Rosan awoke to the cold floor beneath him, alone.

The teen, not sensing any danger, slowly sat up and glanced around to inspect the area he had been resting in. The room was simple in its design and there was nothing too eye-catching about it besides some thin blankets. There was a commotion in another room and he assumed that it was the bandits that he now lived with.

Memories of his battle with Garp surged and Rosan noted that his anger had completely dissipated.

"I lost," Rosan thought blandly. It wasn't really a close battle either. Garp had not even remotely struggled against the teen and only the guilt of failure, held him back from destroying the redhead instantly.

"That old man is crazy strong. I've never seen anyone stronger than him," Ram commented, frowning at how effortlessly they were defeated. Father wasn't weak by any means, that Garp was just outrageously strong.

"It's only natural, there's a reason we ran from him ten years ago," Mod said tiredly and Rosan focused on his Devil Fruit.

"How is the castle? How are you? You sound tired and some of my emotions seeped through so maybe something changed?"

"I'm doing fine..." Mod smiled in appreciation at his question. "...I didn't notice any visible changes but that anger was unmistakable. Something changed and despite the circumstances that caused it, that's a good sign for us."

"That's good. It's the first time we've managed to elicit a strong reaction," The teen hummed, standing up and making his way towards the door.

He needed to eat something.

"How long have I been asleep?"

"An entire day," Ram replied with a frown. That old man hit really hard. He had managed to knock out Rosan twice in only two punches.

She didn't remember the last time he had been knocked unconscious. She didn't think he had ever been knocked unconscious since creating her.

Rosan agreed with her sentiment of Garp hitting hard. If not for Mod-chan and the Philosopher's stone, he'd probably have a headache, a missing tooth and a broken nose... How fortunate for him that he had none of those.

The sun outside indicated that it was daytime and the teen opened the door to his room, set on finding a meal. He glanced, unimpressed, at the noise the door made and resolved to fix that issue later. The teen was used to being quiet and something like this was rather inconvenient.

Everyone went silent at the door and Rosan glanced around the room, ignoring the gazes of the bandits.

He met the eyes of Dadan and the woman took that as a sign to speak up.

"Alright! Listen here, brat!" The bandit boss began and Rosan tilted his head at her as his form of acknowledgment. "You probably don't know where you are so I'll tell you! This is a den of the Dadan family, mountain bandits that rule Mt. Colubo!"

"I know who you are," Rosan said quietly, cutting her off. "You have a bounty of 7.8 million, right?"

The orange haired woman went a little pale at that quiet threat (was she reading to deep into it?!) but she rebounded admirably.

"W-well, you're gonna have to start working pretty hard now that you're awake and you'll only have one bowl of rice and water a day!" Dadan stammered a bit and Rosan hummed. "Cleaning, laundry, polishing shoes and weapons —"

"Where are Ace and Luffy?" Rosan asked, interrupting the bandit from giving the same speech she gave to the seven year old.

She face-planted at the fact that he ignored her but answered him regardless. "Ace is out, I don't know where that other brat is."

That was the wrong thing to say because Rosan's wandering gaze was now boring into her.

"You don't know where Luffy is?" The teen repeated and Dadan gulped at those unnerving eyes of his.

"H-he's been missing for a day now after he followed Ace," she informed the shorter teen.

Rosan said nothing for a moment and Dadan distinctively remembered what he did against Garp. Dadan was not nearly as strong as the Vice Admiral... If he attacked her, she was as good as dead.

"Alright, I will go find him," the redhead decided. "Also, I'm not doing any of those things you said. I will clean after myself and secure my own food because one bowl of rice is not nearly enough for me," he informed her politely, nodding his head and leaving.

Dadan watched the boy completely disregard everything she said and make his way out of their hideout.

"Hey wait, brat!" She called out in fury. "Don't just decide that on your... own," she tapered off as she stepped out of the building.

Rosan was surveying the destroyed field with a calm eye.

"Your little temper tantrum did this," Dadan grumbled. "You know how long it's gonna take to patch this up?" She asked and the 14 year old looked back at her.

"My apologies, I'll fix this immediately," the redhead said softly and he crouched down to palm the floor.

"What are you doing —" Dadan started, but the floor shaking, cut her off.

"Modification: Repair," Rosan thought to himself, closing his eyes and concentrating. Under his guidance, the field did just that and moved. The battle ground shifted around drastically, latching itself together and Dadan watched in awe, as it seemingly patched itself right up.

Her jaw dropped at the display and she fixed bugged eyes on the bronze boy.

"W-w-wha," she tried to ask but Rosan was already walking off.

"I can't grow back trees, but I can at least repair the field," Rosan told her, without looking at the woman. "I'm off to find Luffy now."

With that, the Mod Mod no mi user disappeared into the forest.

Dadan stared at the spot he had been in for a long moment before she held her head in her hands.

What was it with Garp finding all these monsters? First Ace, then Luffy, and now this Rosan person.

Maybe prison really was better than this.

----------------------------------------

The forest was large and, thanks to the amount of trees, Rosan couldn't really abuse the fact that he could fly to get a better viewpoint.

Guess he was doing this the old fashioned way and walking around until he found traces. It was a good thing he was used to hunting people that tried to run from him.

The first thing Rosan noticed, was the tree that had been violently ripped from it's spot. Finding the source of where it had originally been, showed that it had been pushed downhill.

"Was Luffy attacked with this?" Mod pondered and she had to wonder who was crazy enough to attack a seven year old with a tree.

Rosan went back to the massive tree and casually lifted it up to look under it. Luffy was made of rubber so blunt force couldn't hurt him but he could have still been trapped under it.

Nothing.

The redhead placed the tree back down with a resounding thud and made his way back to where it got knocked off. He would follow the path ahead of it then.

The teen set off with a calculating gaze, following any footprints that were still present and eventually, he made his way to a shaky bridge.

Underneath the bridge, was a rather deep valley. It was deep enough that if anyone fell, they would almost certainly die from the height.

"Don't tell me he…" Mod said with a bit of horror in her tone. Did Luffy perhaps try to cross the bridge and slip in?

"I wouldn't put it past him," Ram snorted in amusement. "He's lucky he's made out of rubber, perfect fruit for an idiot like him."

Rosan enhanced his vision to look deeper in the valley. He had been around the boy long enough to know that this was a possibility and a very high one too. Actually, knowing Luffy, this was the highest possibility for his future captain.

The teen summoned his draconic wings and floated into the valley. Hopefully Luffy hadn't fallen into the water source. Anywhere else would be fine for the rubber boy, but the water was certain death after all this time. Not to mention that the redhead wouldn't be able to save him if he did.

Rosan's ear twitched as he picked up the sound of screaming and the howling of a pack of wolves.

Mod sighed. "I think we found him," the Devil Fruit said and Rosan took off in the direction until he found his future captain.

"Having fun, Luffy?" Rosan called to the boy desperately trying to escape from the wolves. He looked a complete mess. His shirt was ripped, he had bite and claw marks on his bloody body and he was filthy to boot.

The seven year old's eyes lit up at seeing the sight of Rosan with such massive wings and despite the situation, he squealed, "ROSAN, YOU CAN FLY?! THAT'S SO AWESOME!"

A wolf nearly bit the boy running for his life and he then screamed, "SAVE MEEEE!"

Rosan scooped up the tiny boy easily and proceeded to punt the closest wolf into a wall. The force of the blow was too strong for the canine and it immediately slumped over, unmoving.

Luffy clutched the taller teen like his life depended on it (it did) and Mod cooed at the adorable sight.

Rosan stared at the wary wolves surrounding him and hummed. Animals had good instincts, they knew he was much more of a threat then Luffy.

Were they still planning on attacking him? That was rather foolish.

The boy channeled some of Ragnarok and let loose a low snarl that successfully cowed the hesitant canines. A puff of fire sent them scurrying away and Rosan focused his attention onto the injured and beaten Luffy.

"Wow! Thanks for saving me, Rosan!" Luffy beamed and Rosan nodded in acknowledgment. "Who knows how long I woulda stayed down there if you didn't show up!"

"How did you get down here? Did you slip?" The redhead asked the boy, flexing his wings and ascending back to the top.

"...Yes," Luffy said, pushing his lips out to the side, and Rosan caught the lie so quickly, it made Ram cackle.

"You are a terrible liar," Rosan commented but he didn't push the issue further. If Luffy didn't want to tell him, he wouldn't force it.

Besides, that answer told him everything he needed to know already.

Ace was probably the one who did this.

"How can you be so sure?" Mod asked, despite agreeing with him.

Rosan thought back to the look in his little brother's eyes and how he had mercilessly spit on Luffy's cheek.

"Luffy is a lonely child so he probably tried to make friends with Ace, who's much closer in age with him then I am. Something tells me Ace doesn't want any friends and he attacked Luffy using the tree. It could have been the bandits but they weren't lying to me when they said they didn't know where he was. Also, Luffy's footprints were next to a slightly bigger pair of feet that could only belong to another child," Rosan explained and Mod hummed, impressed.

"Your observation skills have improved dramatically," Mod smiled and Rosan said, "Thank you."

The two reached the top and Rosan placed his captain down gently. The seven year old watched with starry eyes as his crewmates wings vanished back into his body.

"Wow! Rosan, what's your Devil Fruit?" Luffy demanded.

"The Mod Mod no mi. I'm a computer man," the redhead informed Luffy. He thought about linking with the boy, but Rosan was pretty sure the rubber boy didn't think, so it would be counterproductive.

He'd let him in the mindscape one day though.

"I can modify the things around me with a touch and change it into what I desire," Rosan explained and Luffy opened his mouth in awe when he picked up a discarded branch and transformed it into a toy robot.

The seven year old was about to speak up, but his stomach let out an unnaturally loud gurgle and he fell over in hunger.

"Fooooood," Luffy moaned pathetically, causing his scout to look over at him.

The boy was bruised and injured and the only thing on his mind was food? He sure did have his priorities straight... Hunting wouldn't take very long, but it would take too long for Luffy so Rosan would just cook something up for him. He was sure he still had some food left on his ship that was in stasis.

He picked the boy back up and made his way to the hideout. "I'll make you food and then you can tidy up."

Luffy cheered before his stomach gurgled again and he rested his head on Rosan's shoulder.

"He's even more helpless than you were," Mod laughed in joy and Ram joined her.

"I think you just became his babysitter!" The silver haired girl pointed out and Rosan closed his eyes.

"Ah, it appears I have."

----------------------------------------

Ace still wasn't back and Rosan contemplated searching for him.

The redhead immediately discarded that idea though. If Ace wanted to speak to him, he would speak to him. Rosan would not try and force the boy to talk to him.

He would be patient.

The area around the bandit's home was rather spacious and the White Rose wasn't very large so Rosan could safely summon it here.

The former Angel of Death, pulled his sleek, silver ship out of his pocket and placed it on the floor. He then, with Luffy still in his grasp, watching curiously, stepped a fair distance away.

"Modify: Increase," Rosan said softly and Luffy's eyes bugged in excitement at seeing an actual ship suddenly show up!

His eyes transformed into stars and he screamed out, "AWESOME! ROSAN, IS THIS YOUR SHIP?!"

"Yes, her name is the White Rose."

"She looks amazing!" Luffy exclaimed, before a contemplative expression overtook his features. "We can't use her when we set sail," he decided suddenly and Rosan hummed.

"Why?" He asked, already knowing the answer.

"Because this is your ship, not mine!" Luffy explained simply and Rosan nodded.

"That's fine then," the redhead said. "She was damaged a while ago anyways; It's not a good idea to make her our main ship."

Luffy was right anyways. This was his ship and he would never relinquish ownership of it. Since Rosan wasn't the captain, the 7 year old felt obligated to get his own ship and would refuse to use the White Rose as the main one.

He sure was taking his duty as Captain seriously. Rosan was impressed with his resolve. Luffy probably wouldn't want much help from him in the future if he felt like he could do it and the redhead was fine with that.

Rosan didn't want to help much anyways. He preferred to stay out of people's business and let them figure things out on their own.

"She was damaged?! What happened?!" Luffy asked in surprise.

"I was attacked by an annoying person," the redhead explained, not going into detail about his encounter with the Celestial Dragon, and his captain nodded in understanding.

The noise of the expanding of his ship, attracted the attention of the people inside and soon, the whole Dadan family was outside and gaping at the vessel.

Dadan knew at a glance that the reason the ship was here, was because of the oldest brat she was in charge of.

Somehow, the bandit didn't even think she was in charge of him.

True to her words, on the deck of the ship was Rosan and he was holding the, supposedly, missing Luffy. The missing boy in question looked like he had been in a war with a pack of animals and Dadan hazarded a guess that he probably was.

"WHAT'S GOING ON?! W-WHAT IS THIS?!" Dadan roared in disbelief, causing Rosan to stare at the shell shocked woman.

"A ship."

"NO SHIT!" She exclaimed comically and Rosan tilted his head at her. She forced herself to calm down and asked in a much lower tone, "What is it doing here?"

"I put it here."

She resisted the urge to throttle the teen and calmed her racing heart. "With your Devil Fruit? What exactly is it? You were doing a lot of crazy things against Garp-san," she asked and Rosan hummed.

"That's a good question," he told her, before heading deeper into his ship, Luffy in tow.

"SO ANSWER IT?!" She screeched and the bandits behind her sweatdropped. The redhead did not show back up to answer her question and the leader of the mountain bandits, was left staring at just the ship.

Dadan held her head in defeat and moaned in misery.

Every single one of these brats were problematic monsters. They were going to be the death of her.

----------------------------------------

A well fed Luffy slept easily on his back, as Rosan reduced the size of the ship again and pocketed it.

He tried waking the boy up to bathe but he was out like a light from his trip in the valley so Rosan let him sleep while he washed his injuries. How he didn't wake up from his action? The redhead would never know but Luffy had already proven to be a complete oddity even by his standards.

They were currently back at the bandit's place and Rosan stared at the ceiling above him. He was about to enter his mindscape to check up on Mod-chan and Ram, but he was alerted to the presence of another person nearing the room.

He had of course noticed the extra bed and it didn't take him long to deduce that this was his little brother's room. It seems he had come back from whatever it was he was doing.

True to his words, Ace opened the door. Luffy was closer to him and he regarded the sleeping boy with a slightly surprised expression (so he did throw him over) before making eye contact with Rosan.

Angry black made contact with lifeless red and purple and Rosan eventually broke the silence.

"Would you like to talk? Outside?" The redhead asked quietly. He hoped his little brother (he had no right to call him that) agreed so that they could figure this out immediately.

Ace stared at his supposed brother with a stone face but on the inside, he was a torrent of emotions.

There were so much questions he wanted to ask the mysterious redhead so he nodded.

Rosan got up without making a noise and made his way to the door. He pushed it open and was satisfied to not hear a noise this time. The redhead deftly avoided all the unconscious bandits and let out a breath at the cool breeze of the night.

Footsteps alerted him to Ace following and Rosan turned to face the much shorter boy. The barking dog was immediately silenced at once glance from the redhead and it scurried away somewhere else.

"I'm sure you have many questions for me; I won't hesitate to answer any of them," Rosan told his younger brother and Ace took a deep breath.

"Who are you?" He began simple.

"My name is Portgas D. Rosan. I'm 14 years old and I'm... your older brother," he introduced himself to the shorter boy.

"Are you… really my brother? We look nothing alike," The 10 year old pointed out hesitantly and Rosan nodded.

"We are not blood related," he informed his younger brother. "Portgas D. Rouge, our mom, found me abandoned in a forest when I was a newborn and she raised me like I were her own blood for four years."

Ace nodded at the explanation. "Portgas D. Rouge…" he tested the name of his birth mother on his lips.

"Yes. She loved the both of us very much even despite the fact that I wasn't her real child," Rosan said, making Ace's eyes go wide.

"She... She loved me?"

"Of course. Mom did everything in her power to make sure you survived and got to live your life," Rosan said softly and Ace felt a strange feeling welling up in his gut at that statement.

"How?" The boy asked quietly and Rosan explained the entire situation of their late mother to him. By the end of the conversation, Ace was regarding his brother with wide, disbelieving eyes.

"She really kept me hidden… for 20 months?!" The 10 year old asked and for once, the blatant anger in his eyes were completely gone.

"A child should not bear the sins of their parents," the redhead began, making Ace step back in shock. "Just because Roger is our father, does not mean our existence should be considered a crime. Mom believed that more than anyone and that's why she sacrificed her life so that you could live yours."

So the redhead even knew who their father was... That made everything he was saying even more believable.

Rosan reached into his shirt and pulled out a pendant. Using Modification, he expanded it to show the picture on it. One day, he'd give Ace his own picture of mom because this one was a little too precious to him.

"This is her. You two look nothing alike but you inherited her freckles," the redhead told his black haired brother.

Ace gazed at the picture like it were made of gold. It was a photo of their mother and, what appeared to be, a much younger Rosan. The redhead was right, they really did look nothing alike! She had pink blonde hair and honey brown eyes compared to his black hair and eye combination!

They were both smiling, though Rosan's was much wider than his mother's calmer one, and they were hugging each other tightly.

They clearly loved each other…

So this was his mother, Portgas D. Rouge. Ace didn't know what to feel right now but he was getting overwhelmed with a foreign emotion. His brother looked much the same, just older. It was startling how much difference expressions could make because the serious, lifeless demeanor of his brother made him look like a completely different person than the beaming child in the picture.

"Why didn't you come with me?" Ace asked seriously and he felt a raw anger surging up. This whole time, this whole fucking time, he had an older brother and he didn't even know about him!

Rosan had been expecting that reaction. Honestly, he expected that to be one of the first questions so it was a surprise that he had valued other questions more.

"There are two reasons," Rosan told his brother. "For one, I have an ability that is very coveted by the World Government. Even if Garp didn't blame me for being Roger's son, I don't know what he would do to me if I revealed my ability."

Ace scowled at that answer. "An ability worth abandoning your own brother?" he growled out and the redhead closed his eyes.

"Please know that not a day has gone by where I haven't felt guilt at what I felt forced to do," Rosan answered quietly, causing Ace to pull back a bit.

"What's this ability anyways?" The 10 year old grumbled and Rosan hummed.

"It's best if I tell you in a more secure location," the 14 year old told him and he got up.

Ace followed suit and the duo walked deeper into the forest.

Rosan looked at an incredibly large tree and nodded his head. This would do fine.

"Do you mind being carried?" He asked his younger brother and Ace thought about it before saying, "Depends."

"Grabbing my hand would probably be the most tolerable way for you," Rosan guessed, holding his hand out for Ace to reluctantly grab.

The freckled boy's jaw dropped, at seeing actual wings sprout from Rosan's back! They were black scaly wings with a red underside and they were huge!

"Hold on tight," Rosan instructed and he took to the skies immediately.

Ace let out a startled yell at suddenly ascending before it turned into excitement.

Flying felt good.

Much to his disappointment, they reached the top of the tree in no time and Rosan let his hand free.

"Flying is one of my favorite things to do," the redhead said softly and Ace could begrudgingly see why.

"Do we really have to be up here for what your going to tell me?"

Rosan hummed and bent down to touch the branch they were on. "Modify," he said simply, watching it expand to be much larger and walling the two off from the floor.

This way, they wouldn't fall off and suffer serious injuries. Rosan was quite sturdy but he wasn't sure about his younger brother.

Ace watched with wide eyes as the branch transformed into a mini tree house.

Coupled with what he had displayed in his fight against the old man, maybe he had a valid reasoning for hiding his Devil Fruit. The amount of things he seemed able to do...

"Closing your eyes, makes the experience much easier to deal with," Rosan suddenly said, locking his dual eyes onto the shorter boy.

Ace glared distrustfully at him before doing so and he tensed, as the heterochromia placed a warm palm on him.

"Modification, Link: Users Rosan, Ace," and Ace grunted at the sudden shift of surroundings. He shivered violently at the extreme drop in temperature and he had to wonder just where the hell they were.

"You reacted the best out of everyone I've done that too," Rosan commented and Ace opened his eyes at hearing him.

"This is my mindscape," the teen began explaining. "It is a mental representation of me as a person and it changes according to my psyche."

Ace raised a brow at the explanation and was finding himself more and more impressed with Rosan's ability.

He looked around at the mindscape and observed the frozen forest with a confused expression.

So this forest… was a representation of how Rosan was? Ace wondered what caused it to be so damn cold.

An orange jacket formed on the boy and instantly warmed him up, ceasing all his current complaints.

"Follow me," Rosan said. "I'll explain my ability as we walk so that you aren't too surprised."

As Rosan explained Modification to his younger brother (he was much more receptive to information then Luffy was), Ace's eyes progressively grew wider and wider in interest.

His Devil Fruit was really cool.

"Thank you," a naturally soft, mature voice called out and Ace startled a bit.

It was a purple haired woman who towered over him, but was a few inches shorter than Rosan. She wore a fancy black and white dress that covered most of her frame and her hair was styled into a hime cut. To finish off, she had a pair of blood red eyes that stared at him knowingly despite the fact that they never met.

Next to her was a tall girl with probably the most unique appearance he had seen yet. She had long silver twintails, that were streaked with purple, and her eyes were a distinct combination of red and purple. She was wearing a black and purple Spanish-style double breasted coat that hid her figure.

She looked at the young boy with a confident, if not slightly unhinged, grin on her face.

Ace looked at the two warily until Rosan said, "Don't worry, they're with me," and the boy forced himself to remain calm.

"So you're Ace!" The purple haired woman hummed. "It's nice to meet you. My name is Mod, and I'm the main reason Rosan left you behind," she said bluntly and Ram looked at her like she was crazy.

"This is Ram, she's Rosan's weapon," Mod said, introducing the slightly taller girl next to her.

Ram said nothing, which was surprising, due to sensing the forming tension. All she offered was a small wave that Ace didn't return.

Rosan eyed Mod for a moment but followed in his weapon's footsteps.

Ace glared at the woman and asked, "Are you the second reason that he mentioned?" but the woman shook her head in a no motion.

"No. The other reason Rosan left you behind, is because he didn't think he deserved to raise you," the woman said frankly and the freckled boy looked towards the teen to confirm.

"...It's true," Rosan said. "I felt that I wasn't worthy of raising you because I blamed you for killing Mom," he admitted and Ace flinched harshly at the revelation.

"It was only for a brief moment," Mod interrupted with a frown. It was important to place that information out there. "Rosan was a four year old boy who had just watched his mother die and you were the most obvious target for him. Even so, he was able to quickly snap out of it, yet the guilt has been gnawing at him for 10 years."

"You don't have to defend me, Mod," Rosan said quietly but the woman shook her head vehemently.

"No! You aren't going to defend yourself and you're saying things in a way that'll definitely make Ace hate you. You blamed him for less than 30 seconds and decided that you were the worst brother in the world because of it for ten years!" The older woman shouted and the redhead didn't respond.

"You watched her die?" Ace asked, feeling a strange sensation that he desperately wanted to be gone.

"Yes, I did," Rosan confirmed and his younger brother looked to the floor. "She didn't tell me she was giving birth so I sent a bug to spy on her. It arrived just in time to see her give us her parting words and die."

Even Ace couldn't blame Rosan for lashing out. He must have been suffering a great deal and the stress caused him to pick the most logical choice (in his grieving eyes). The boy truly did seem like he loved their mother and her death had permanently scarred him.

Maybe it was his fault. If he hadn't existed, Rosan would likely still be with Rouge and he'd get to enjoy his life with the person who raised him.

"Don't do that," Rosan suddenly said, making Ace freeze. "Don't regret the life you've been given. Why do you think you shouldn't exist?"

"...Because I'm Roger's son," Ace said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Roger…" Rosan actually managed to look displeased. "That man is truly an idiot for the way he ruined our lives. No wonder you've grown up with that look in your eyes. You have probably heard horrible things about him and as such, it affected you."

Ace didn't answer, confirming his thoughts.

"You are not Gol D. Roger," the redhead explained quietly. "Your name is Gol D. Ace, a 10 year old orphan who has done nothing to deserve being hunted by the World Government. The sin's of a father should not pass down to their child and that applies to even you, no matter what anyone else has to say."

"Mom sacrificed her life for you because she loved you. Don't tarnish her final action by questioning your existence. Live your life to the fullest, until you find a reason to live, if you have to."

Ace looked at his brother in awe at his words. He couldn't help but ask, "And what about you? Do you love me?"

Rosan tilted his head and said, "Of course I love you. I wouldn't have been so afraid to meet you if I didn't."

Ace was surprised to feel some tears running down his eyes at the simple declaration. Someone actually… loved him? Someone didn't curse his existence just for being the son of the Pirate King? The only other person who he could legitimately call family, didn't hate him for being the cause of their mother's death?

That… That was a relief.

"I need time to digest this information," Ace suddenly said and Rosan nodded in understanding. It was perfectly fine to be overwhelmed by a revelation like that.

"I'll disappear for a few days so that you can process them alone," the redhead offered and Ace agreed to that.

"I will leave tomorrow then. I'm glad we managed to talk this out without coming to blows... yet," Rosan said softly and Ace couldn't help but snort.

He wouldn't be so sure about that just yet.

"Wait," Mod suddenly said and everyone paused. "Rosan, I'd like to talk to Ace. Alone please," the purple haired woman said and the 14 year old hummed.

"Okay," he agreed easily. "Come Ram, you can have me to yourself while we wait."

The dead silent Ram let out a loud cheer and immediately jumped on Rosan's back. She snuggled closely to him and the redhead turned in the opposite direction to walk off.

Once they were out of sight, Mod sighed and looked at the lone individual there.

Ace was staring at her with distrustful eyes but the purple haired woman didn't care very much.

No, all she cared about was making sure Rosan got better.

"Rosan is not to blame for leaving you," Mod said calmly. "I am. I influenced his decision to leave you behind because of the threat the World Government posed to me and his desire to keep me safe, triumphed everything."

As she spoke to him, it finally hit Ace on just who this person was. "You're the Devil Fruit," he muttered and Mod confirmed it with a nod.

"Yes and I'm the one who told Rosan not to trust the Marines and the death of his mother, only strengthened that already negative mindset. The reason he chose to leave you, was because Garp already had you and he at least wanted to protect me. If I never told him, he'd be with you from the start."

Ace let loose a quiet snarl at the cold tone of the woman. "Why are you telling me this? Are you trying to make me hate you?!"

"If that means Rosan is spared from it, then yes," Mod said without hesitation and Ace flinched in surprise at the speed that she answered.

"Don't misunderstand Ace, I really do love you," the purple haired woman said softly, making the 10 year old gap. "Of course I'd love someone that Rosan loves. But you need to understand that I love Rosan more and I will do anything for him."

"Rosan has been through too much already and he's barely hanging on by a thread right now. You don't seem to understand how valuable you are to him and I don't want you to break him even further," Mod said truthfully and the look in her eyes, made Ace tense.

The freckled boy thought back to that lifeless expression that seemed to permanently be Rosan's face and felt his curiosity spike.

"What happened to him?"

The older woman let out a tired sigh and said, "It's not my place to tell you, but I'm sure he'll answer you if you ask."

"I don't think you'll do something stupid because you are a smart boy. But understand this Ace, if you do in fact say something stupid and it brings Rosan to the point of no return…" Mod began and her crimson eyes began glowing ominously.

"...You'll have me to deal with and you'll understand just how much I care about my child."

----------------------------------------

"I'll be leaving for a couple of days, Luffy," Rosan told his future captain.

"Okay!" Luffy said, without even asking where. Rosan liked that. Luffy wasn't a nosy person.

The seven year old was looking intently at the area that Ace had departed in and Rosan guessed he was going to follow him again.

"Be careful while I'm gone; Try not to fall into a valley again," the redhead requested and Luffy nodded rapidly.

The rubber boy looked like he was about to take off any second now and Rosan knew for a fact, that he was going to end up in more disastrous situations.

He hoisted the tiny boy up suddenly, palmed his straw hat, and said, "Modification: Save Point."

Job done, he put the child down and said, "Now you can go," and he watched as Luffy rocketed off.

Hopefully Ace would be too deep in thought to harass his captain.

Somehow, he doubted that.

"Where are you going?" Dadan asked gruffly and Rosan looked at the bandit leader.

"Are you worried about me?" He asked and the woman scoffed.

"Of course not! I'm just curious is all."

"I'm going to visit a princess," he said truthfully, calling her out on her bullshit. It was odd though... For some reason, Dadan didn't believe him when he said it.

He tilted his head at that fact. Was it that unbelievable? Maro certainly didn't act like a princess but she at least dressed and looked like one... somewhat.

"I don't think that's the reason why," Mod said in amusement.

"Whatever. Just make sure you get back before Garp catches wind your gone," Dadan said and she began making her way back into the hideout.

"I don't want to even look at that man. If I see him again, I won't be able to resist attacking him," Rosan said truthfully, making his way deeper into the forest.

Dadan looked back at him in disbelief. Did he not remember handily losing that fight? Did he get a few screws knocked loose in the process? Was he seriously hellbent on attacking Garp every single time he saw him?

Crazy damn kids these days.

----------------------------------------

"You were supposed to visit us three times a week," Angel growled in a barely restrained fury. Creator or not, the pretty redhead was seriously about to attack Rosan for the sheer audacity that he seemed to always exhibit.

"I said that so you could let me go easier," Rosan informed her truthfully, unbothered by her anger. "I'm trying to make it so you three are independent from me and visiting you three times a week, defeats that purpose."

"But I don't wanna be independent from you," the middle triplet whined and Rosan rubbed her hair gently. One day, his clones would appreciate what he was trying to do for them. Right now, they still held him on too high of a pedestal so they wouldn't see it yet, but one day.

"But I do," he said and his fellow redhead grumbled in defeat.

"If Master wants it, I'll do it," she conceded begrudgingly.

"Thank you Angel, I appreciate your cooperation," Rosan said and he hugged her. She melted in his grasp with a happy sigh and Maro looked properly annoyed.

"Why can't you act like this around me?!" The princess grumbled in annoyance.

"Because you aren't Master," Angel said ruthlessly and Maro fell over at her blunt honesty.

"B-but I'm your girlfriend," she whined. Why did she have to fall in love with the rudest of the triplets... Honestly, Demon would have been a much better choice.

"But you're not Master."

"You're so mean to me," Maro said with a rainy cloud over her head and Angel finally decided to throw her a bone.

The tall redhead made her way over to Maro and planted a simple kiss on her cheek and the bluenette was back to normal instantly.

"Alright! So Master, how did it go? Did you find your brother? Does he hate you? Love you? Is he still wearing diapers?"

The female clone sweatdropped at how quickly she rebounded and just sighed in exasperation at the antics of the princess.

"Tell us everything!" Angel demanded eagerly and Rosan nodded in affirmation.

"Where is Demon?" The redhead asked and his clone smiled fondly.

"He's working at the hospital right now with his little helper, Rin," the redhead said softly. Demon had been improving at a massive rate in medicine and now, he was comfortably working as a doctor. Rin didn't like being far from him so he had ended up being a bit of an assistant to the purple haired teen.

"I'll tell him everything when he gets back but I can't wait!" Maro was shaking in excitement as she impatiently waited for Rosan to tell her about what he was up too.

What? He had been gone for a really long time!

Rosan hummed and said, "I'll start from the beginning then."

They all sat comfortably in Maro's massive blue room and Rosan thanked the child, that seemed to be attached to his student, for bringing snacks.

Kanna blushed at the praise, bowed, and fled the room.

"I think she likes you~," Maro teased and Rosan raised a neat red brow.

"I'm pretty sure that applies to you more than me," he responded and the bluenette raised both her blue brows in confusion.

"Huh?" Maro asked dumbly and Angel let out a snort.

"I still can't believe you let that little thief stay in the castle. Should have just let me deal with her," the redhead scoffed and Maro put a soothing hand on her shoulder.

"Now, now, none of that, Angel… Kanna is working hard to prove her worth and she's doing a great job! She already avoids you like the plague because of how scary you are! Isn't that good enough?" The princess asked patiently, hoping that her girlfriend could see reason.

"No."

Maro sweatdropped and just let the topic drop. She looked at Rosan and just beckoned for him to tell his tale.

Angel was honestly too much sometimes!

"I made a... friend," Rosan began bluntly and they froze in astonishment at that. "And he made me join his pirate crew."

…

"Huh?" Maro asked dumbly and Angel was right there with her.

"I'm afraid I need you to elaborate, Master…" Angel requested slowly and the redhead simply nodded.

He told the two about how he had just wanted to gather information on the town and met the hyperactive Luffy in the process. He mentioned how the child reminded him a bit of his younger self and that the seven year old had forced Rosan to become his friend.

The two girls stared, dumbfounded, at the story and it took them a moment to process it.

"Luffy was it? He actually managed to convince you to become a pirate?" Maro asked.

"He didn't give me much of a choice and Mod-chan likes him, so I agreed."

"Master Mod is personally interested in him?" Angel asked in awe. "That means he can benefit you in some way, right?!"

"Yes. He's a unique child," Rosan answered truthfully.

"We have to meet him soon! Once we stabilize Celadon more, we're definitely visiting," Maro exclaimed and Angel nodded in agreement.

"Now what about Ace?" The redhead asked and Maro leaned forward eagerly.

"I found him and we spoke. He's the reason I'm here actually. If you don't mind I would like to stay for a couple of days."

Angel cheered excitedly and crashed into Rosan. "Of course Master! You can sleep in our room and we can talk about everything and you can watch me work and I can dress you up again! I love dressing you up!"

"Am I actually the princess here?" Maro asked, but Angel completely ignored her. The Dokkaebi would have sighed, but she was grinning too.

Master was staying for a bit with them! She would have whooped in joy but she had appearances to keep up as the princess! Decorum and all of that stuff that Angel brutally taught her...

"What brought this on? Did the meeting with him go bad?" Maro asked, suddenly seriously and Rosan shook his head.

"It went… far better than I imagined but that might be because of the shock factor of the situation," the Mod Mod no mi user admitted and they beamed.

"Ace... is an angry child. I do not regret avoiding that Marine because that man cannot be trusted, but I regret not finding a way to take my little brother with me," the redhead told them, closing his eyes. There was no possible way he would have been able to get Ace out of Garp's grasp and escape without getting caught... the man had shown that he could fly and there was no doubt he'd be able to catch up to the redhead.

"That bad?" Maro asked and Rosan nodded.

"I attacked Garp out of anger," was all he said and they the two froze at the revelation.

The idea that Rosan attacked a monster like Garp was only secondary to the knowledge that he actually felt something.

"T-true genuine anger?" Angel stammered in hope.

"Yes, Rosan was actually upset to the point where he discarded all pretenses and attacked Garp with Modification," Mod told them softly. Despite the risk of doing so, the Devil Fruit was happy that he had done it! It meant that he was being completely irrational and irrationality, was based purely on emotion.

They gaped at Rosan, who simply nodded. "It was a short burst and the anger has since dissipated but it has promising implications."

Angel couldn't prevent the tears from welling up at that. "S-So it's not impossible! Master can still be helped!" She shakily said and the teen sagged in relief.

Even if it was anger, it was something. Even if it was gone now, it had been there!

The girl could cry right now.

"Now we have to meet Ace!" Maro exclaimed giddily. She was rubbing a soothing hand on Angel's shoulder and the princess also felt a well of relief surging through her.

"Not yet, I don't want to overwhelm him," Rosan said. "Besides, the reason I'm here is because I want him to gather his thoughts without any sort of bias. If he hates me, I will understand if he wants me gone. If he doesn't, then I will do what I can to mend our broken relationship."

"You're putting a lot of effort into this, Master," Maro smiled.

"I hope it's worth it," Angel beamed and Rosan nodded in agreement.

"…" Mod hummed and Ram looked at her in curiosity, but said nothing.

"I'll stay here for a week, then I'll be gone again. If you need me for anything, let me know," Rosan informed them softly.

"Nope! You are not working! Your gonna spend time with us and that's that," Angel said, leaving no room for argument and Maro laughed.

"You've done a lot already! We got some stuff from Aiko recently and we've already set up trade routes with some interested islands. They are really curious about how we manage to produce such healthy crops so quickly!" The princess bragged with a puffed up chest.

Celadon was already well on its way of making its name known!

"I'm impressed. You are making full use of every single one of your abilities as a Dokkaebi," Rosan commented and she blushed at the praise.

"But I have no one to fight right now! We have to spar during your stay here," Maro decided.

"When was the last time you bought yourself clothes? We have to go shopping!" Angel demanded. "I know why you haven't showed up, but I still don't like it so you have to make it up to me!"

"Okay," Rosan conceded without complaint and Angel grumbled.

Stupid Master and his stupid compliance.

----------------------------------------

"You threatened Ace, right?" Rosan said calmly, staring at his caretaker of 10 years.

Ram's mouth opened in an O and Mod stared at Rosan with a neutral gaze.

The 3 were currently in the mindscape, relaxing in the lounge area, on the long, black and red, couches. Ram was resting her head on Rosan's lap as the teen idly rubbed her hair.

She wisely chose to stay silent. Maybe she'd go find something else to do if it got bad... There was no way she was gonna interfere with this.

"Threaten? No," Mod replied, equally calm. "I just informed him of the situation without needlessly dragging your name through the dirt like someone I know." There was a small bite in her tone as she said that final part and the silver haired teen began to squirm uncomfortably.

"So you shifted the blame off of me and onto yourself, then you threatened him."

Mod raised a delicate purple brow. "You sound very sure that I threatened him."

"Of course. I know you better than anyone else, Mod-chan," Rosan chided her gently, boring his gaze into her and successfully making her fidget. "I understand that you are overprotective of me and that, in my current state, anything that could possibly have a negative effect on me, will be dealt with by you. Am I wrong?"

The Devil Fruit stared at the taller (she missed the days when he was shorter than her) teen and let loose a tired sigh.

"I do not regret what I've done," Mod said and Ram contemplated fleeing from the situation.

Sometimes, it was a blessing that Father had no emotions.

"He is 10," Rosan informed his longest companion. "He has every right in the world to feel disdain for me and you shouldn't try to influence that."

"I disagree," the Devil Fruit replied stubbornly. "You tried very hard to portray yourself in a negative life when telling Ace what happened. It seems like you are actively trying to influence him into hating you."

"…" Rosan did not respond and Mod took that as a sign to continue.

"You told Ace that you blamed him for Rouge's death, yet you omitted the fact that it was for a split second. Do you think he would have known how short it was, without me intervening and mentioning it?" The woman accused and she frowned heavily at her charge.

"I thought we were past this self destructive phase of yours, Rosan," she finished sadly.

"I'm sorry," Rosan said suddenly, making her pause in surprise. She had expected him to fight back more strongly... "You're just worried for me and it's only been amplified because of my change," the redhead pointed out and she nodded in agreement.

"You're willing to do anything to protect me, even if it means throwing your morals away and I appreciate that. But, I'm not a fragile piece of glass, Mod-chan."

The woman froze in shock at his words and she began to rapidly shake her head at his quiet declaration. She... she wasn't trying to imply that at all!

"Ace hating me will hurt but I doubt it will cause me to fall even further then where I'm currently at. My mental fortitude is pretty strong and I've prepared for this outcome for 10 years."

"I-I know that! It's just...I'm so scared Rosan," she admitted in a soft whisper. "Every day I think about what happened to Meiko and how much it changed you and every day I think to myself, "how is Rosan going to recover from something like this?" and it makes me so scared to think that maybe it will never come!"

"You and Meiko were made for each other. To lose your other half is something not many people can recover from a-and I'm afraid that there's a chance it can happen to you too! I'm not worried about you falling further, I'm worried about you never recovering."

Tears began welling up in her eyes and she bowed her head. "I miss it Rosan. I miss your emotions, I miss your smile, your care, your anger, your chaotic nature. I miss all of and I won't accept anyone potentially slowing down what little progress we've made. Even Ace."

"It's not often your this up front and honest with me," Rosan commented and she couldn't resist smiling despite the tears.

"It's cause your growing up now," she said playfully and Ram giggled.

Rosan got up (Ram nearly protested) and made his way over to Mod. He wrapped the woman in his arms and whispered, "I'm lucky to have you, Mod-chan. The extent that your willing to go for me, makes me feel truly blessed and I love you all the more for it."

"I know," Mod mumbled, burying her face in his chest. The plus side of his growth spurt, was that Rosan was a very comfortable person to rest against now.

"You are the most important person in the world to me. You're my best friend, my mother, my sister, my partner for life... You have done everything for me since I was 4," Rosan replied truthfully and she couldn't keep the large smile off her face at his declaration. "I will do anything to make you happy and if that means clawing through this world to get my emotions back, I'll do it. Just for you because you deserve it."

Her tears began falling and she desperately clutched the person she cared for most. This was why she loved him so much! His number one priority, had always been her since they met and it had not changed over the years. It was natural that he had become her number one priority.

"Group hug!" Ram cheered and she dove onto the two. She was hoping to knock them over, but Rosan deftly caught her and included her into the mix.

"Whether you eventually unlock your emotions again, or you stay like this, you'll always have my unconditional loyalty," Ram exclaimed without any hesitation and Mod laughed.

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

"I don't care how you end up Rosan. I'll love you all the same, but I just want you to be happy," the Devil Fruit whispered warmly and her wielder clutched the two tighter.

"That's why I endure, to see if there is such thing as happiness for me now," Rosan murmured and the 3 just held each other.

Even if he couldn't find it, at least he still had people who cared for him.

----------------------------------------

The week had passed by quickly and like always, his 3 old shipmates were there to see him off.

"Don't disappear for longer than a month this time," Angel snarled but the fact that she was buried in Rosan's body, made it impossible to take her serious.

Just don't tell her that...

"I'll try to balance visiting you guys and making you grow away from me," Rosan promised. "You three are already making good progress. You have other things to focus on that distracts you from the fact that I am not here."

"Stop trying to use logic on me!" Angel harrumphed and Demon snorted.

"I still have a hard time believing the story you told us. I wish I could have heard it in person," he hummed. He had been busy working at the hospital and applying what he had learned from his studies. It was working out extremely well for him and he was already near the top of the staff.

"Blame Maro," Angel said without hesitation and the girl gaped at being outed so quickly.

"S-Snitch!" She barked and the redhead stuck out her tongue childishly. Maro returned it in kind and soon, the two began bickering with each other.

"I apologize for not delaying, but I'm happy that you are finding so much success as a Doctor, Demon," Rosan said truthfully and Demon blushed bashfully.

"I-I'm just trying my best to honor Meiko's memories," he muttered with a soft smile on his face.

"She'd be proud of you and a little jealous that you caught up to her skills so quickly," Rosan remarked and the 2 clones laughed at the truthful statement.

Maro smiled a forlorn smile. She would have loved to meet Meiko in person. All 3 of the triplets thought very highly of her. Angel didn't compliment anyone (besides Rosan) as much as she complimented the late lover of their Master.

She must have been an amazing person.

"Alright, alright!" Angel said with a shaky smile. "We'll let you go before it gets bad and I try to forcefully keep you here!"

"Thank you, Angel," Rosan nodded and he waved at the three before vanishing.

----------------------------------------

Rosan's method of going to Dawn Island, was to teleport to Luffy's straw hat that he recently placed a Save Point on.

That was not a good idea.

Luffy was incredibly reckless.

Mod let out a deep sigh of regret at the sight of the child almost being consumed by crocodiles.

Rosan glanced at his soaked pants, from being knee deep in the water, and hummed.

"This is unexpected. I suppose it's a good thing that I'm taller now or else this would be rather troublesome."

If more than half of his body had been submerged, he'd be pretty weakened and it would be a lot harder to escape from the crocodiles. Since the water only reached his knees, he was fine.

Luffy didn't look very fine though.

The boy was desperately trying to avoid getting chomped by the crocodiles and Ram was laughing hysterically at the sight. The silver haired weapon was rolling on the floor at the hilarity of it all and she was desperately clutching her stomach.

"Perhaps I made a mistake," Mod said and the teen began laughing harder.

"Your the one that was interested in him Auntie! No regrets now," she cackled.

"Do you need help, Luffy?" Rosan called and the boy looked at his scout with such pathetic eyes, Ram lost her breath.

Rosan transformed his weapon into a katana and made his way to the crocodiles.

"Crocodiles are edible, right?" the redhead asked and Mod nodded.

"Yes, they are."

"Then we will eat this tonight. I hope it's not too difficult to cook," the teen decided and he dashed into them without hesitation.

10 minutes later. Rosan stepped on Luffy's inflated belly to push out all the water he had managed to drink. The corpses of the crocodiles, were lying some ways away and the redhead contemplated on just how he'd cook them.

"Being rubber sure has given your body some... freedom," he commented slowly and his captain's response was to spit out another glob of water.

"At least you've never had any accidents with drowning," Mod said tiredly.

"If I fell in the water while traveling with Robin, she wouldn't be able to get me and I'd die. It was trying times back then when I was that clumsy," Rosan said truthfully, thinking back to it.

He had way too many near falls when he traveled with the Devil Child and she had told him to stop raising her blood pressure. After they separated, and he was imprisoned, the boy had gained far more control over his formerly clumsy body with training and he managed to more easily evade situations like that.

Luffy was probably always going to have this problem.

It's a good thing he ate Mod's fruit before he ever cared about the ocean.

"Did you try and follow Ace today again?" Rosan asked the recovered child.

"N-no!" Luffy lied and Rosan tilted his head.

"You don't want me to interfere?" he asked instead and the rubber boy nodded rapidly, thankful that he didn't need to lie anymore.

The boy was a terrible liar anyways.

"I want Ace to be my friend!" The seven year old said determinedly. "I don't want to rely on you for everything so no helping! I can do it!"

Rosan could respect that. He wasn't keen on being a babysitter anyways. If Luffy wanted to do it by himself, the redhead wouldn't stop him. His captain was someone who wouldn't hesitate to ask for help if he truly couldn't do it himself, but if he could, then he would and that was a mindset that he could appreciate.

"Okay, I won't follow you two, have fun and try not to die," Rosan said calmly and Luffy cheered.

With Luffy chasing Ace, that would leave him plenty of free time and he didn't know what to do with it.

Rosan had not been training as intensely as when he was younger because he simply lacked the drive to do so. He didn't think that was changing anytime soon. Besides, his priorities had changed over the year. Being the strongest was a far off dream at the moment.

Seems he could actually visit Maro and co more. They would be happy to hear that.

He would naturally still limit his visits though.

----------------------------------------

Rosan glanced at the bandit's hideout.

He had been at the rich capital today to glean some info on it and now, he was making his way back to their home. The redhead was purposely avoiding Ace, in case the boy wanted some more time alone, and that meant he didn't see Luffy either.

He contemplated searching for the seven year old but discarded the thought. His struggle against Ace was building character along with his strength and Rosan wouldn't impede that.

With that, he entered the building — only to immediately pause at the speech of the, obviously drunk, bandits.

"He's a demon child!" That was Dadan currently yelling. "We can't control him and if the government finds us, we're all as good as dead!"

"Ace is uncontrollable! If he dies, he dies," the bandit leader slurred.

"Not this again," Magra sighed.

"What about his brother? You really think he'll accept that?" Dogra said worriedly.

"That redhead? He's even more of a monster than Ace is! I doubt anything here can kill him but if by some miracle he does die, we'll be lucky."

"Is that so?" Rosan said softly and every single one of them froze in unison, terror welling up in their bodies at that familiar, quiet voice.

The redhead entered the room and stared down the bandit leader with searching eyes.

"I'd like to make one thing clear," Rosan began and they started trembling. "I do not care what people have to say about me, much less bandits whose lives are already ruined. I've been called much worse things in my life and it has never affected me," he informed them, voice a near whisper but they could hear him perfectly.

"But the fact that you speak so cruelly about Ace, while he lives with you, is unacceptable. This is surely not the first time either and I'm sure he's picked up some of your words."

A daunting pressure slammed into them and they found that it was getting alot more difficult to breathe.

"The mind of a child is impressionable. "Should I be alive? Am I a demon? A monster? Would I be better off dead?" If told something many times, they will have no choice but to begin believing those doubts," Rosan's voice was almost inaudible and he took a step forward the terrified bandits.

"That is unacceptable," his voice echoed in the room.

Dadan tried to speak up but she was unable too. The worst thing about this entire ordeal, was that Rosan's tone had not shifted even once. He spoke in that same vacant cadence of his and it made the situation all the more unsettling.

"If Ace grew up hearing what you were saying, that would explain some of what I need to know," he said and the pressure relented. More and more, he was realizing the mistake he had made leaving his little brother in the care of these people... Sadly, hindsight was 20/20 and there was nothing he could do to change the past.

"Let this be a warning, if I ever catch you bad mouthing my 10 year old brother in that way again, I'm going to show you what an actual demon is and you'll find that you much prefer the way someone like Ace acts..."

"...Okay?" Rosan finished gently.

"O-Okay," Dadan stammered, sobered up and terrified.

Rosan nodded and turned away to leave.

"I'm surprised you didn't kill them," Mod commented with a raised brow.

"Yea! Normally, you wouldn't even give them a warning!" Ram was also confused. Father had quite low tolerance for people that offended him so to see them still breathing, came as a surprise to her.

"There is no point. I would gain nothing from it besides Garp hunting me down," Rosan informed them.

He stepped out of the room, only to make eye contact with Ace himself.

The 10 year old was looking at him with wide eyes and it was clear he had been listening in.

Rosan had not been intending for that.

The redhead pointed outside questioningly and after a moment of deliberation, Ace nodded.

The two walked out and Rosan asked "Do you want to go to the tree again?"

Ace enjoyed flying so he agreed faster this time (just a little). Rosan's large, scaly wings sprouted from his back and the son of Roger reached out his hand for the tall teen to grab.

"What type of wings are these?" Ace asked curiously as they flew to the location.

"Dragon wings," Rosan answered immediately.

"!" Ace reeled in shock. "You can transform into a dragon?!"

"Yes I can. It's a technique I'm very proud of. It took me far too long to learn how to do it."

Ace wanted to see it but he wouldn't say that out loud.

"I can show you one day, if you'd like," Rosan offered and his younger brother nodded his head in agreement.

"Do all children love dragons?" Mod asked, looking utterly unimpressed. She liked how Rosan's dragon looked but she was not nearly as awe inspired as everyone else seemed to be. She was more so inspired by how bullheaded he had been in trying to achieve the technique. It had taken him 5 years after all!

"Dragon's are pretty awesome!" Ram said cheerfully, just as smitten with the flying lizard as everyone else.

"I don't understand…"

"It's because you're old, Auntie!"

…

"I-I didn't mean it like that," Ram tried but it was too late for her.

"How could you have possibly meant it?" Mod asked calmly, with a firm grip on the silver haired girl's cheek.

"I'm sowwy," Ram's distorted voice came out and she desperately tried to pry Mod's soft hands away.

Why the hell was Auntie so strong?! W-what was she eating?!

"Are you calling me fat now?!"

"Noooo, where did you even get that from?!" Ram was justifiably terrified for her life.

Rosan expertly ignored the two. The two brothers landed on top of the tree and the redhead placed Ace down easily enough. He repeated the same process as last time and soon, the two were sitting in a mini tree house.

The redhead sat down, content to let Ace steer this conversation and he began humming a tune that Meiko loved to listen to.

Ace himself, was deep in thought. He had been thinking hard about what he thought of his older brother in the time that he was gone.

He didn't think he hated him, but he surely did resent him. It was impossible not to, he was supposed to have an older brother to watch out for him and instead, he got nothing but vicious words growing up about how the son of Roger was better off being killed.

"I've got some more questions for you," Ace decided.

"Okay," Rosan replied easily enough.

"What were you doing these past 10 years?" he wondered.

"Sailing the seas mostly. I rarely stayed on an island for long," Rosan informed him.

"By yourself?"

Rosan shook his head no. "I've always had at least one companion with me. At first it was because I was only 4 and could not reliably take care of myself but around 9, it was simply because I needed more hands."

"So you've been sailing the sea for 10 years," Ace muttered.

"Yes. If not for Mod-chan, I'd probably be dead who knows how many times," the redhead told him truthfully.

Mod-chan… Ace remembered her words clear as day. The protective gleam in her eyes as she talked about her charge, the ease at which she threatened him…

Ace had to wonder what caused her to go to such lengths for his older brother. The woman admitted that despite loving him (wasn't that a shock) she wouldn't hesitate to hurt him if he hurt Rosan.

The 10 year old refused to fear anybody though. She wouldn't cow him from speaking his mind. Nobody could.

But first…

"Why are you so serious all the time? It doesn't feel like you have any emotions and it's a little hard to believe that your sincere in trying to make it up to me," Ace said bluntly.

"A good observation," Rosan praised blandly. "You're right, my emotions are locked away at the moment and show no signs of coming back to me. I assure you that one of my biggest regrets that I have never let go of, is not being able to bring you with me in some way."

Locked away. So something caused this to happen to him.

"What happened? Was it Mom?" Ace asked softly and Rosan's dual gaze locked onto him. It almost felt like he wasn't going to answer the question, but his brother had said he would answer without hesitation.

"Mom played a big part, but she was not the decisive factor," the redhead sighed and he looked at his ring. Ace did not miss that motion and he regarded the fancy, oddly familiar (it reminded him of something but he wasn't sure what), ring curiously.

The 10 year old didn't miss how Rosan wore so much expensive jewelry. The redhead had dangling ruby red earrings in both ears, a white pendant, and that silver and amethyst ring.

Coupled with his various outfits, Ace thought his brother was just some rich kid but it was clear that he was wrong.

The pendant was one of his last connections with Mom. Ace wondered what the ring and earrings signified.

"To be frank, the reason my emotions are locked away is because the love of my life, died in my arms," Rosan told him and Ace felt the world freeze around him at what the redhead just said.

That… that was not what he had been expecting to hear. No, that was definitely not what he had been expecting to hear.

"W-what?!" The 10 year old stammered in shock. Did his brother really just say that? The love of his life… died in his arms?

What the fuck?!

Mod closed her eyes as the pain of the memory washed over her. She resisted the urge to burst out crying and Ram immediately pulled the woman close to her, whispering words of reassurance all the while.

"The cause for my emotions disappearing, happened because my lover, Meiko, died in my arms," Rosan repeated softly and Ace began shaking his head rapidly.

"Wait! I didn't think it was that bad… You don't... you don't have to continue," he told him. This was clearly not something easy to talk about and Ace was out of his depth with the topic. He didn't mean to bring up bad memories when asking the redhead that question.

"Rosan has been through too much already and he's barely hanging on by a thread right now. You don't seem to understand how valuable you are to him and I don't want you to break him even further," Mod's words reverberated in his head and Ace suddenly found that she had not been joking.

"Are you sure?" Rosan asked and Ace nodded without hesitation.

"...Sorry for making you think about that," the freckled boy mumbled. He wasn't used to apologizing but he felt it was necessary here.

"You didn't know," the 14 year old dismissed immediately. "There's a lot of things you don't know about me."

That sounded ominous.

"That's my fault though. I should have sought you out sooner and as an apology, and a show of trust, I'll tell you one of my biggest secrets," Rosan said and Ace raised a brow at that.

"You have a secret bigger than Modification?" The 10 year old wondered.

"I suppose you can say that," Rosan hummed. "I am Reaper, the Angel of Death."

…

….

"WHAT?!" Ace's jaw dropped at the revelation and his eyes bugged comically.

Was his older brother… really that Reaper? The infamous bounty hunter turned criminal?! Everyone talked about that guy so even someone like Ace, who didn't pay much attention to the outside world, knew who they were! Granted, he didn't know much but he knew that they were a pretty big deal!

You're saying this was them?! He found that a little hard to believe!

"Yes, you are one of the few people to know that so please keep it a secret," Rosan requested.

"But your wings are scaly and I heard that Reaper's wings are feathery, like a bird," Ace pointed out. It was the one constant people talked about when mentioning the Shinigami. Those black wings of theirs.

"Angel, actually," Rosan said and a magnificent pair of wings burst out of his back. They were pitch black and feathery and something about them looked like more than just bird wings. Even in the dark of the night, they seemed to absorb the light around them and Ace had the strange urge to touch them.

"I never said a dragon is the only thing I can transform into."

Ace eyed his brother in a new light.

So the redhead was the elusive criminal, Reaper. That explained the dangerous air around them and how they had been able to fight Garp for a moment.

That… was kinda cool.

Ace sighed before cocking his fist back and punching Rosan right in the nose. The redhead's head was flung back by the impact but he accepted it without complaint and didn't bother wiping the blood that had begun leaking from it.

He deserved that. Honestly, Ace was well within his rights to hurt him even more and he wouldn't stop him.

"I don't hate you. I resent you," the freckled boy eventually said. Punching him like that, felt good.

"No matter what your reasoning is, you still abandoned me for 10 years. We're supposed to be brothers, but I didn't even know you existed until recently."

Rosan stayed silent, sensing that Ace wanted to get this off his chest.

"The only reason I don't hate you, is because you look like you've had your own problems over the years," Ace said truthfully. "I wouldn't even want to look at you if you weren't like this and I'd hate you as much as I hate Roger."

Mod frowned at his words.

"I don't really consider you my older brother so don't try to act like you are. I've been taking care of myself for this long and I definitely don't need your help anymore so you don't have to watch out for me," he grunted and he was sure the woman who had threatened him last time, was glaring now.

Eh, he didn't care. She could fuck off. He was going to speak his mind and no one could tell him otherwise.

"Do you want me to leave? Permanently?" Rosan questioned and Ace was tempted to say yes but despite his words, this was still family. His older brother was trying to make an effort and though the freckled boy was angry with him, he wouldn't push him away needlessly.

Mom loved them both equally after all and he owed his mother for how great of a woman she was.

"No, just… don't interfere with my life if I don't want you to," Ace grumbled and that was probably as good as Rosan was going to get.

"I understand," the redhead said and Ace was surprised to see a nearly invisible smile on his face. "Thank you for giving me the chance to redeem myself; I will take your words serious."

"Do whatever you want," Ace grunted, tired of this conversation and tired in general. "I won't go easy on you just because you're my brother."

Rosan nodded before saying, "Don't tell Luffy I am Reaper, by the way. That boy can't keep a secret for his life."

Ace's eye twitched in annoyance at the mention of the seven year old and he said, "I got no reason to talk to that kid anyways. Why would you even tell me that?"

"Luffy is a spoiled kid. He seems to always get what he wants," was all Rosan said.

----------------------------------------

Three months.

Luffy had been chasing after Ace for three months.

Rosan felt his respect slightly rise for the seven year old. He was very stubborn and tenacious and the boy had spent every single day chasing after his freckled brother.

The redhead did nothing to aid Luffy, as per request and just remained at Dadan's home. While the straw hat boy was chasing Ace, Rosan would go hunt, visit the capital, or go visit Makino.

He made sure not to mention what Luffy was up to when he was visiting the bartender.

Rosan had not done anything out of turn since his encounter with the bandits and this had the added effect of making the people around him relax. Makino especially seemed quite fond of him now and he wasn't very sure why. Maybe she was bored and had no one to talk to until him.

His lack of interference meant he hung around the bandit family more and he learned many things about them.

For one, Dadan actually did care about the kids so he was wrong about that (he could admit that). She was just way too embarrassed to show it. Her concern for Luffy had been obvious to spot and she was upset that Rosan was not making sure he was alright.

"He's a growing boy," was Rosan's response. "He also doesn't want me to help, so I won't help."

She grumbled and dropped the topic, understanding quickly how stubborn Luffy was. She had tried to get him to stop many times and had received the same answer every time.

It made her more tolerable, to know that she did exhibit concern for those two. The woman just happened to be abrasive in personality.

Ram was enjoying Luffy's journeys immensely. She had laughed herself to tears, at the sight of the seven year old's face after a beehive fell on him.

Rosan himself had to actually go retrieve the boy after a particularly strong breeze actually blew his tiny body away. Even Mod found that moment particularly funny.

The bandits begged to differ, if the way they screeched was an indication.

Dawn Island was unlike any other island he had seen in the East Blue. It was dangerous for the ill equipped and seemed more likely to be an island in the other oceans. like the North Blue. Rosan remembered Luffy mentioning Garp throwing him in the jungle alone.

The old man certainly had a few screws loose. The rubber boy hadn't even had his Devil Fruit, which had done an impressive job (on Mod's level) of keeping him alive, when Garp threw him out there.

But, after three months, it seemed like Luffy had finally made it to the other side of the forest.

Good. Rosan would rather not travel with someone incompetent. It meant he'd have to involve himself far more than he felt comfortable doing at the moment. The redhead did not want to attract attention onto Luffy's future crew before they were strong enough to deal with it.

While that should have been the end of that, things never seemed to go normal when the straw hat boy was involved.

The day had started off normal enough. Rosan had decided he would go visit Makino today because there was nothing better for him to do and he helped her out in the bar sometimes when he was free.

The woman seemed to appreciate his visits and being able to talk to someone close to age in her (despite the five year difference) and Rosan figured he would fall further in her good graces by doing said visits.

The teen, after Makino asked, was currently handing out beverages to all types of patrons. It was easy to do and she normally had him give the alcohol to the more… aggressive patrons.

With his tall, muscular, stature and empty gaze, they normally kept their complaints and hands to themselves. Well... some of them at least.

There was a large influx in woman who frequented the bar, that Makino had no qualms using him against.

"I wouldn't mind staying here all day, if you're the one giving me my drinks," a husky voice purred close to him and Rosan was forced to restrain Mod from taking his body over.

"Thank you," Rosan replied politely and the drunk woman swooned. "You flatter me. I don't think I'm deserving of such compliments."

That was the wrong thing to say. The woman looked like she was about to jump him.

"Hey handsome! Another drink here please!" another woman's voice called and Ram sweatdropped at the fury on Mod's face.

"Okay," Rosan nodded, going to Makino to pick the order up.

"You're really popular with them," the green haired woman teased and the 14 year old glanced at her.

"You're stating information that you already know. Otherwise, you wouldn't be using my services so liberally," the redhead responded, expertly balancing a large amount of mugs on the tray.

The young adult's only response was to laugh and wave him off. "You offered!"

"No I didn't."

"I don't like this woman anymore," Mod growled. To think she had defended her! Now she was using Rosan's looks for her own gains. How underhanded of her!

"It's fine, Mod-chan," Rosan soothed and he approached the table that had called him earlier.

The woman, a blonde this time, shot him a flirtatious smile and directly placed a tip in his pockets.

They sure did tip well.

Today, he was wearing a silk, long sleeved purple shirt that had a red rose on the chest area with baggy beige pants that reached his purple sneakers.

It seemed to have a positive effect on the people.

"Father, have you ever thought of getting a tattoo?" Ram asked suddenly.

"Not since I was alot younger. My skin is mostly hidden so it has never come to thought? Why? Would you like me to get one?" He asked and his weapon nodded rapidly.

"Why the sudden interest in tattoos?" Mod asked curiously.

"Maro and I were talking about them! She was considering getting one and I thought Father would look great with a tattoo on his arm!"

"I have no complaints," the purple haired woman hummed in approval.

"Then I will get one. You can decide what it is and if Mod agrees, I'll get it," Rosan decided and the silver haired teen cheered ecstatically.

She was going to make it awesome because her father was awesome!

"Do you dye your hair by any chance? It looks amazing!" one woman gushed, beckoning him to sit down.

Rosan glanced over at Makino, ignoring the furious glares of the few men there, and she nodded with a teasing smile on her face.

He was hoping she said no.

"Thank you, red is my natural hair color," Rosan responded, not even flinching as the woman got in his personal space. He was glad Meiko had helped him deal with people touching him because it seemed to happen too often for his liking. If he still had an aversion to being touched, there would be a lot of dead or severely injured people.

"And your eyes! They're so beautiful! It's like looking into a frozen painting!" she enthused, looking directly into his eyes.

That was a first. His lifeless gaze was being complimented? He wasn't sure how to respond to that. Most people couldn't stand looking at his eyes.

Too unnerving, they said and he agreed with them.

"Ah. That's a rare compliment," Rosan replied truthfully. "Thank you, I appreciate it."

"Such a gentleman too~," she crooned and the redhead excused himself at the call of someone else. No doubt, they also noticed the woman rubbing her assets up on him.

Ram sighed in disappointment. "Father, you're hot," she chastised and Mod growled.

"I thought I had more years! I thought puberty was going to come slowly for you! I didn't expect it to hit you so hard," she bemoaned miserably. He was nowhere near this tall when he was 13! Just last year, all the ships inhabitants, barring Demon, had stood above the boy and now he was the tallest one?! It was utter nonsense! S-She needed to get permission to modify his height!

"You two are the first to make those things sound insulting," Rosan remarked and he quickly went to his next customer. At least this one was a male... Though, if he kept glaring at him like that, he wasn't going to be recognized as a human. "And you are not modifying my physical appearance permanently."

"I hate you."

"You can use 4 year old me as a stuffed animal tonight."

"I love you."

Ram snorted.

This was how his time here normally went. Woman of all ages flirting with him, dealing with all sorts of aggressive patrons and Makino taking full advantage of his capabilities.

Rosan didn't really mind but the two living inside of him begged to differ.

"I distinctly remember you calling me possessive, Mod-chan," the redhead hummed and the woman gasped at his audacity.

"Don't you even dare imply that! I'm not anywhere near as bad as you!" Mod was definitely not whining at the moment.

"You don't gotta lie to yourself, Auntie! I'm super possessive of Father and I don't let him use any weapon but me!" Ram beamed at the shorter woman.

"You are unhinged," Mod said flatly.

"Thank you!"

The woman let out a miserable sigh and the ring cackled.

After a few hours, Rosan decided he was done for the day. The patrons had been sated (he had only had to beat up two idiots) and it was currently just him and Makino.

"Thank you again, Rosan," the bartender said warmly. "You're a machine! You make my life way easier when you work."

It was true. Rosan was incredibly efficient even with the woman constantly hounding him. The teen was swift and meticulous and he brought out drinks and food so quickly, it left Makino dizzy.

"Something like this is easy," was all the redhead said, preparing to leave the bar. It was nothing for him, maybe he could start finding more difficult ways to balance the trays when handing them out...

"Oh, wait! Could you give this to Luffy please?" the woman requested, handing him a plate of food. "I'm not sure he's eating healthy up there so get this to him?"

Rosan grabbed the plate and nodded. He could teleport to Luffy, but he felt like flying at the moment.

"I'm off then," the redhead told her and she waved goodbye.

Rosan quickly made his way into the forest, greeting anyone comfortable enough to greet him first, and summoned his wings. It was getting late and he would just retrieve Luffy from whatever mess he had gotten himself into.

He flew through the forest (it was annoying having to avoid all those trees) at a measured pace and raised a brow at the fact that he couldn't find Luffy anywhere.

Did he finally die?

"How morbid. Robin wore off on you," Mod said but she didn't seem too off put by Rosan's train of thought.

"As funny as that would be...," Ram began dryly "...I doubt he's dead. That little kid is tenacious! He probably finally made it to the other side of the forest."

"Ah," was all Rosan said and Ram sweatdropped.

"Hey, you have no emotions but why did that sound disappointed?"

"I'm not sure what you mean. My tone never changed."

"...Okay, Father."

Mod giggled at their interaction and Rosan angled himself in a direction that led him to the other side of the forest.

Rosan... was not fond of Gray Terminal. Due to his enhanced sense of smell, it was rather unbearable to be in and he had to numb his smelling more than once to remain there.

Not only that, there was nothing of value there. Just fools who thought it would be a good idea to rob the, admittedly, wealthy looking teen.

What? He was vain and Angel did not make it better. He wasn't going to alter the way he dressed just to avoid interactions. That was Reaper's job and the Shinigami was retired.

As he flew, two figures caught his eye. The boy tilted his head at the sight of his little brother and some boy wearing a top hat and he descended in front of them. They seemed rather panicked at the moment and seemed to be discussing something of importance.

That didn't bode well.

Rosan landed on a higher branch and his wings vanished from sight. The teen jumped off and landed in front of them with a thud, making the two boys jump and tense up in preparation for battle.

"Ace," the redhead nodded in greeting. "You seem panicked."

His freckled brother relaxed slightly at the sight of him and he glowered at the teen. "Don't just go sneaking up on people like that!" he growled and the 14 year old tilted his head.

"My apologies."

The top hat wearing boy regarded him wearily and this close, Rosan could see that he had blonde hair underneath the hat.

"Is this that Rosan you were talking about?" he questioned and the teen noted his missing tooth and scuff marks.

A fighter then. And one who seemed used to getting in altercations.

"Yeah," Ace confirmed and Sabo looked at the teen again.

He was unnerving. Sabo didn't like the look in his eyes because there was nothing there. If you took his eyes away, he'd probably end up looking the same and that thought was kind of creepy!

"W-we don't have time for this!" the blonde boy suddenly said, snapping himself out of the staring he had been doing, and Ace looked at him in confusion.

"What's the matter? Did they come back?!" the freckled boy asked and Sabo shook his head with nervous eyes.

"N-no! That Luffy, he still hasn't talked!"the top hat wearing boy yelled and Ace felt his heart drop at that declaration. The little idiot hadn't said anything yet?! Didn't he realize they were dealing with actual pirates right now? Wait... of course he didn't, the freckled boy hadn't told him anything... shit.

"Oh?" A voice called and they looked at Rosan, whose head was tilted. The faint glow in his eyes rooted them to their spot and Sabo felt a bead of sweat forming.

"Could you explain the situation to me?" He asked quietly and the two 10 year old's, froze.

"W-we messed with some pirates and they took Luffy," Sabo began, not even thinking of messing around. He explained the entire Porchemy situation to Rosan and the boy just stood there.

Unmoving.

The top hat wearing boy panted slightly after his explanation and looked at the teen.

Ace told him that Rosan was Luffy's friend so he had been expecting some type of reaction at the knowledge of the boy being tortured.

But there was nothing there. Just that same, unfeeling gaze.

It felt wrong.

"Do you know where they are, blonde?" Rosan asked suddenly. "I'll deal with them."

"Y-you?" Sabo asked in disbelief. "We're talking about actual pirates! Porchemy has a real sword!"

"That means nothing to me," Rosan said simply, placing a plate of food down near a tree. "Tell me where they are and I will deal with them. I cannot let Luffy die just yet. He's interesting."

"Sabo just tell him," Ace said and the blonde looked at him in shock.

Did Ace really want to send him to his death? Just like that?! Were they both insane?

"Fine, follow me," Sabo muttered and he rushed off.

Rosan nodded and made to follow the boy. He could have used Save Point, but he didn't know how much people were watching and he'd rather not slaughter everyone in the vicinity for witnessing it.

"Why do you even wanna risk your life to save that kid?" Sabo asked curiously.

Rosan hummed and simply said, "He's my captain, I'd be a bad crewmate if I didn't save him when he was in trouble."

----------------------------------------

Ace couldn't hide the surprise on his face at Rosan's declaration.

Luffy was his captain? Really?

Did the seven year old even know who was on his crew right now?

Sabo raised a surprised brow at that. That Luffy kid was being serious about becoming a pirate? He sure worked fast if he already had a member. It sure was a unique one too.

Rosan had immediately used modification to lessen his sense of smell as they entered Gray Terminal. As they neared their destination, the redhead picked up the sound of flesh being struck.

"Luffy is made out of rubber… and I'm sure they figured that out by now," Mod said with increasing horror. Blunt objects didn't work on the little boy and plenty of pirates had little to no morals so that could only mean —

"They probably moved on to weapons," Ram finished her train of thought grimly. The idea of that small kid being struck by a weapon, didn't sit well with her at all.

Rosan focused on where the noise was and, in a burst of speed, he blew past Sabo, surprising the 10 year old greatly, so he could burst down the door.

He paused at what he saw.

Luffy, bloodied and beaten, was chanting "Won't tell," with tear streaks in his eyes that mixed with the blood dripping down his body. He was hanging off the ceiling, tied to a rope, and the amount of blood, was far too much for such a small seven year old to be leaking.

"Those… animals!" Mod snarled and her visage had darkened considerably. Her blood red eyes began glowing ominously and she clenched her fists.

"This is too far even for me," Ram growled glaring at them.

Rosan simply stared. Memories of a more unpleasant time came rushing to him, as he saw the sight of the bloodied boy hanging there helplessly. No way out, just the victim of someone else's sick and twisted whims...

Constant unending interrogation.

A steadfast silence.

Disapproval. Anger.

Needles.

Shock. Shock. Shock. Shock. Shock. Shock. Shock. So much shocks, why did it hurt so much? Why was he getting used to it?

Pain. So much pain. Too much pain to handle.

Blood. So much blood. Too much blood to handle.

What is your name? What is your name? What is your name? What is your nameeeee —

Rosan ignored the gazes of everyone there and calmly took a step towards Luffy, completely ignoring the massive man next to him.

"R-Rosan! A-Ace!" Luffy sobbed in relief and the redhead gazed at the slumped over boy with a neutral expression.

Ace and Sabo looked at Rosan like he had grown a second head. The two had come in, guns blazing, and he was just walking around without a care in the world.

Just who was this guy and what kinda balls did he have?

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Porchemy scowled, before making eye contact with Ace and Sabo and momentarily forgetting about the redhead.

"Ace! Thanks for saving me the trouble of findin —" the white haired man tried to say.

"Do you make a habit out of torturing children?" Rosan asked quietly, never taking his eyes off Luffy.

Porchemy growled at being interrupted and he focused his gaze back on the teen standing next to him.

Treating him like he wasn't a threat.

The pale pirate was clearly getting fed up with the events of the day, from getting his money stolen, to this little stupid brat not telling him a single thing! With a roar, he grabbed his sword and swung it at Rosan.

Ace and Sabo gaped in horror. Was Rosan seriously about to die like that? After talking so big?

"Treating you like you aren't a threat?" The redhead suddenly spoke up, making Porchemy's eyes go wide. He reached out and grabbed the saber in between his gloved hand and with a simple flex, it shattered into pieces everywhere. The pieces of metal clanged loudly on the floor before everything went dead silent.

Sabo's eyes bugged.

Ace gaped.

The two, who had gotten robbed by Ace, felt their jaw dropping.

Porchemy felt an immeasurable amount of dread pool up inside of him.

"I don't think you understand. You aren't a threat," Rosan finished and his glowing, heterochromatic, eyes landed on the pirate.

He cut down Luffy and slowly walked over to Sabo. Depositing the boy in his hands, the redhead said, "Take him and go. What's about to happen, shouldn't be viewed by children."

Ace shook his head with a dark look in his eyes. "I never run from a fight."

"This isn't a fight," Rosan countered immediately. He vanished from his spot, only to appear in front of Porchemy and delivered a heel kick to the man's chest.

The pirates eyes bugged at the force of the blow and his body flew backwards before crashing into a wall.

"This is purely stress relief."

Porchemy hacked and coughed up a glob of blood at being kicked so harshly in his sternum. He looked into the vacant gaze of the monster that delivered the blow and began doubting if even Captain Bluejam could beat him.

"You have zero problem torturing children," Rosan commented idly, not even seeming to care about the situation at hand.

"Unluckily for you, I have zero problem torturing adults."

A cold bead of sweat began dropping from Porchemy's head at the casualness of the statement and he quickly scrambled away.

Rosan watched with a tilted head, as he picked up a pair of bloody spiked gloves and shakily equipped them.

"DON'T THINK YOU CAN BEAT ME!" Porchemy roared in fury. A fluke! That's what it had been! His sword wasn't of high quality and he used it often. That's why it had broken. It had to be!

"Would you like to know something?" Rosan asked politely and Porchemy gaped, as the redhead's own gloves turned into spiked gauntlets.

"I much prefer when my opponents act like this," he admitted and everyone there tilted their heads in confusion.

"When they delude themselves into thinking that everything I've done was not 100% intentional. It's far more entertaining to fight someone who thinks I'm just a fluke, then fighting an opponent who's already accepted defeat... It's quite sadistic of me but I can't help some things. I've always been a malicious child," the 14 year old told him.

"So in your last moments, I want you to dance for me Porchemy. I want you to dance to my tune. Do your best to follow my movement. It may be a bit difficult but you have my word…" Rosan whispered and Porchemy realized at that moment that Bluejam had nothing on this demon in human flesh.

"... That I will turn this into a performance you won't forget. Even in death."

The last of the giant man's patience was gone, if the numerous veins on his head were an indication. With a roar of deluded fury he charged Rosan.

"I'LL KILL YOU, YOU SUNNOVA BITCH!"

"That's what all my opponents say before they die. Especially the pirates. I swear, you are all taking the exact same lessons as each other."

"Make him suffer," Mod commanded.

Rosan ducked under a wild blow and instantly modified his sensitivity. He clenched his spiked fist and casually punched upward, connecting solidly with the man's gut.

The howl of pain he let out, was music to Ram's ear.

"Okay," Rosan acquiesced, leaning back the perfect distance to avoid grabbing palms. Porchemy's reward, was for the redhead to duck back into his guard to deliver a 3 punch combo to his chest. The same chest where he had planted that devastating heel kick to.

Needless to say, the pirate didn't appreciate that very much. Rosan was honestly surprised he hadn't ruined his voice box yet.

Porchemy didn't understand why it hurt so fucking much! W-what were his spikes made of?! This pain... it was unlike anything he ever felt! This wasn't normal... the demonic redhead had done something to his body.

Rosan was dead silent but his eyes had never left Porchemy. Now that the battle had begun, the pirate had his undivided attention.

This was his stage and he would not have anyone show him up.

Ace watched this all with wide eyes. His brother's claim to be Reaper was looking to be more and more true based on what he was seeing with his battle.

To be blunt, Rosan was dancing around Porchemy's attacks.

Effortlessly.

The redhead sidestepped an attack and spun behind his tall target to deliver a returning blow on his lower back. Porchemy swung wildly behind him but Rosan calmly pivoted the fist to the side with a slight push of his hand.

He then broke that arm with a completely vertical swing of his long legs.

They all winced at the noise of bone breaking, Porchemy's inhuman howling and how awkwardly his arm bent.

This wasn't even a fight. True to his words, Porchemy was being forced to respond to Rosan's movements and whenever he did, the teen was already onto the next one.

It truly did look like a captivating performance. It was a fucked up performance, but still a performance. One that Rosan was completely in control of.

His brother was a scary person.

Porchemy didn't even know when he stopped thinking. Maybe it was after the fourth hit to his head, or the stomp that had broken one of his legs, maybe it was the multiple holes in his body leaking blood from those spiked gauntlets. He wasn't really sure, but his body had just been reacting at this point, desperate to get a hit on the teen.

Nothing worked.

Ram loved this. Loved when her Father fought like this. Loved when he used her to dismantle his foes. Loved watching the fight leave their body, the hope draining from their frame at the overwhelming force displayed by the redhead.

It was intoxicating having such power over someone. The ring had a psychotic grin on her face at the show of dominance.

Mod hated seeing children get abused by adults. It reminded her of the times when she was utterly helpless to save Rosan from the same treatment. Months and months of torture and she couldn't even whisper words of assurance to her lovable charge. She was unconscious while Rosan screamed and begged for anyone to save him until he realized that he needed to save himself and changed accordingly.

Seeing Luffy, a boy who reminded her so much of how Rosan used to be, in this state, sickened her to the core and so she would relieve herself the only way she knew how.

"Overwhelm him," Mod said coldly and Rosan immediately moved to finish the fight. He had been prolonging it to make the man suffer but Mod-chan got what Mod-chan wanted.

"Okay."

The redhead dug his spiked gauntlets in Porchemy's gut, making the man wail, and hoisted the man up with no effort.

Everyone's eyes bugged at watching Rosan lift someone twice his height.

Rosan dislodged the spikes and the action left him airborne, perfectly horizontal. He tensed his muscles —

"Let's see if you can handle a taste of your own medicine," Rosan hummed, clenching his fists.

—Then the teen began swinging.

Punch after spiked punch connected to Porchemy's floating body. The force of the onslaught kept his body airborne, as Rosan rained blow after blow on the man.

Thunk thunk thunk thunk thunk thunk thunk thunk.

That was all they heard, as Porchemy's flesh was tenderized at the staggeringly fast blows of the demonic redhead. He was staring directly up at the pale pirate with that blank expression on his face as he brutalized him.

And then he stopped.

His gauntlets transformed back into gloves and the boy took a single step back, acting as if he had not just tortured a grown man and glancing neutrally at his opponent. Porchemy's body suddenly remembered what gravity was and crashed onto the floor with a final thud, right in front of his executioner.

"Do you see what I was talking about now? Pirates always spout the same spiel while doing the least impressive things. You should really look to get better classes," Rosan's deepening voice came out blandly, turning away from the still man.

"Thank you for joining me for this dance, Porchemy. I hope this was a performance you'll never forget," the redhead whispered gently.

"I'm not very fond of lying after all."

----------------------------------------

Captain Bluejam stared at Porchemy's body with disdain on his face.

"I heard what happened Porchemy, did you honestly get beaten by some kids?" Bluejam grunted, looking at the living bruise that was his crewmate.

The damage done to his body was extreme and it was a testament to his will, that he was still even alive.

That wasn't the reason though. Rosan wanted him to bleed out from injuries. Killing him right then and there would be too easy for such scum and he didn't want the other children to see it.

"Boss... Run... Demon," Porchemy tried to gasp out. He tried to look up, but the damage was too much and he lay there in the dirt.

"Don't even speak to me, useless dumbass," Bluejam sneered, holding up his gun and shooting the man repeatedly.

Boom, boom, boom, was the only sound heard in the night and the pirates that had come with their captain, flinched at his brutality.

As Bluejam departed the scene, he snorted to himself. Allowing some kids to scare him? He didn't know what he had ever seen in Porchemy.

"Demon? That demon better have my damn money."

----------------------------------------

Sabo watched as Rosan appeared from wherever he had went, with a plate of food in his hand.

Luffy was sobbing like mad and it looked like Ace was finally fed up with the younger child.

"SHUT UP!" The freckled boy roared with razor sharp teeth. "STOP CRYING ALREADY! IT'S ANNOYING! I HATE COWARDS AND CRYBABY'S AND YOUR BOTH!" he yelled and Luffy immediately shut up to appease the freckled boy.

"You two might actually be brothers," Mod teased, anger sated. She was stroking a content Ram's hair and the silver haired girl sighed cathartically, head in her lap, after a job well done.

Maro definitely picked up her bad habits from the weapon. Those two becoming best friends, was a mistake.

"Crying is a sign of weakness but Luffy is only seven, so it's fine," Rosan hummed. He bent down and placed the plate in the child's laps.

"From Makino," Rosan said softly. "I didn't realize you were in trouble. I'm sorry I couldn't be there faster."

"Th-thank you!" Luffy said suddenly, bowing his head and silencing the 3 there. "Y-you saved me hic," the boy sobbed and Ace grew even more annoyed.

"Why you little…"

"Hey now, he's just saying thanks," Sabo placated, as he held the freckled boy back.

Ace sighed and looked at the boy. "Why didn't you just cough it up in the first place? Those pirates are the kind of people who'd kill women or kids without hesitation!"

Rosan hummed to himself. He had stubbornly refused to give Doc any information for quite the long time too. If the man was as impatient as Porchemy had been or the redhead had been as stubborn as Luffy… he'd probably be dead.

He couldn't fault Luffy because that would make him a hypocrite.

"I thought if I said anything… you wouldn't be my friend!" Luffy said through shaky breaths.

"He is just the sweetest little kid!" Mod cooed at how dumb and adorable Luffy was and Ram rolled her eyes at the Devil Fruit's gushing.

"So what?! It's better than dying!" Ace exclaimed with a frown on his freckled face. "Why do you want to be friends with me so bad anyways?! Don't you remember what I did to you?!"

"BECAUSE IT'S LONELY!" Luffy screamed with tears in his eyes.

"Rude," Ram said. Father was right there!

"…" Rosan didn't really care so he said nothing. He wouldn't get offended over the truth. The redhead was not a person you could hang out with. Especially not a person like Luffy.

He was far too empty to make another person feel whole.

"I can't go back to Foosha and I hate bandits and Rosan's my friend b-but he acts more like an adult and he's not really all there too..."

Rosan's sharp gaze instantly landed on Luffy as he heard that.

"...If I don't follow you, I'll be alone and I don't want to be alone! I hate it more than being hurt!" The straw hat wearing boy finished.

"Where are your parents?" Ace asked, taken aback. He hadn't expected to hear that from the seven year old boy and it had taken him by surprise.

"Grandpa is all I have," he responded bluntly.

"So you feel better when you're around me?"

A nod.

"You… you need me?"

Another nod.

"Do you… want me to live?" Ace asked hesitantly.

"Of course I do!" Luffy exclaimed and that put Ace in deep thought.

"Luffy, what did you mean by that? When you said I'm not all there," Rosan suddenly asked. His eyes were locked onto his future captain but they were not threatening.

There was just a slight interest there.

Ace regarded his older brother's interest in curiosity. Did he not tell Luffy about locking his emotions away? Did the seven year old just make the observation on his own?

"Huh?" Luffy replied in confusion, almost like Rosan's question was incredibly dumb. "You're not all there! A big piece of you is missing, stupid," he said bluntly and the redhead paused.

A big part of him missing... How did Luffy know that?

"He's surprisingly perceptive," Mod said suspiciously.

Luffy saying that, brought the attention onto Rosan and they all remembered the fight against Porchemy.

He was suddenly subject to the eyes of everyone there.

"Ace, you didn't tell me your older brother was so strong," Sabo said warily, remembering the ease at which he defeated the pirate.

He broke his sword by clenching his fist!

"I had a lot on my mind when it came to him," Ace muttered in annoyance. "Telling you how strong he was, wasn't really high on my list."

"Wait… YOU'RE ACE'S BROTHER?" Luffy screamed in shock and the two 10 year old's face planted.

"Yes," Rosan answered, nonplussed. "That's why I came to this island, I was looking for him to explain myself."

"Huh, okay," Luffy said, picking his nose and dropping the topic immediately. His eyes lit up as he remembered the food and he eagerly dug in, sighing happily at the taste of Makino's cooking.

Sabo and Ace exchanged a look and after a short moment, the blonde walked up to him and extended his hand.

"Nice to meet you," the blonde introduced. "I'm Sabo! Ace's best friend and I wanna be a pirate!"

"He's polite," Rosan thought to himself, shaking the hand. "Portgas D. Rosan. I'm the scout of Luffy's future pirate crew. Thank you for watching over Ace."

Sabo blushed bashfully and Ace glowered in embarrassment.

"How did you get so strong?" The top hat wearing boy asked in curiosity. "Ace told me you were only four years older than us!"

"Ah, I've been fighting since I was four," Rosan answered and their eyes bugged at the revelation. "Most pirates in the Blue Seas are nothing serious, my first fight was against a pirate crew."

Did he just say he fought a pirate crew at four years old?!

"Ace, your brother is a monster," Sabo whispered in slight fear.

"I should have known after seeing him put up a fight against Gramps," Ace whispered back.

"I'm sorry for beating Porchemy so brutally in front of you all... I am not fond of children being tortured," Rosan apologized calmly.

"I-it's fine," Sabo waved him off. It was rather brutal but Porchemy had it coming.

The redhead was still pretty scary though.

"Oh, I have a bit of a problem," Sabo suddenly said. "I've been living in this forest near their cove for my whole life but after this, all four of us are gonna be hunted by those pirates."

Rosan didn't think weak people were qualified to hunt, but these three weren't as strong as he was yet.

"That could be problematic for you," Rosan muttered. "They could find you while your sleeping, then you'd definitely die."

Ace and Luffy, who had gotten into an argument while Rosan spoke to Sabo, agreed.

"Right? That's why I need your help," the blonde requested.

----------------------------------------

Rosan immediately opened his eyes, at the feeling of another person entering the room.

The light sleeper sat up and made eye contact with the completely surprised bandits.

Since taking residence in the room, the redhead had made numerous changes to enhance his comfort. The most obvious, was the giant bed that all four of them slept in now.

He knew Dadan wanted one but she needed to stop being so embarrassed about every little thing and just ask him herself. Maybe he'd give her a hint one of these days that he was willing to do so and she'd muster up the courage to ask him.

The bandits were looking at the pile in disbelief and the redhead followed their gaze. Ah, that would explain why they were in here. There were four people now instead of three.

The bandits dissolved into panic at the sight of Sabo and immediately called Dadan to the room.

The redhead got up, sleep forgotten as Dadan screamed, "What's going on here?!"

"Rosan, who is that?! What's another kid doing here?!" The bandit leader asked the only awake boy there.

"That's Sabo. He lives here now," Rosan answered and the blonde in question woke up from all the screaming.

He rubbed his eyes and let out a yawn before making eye contact with Dadan. "Hey! You're Dadan right?! I'm Sabo! Thanks for letting me stay here," he beamed, shaking the dumbfounded lady's hand.

She slapped it out of her grasp and said, "Sabo?! I know that name! I heard you're a dirty little troublemaker!"

Sabo just laughed at that. "Oh, I heard you're a nasty old hag!" he replied cheekily.

Rosan, already knowing where the conversation was headed, began to check on Luffy's bandages. The boy was careless at the worst of times and he sometimes didn't register that he was injured until the pain kicked in.

Dadan was a pushover, she wouldn't refuse Sabo's request.

"She's nice in her own way," Mod commented.

"Some people just gotta be honest with themselves!" Ram grinned.

"It's a rather difficult thing for some people to come to terms with," Rosan said.

----------------------------------------

As a former menace, Rosan could confidently say that Ace, Sabo and Luffy were menaces.

"Former?" Mod asked in amusement.

"That's what I just said, isn't it? Is old age making you hard of hearing, Mod-chan?"

"You should be worried when you enter the Mindscape tonight."

"..."

"It's far too late, Rosan. I'll see you tonight!" Mod smiled gently and Ram took a step back in fear.

"Good luck, Father."

"I'll find a way."

Rosan watched his little brothers empty their pockets from all the jewelry they had stolen with a nod of his head.

Whatever trouble the boys could get into, they did. And if it didn't involve fighting, they dragged Rosan with them.

"You're too strong. We won't be challenged if you fight too," Ace had explained and the redhead nodded.

"Okay, I will not interfere in your battles. I understand the need to challenge yourself. It's good for your growth."

While Rosan was not allowed to fight with them, they certainly had no qualms abusing his abilities for other things.

"How did you even get this much stuff?" Sabo awed, looking at the giant stash of jewelry that was Rosan's pile.

"Pickpocketing those unaware nobles, is simple if they are not suspicious of you. It's only slightly harder if they are," the boy stated. He had successfully stolen much more difficult things. This was child's play in comparison. Nobles were far too unaware of their surroundings to be able to notice what he was doing anyways.

"W-Where'd you even fit all of it?" The blonde asked dumbly. Rosan wasn't equipped to carry all of the things he got!

"My pockets," the teen said simply and Sabo face planted.

The redhead had gotten so much things! With him, their pirate stash would grow at a massive rate in no time! But they would probably need to increase the size of the area they kept their stash.

"There's not enough room," Rosan commented, sizing up their hiding spot. "One second."

He crouched down and palmed the inside of the hole in the tree before muttering, "Modify: Dimension."

Sabo watched with wide eyes, as the inside of the hole seemed to grow! The stash of money that was already in there, suddenly didn't looked cramped and Rosan easily placed his stash in there.

"That should be better," he hummed and at Sabo's wide eyed glance, he came to the conclusion that the boy did not know about Modification.

"You didn't tell him?" Rosan asked softly, tilting his head at his younger brother.

"I wanted to, but your ability is a secret," Ace replied bluntly and the redhead smiled a small smile.

"I appreciate that."

Ace blushed bashfully and looked away after muttering a, "Whatever."

Seeing as Sabo was now living with them and he was Ace's most trusted friend, Rosan didn't see an issue in divulging his Devil Fruit to him. The teen informed the blonde of the importance of keeping it a secret.

That brought them to another moment, when Sabo heard he brought Ace to the mindscape.

----------------------------------------

"I never attempted bringing more than one person into my mindscape," Rosan mused, grabbing a wandering Luffy by the scruff of his neck.

The clones couldn't enter his mindscape and he normally only brought one person (Robin, Meiko, Maro). An opportunity to bring multiple people, was rather rare. He didn't trust many people after all.

If he could bring multiple people into his mindscape, maybe he could link with multiple on the outside too simultaneously?

It was a thought for later.

"I-it's cold," Sabo stammered, clutching his shaking arms. He let out a sigh of relief, as a large blue jacket materialized on his frame and thanked the teen responsible for it.

A similar orange and red jacket materialized on Ace and Luffy respectively and the three followed after the woefully underdressed Rosan.

"I can regulate my body temperature," Rosan explained. "I don't feel to hot or too cold most of the times so I can dress how I please."

His Devil Fruit was awesome.

"Thank you," a kind voice called out, catching their attention. "I seem to get that a lot. It makes me feel good inside to know people think so highly of me," the purple haired woman smiled softly.

Sabo liked Mod! She was polite to the boys and didn't mind their wild mannerisms, despite reminding him of nobles with how proper she was! On the contrary, she watched the three interact with a fond smile on her face.

"Rosan was quite a wild child so I really have gotten used to it. It brings back memories," she sighed in reminiscence and Sabo couldn't help but raise a brow in disbelief at that.

Rosan? Wild? The same redhead that was almost unnaturally calm at all times?

Mod also seemed to have a playful side because she had immediately attacked Rosan when he entered the mindscape! The redhead seemed to have been anticipating this and he had caught the woman in her attempt and threw her over his shoulder with zero effort before placing her on their large bed and sitting on her until she conceded with a childish grumble.

"I really do hate how tall you are," Mod whined in defeat.

"Consider this justice for all the times you made fun of my height," Rosan countered softly, patting the woman's, who he was still sitting on, hair in reassurance. She glared at the cackling Ram and was satisfied to at least shut her up.

Mod may have looked a noble with her attire and demeanor, but she was much more enjoyable to be around and way more chill!

Ace was almost constantly on edge around her though… He wondered what that was about but he wouldn't pester his friend about it because it would just make him clam up or attack the blonde.

Ram was… crazy. That was the best way to describe the unique teen.

She didn't show much interest in anyone that wasn't Mod or Rosan (especially Rosan… why exactly did she call him Father?! They looked nothing alike!) and she was very clearly not right in the head. The heterochromatic weapon, craved violence like no other and they quickly learned that she was not pleased with them for excluding the oldest of the four from their battles.

She was so displeased, that she almost attacked the boys right then and there if not for Rosan grabbing her and patting her on the head. The psycho immediately curled up in his grasp and was clearly content to stay there forever.

She got along well with Luffy (Sabo was pretty sure she regarded him more like a small puppy then as a human) and, surprisingly, Ace and she easily fit Sabo into the equation too.

The three boys had taken to frequenting his Mindscape while they were all sleeping because it was way cooler in here and none of the inhabitants seemed to mind.

They even slept in here at night sometimes! It was pretty awesome actually!

But it was really cold outside.

"It used to be a tropical forest and then a rainforest," Rosan said softly, inspecting the ice blue trees.

"Unfortunately, my state of mind is not very good right now so we have to settle for this. At least it's beautiful to look at," the redhead commented and Sabo looked at him in curiosity.

It was no secret that Rosan was lacking in the emotional department but Sabo had just chalked it up to that being his character. He never stopped to think that maybe the older boy hadn't always been like this.

Mod's words about him being a wild child, gave more support to this too.

"I never asked for the life I was given but it was one I was forced to adapt to," Rosan admitted to the blonde, watching Ace and Luffy get into another argument. Ram was egging them on like the troublemaker she was and Mod was shaking her head at the silver haired teen's antics.

"I can understand that," Sabo said truthfully, thinking back to his parents and his life as a noble. He hated the very idea that he was born with that heritage and would do anything to wash himself of it.

Rosan glanced at him and nodded, understanding what he meant. "Sometimes, I think about how different everything would be if I just stayed with Ace… but even though I hate the fact that I left him behind, I don't regret the people I've met on the sea."

"How is it? The sea I mean," Sabo asked excitedly, storing away a bit of what Rosan said for later.

"It's… great," Rosan said. "As beautiful as it is dangerous and when your on a ship, with the wind brushing against your face, it's liberating," he explained to the starstruck boy.

"Would you like to hear of some of my adventures?" Rosan asked softly. "Some of it is confidential but in the future, we can exchange our secrets," he told the blonde and Sabo stared at him for a minute with a scrutinizing gaze.

Did he have a clue already?

"I'd like that," Sabo decided with a grin and Mod joined the two, pinching a struggling Ram.

He had been more than a bit wary of Rosan and after his display to Porchemy, he was actually a little scared of him.

But Rosan was a cool person and Sabo liked him! Luffy was lucky that he managed to recruit the redhead first because Sabo definitely would have tried his hand.

"Thank you," the redhead said and he had a small smile on his face.

"Let me tell you about the time I got in my first fight…"

----------------------------------------

"I'm sorry."

Ace stared at Mod warily, as the woman suddenly apologized to him. She had pulled him aside to speak one on one and the 10 year old decided to hear her out despite how their first meeting had turned out.

"You're sorry?" The freckled boy asked and the woman nodded with a guilty frown on her face.

"Yes… I shouldn't have threatened you like that," Mod said softly and she let out a deep sigh. "Just one look at you and I can tell you've gone through so much and yet, I still went out of my way to try and make your life more difficult. I'm sorry for that and I hope you can forgive me."

"...Did you tell Rosan about our meeting? Did he tell you to do this?" Ace asked skeptically.

"No and no, but he did figure out on his own," the Devil Fruit told him. "Nothing I do ever gets past him so I'm not even surprised but he hardly reprimands me. This is me deciding to apologize on my own," she explained truthfully.

"What I did was immature and unbefitting of me, but please try and understand where I'm coming from and why I did this," Mod requested and Ace merely stared at her.

"Rosan, no matter how infallible he seems, is fragile. Mentally, he's one of the strongest people I know, but all that strength goes out of the window, when it comes to his loved ones," the woman explained sadly. His loved ones were his weakness, it's why he hadn't wanted to bond with Meiko in the first place before throwing caution to the wind. He would do anything to avoid the pain of losing someone he loved again.

"I-I've been raising him since he was 4 years old and he's gone through so much," she whispered and her voice cracked at all the memories. "He's probably never going to tell you this, but, Rosan was captured at only 8 years old and tortured for 6 months so that he could be molded into the perfect weapon by a cruel and wicked scientist."

Ace stared in horror at the words of the Devil Fruit. "Tortured?! For... For 6 months? Was he really…?"

She shakily nodded her head. "Everyday, they put him through so much pain and the entire time, he was being restrained by Seastone so I couldn't even be there for him! It was one of the worst period of his life and it shattered the way he viewed the world too... That's why he did that to Porchemy."

Ace recalled the brutal beat down he had inflicted on the man that tortured Luffy and nodded at that. It made sense that he would react so violently if what Mod was telling him was true.

So... his older brother had been tortured too?! Ace couldn't keep the concern off his face at that revelation. For that long... Was that why he always covered every inch of his skin? Not once, had he seen the redhead wearing something slightly revealing. It's not like he had any scars but then again, he did heal very fast.

And not all scars were physical...

"I blame myself for so much of the things that went wrong in Rosan's life," Mod whispered and there were tears brimming in her eyes. "All I want now, is for him to be happy and it led me to threatening you because you might have the most potential to affect his emotions."

The 10 year old flinched at that revelation.

"I'll do anything for Rosan because Rosan would do anything for me… that's why I threatened you, but please know I didn't do it out of hate for you, I did it out of my love for him," she finished and the regal woman bowed.

"But I should never have done that in the first place so I'm sorry, Ace."

"I get it, I get it," Ace grumbled. He didn't feel comfortable watching the noble looking woman bow to him. It was odd and didn't fit her.

Her words put a lot of light on the situation and Ace could begrudgingly see why she had tried to rile him up so much.

Mod didn't want anymore stress to fall on Rosan's shoulders. Even Ace could understand why she acted the way she did to him and went out of her way to redirect his ire.

"Stop apologizing, I ain't mad at you anymore," the 10 year old said and Mod raised her head in hope at his declaration.

"You aren't?" She asked quietly.

"I understand why you did it so you can stop now," the freckled boy retorted.

"I — thank you, Ace," the woman said and she engulfed the boy in a hug.

Ace blushed at the close proximity between him and the woman and forced himself out of her grasp.

"I'm goin to sleep," the freckled boy grumbled, walking off and Mod watched him go.

When he vanished, Mod let out a deep sigh and the tiny smile was removed from her face.

"I wonder, am I evil?" Mod said to herself, looking at her delicate, bronze, hand.

Maybe she was. After all, she had just manipulated little Ace into sympathizing with Rosan without a care in the world. He was justifiably angry at his older brother and deserved to feel all the rage he felt. It wasn't her right to manipulate how he felt towards her child.

But, she would do it. She would do it because it was for Rosan.

Did that mean she wasn't evil? After all, her only purpose in doing this, was for another person and not herself. She was doing this for the 14 year teen inside the house who had been suffering since he was four.

No, she was not evil. She just wanted to save Rosan. She just wanted him to be happy. The only way she could truly be happy, was if he were.

If that meant threatening someone to do it, she would do it.

If that meant manipulating people, she would do it.

If that meant using anyone and everyone that could potentially help Rosan, she would do it.

Angel, Demon, Maro, Luffy, Ace… even Robin... Without Meiko, breaking through to Rosan was harder than ever so Mod would use everything at her disposal.

Helping Rosan get better, meant everything to her. All other things were secondary in her eyes. She loved them all but she loved Rosan more. That's how it had always been and that was probably how it would always be.

Since the moment they met... Since the moment that adorable little boy had extended his hand towards her so that they could be friends... Since the moment he had chosen her over his own brother, Rosan had become her everything.

Rosan had given her life, so she would return his.

By any means necessary.

----------------------------------------

Misadventures of Robin and Rosan - 12

Robin and Rosan are 11 and 7 respectively.

Rosan is kept awake from nightmares.

----------------------------------------

"My little Rose," a familiar voice called in the darkness and Rosan glanced around in wild confusion at the sound.

He couldn't see anything but he was sure he just heard his Mama call him!

"Mama?" He called back hopefully. Where was she? Why couldn't he see her?

It was so dark… What was Mama doing in a place like this? Was she okay?! Oh no... What if she needed his help?!

Suddenly, a blinding white light overtook the area and he was no longer in the all consuming darkness. He inadvertently let out a sigh of relief as the invisible pressure abated and turned around.

He found that he would have much preferred that pressure over what he was currently seeing right now.

It was the hospital where he had watched Mama's last moments… and she was right there, on the bed, with blank, bleeding eyes and horrific, disfigured, skin. She was clearly a corpse but... t-this wasn't how she was supposed to look!

His Mama hadn't been killed in a way for her to look like this. It was s-simply childbirth? Childbirth didn't do this to someone…

R-Right?

She was staring at him. There was no honey brown, just a piercing white gaze that was bleeding disturbingly. It was unnerving to look at but Rosan couldn't tear his gaze away.

This was a bad dream. He needed to wake up now. If he didn't wake up, t-then it could get really bad. He didn't want it to get really bad...

But he couldn't. He couldn't wake up right now and that fact scared him more than anything. It was just him and... and his M-Mama?

"My little Rose," his mother repeated and he watched in pure horror, as the imitation of his Mama got up and began walking towards him.

"Do you hate me?" She asked and the boy began to rapidly back away from her.

"N-no Mama! I could never hate you!" Rosan stammered and as if to prove his point, he stopped moving, allowing the woman to reach him.

That was a mistake.

"So why?" She asked softly.

"W-why?" he asked confusedly. What was Mama talking about? W-What had he done?! W-Was he trouble?!

"Why didn't you listen to my last wish?!" She suddenly snarled and seeing his Mama make that face was so foreign to the boy, that he couldn't properly fathom it.

She picked him up by his collar harshly and asked, "Why aren't you helping Ace grow like I asked you? Why Rosan? Why did you abandon Ace?"

"I-I had no choice, Mama!" Rosan tried to explain himself but she wasn't having it.

"But didn't you? You chose to leave my baby boy behind!" the imitation of Rouge growled and tears sprung in Rosan's eyes. He didn't want to leave Ace behind b-but couldn't she see that he just couldn't go with that Marine? How could he ever travel with him?!

"Mama… you're hurting me…" he whispered. Why was she doing this to him? His Mama would never hurt him! S-She wouldn't hurt him... B-But maybe she would for abandoning his little brother.

"Good. You deserve it."

She said it so coldly, so sadistically, that the tears began falling freely down his face.

"After everything I've done for you, you abandoned my real child when all I asked was for you to help him," she said harshly and the grip on Rosan tightened at the same time his tears began to fall harder.

"Raising you was a mistake. I hate you," she finished and the seven year old let out a heart wrenching sob at that declaration.

It didn't matter if this wasn't his Mama, it still felt so real and to hear that come from her mouth, hurt him more than he could ever imagine. It grasped at his heart in an unforgiving grip and squeezed until he felt like he couldn't breathe anymore.

"I-I'm sorry Mama!" The boy sobbed. "I d-didn't want to, b-but I had to keep Mod-chan s-safe," he choked out. He had promised her that he'd keep her safe and going with the Marine's, wasn't safe for her!

"It's too late for apologies. You need to be punished, my little Rose," she said simply and Rosan just resigned himself to it.

Rouge raised her hand in a slapping motion and swung with full force at the boy —

Only for him to wake up from the nightmare.

Rosan sobbed loudly as he shot up and Robin instantly woke up at the noise of distress her companion let out.

"Rosan, what's wrong?! Are you alright?" The 11 year old asked worriedly. They were in his room and he was currently crying his heart out in the dark of night.

The small redhead tried to answer but another sob tore through his body and he wailed his pain to the world instead, tears falling in troves from his eyes. He curled into himself at the pain of the nightmare and shuddered in grief.

Robin's eyes furrowed in concern. She had never seen Rosan react so negatively to something and it was heartbreaking to witness. She had seen him cry of course, the boy was very emotional, but this was something else!

Right now, he just looked so sad.

The brunette quickly scooted over to the crying child and wrapped him in a delicate hug. Right now, he just needed someone to be there for him and she would be that someone.

"It's okay, Rosan," the lone survivor of Ohara soothed, gently raking a hand through his soft spikes. "I'm here for you, just let it out," she whispered and the boy desperately clutched her back.

"M-Mama hates me!" Rosan sobbed in defeat and Robin's eyes widened in surprise at his heartbreaking declaration.

Where did he even get that from?

She tried goading an answer out of him, but he couldn't muster up the courage to speak and so, she carried him to the kitchen instead.

As Robin did that, she felt their link form naturally and asked Mod-chan about the situation.

"I think he had a particularly vicious nightmare," the Devil Fruit explained and she was biting her lip in worry at the distraught child. Rosan hadn't cried like this in a long time and it was concerning her.

Robin sat down with Rosan close to her and stared whispering sweet nothings to him. She utilized her Devil Fruit to make a clone of herself (Rosan had once wondered if she could make one and after plenty of experimentation, she found that she could!) and had her fix them both a plate of food and milk.

All the while, she rubbed his hair and helped calm him down.

Eventually, Rosan had been reduced to just sniffing repeatedly and Robin looked at the child with sorrow due to his pain. He was tucked tightly into her side and she paid no mind to the fact that he had soaked her nightwear with his tears.

She was happier than she liked to admit that he trusted her on the same level as Mod. Normally, the computer boy would have instantly gone to the woman so that she could comfort him but he had decided to stay here with her!

She wouldn't let him down.

Robin carefully placed the milk to his lips and was satisfied to see him scrunch his face slightly.

Rosan was not a fan of milk.

Regardless, he drank it all and Robin placed the empty cup down. She contemplated feeding him but she wasn't sure he would be able to properly eat like this.

She would try to probe him for some information then.

"What happened?" Robin asked softly but to the point. Her redhead companion was a blunt individual and she found that this was the best way to approach things with him.

He wasn't one to half-ass his words and it had caused her to become a lot more blunt as a result.

Rosan sniffed a bit and wiped his eyes. "I-I had a really bad dream… I tried to wake up from it b-but I couldn't," he told her and his voice was heavy with sadness.

The small redhead told her about his nightmare in full detail and Robin's eyes softened in sympathy.

She knew a thing or two about those kind of nightmares. In fact, it was a nightmare like that, which made her and Rosan get so close.

Robin would be here for him this time.

"Rosan, there's no way your mom hates you," the 11 year old said reassuringly.

"I-I know b-but it felt so real and it hurts so bad," Rosan's voice cracked as he said that and Robin hugged him again.

"It's okay Rosan, nightmares are supposed to hurt you but they aren't real. You know that wasn't your real Mom, right?"

A nod.

"You know your mom would never say something like that, right?"

Another nod.

"You know your mom loves you right?"

…

Nothing.

Robin sighed sadly at the doubtful look on his face. He was being a dummy right now and she needed to set him straight.

"Look at me, Rosan," Robin demanded and his gorgeous purple eyes, hesitantly stared into her mesmerizing blue eyes.

"I don't think you realize just how amazing of a person you are," she said truthfully. "You can't just go hating yourself because of what you think, when all facts point to something else!"

"Portgas D. Rouge loved you with all her heart and nothing will change that," Robin said firmly and Rosan looked at her in wonder.

"How can you say that so confidently?" Rosan asked curiously.

"Because you managed to make me love you with all of mine," Robin replied simply and Rosan froze in surprise. The redhead's eyes went wide at her declaration

The brunette never said she loved him first! She was far too unaccustomed to positive reinforcements and whenever Rosan said he loved her she would blush, stammer, and hide her face from him before hesitantly saying it back.

This was a first!

"Rosan…you saved me from a life of loneliness. I was already committed to never trusting a single soul again after Ohara, but you broke through all of my walls in such a short time," Robin admitted with a teary smile.

"You are such a lovable kid and that's why I trust you so much and I refuse to let you think anyone who already loved you, would suddenly stop."

Robin took a deep breath. "Even on the slim chance that someone does hate you, it doesn't matter because Mod and I will always love you and that's all that matters."

She wasn't as good at speeches as Rosan but she had been around him long enough to know a thing or two.

You just had to say what you really meant!

"You mean it…?" Rosan asked quietly, stunned by her words. "As long as you two love me… That's all that matters?"

"Yes," Robin said without hesitation.

"Of course," Mod said confidently.

"Even if the whole world is against you, the two of us will always be on your side," Robin finished with a large smile.

Her words resonated deeply with him and Rosan felt tears welling up at the care.

"P-Promise?" He asked with wobbling lips.

"Promise!" She declared and that was all he needed.

With a loud sob, Rosan crashed into Robin, which had the effect of knocking her out of their seat, and sobbed into her body.

"O-okay!" Rosan wept happily. "You're right! M-Mama would never hate me a-and I was being silly. Even then, I have you guys and that's all that matters!"

Robin rolled her eyes at the overly affectionate boy and hugged him back. "Of course, you big dummy!"

He cried into her chest until he fell asleep and Robin picked the light boy up so that they could go back to sleep.

"Thank you, Robin," Mod said lovingly and Robin blushed.

"It was nothing Mod-chan. Rosan would do the same for me and I meant everything I said!"

"I know and that's why I'm thanking you. You're as good for Rosan as he is for you."

Robin stammered a bit with a red face.

"Can we just go back to sleep please?"

"Of course of course!"