teach me how to do that,” Sabo breathed.

For the first time, Mrs Rouge laughed out loud. The sound was nothing like Sabo’s own mother’s awful tittering. This was kinder. Heartier. Happier. A bit like Makino and a bit like Luffy, but mostly like Ace in the rare moments his brother fully relaxed and let himself be.

It rang like bells in the fading silence, like a brook starting up again after a long drought. Involuntarily, his spine and shoulders loosened.

Sabo suddenly choked a little as some of her words belatedly registered. “Wait. Did you call all of us your children?!”

Mrs Rouge startled a little and gave him an assessing look. Fascinated, he saw spots of pink appear on her cheeks. She straightened and gave him a challenging look, arms folded over each other in a stance that was startling reminiscent of his brother’s more stubborn moods. “Ace claims you as his brothers. That makes you my sons as well,” she declared, as if it should have been obvious.

Sabo gaped at her.

Ace did too.

The only one who did not was Luffy. He just nodded as if that made perfect sense to him, looking delighted as he did so. “That’s so cool, I’ve never had a mom before!” he exclaimed, cannonballing into her arms.

Mrs Rouge laughed again and caught him as if he weighted no more than the baby rodents Sabo occasionally found amidst the trash. “I’m glad that makes you happy, Luffy. I hope I’ll be a good mom to you three.”

She got a bright shishishi in return.

Ace fidgeted. Sabo almost wanted to laugh, because Ace looked part as if he’d been slapped with a fish, and part envious of Luffy’s easy affection. Though whether he was jealous of his mother or his little brother Sabo couldn’t guess. It was a pity he was still too stunned by that declaration himself. He wasn’t sure how he felt about it.

It was… it was a lot to process, especially because Mrs Rouge claimed him too, even though he already had a mother! And sure, Mrs Rouge already had proven to be better than his own parents. And sure, she couldn’t be worse than Dadan, and the old hag was pretty okay for all that she shouted at them a lot…

But he wasn’t sure he actually wanted a real mom again. It felt somewhat insulting, to be asked to depend on a stranger when they did perfectly well on their own. Dadan and the bandits barely helped them and they were fine. Couldn’t she be like Miss Makino and just give them some stuff? That would be so much easier to deal with.

He hadn't forgotten that by law, he was hers to do with as she pleased. He didn’t know the details of the contract, but he knew that much at least. And she would be a lot harder to get away from than his own parents, that much was obvious.

He carefully didn’t look at Bluejam’s bloodstains. But he couldn’t unsee his memories.

Yeah, he thought. If Mrs Rouge turned out worse than his own parents, they really would be in trouble.

And Sabo didn’t even know the exact terms of his supposed apprenticeship yet.

Right now Mrs Rouge’s own copy was neatly tucked away in her bag, but Sabo resolved to steal and read it at the earliest opportunity. He wanted to know exactly what his father agreed to in regards to him.

But he couldn’t ask that.

“Are you sure they won’t cause trouble anymore?” Sabo asked Mrs Rouge in lieu of anything better to say. He really wanted to believe her after this display, but… “What if they tell my father? Or other pirates?”

“And admit they were terrified of a single woman with three kids?” Mrs Rouge said with a smile. “I don’t think their pride would bear it. At worst they will twist the story so much to preserve their pride that no one will be able to recognize us from it. And even if one of them does talk with Outlook, there is not much they can do. The contract with Outlook is airtight and if someone tries to charge me with neglect I would challenge them to ask around. They can probably come up with a good collection of all the unusual things I’ve done for a profit without much difficulty. As any merchant would tell him: if he doesn’t like my methods he should have done more research before signing. So don’t worry. I won’t let him force you back again.”

She hoisted the still clinging Luffy upon her hip and held out her free hand at Ace and Sabo.

“Come now. Daylight won’t last forever, and we still have a way to go before we can sit down.”

For lack of other options, Sabo followed his brothers’ example silently. But he made sure to keep a sharp eye on her.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

Ace walked along with his mom in a daze, one hand clutched in hers, his other tight around Sabo's hand. It didn’t even occur to him that they might make a childish picture.

It was… it was really happening, wasn’t it? They got Sabo back. They got Sabo back from his father and even Bluejam hadn't been able to take him away again. The big pirate and his crew had lost the moment his mom stepped in. Before the noon tomorrow, everyone in Grey Terminal will have heard. No one sane was gonna try to steal Sabo from them again.

They were taking Sabo home.

It felt unreal. Ace's whole self shivered at the thought that it might be, and he quickly pushed it away.

Ace hadn't believed his mom when she said she could get Sabo back, and hadn't been able to take her seriously when she said there wasn’t anyone who could steal Sabo from them by force. But after this, after his mom defeated Bluejam’s entire gang without breaking a sweat, he could believe it. He could believe Sabo was really back, and no one would take him away again.

He hadn't thought his mom could do it, but she had.

And it had been so… so easy. So easy for her, when Ace and Luffy had struggled and struggled and all they had accomplished was nearly getting shot.

Something very much like envy sat hot and heavy in his gut, but Ace tried his best to shove it aside. It was his mom. She had promised to each them her tricks, so it was alright, it was fine that Ace hadn't been able to get Sabo back himself. Once he had learned his mom’s tricks he would be able to beat the nobles himself.

Ace could cry, he was so happy.

Mostly though, he just felt exhausted. His head too full. His body heavy in ways it shouldn’t be, even after a few nights of bad sleep. It wasn’t like they’d had to fight really hard today, so why was he so tired?

It was hard to think right now, but he had his mom and his brothers, and their hands were steady in his, gently pulling him along. So he didn’t bother trying to think and just let his mom take the lead.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

Rouge guided her boys through the forest, and tried not let her heart rule her actions.

Rouge felt them slip through her fingers, sure as sand from the beach. With their brother safe and evening falling, she knew that the children’s first impulse would be to return to whatever place they usually stayed the night. And that, that was something that made her heart clench. She knew herself, and from the short time she had spent with Ace, she had the feeling he had inherited more from her than just her freckles.

She’d always disliked confrontations with people she loved. She did it, but it had taken time and some harsh lessons to learn to stop putting them off. Ace… if she wasn't careful, he might run from her and not come back. Who knew how long it would take before he stopped avoiding her? Who knew how his doubts and insecurities would twist his thoughts on her if left alone? Now she had him she didn’t want to let him go. Her boy was so hurt and unsure, she wanted to hold him and keep him near, not wait for him to come back to her without knowing if he ever would. What if he was happy already where he was? He might never feel the need to seek her out again. She didn’t know what his life was like beyond the bare bones he had given her, but her heart clenched at the thought of letting him leave regardless.

It didn’t help that she had come to love the other two as well.

Luffy, who had all the brightness and optimism Ace sorely needed in his life. Whose love for his older brothers was the definition of unconditional. Whose carefree smile and cheery thirst for adventures reminded her of her own beloved. Whose easy trust had left him snoring on her shoulder, as if she had carried him like this a hundred times before.

And Sabo, who was wary as a street cat but so obviously cared about Ace despite his own hurts that Rouge had to resist hugging him. The way Ace clung to the blond boy made clear that Sabo was his most trusted confidant and his staunchest support. The young blond had all the caution towards her that Luffy was incapable of and Ace couldn’t muster with his own emotional state being what it was right now. The set of his shoulders and the faint frown between his eyebrows told her louder than anything that he was watching her for the slightest hint of ill intent, as reliably and carefully as a seasoned first mate would watch the back of his captain.

The three of them together were incredibly endearing and Rouge was glad Ace had found such perfect brothers for himself. Even now, stumbling with tiredness as they were, the love these three shared shone bright like a beacon.

Rouge knew that if Roger and she had ever been able to have more children, she would have wanted them to be like Sabo and Luffy. In her mind, she could hear her beloved laugh with glee at the prospect of stealing them for their own.

She prayed she would be able to make that fantasy a reality.

They had taken the jungle trails instead of the Main Road to discourage pursuers. None seemed to follow them. Still, Rouge preferred not to wait around and find out if her feelings were right, and was steadily marching home. But she knew from the way the boys observed their surroundings that this area was far more familiar to them than the Road. And each step reminded them of their own home.

Rouge resisted the urge to pick all three of them up and run all the way back to her cottage. It was irrational and it would only damage the fragile trust between them. But it was hard. So hard.

And became even harder when Sabo suddenly halted.

Ace halted with him. Rouge glanced back at the blond boy. Sabo had paused at the split in the trail they just passed, as if expecting them to veer off into the forest. From the look on his face, he fully expected each of them to go their own way here. Ace hesitated as well, uncertain about following her, instead of going home to wherever they usually went. His gaze oscillated between them in indecision.

Rouge glanced at the path splitting off from the trail they had been following. It was the kind mostly used by deer, or, in this case it seemed, by young boys. It was leading further up the mountain, and away from both Goa and her home.

The two boys were sharing looks that filled her with dread.

Rouge's hand had tightened on Ace’s before she realized it. Looking into her son’s eyes, she couldn’t for the life of her make her fingers relax. Because his look- oh, she hated that look. So uncertain and unsure. Shy and hesitant and so full of doubt. She wanted to wrap him up and hold him close so bad it hurt. He was hers and hurting and if she let go, would she ever see him again? She didn’t dare risk him running. Didn’t dare risk him avoiding her, when things between them were still so very fragile.

She was frightening, she knew. So powerful compared to them. Her Will so much greater and more practiced, even though it was rusty from a decade of inactivity.

It frightened herself a little too. Ten years, and it had been so very long since she wanted something as much as this, as much as Ace and his brothers. So long since her desires were so strong, pulsing like the heart of a volcano within her, like waves beating on the shore. It was a blaze where for ten years had only rested cold ashes, and the heat was pressing against her insides like a living thing.

There was a dragon in her heart, and for the first time in a decade it was awake. It was a great and terrible beast, whose fire burned down a dozen cities with one breath, and levelled mountains with a sweep of its mighty tail, and it’s wings were a storm on themselves. She had almost forgotten what it was like, to have that great hunger yawning around her heart, to have those claws try to reach through her chest for that which she desired, to have those wings beat up winds till it felt like she could soar from the pressure billowing against her chest. It was awake, her Will, and it was wholly focused on these three boys. Her boys, for her heart had already claimed them, and her longing was far too strong to ever deny her desire. 

She feared that if she let go everything she had gained in these far too short hours would slip between her fingers and leave her cold and broken and bereft once more. The draconic greed in her twisted and fought against the mere thought of that happening.

She couldn’t. She couldn’t. If Ace wanted loose of her, he had to pull himself loose.

But she wasn't going to pull on him either. Because her son was wild and proud and hurting, a dragon in his own right, and she refused to become something he might hate. So she held herself still, and did the hardest thing she had ever done: she waited for her son to choose.

In the end, Ace didn’t pull himself away. Didn’t insist she handed over Luffy. Just shared a long glance with his brother, an entire conversation passing unspoken, before they continued to follow her gentle tug towards her home.

Her breath, that had halted in her lungs, slowly stuttered out again.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

Home was awkward. Was stilted silences and uncomfortable shifting as she invited the three in and offered them free reign with the snacks she had on hand. Luffy’s little nap had done nothing to dull his appetite, and whatever the older boys were thinking, it didn’t stop them from eating. The cookies were gone in a blink, and the dried meats only lasted longer because they took more time to chew. Her dried fruits and crackers were suffering significant losses too.

All the while, the boys didn’t say a word, and Rouge herself was unsure how to start a conversation.

It was easy to act when the path to their goal had been clear. But what kind of actions would get these boys to trust her? They were all wild things, that much was clear to her. How did you convince three wild children to stay, when you barely had the patience to keep yourself from holding them close? Too much and they would surely flee from her.

The stakes were so high, but she was determined to win her son’s heart back. To win the trust she would already have had if they hadn't been separated, and to earn herself the right to embrace him whenever she desired. She was his mother. His affection was hers by right. All she had to do was convince him it was safe to give it to her. To give in to her and let her take care of him. She would keep him safe and would do everything in her power to make him happy. All he had to do was let her.

And the other two, well, she had no right to them, but she would snap them up in an instant anyway. Ace had claimed them as his brothers, so indirectly they were already hers. All they had to do was give her their trust and she would give them everything she had to offer in return.

She wanted it so badly she very nearly shook with it.

Ace was the key here, she knew. Luffy was already halfway attached and Sabo would keep his distance until he was surer of her, but Ace was the one who had the most connection to her. Out of the three he was the one who had the emotionally investment in getting to know her. Ace was the one for whom she’d done all this and she was sure they knew it. They were too smart not to know.

Ace was the one with the highest stake in this after her. If she could get him to stay the other two would be far easier to convince too.

And the first step… the first step was to actually speak with him. Speak with him without schemes and plots getting in the way.

Setting her last few plates of fresh fruits and crackers down, she turned to where her boys were sitting, holding each other close.

Sitting down with them was more terrifying than diving to Fishman Island for the first time. But she had done that once with joy in her heart, and she certainly would do this, even though her heart was full of trepidation this time.

They watched her sit, each in their own way.

Luffy, with a sleepy contentedness that was only kept from being true sleep by the promise of more food.

Sabo, with the wariness of an alley cat and the sharp eye of someone who knew the danger of interested adults all too well.

And Ace…

Ace was a mirror of her own feelings. Hope and fear and exhaustion. This day had been tumultuous for the both of them. Even now, she felt the urge to pinch herself, and she was certain that for Ace it was no different. There were several badly hidden red marks on his arm to prove it.

She knelt down on one of the cushions close to them. She deliberately did not put the table between them, because this was not a negotiation, but she longed for the familiarity of it all the same. She folded her hands in her lap and resisted the urge to fidget.

“Are the three of you okay?”

“We’re fine,” Sabo said curtly, eyes wary and sharp.

Rouge did not miss how the blond not-so-subtly placed himself between her and his brothers.

“Why wouldn’t we be fine? We got Sabo back!” Luffy replied with a giggle. One arm was still firmly wrapped around Sabo's waist, and he did not seem inclined to let go any time soon.

Rouge smiled at the youngest boy, but her attention was caught by Ace, who looked wide-eyed and startled at her question. As if an adult inquiring after his health was a strange and unusual thing.

Rouge very carefully buried the flare of anger she felt at that out of sight.

“It’s good to hear that you are well, Sabo and Luffy. What about you Ace? Are you okay?”

Ace's eyes darted frantically around for a moment before he dropped his gaze to his lap. “I’m fine,” he said quickly, sounding rather like he would prefer it if Rouge never asked after his health ever again.

Rouge fidgeted. It was so hard to start a conversation when you didn’t know where to begin.

So she fell back to her tried and true method: straightforwardness.

“Ace, I… I know we didn’t really get time to talk, before. But, um, if you want, we could talk now?”

“Ah. Uh… okay?” there was a silence, in which they both awkwardly stared at the floor.

Rouge let out an ungainly laugh, running a hand through her hair. Figures they both have the same troubles. It is both painful and wonderful to see herself reflected in her son. Speaking of Roger had been simple compared to this. Herself? That was a whole other matter.

But this was her son, and though she always felt uncomfortable doing this, she knew that she would have to discuss both their feelings now too. This talk was too important to leave them out.

“Ah, this is so difficult,” she said, to reassure him and herself both. It seemed they both had the same struggles, but given she had more experience with them, it was only fair that she would be the one to try and bridge the heavy silence. “I’m not… Not very good at this, forgive me. My first mate always made fun of me for having so little difficulty with talking to strangers, but getting all tongue tied over talking about difficult things with people I care about. But I really want to talk to you, even though I don’t know where to begin. So I thought, maybe you have a question you want to ask? I know you got many, but, um, if you want, please ask them. I want to answer them, I swear. I will answer them. You deserve that at the very least from me.”

Ace fidgeted, rolling his pipe between his hands. He bit his lips and stared at one of the feet of the table she had brought so long ago from her parents’ home all the way onto her ship and later to here. It was such a simple thing, but it had seen the world with her. The clumsily carved patterns along the edge and legs were a tangible memory of her late father, and the polish even now reminded of her mother patiently kneading flour and water into dough just a short distance away in the kitchen while Rouge busied herself with whatever tinkering she felt like; of both her parents and herself carefully tending their ledgers here. For her, it had always been a place to figure things out on.

Ace didn’t know the significance of the patterns his eyes traced in his indecision. Didn’t know it was his own grandfather’s work, didn’t see his own grandmother’s hands whose everyday activities had polished the wood that smooth, the echo of both their hands that had left the scratches and dents in its surface, overlaid by the scratches and dents and ink stains Rouge left herself. Rouge prayed she would have the chance to tell him.

Maybe Ace could feel that hope from her. Roger had always been good at that, for all that he was as subtle as a seaking otherwise. She hoped he was. It was a good gift to have, even though it would be burdensome for someone whose parentage was as hated as his.

“Why… why are you here?” Ace asked plaintively.

Why don’t I know you? went unsaid, but not unheard. Why didn’t you raise me?

Her heart broke, hearing the unspoken questions. “I… before I explain I want to make one thing absolutely clear, okay?” Because she could see a little of the shape of it, a little of the pain he carried with him, in the far too few hours they have spent together now. And there was one thing she refused to leave unspoken, because she couldn’t bear the thought he didn’t know. “I wanted to be there for you. I wanted to raise you. I didn’t keep you hidden for so long just to give up on you after. I wanted to, and I still want to. Me not being there for you,” she swallowed the lump that threatened to form in her throat, “it was never my choice to do so. Do you understand that?”

Sabo glanced between her and Ace. Luffy seemed uncharacteristically serious, but maybe it wasn’t so surprising, since Ace was clearly someone very dear to him.

As for Ace himself… he looked like he had one boulder of a lump in his throat as well. A red flush graced his cheeks. Rouge wasn’t sure it was out of embarrassment or something else, and she wouldn't presume. Finally, he nodded.

Rouge nodded as well. Suddenly, this whole situation was far too painful, and she glanced out of the window before she could start crying over everything she wished he knew already. All the things he should know already by right. That he didn’t sat like a massive bruise on her heart and lungs.

“I… uh, I’m not entirely sure how much you know already, so I’ll just start from the beginning.” A small smile flitted over her face. “Well, not entirely, that is a very long story and has to wait for later.” Because for all that she wanted to tell Ace about his father, that topic had already proven to be sensitive one. Better to wait till she had a better idea on how to approach him, or until Ace gathered the courage to ask.

“When I was pregnant with you, things were… difficult. I knew from the very moment I realized I was carrying you that things wouldn’t be easy. Roger had been ill for years by that time-” she saw Ace startle at that, and was once again disappointed in Garp. Garp knew of Roger’s circumstances. He should have told Ace. Setting her anger aside for the moment, she continued, “-which is one of the reasons why the marines got to execute him at all. Roger had turned himself in rather than wait for them to hunt him down. He knew they would make a show of killing him, and he was okay with that. He only regretted that he would never get to see you born, but with his illness, that wasn’t a guarantee regardless. We both had hoped that with his death, the marines’ focus on him and any possible children would die down.”

Rouge took a deep breath. “We miscalculated. We thought we knew how the World Government thought. We didn’t realize that some people in that organisation had become obsessed with Roger and his legacy. Instead of them focussing all their power on containing the surge in piracy and all the big names jockeying for Roger’s title, they instead focused on trying to destroy anyone who was connected to Roger.”

“The Baterilla Bloodbath,” Ace whispered, voice breaking.

Rouge's heart broke with him. “So you know about that, huh? That sea-soaked idiot, why did he think that was a good idea-“ she harshly bit any stronger words back. Not now. Focus on the story. “Yes. Those trice-cursed cowards. They went after any child that might possibly be his, making huge assumptions on the age of any offspring Roger might have had, and they found hundreds of possible candidates. Baterilla is the most famous, but there were more places where they did similar, all because Roger might have lingered there for a while.”

She glanced at Sabo and Luffy. Sabo looked downright sick, while Luffy was frowning like a tiny thunder god, which was so against his normal sunny deposition Rouge would have smiled if the topic wasn’t so heavy. “For your understanding, Baterilla is a pretty large island. It’s about twice as big as this one, and more densely populated. Baterilla wasn’t the only island the marines occupied in that area, because there is a very large thriving sea trade between Baterilla and nearby islands.”

“What the marines didn’t know when they shut all movements and communications down, was that they did have Roger’s wife and child in their net. And I wasn’t going to let them find out.” She looked at her son, and wished she could spare him the heartbreak she could see in his eyes. She refused to let the guilt stand though. She had seen that look far too often in the mirror, and at least she had been able to choose how to handle what happened. Had had a choice back then and made it, even though it ached like a bleeding wound to this day.

“Ace, my choices have always been my own. I chose to keep and hide you. No one should have had to pay for Roger’s crimes but Roger himself. The World Government and the marines chose to escalate things. The guilt for the slaughter lies squarely on their shoulders. They didn’t have to pursue a dead man’s unborn child. They didn’t need to slaughter anyone unlucky enough to not have an airtight alibi for their baby. They didn’t need to slaughter children, period. Roger was the first of his family that chose to become a pirate in at least three generations. My family, if they went the criminal route, never did so openly. There was no reason for them to assume any child of his would continue what he started. Yet they chose to prosecute you as if you already had. That is not your fault, understand?”

“But… I almost killed you. If I hadn’t been born-“

“That wasn’t your decision,” Rouge snapped. “I made that for you. You were an unborn child, Ace, just a little baby. You didn’t have any choice! It was my choice to put my life on the line, and I will never regret it. You are my son! No damn marine gets to decide whether you get to live or not, no matter what it costs me!"

She took a deep, steading breath, forcing herself back to calm. “And it wouldn’t have mattered anyway,” she added wretchedly. “The marines didn’t have proof, just rumours. Rumours are a dime a dozen and easier started than a fire in dry grass, especially one as juicy as this. They would have searched for Roger’s child whether a child was there to find or not. That bloodbath would have happened even if I had never gotten pregnant with you. There was nothing any of us could have done to stop it.”

Even now, that thought sat like bitter bile at the back of her throat.

It was only thanks to her reputation of sinking any damn pirate who dared bother her that the marines hadn’t looked too closely at her. Without the mask she had upheld so religiously during her entire carrier, she would have been caught. It still shook her, knowing how close she had been at times to abandoning the façade. How close she had been to flippantly throwing away the very thing that had ended up protecting her and Ace the most.

But all the effort had proven itself to be worth it in the end.

It was the only reason why Ace had escaped the marine’s scrutiny. Because by the time Rouge knew what was going to happen, what the Gorosei had ordered, Ace was already old enough to have a presence. Barely, but it had been there. If any of their Haki specialists had looked to closely, if any of the Cipher Poll members she knew had been among the horde of marines stationed near her had taken a moment to probe deeper than surface level, then she and Ace wouldn’t be sitting here. She wouldn’t have gone down easily but with the strength of some of those present, she would have been too tired to flee effectively even if she did successfully defeat all present forces, and after that it would only have been a matter of time before she was hunted down and executed.

It still filled her with bitter fury, left poison and acid on her tongue knowing that to save her son’s life, she had to stand aside as hundreds lost their own.

But she was a D. Always and forever. And if there was one thing she wasn’t capable of, it was sacrificing one of her own for the sake of strangers. She couldn’t.

But that didn’t mean she hadn’t wept, hadn’t screamed and cried her horror to the sea after the marines finally left.

Rouge breathed in deeply, trying to calm the fire licking at her insides, and pushed back the tears that threatened to spill. She wanted to rage so badly at the injustice of her son carrying the guilt for those massacres on his far too young shoulders. She wanted so badly to rip and tear at anyone who had let her son walk around with those toxic beliefs. Garp and whoever took care of him were going to face her wrath for letting this happen, later. Right now she was talking with her son and his brothers.

She held onto that thought with both hands, and brought herself back in equilibrium. Patience. Calm. These boys didn’t deserve to witness this anger.

“There was nothing any of us could have done,” Rouge repeated bleakly. “I know some of Roger’s crew publicly denied him ever having had a lover, but the marines seemed to interpret that as a confession instead. It only fuelled the marines’ bloodlust. I know of a brave friend who tried to end the slaughter by claiming she was the one Roger loved, but all that did was get her brutally murdered, and even then the marines didn’t believe they had gotten the one they had been searching for. So many people tried, not for me or Roger, but for themselves and their loved ones, but nothing anyone did stopped the massacres. Only when the marines had spilled enough blood to paint the Red Line red in truth was their bloodlust finally sated. By that time I was so weakened from prolonging my pregnancy that I had to entrust you to Garp when he came to visit. It was he who told me you had died during the voyage. It was only today that I realized he’d lied to me.”

She looked into Ace's teary eyes, silently imploring him to believe her. “I swear, Ace, if I had known you lived there would have been no power in the world that would have kept me from you.”

“That’s horrible,” Sabo whispered. “What the marines did-“ He cut himself off. He had a pained expression on his face when he looked at Ace shaking in Luffy’s clinging embrace, and wrapped his arms around him too.

“It is,” Rouge acknowledged. “But Ace, what the marines did- that is not your responsibility. Neither is it mine or Roger’s. The marines chose to be monsters. They chose to murder countless innocents. No one forced that on them. Not you, not me, not Roger. If we could have, we would have stopped them. So never feel guilty for their crimes. Do you hear me?”

Slowly, and with tears spilling down his face and horrible little choked off sobs escaping from between the hands he had pressed to his eyes, Ace nodded.

Throwing caution to the wind, she stood up and knelt before the bundle of boys and pulled them into her arms. Because there was a time for caution and there was a time where you had to trust your heart to lead you right.

Her son was bleeding on the inside, and she’d be damned if she didn’t try to stem the flow.

Neither Ace nor Luffy struggled as she pulled them into her embrace. Sabo slipped out of her grasp, exactly as wary of touch as the alley cat she had compared him to in her thoughts. But he didn’t try to stop her from taking Ace and Luffy, and for that she was glad.

She was so very selfishly glad that her weeping son burrowed into her embrace instead of shy away from her.

“It’s alright, Ace,” she whispered softly in his hair, running gentle fingers through the tangled strands. She felt herself start to cry as well and hugged the two boys tightly. “I’m here now. It’s okay, I’m here for you. I’m never letting the marines lay a hand on you, I promise.”

She kissed his head, and then Luffy’s head as well. “I’m going to take care of all three of you,” she promised, “and no one will be allowed to hurt any of you again.”

Ace clutched her tighter, fingers digging into her side. Luffy wound his arms around them.

So they sat and cried, all three together with their fourth sitting close by like a small guardian.

They took a long time to calm down.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

“So… what now?” Sabo quietly asked. Ace and Mrs Rouge were no longer weeping, only quietly sniffling, but he still felt like he was intruding.

Sabo still had trouble processing what had happened. Crazy enough that someone had succeeded in taking him away from his father without violence – well, much violence anyway; Bluejam had shitty timing and Sabo wasn’t really sorry to have him gone – but Mrs Rouge was Ace's mom, who Ace had  thought was dead, while she had thought Ace was dead. Only neither of them were, and now he had been rescued, and now none of them knew what to do.

She had made his brother cry, which would have had him try to bash her head in under any other circumstances. But Sabo had the uncomfortable feeling that Ace really needed a good cry with his mom.

He still hated Ace's sobs. Luffy crying was one thing, he cried and whined about a lot of things and rarely ever really meant it, but Ace…

Ace crying made Sabo want to kill something.

But despite his misgivings Sabo halfway liked Mrs Rouge already, even though she was dangerous and trouble and really wasn’t the kind of person any of them should get mixed up in. She had told Ace stuff his brother had been wanting to hear for a very long time.

She was confusing, Mrs Rouge was. Scary and friendly and helpful and deadly all wrapped up together. It was enough to make anyone’s head hurt.

Mrs Rouge held out her hand at him.

Sabo stared at the woman who was holding Ace and Luffy with more care than he had ever seen anyone direct at his brothers. Gentler even than Makino held Luffy whenever their rubber idiot jumped on her without giving a single thought of knocking her over.

More care than Sabo ever received from his own mother in all the years he had lived with his parents.

Numb, he reached out, not really expecting anything from it. But Mrs Rouge grabbed his hand and pulled him into her lap right beside Ace and Luffy, the latter who needed no encouragement and wriggled his arms around him with zero hesitation. Ace and his mother were already fully tangled up.

She was very warm. With his brothers beside him and in the embrace of a woman who could steal from nobles and defeat pirates with ease, Sabo couldn’t help but feel safe. That was more upsetting than he expected.

Sabo had held himself together well enough through his brother’s grief, but now he felt like crying himself. He hated that a simple touch could do that.

Unlike his brothers, he was silent when he hid his face among the warm bodies around him.

They sat like that for a while. Tension and hesitance slowly unwinding as Mrs Rouge held them close. Held them safe within her embrace.

But they were jungle children, and soon enough antsy energy itched beneath their skin. Mrs Rouge did not resist as they pulled away. Instead she held out a couple of handkerchiefs for Ace and Sabo to use and helped Luffy wipe his face.

“Now what?” Sabo found the courage to repeat as he self-consciously wiped the traces of his own breakdown from his face.

“Now,” Ace’s mom said with a voice still thick from tears and a stuffed nose, “I’m going to make dinner, and you can help me if you want. After that…” she swallowed, and pulled back far enough to cradle Ace’s face to look him in the eyes. Her thumbs brushed the worst of the tear tracks away. “We’ll sleep, and then we need to talk. Talk more, I mean. Because I want to keep you, I really want to keep all three you… But you’re old enough to have your own wishes.”

She met all of their eyes with a gravity that left Sabo a little breathless.

Ace’s eyes were wide and just a little wild. His fingers were still tangled in the fabric of his mother’s shirt. “I- I don’t know,” he said, with just a bit of a wail left in his voice.

“That is fine. That is fine.” She choked out a laugh that sounded a little awful. “I think we all need some time to come to terms with things.”

And if that wasn’t an understatement, Sabo didn’t know what was.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

True to her word, his mom gave them a good dinner. Ace followed her into the kitchen and together with Sabo helped chop all the meat and vegetables. While Sabo retreated back to Luffy after they were done to make sure their youngest hadn't gotten himself in trouble during his nap somehow, Ace stayed to watch his mom quickly stir-fry the impressive amount of food and set a huge pot of noodles on boil.

His fingers were tangled in her skirt. His entire self felt too unsteady to let go of her now.

Ace hated it. He felt childish and pathetic. He was clinging like cry-baby Luffy, constantly following her around while she finished making the meal. Like Luffy had once followed him.

What if she felt about it like he had? What if she hated his clinginess? What if she hated having his eyes on her constantly?

He hated that he couldn’t get himself to stop.

He wanted to. He really wanted to. He wasn’t a clingy cry-baby like Luffy. But the monstrous part of him rebelled whenever he tried to let go. It was roaring at him to grab his brothers too, but with Sabo here to back him up, Ace could trust that his brothers would be fine.

His mother still felt too much like a fever dream for him to dare let go of her. For him to dare risk that she wasn’t real after all.

But his mom didn’t frown or yell over his clinginess. Didn’t act annoyed or upset. She just smiled at him, bright and wide. Like the best of Luffy’s smiles. Like Sabo, when he forgot to worry about his family or their food or money, when they were done sparring and were breathless with the rush. Genuinely happy, even with the watery sheen to her eyes every time she looked at him.

When she reached out to him in between the sprinkling of the seasoning and the stirring of the pots he saw her hesitate. Ace quickly grasped her hand like he was about to fall off a cliff if he didn’t. She pulled him close, and Ace, despite himself, burrowed against her. Ashamed of acting like a scared baby animal, but not being able to stop it.

(He didn’t want to.)

Every time he expected her to hate him or push him away, yet every time she greeted him with a smile. Even after he had cried on her several times already!

He didn’t know if it was allowed, to want to be close to your mother so often.

He was a thief raised by bandits, and one of the terrors of the Terminal. He was used to taking what he wanted. He just didn’t know how to take this. Didn’t know how to accept what she was offering, instead of him having to steal it from her. He didn’t know why it felt so much better to receive her attention without having to play pretend or demand to get it.

He didn’t know a lot of things. All he knew that he didn’t want his mom to disappear.

The beastly, monstrous part of him purred at the attention, hoarding it like a dragon with gold, endlessly demanding more. It drove him close to her, into her orbit. It wanted to take and take and take, take everything she would offer. And though Ace hated that part of himself, he couldn’t help but reach out.

She was like Luffy, in a way, if far quieter and composed. Luffy too had only needed a few words before Ace could take him for himself (even though there were quite a lot of times where he regretted letting him in a little; he was so very loud and annoying at times).

There were only three people in the world who had ever offered him things, without him needing to demand or take or garner pity. Or his Gramps needing to demand it for him.

Sabo, after they had become friends.

Luffy, after Ace finally stopped chasing him away, even though his little brother’s clinginess and desire to always be with him still creeped him out at times.

Makino, ever since she came looking for Luffy and found him and Sabo too. Offering him clothes he didn’t have to pay for and smiles that were so genuine he sometimes suspected they were fake.

And now a fourth. His mother. The one person Ace had always wished he could have met. Here. Real. Alive.

And warm. So warm.

He only let go when it was time to eat. He even helped carry the heaping plates of food, and his mom seemed so pleased with that Ace felt himself go red.

Dinner was simple but good. Thick noodles and vegetables and meat, all coated with the same sticky sauce. It was warm and tasty and filling and by the end of it Ace could only feel sleepy and tired.

He was about to suggest that they return to the treehouse when his mom started pulling stuff out of closets and other places.

“Ace, Sabo, Luffy, will you help me make your bed?”

Ace's breath hitched. His eyes burned again.

A hand was put on his shoulder. Sabo gave him a questioning look. Ace shook his head. He was fine really. Just- It was just a bit much.

He stood up, and for the first time in his life helped someone make a bed for him and his brothers.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

After all the shocks that day, none of the boys had the will to refuse her offer to stay the night. Rouge felt inordinately pleased about that.

Dinner had been a success. Her talk, for all the pain it had exposed, had been too.

Her heart ached ever time Ace reached out to her after their talk. Because it made her so, so happy to have him seek her out, but his hesitation spoke louder than anything how often his desire for closeness hadn’t been welcomed. Seeing him so hesitant broke her heart. Her son should never doubt how welcome he was with her.

Inside her, her anger reached even more potent heights. When Garp had given her boy to others to raise, he at least should have made sure they treasured him like her child deserved!

But they hadn't, and the scars on her son’s heart were plain to see. She could see exactly how often Ace's emotional needs had been heeded in his embarrassment after their little breakdown and the looks Sabo was giving her.

She would be better than all those before her. It was not even a question. It was a determination, a promise.

It was depressing to know that the bar was set so low. But she would raise it up, oh yes.

She would treasure these boys, she thought, if only they’d let her.

Rouge hummed softly as she tucked the boys in. She had built them a single bed, made from a pile of furs topped with her winter duvet, and her spare blanket and quilt to cover them, because they had refused to use hers. The three fit snugly side by side in front of the hearth. Little Luffy was already snoring happily. Sabo was set in the middle, his brothers’ arms tangled around him. After having him so forcefully taken, Rouge couldn’t say she was surprised.

She didn’t mind anyway. With Ace on the outside, she could smooth her hand over his hair, bidding him a soft goodnight. His eyes were large in the dim light, and there was nothing she wanted more than to cuddle him close.

But she couldn’t. Not yet. Not without startling him. Her son was obviously a wild little thing, and though he had allowed much from her, going too fast might scare him away. And that was unacceptable.

Tomorrow she would get some better bedding, and start building a new set of rooms. The boys were already so big, she was sure they would want their own rooms some day soon. Her cottage didn’t have much spare space for three growing boys. For as long as she had lived here she had always been on her own. Her cottage was spacious, but it only had a living room, the kitchen, an utility room and her own bedroom, as well as various closets. None of those were really suited for repurposing. She would need to build an extension to her home if she wished to have enough space for them.

But that was fine. She was more than willing to do that for her children, even though she wasn’t entirely sure her son would want to stay with her. Today had been a series of shocks and revelations, so he and his brothers would probably need some time to process before she could get a decisive answer out of him.

That was fine. She could be patient. And in the meantime, she would make sure they knew she would always have a place for them. Who knew, maybe if she put in enough effort, make them feel welcome and loved enough, she wouldn’t even have to ask. Though she would, just for herself. She wanted them to say yes, to consent to her stealing them from their previous caretakers. They were her little boys now. She wanted them to be happy with her, not force them to abandon people they cared about just because she got greedy.

When she closed the door behind her, she was sure she saw Ace make an aborted move towards her. His eyes brimmed with unasked questions he wasn’t ready to voice yet.

She smiled at him and at herself as she moved to her own room to prepare herself for bed.

This was alright. For her boys she would practice her patience. That was the way of dealing with wild things. A place to stay, someone to call for help – hopefully it would be as good as a lure as fresh fish was for a stray cat.

It was a bit unfair really. Her son was still young and had gotten some of the greatest shocks of his life. It was completely understandable that he was entirely off kilter, even though Rouge had achieved a mostly even keel the moment she had accepted that her baby boy was alive. Rouge was a D and a D never faltered even in the face of dramatic surprises like this one had been. Not when they had a dream to pursue.

She didn’t know what her son’s dream was, but hers had been rekindled and was now blazing brighter than a star. No amount of shocks or revealed secrets could make her steps waver in her pursuit of it. Her son would adjust soon enough. And then, hopefully, she would have her answer. The children of D could never remain quiet about their wishes and opinions, after all.

She hoped with all her heart that he would decide to stay with her. Him and his brothers both. And if she had to entice them a little to make that decision, well… She used to be the best merchant in the world. She knew how to tempt someone into making a deal, and she was not afraid to sweeten the pot as much as she could.

She’d do it properly too, no undue pressure or swindling or clever wordplays to trick and deceive; not for her sons. Never for her sons. She would offer them everything they might want, and in return they would agree to stay. Hopefully. Oh, she really hoped for it. She was willing to offer anything so these precious boys would let her take care of them for the remainder of their childhood.

Rouge smiled to herself. She had her dream right here at her fingertips. Right here for her to reach out and claim for her own.

She felt her smile widen. Stretching her lips till  her cheeks burned as they adjusted to the expression that was making its way onto her face. She opened the glass box and stroked the petals of the flower Roger had once given her. It’s sweet scent wafted up at her like a lover’s embrace. She breathed the fragrance in deeply. Tomorrow she would wear it proudly again. The only crown her beloved had been able to offer his Pirate Queen.

For the first time in a decade, that title felt like it fit again.

She sighed happily. She was going to be fine. She had her sons, and a goal, and with their permission she would raise these boys to achieve anything they dreamed of.

She felt her smile widen further, till it felt comfortable and uncomfortable both, like greeting a dear friend after decades of avoidance. Her old smile stretching her features in ways she had become unaccustomed to in the past ten years. But once there it sat firm and familiar on her face. Wide and wild, a baring of teeth at the world in a dare to try and stop her.

A D’s smile.