Chopper roared as he smashed his blood stained fist into the wall, snarling as it failed to hit his multiple targets and he lunged forward at tremendous speeds.

"This is ridiculous! How did he get so strong?!" Usopp rasped, wounds from his battle quickly taking its toll on him and slowing him down tremendously.

Nami huffed and summoned a giant gust of wind to try and push Chopper, but the heavy reindeer barely flinched, focusing on Nami instead for her interference.

The navigator yelped as the creature lunged for her and she stepped back in fear, only for Sanji to blur and grab her, before kicking away.

The bloodied chef, huffed as he gingerly set her down and clutched his ribs.

"T-Thanks Sanji!" She said, glancing worriedly at the injured chef.

That hit from Chopper had to have broken a few bones… not to mention his fight with the agent. How was he able to move so calmly? How were they all able to keep moving?

"Anytime, Nami-san," he heaved, falling to a knee and throwing up some blood.

The navigator bit her lip in concern. Sanji couldn't keep going like this. None of them could.

They had all taken their own share of injuries from the previous fights and now they had to stop a rampaging monster?

"Luffy how's it going on your end? Can you push him out? We can't keep this up for much longer!" Nami shouted, wrapping Sanji gently in the iron clouds and moving away.

The bleeding rubber boy huffed as he reverted back to normal and nodded hesitantly.

"I lost a lot of power so I'll need some help!" Luffy shouted. "Buy me some time but don't hurt him!"

The Straw Hats nodded in unison before bursting into action.

Chopper roared in fury and sent a fist flying towards Sanji and Nami, before it collided with two blades.

Zoro grunted as he held the momentous blow back to the best of his ability but he didn't have to worry for long, as a plethora of eggs smashed into the giant reindeer's face.

"WROOOOOOOOOOOO!" Chopper howled in confusion, as he stumbled backwards, flailing about due to being blinded.

Not only that, the rotten eggs quickly overwhelmed his sensitive nose.

Usopp huffed as he placed his slingshot down. "I-I did my part! Someone else please!"

Nami began waving Clima like it were a staff, and a giant gust of wind sent the massive reindeer stumbling backward.

Chopper, in an impressive display of intelligence that did not match his mindless rampage, stabbed his elongated fingers into the ground to root himself.

That only lasted for a split second however as Franky made his presence known.

"Coup de Vent!" he announced, firing a weaker blast that successfully uprooted Chopper and sent him crashing into the wall that would lead outside.

"Gear Third."

Every Straw Hat, sans Zoro, watched with bugged eyes as Luffy's arms grew to massive proportions before he rocketed off towards the struggling Chopper.

With a heave of exertion, the rubber boy placed both hands the massive reindeer's chest and pushed.

The wall never stood a chance and immediately crumbled.

"WROOOOOOOO!" Chopper roared right before plunging in the water.

He instantly reverted to his default form and before he could sink, Sanji grabbed him and swam out of the water.

He deposited the reindeer in front of all of them, before pressing down on his belly to force the water out of him.

"We did it!" Usopp cheered, sitting down in exhaustion and letting out a sigh of relief.

"I'm so tired," Nami sighed, falling flat on her butt.

"We can't stop yet… we still need to get outta here," Zoro grunted, gazing at his utterly destroyed blade.

"We gotta get Robin-chan too," Sanji huffed, clutching his screaming ribs.

"Yeah none of this matters if we don't get her back," Franky muttered.

"Don't worry about it! Rosan's dealing with it!" The chibi Luffy squeaked cheerfully.

They all blinked.

Rosan? Wasn't he still fighting—

A red blur flew past them, sparks flying that sent their hair raising, at immense speeds.

It vanished as quickly as it came and only the sound of thunder followed.

Huh… guess he won.

"Damn it, I really wanted that favor," Nami muttered with a fond smile.

Everyone else nodded sagely.

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

Spandam let out a victorious laugh, as they finally made it to the Bridge of Hesitation.

"Hahahaha!" He cackled, dragging the bloody Robin with him. "Do you see that small gate right there? That's the real entrance! Once you pass through, no one will be able to save you and that marks the end of your miserable existence."

Robin panted harshly, as her fear spiked.

Without any hesitation, she broke out of his grasp once more and ran away with all her might.

A yank on her hair temporarily stopped her but she sacrificed the few strands and immediately broke out of it, only for that same hand to grab her head and slam her into the ground face first.

A spurt of blood shot out and Spandam snarled as he tried to drag her away, balking in confusion as he saw that she was biting the edge of the bridge of all things.

"You're biting the bridge?! What type of rotten loser are you?!" Spandam asked in confusion.

"This obsession with living is disgusting! You chose to be a criminal so now you have to pay! Your only purpose in this world, is to die! Don't choose to die as a coward!" He barked, watching as her teeth began bleeding.

Without any hesitation, he began slamming a foot against her already bruised ribs.

"Just a little longer. I will be saved. They will save me! I don't want to die… I'm so afraid of dying!" She thought even as he continued to punish her.

Finally the beating became too much and she let out a cry of pain, giving Spandam the chance to drag her teeth away from the bridge hair first.

The furious chief, kept his grip on her hair and looked her in her eyes.

"After I turn you in, I'm gonna capture your stupid boyfriend and we're gonna torture him day in and out until you scream out everything we want to hear. Then, I'm calling a Buster Call on your entire crew if CP9 hasn't killed them all yet," he hissed. "We're going to erase them off the map just like we did that traitorous Giant and Ohara 20 years ago."

"!" Robin's eyes widened as she heard the man mention Saul.

"I bet you think I don't know anything?! About the misconduct of Former Vice Admiral Saul, about what happened to your Mother, Olvia. I know ALL OF IT. The one who set foot on Ohara, the land of demons, the one who exposed your whore of a mother's crime and gave the signal for the Buster Call, the man who was director of CP9 at the time…"

Spandam threw his head back and laughed maniacally.

"WAS MY FATHER SPANDINE!" He revealed.

Her pupils shrunk, as memories of that terrible man were brought to the forefront and she began shuddering.

"This man is the son of... he's the one who... everything that happened was because of him and his... Father? He's the reason I lost... Saul and Mom and everyone on Ohara!"

"LOOK, JUST THINKING ABOUT IT IS MAKING YOU CRY!" Spandam howled in amusement, eyes lit up in joy.

"Everyone on Ohara died. All but one little rat. You were only 8 years old but you couldn't trust anyone. You couldn't sleep. Rest. You didn't have any food… how did that feel?! How did it feel knowing nobody loved you?!"

Her tears spilled but she shook her head strongly, refusing to fall victim to his words.

The sound of lightning roared, unheard by both.

"You're wrong! I did have someone to trust. I did have somewhere to sleep. I could rest easy! I did have food! I did have someone who loved me!" She shouted defiantly, hot tears falling as she thought about the only person who made her feel alive for so long.

Spandam's eyes bugged in rage at her defiance. "OH YEAH?! AND WHO WAS THAT?!" He roared, raising a hand to smack her once more.

Before Robin could answer, someone else did for her.

"Me."

Spandam only had a moment to widen his eyes in sheer terror, before a hellishly fast demon smashed into him with bone breaking force and something razor sharp nearly tore his arm off.

It only took Spandam a moment to realize the thing that had almost torn his arm off were claws and the man let out a horrific scream.

Robin felt even more tears fall out of her eyes, as she saw just who it was.

Portgas D. Rosan, was a bleeding and bruised mess but he was alive and he was snarling down at the screeching Spandam with a victorious gleam in his eyes.

"R-Rosan!" She sobbed. "You're here!"

The redhead glanced back at her and she let out another choked sob at that smug glint. "Of course I am, didn't I tell you? I'd be over in a flash," he replied.

"EMP: Paralyze."

Spandam shrieked in agony as electricity coursed through his body and locked up his entire system, preventing him from moving while electrocuting him constantly.

"Just you wait. I guarantee you'll have all my attention soon," Rosan promised, moving away from the leader of CP9 to fully regard the hot tears spilling off his best friend.

Robin saw the furious look in his bright eyes and knew he was about to give her the craziest of lashings but that didn't matter to her.

Because he was here!

Whatever Rosan was about to say, died on his lips as he fully took in Robin's conditions.

His anger melted off his feature, as an eerily calm look befell him instead but none of that translated to the overwhelming rage in his eyes.

Robin watched the brightness in his eyes dim considerably, as he stepped close to her. The redhead gently grabbed her restrained hands, before transforming Ram into a key and placing it into her cuffs.

With a click, it was off and Robin sagged into his body as she felt not only her powers returning to her, but the familiar sensation of Rosan automatically linking to her.

"R-Rosan…" she whispered, tears falling as the urge to wrap herself in his arms almost overwhelmed her.

"MOTHER YOU'RE BACK!" Ram sobbed happily, jumping up and down at finally being reunited with her.

"I-I'm so happy and so angry!" Mod cried, voice raspy.

"Mod-chan… Ram… I'm so sorry you two," Robin whispered happily as the tears refused to stop.

Mod sounded sick… Ram sounded like she had been crying for a while… they must have been so worried for her.

Rosan didn't say anything to her. Instead he was holding her up, piercing gaze inspecting her body.

First, he held her chin tenderly, holding it upward as his eyes roved all over her face.

"Bruises all over, cut on forehead, torn hair places, chipped teeth, bleeding gums, numerous lacerations," he muttered calmly, too calmly for the state that Robin's face was currently in.

Then, he placed both arms on her frame and began slowly glide down in a rather intimate move that Robin wasn't able to fully enjoy because it hurt.

The entire time, he looked her in her soul, gauging her reaction as he continuously found exposed skin from the tears in her outfit.

By the way his eyes were steadily darkening, she must have winced far too much for his liking.

That was fair, every part of her body hurt right now.

After touching her all over, the redhead finally removed his eyes from her face and began glancing at her frame.

"...Your outfit has many tears," Rosan said quietly, too quietly. "I can see a lot of your skin."

Robin hesitantly glanced down at her short black dress and noted that there was a worrying amount of exposed skin being shown.

Finally, Rosan released her and stepped away. She couldn't stop the swell of disappointment at that but it was quickly dashed away in favor of overwhelming happiness.

"ARGGHH THE WORLD GOVERNMENT WILL HAVE YOUR HEAD WHEN THEY LEARN!" Spandam howled in agony. "IT DOESN'T MATTER IF YOU BLOCKED THE SIGNAL, THEY'LL KNOW WHO DID THIS—"

"Hey, do you recognize this?" Rosan interrupted eerily, calm and frigid gaze staring at Spandam.

Before Spandam and Robin's very eyes, Rosan pulled something very familiar out.

The leader of CP9's eyes bugged, as he gazed at the object in Rosan's hand.

"H-HOW DO YOU HAVE THE GOLDEN DEN DEN?!" He shrieked in disbelief, heart stopping completely at seeing the Red Devil holding the trigger for the Buster Call.

Robin was wondering the same thing, eyes going wide in horror as she saw the direct source of her trauma.

"F-FUNKFREED! SAVE ME! PLEASE STOP THIS DEMON!" Spandam howled, as the sword transformed into an Elephant.

Funkfreed let out a nervous whine as he gazed at the apex predator but he hesitantly followed the order.

That was a costly mistake.

As the elephant charged the redhead, Rosan, who was so pissed he wasn't actually thinking straight, grabbed it by the sharp trunk and hurled it into the ocean with no hesitation, watching it immediately sink to the bottom.

"Ah, Maro might have wanted that… Oh well. I just won't tell her about it," he shrugged.

Spandam went pale, as he saw the monstrous redhead sentence Funkfreed to death without an ounce of hesitation and realized exactly why the whole world was calling him Red Devil.

Not only that, it was dawning on the chief of CP9, that he was alone with the Angel of Death.

No one was coming to help him. None of the agents were here yet...

Oh no no no.

"Looks like you finally realized. You shouldn't be worrying about how I have this Den Den. What you should be worrying about…" Rosan hummed, sneer forming on his face as his calm expression finally melted away in favor of the blistering hot rage that he truly felt.

"…Is what I'm going to do to you."

"Modify: Sensitivity."

Spandam blinked in confusion, before the ground underneath him shifted into tiny stone needles and impaled him through.

"ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The man shrieked at the feeling. This feeling… WHAT THE FU—

"AIYEEEEEEEEEE!" The man couldn't even finish his thoughts as the pain interrupted him completely. It was the worst feeling he had ever felt in his life! W-What was stabbing him?! WHY DID IT HUR—

"No, you aren't going to be sleeping for this," Rosan said sadistically, red sparks dancing on his fingers as he placed them on the man's chest. "You're going to be awake the whole time because you are the most disgusting human I've met in a long time."

"EMP: Neuron Charge."

Robin watched with wide eyes as Spandam's screams reached uncomfortable levels, body sparking with the red electricity as Rosan forcefully kept him awake.

"Unfortunately, I won't be the one killing you because I won't be on the island," Rosan said calmly. "But that just means I can torture you as long as I like. Afterwards… It's such a shame that you called for the destruction of Enies Lobby, but the Straw Hats just proved to be too formidable."

Robin's eyes widened further and she wiped her eyes.

Rosan was he… planning on calling the Buster Call on Enies Lobby?

"H-He's insane. He's planning on activating the Buster Call in my name?!"

Spandam tried to speak, but he wailed instead as the pain inflicted on him overwhelmed the man and he began crying.

"It was funny when Robin was crying, I bet?" Rosan asked gently, nails turning into the sharp claws of his dragon as he idly carved into the man's cheek with a single finger.

"P-Please, please stop!" Spandam sobbed in agony as the nail dug deep into his skin. "PLEASE STOP!"

Rosan, the demon, laughed. He threw his head back and laughed at the sight of Spandam's tears and silenced the man with a punch to the jaw that shattered it.

Spandam garbled uselessly, gazing into those demonic eyes in a moment of true hopelessness.

"Didn't I tell you, you will keep my secrets," Reaper said gently, gazing at the tears and tapping an electrified finger against it.

Robin winced as Spandam attempted to wail with a broken jaw and shuddered at the euphoria radiating off of Rosan.

The Angel of Death smiled down gently at Spandam, insanity clear in his eyes. "Cry all you want, no one will come save you."

"You're stuck with me now," he promised, eyes flickering black.

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

"Wait."

Rosan paused in his step and turned around, raising a brow. "Hm?" He hummed.

Izumi took a shaky breath and whined at the pain it took to stand up.

"What? You want to keep fighting? Is that what you've decided on?" Rosan muttered dangerously.

He had wasted too much time here already. He needed to get Robin.

Her eyes widened in fear and she held a hand out. "N-No! I give up! I won't try and fight you anymore," she whispered, shrinking into herself as terror wafted off her in spades.

A truth.

Rosan loosened his stance a bit but kept his guard up. "So what the hell do you want?" He asked in confusion.

"…"

Izumi took another breath. "Because we failed our mission so catastrophically, CP9 will likely be dismissed and thrown into Impel Down," she told him.

Not only were they advised to be wary around the Straw Hats, they failed to capture Cutty Flam and Water 7 now knew that they were being targeted negatively by the World Government.

They would have been publicly executed if anyone knew who they were.

The redhead raised a brow, expression uncaring. "What the fuck does that have to do with me? I don't give a shit what happens to you guys—"

He paused as Izumi fished around in her suit, before pulling out a Golden Den Den Mushi.

"This is what Spandam plans on using… to call in the Buster Call," Izumi informed him with a conflicted expression, not sure if this would work.

"I stole it from him because I realized he was an idiot… after protecting Nico Robin from being hit further by him."

Rosan's expression darkened at the truth of her words. "You protected Robin from him?" He asked calmly, eyes narrowed.

"Yes he hit her and I stopped him... I was never planning on having her killed," she said hesitantly, looking down at the floor. "I didn't want to be the cause of someone else's death in this war between you and I... so I was going to save her once I won..."

A truth.

"What game are you playing at right now?" Rosan asked calmly, trying to quell his fury at the idea that someone was assaulting Robin. "You gonna press the button? They won't be able to get here fast enough before I kill you, Spandam and escape from this island."

"T-That's not what I'm trying to do," Izumi stammered, averting her gaze. "I… I want to trade you this Golden Den Den, in exchange for my services."

The redhead's brow shot up high at that. "Oh, we're bargaining now? From torturing me to this? You sure are a woman of many skills, Izumi," he mocked with a sneer.

She flinched back.

Rosan grunted and processed her words, not able to wrap his head around it. "You're offering to work for me… after giving me this?" He asked incredulously, tilting his head to the side. "What's stopping me from just taking it out of your hands? It's not like you can stop me. Have I been put under an illusion?"

Izumi shuddered at that and shook her head with enough force to crack it. "N-NO! I haven't put you under an illusion! I fully accept my d-defeat..."

Rosan stared silently at her.

"I knew full well that you just ripping it out of my hands was a possibility when deciding this… but I want to prove that I can be an asset. In the first place this deal only benefits you with no downsides and I gain nothing from it. You are the sole benefactor," she whispered.

She was right. This deal did her no good at all. Which was why none of this made sense to him.

"And why the hell would I want you to work for me? What the fuck are you smoking?" Rosan asked indifferently. "I'm not interested, fuck off."

Izumi began panicking at that.

She couldn't... she couldn't lose her chance to never see Rosan again, no matter how horrible their relationship was.

"But like this, you can keep your secret as the Angel of Death even longer!" She stammered.

"If I cared about it that much, I would have killed you," Rosan countered easily. "It doesn't matter to me anymore. I've learned a lot from this excursion and like I said, I don't care what you do anymore. I already know the downsides of letting you go free but I don't care."

Rosan rolled his eyes as her fear spiked.

What the fuck was her deal? She was wasting his goddamn time.

Fine.

"What can you do?" He asked calmly.

Izumi shuddered. That was the exact same question he asked Izuki.

"I'm a master assassin, I've mastered all Rokushiki techniques a-and I can even share the method of learning them with you, my illusions are valuable as well... as you can tell it's more like hypnosis," she revealed hastily.

Rosan didn't look impressed. "Yeah, I know. You showed me quite a bit. You also forgot to mention that you're very good at being a creep and torture."

She flinched horribly, doubt on her features at how she could possibly get him to agree...

There was only one way she knew how.

Izumi took a deep breath. "I can give you the rest of the CP9 agents too," she whispered quietly.

The redhead paused at that and a dark expression took hold.

That's right, he never did get his hands on the other CP9 agents.

"So you'd sell out your allies just to work under me? Quite low of you, huh Izumi?"

Before she could answer that she didn't care about them, Rosan let out demeaning snort.

"You know what, I don't know what you have planned. I don't know what you're thinking with this… but you haven't lied once and I do want to speak to the other agents. I have no idea why you choose to keep involving yourself with me, but now I just think it's funny," he smiled amusingly, not taking her serious for even a second.

The smile was quickly replaced by something much darker, as he walked up to her and accepted the Den Den.

This close, Izumi saw that he towered over her and the scent of blood from all his wounds was heavy.

How could he even move?

"Understand this, Izumi. I don't like you and I will never like you. I don't trust you and I will never trust you. But I understand how useful enemies can be, so we have a deal. I'll give you an escape. You can round up your allies but do not tell them of this. Make it fast, I've decided to use this Den Den Mushi after I get Robin back."

If Robin was able to accept Crocodile as an ally, despite Rosan wanting to wipe him off the face of the planet, then he'd give this one a chance. He truly didn't care about her anymore.

Izumi shuddered at those bright eyes glowing in a sinister manner, before nodding shakily. "30 minutes is all I need… it'll take another 30 for the warships to reach," she whispered.

"Hmph. We'll rendezvous after I'm healed up. I don't know how you plan on offering up the agents, but I'm sure you'll think of something," he grunted, walking off.

"I'll… need your assistance for that," she said, attempting to move and letting out a cry as her body seized up again.

Rosan ignored her pain and began flapping his wings.

"Sure. I don't really care. Though I was honestly hoping I never got to see you again…"

"Are you sure about this?" Mod rasped with a worried look.

"Yeah... I want to torture her," Ram frowned deeply.

"...I'm not sure. But there's just something so funny about this and I already gave one enemy a chance. If she has her uses, I'll use her. If not, I'll discard her. As simple as that."

Rosan sighed. It was probably because he lost so much blood, because he felt rather demented for accepting this offer in the first place.

"Maybe I am too greedy," he muttered.

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

30 minutes. That's how long Rosan tortured Spandam for and he savored every minute of it.

No part of the man was spared from his wrath and Rosan carved into him with a sadism he hadn't felt since torturing Doc.

Spandam had been forced to endure it, awake the entire time because of Rosan's twisted nature. His broken voice was still crying out and Rosan relished in it.

He removed his bloody fist from the man's unrecognizable face and glared down at him.

"Hurts, I bet?" He taunted, gazing at the constant tears of the broken man."You seemed so hellbent on labeling people Devils, so I decided to show you a real one. Hope you enjoyed," he cackled.

Rosan stepped back, a satisfied smirk on his face as he stared at the mangled body of the whimpering and twitching Spandam.

He modified the floor beneath the man and turned it into a spiked chair, before strapping him to it.

"Enjoy the show, you'll be awake the entire time to witness it," he taunted.

Then, almost as if he were bipolar, he rounded on the wondered and satisfied Robin with a furious scowl on his face.

"HOW COULD YOU BE SO FUCKING STUPID, ROBIN?!" Rosan roared, closing the distance immediately and glowering at her with such palpable fury.

Every Straw Hats words, died on their lips at the sound of Rosan raising his voice with such anger in it, it made them wilt.

Almost like he were an angry parent, they wisely stayed silent so as to avoid his wrath and watched him tear into Robin with sympathetic glances.

Robin was stunned, eyes wide as Rosan glared at her with pure fury in his gaze.

"You thought that just because we lost one fucking fight, you would just go on the deep end and throw your life away to the World Government of all people?!" He asked in disbelief, very much resisting the urge to slap her due to her injuries.

She held her head at that. "I don't... I don't know what I was thinking," she said quietly.

"OF COURSE BECAUSE YOU WEREN'T THINKING!" He roared furiously, glowing eyes staring through her.

She wilted and attempted to step back in guilt, but Rosan wasn't having it.

"HOW THE FUCK DO YOU THINK IT WOULD MAKE ME FEEL IF MY BEST FRIEND, LOST HER LIFE TO THE ONE ORGANIZATION I HATE MORE THAN ANYTHING?!" He snarled, grabbing her arms and spilling his blood on her.

"..." Robin seemed to understand that speaking up right now was a one way ticket to getting further torn into.

She was 28 years old but right now she felt like a little kid again with how harshly she was being scolded...

"Are you even listening right now?" Rosan growled, anger seeming to rise even further somehow. "You're so fucking lucky that you're already so injured because your cheek would be red with how hard I want to smack you! I just can't fathom the hoops you jumped through, to come to the conclusion that killing yourself was the best solution. You have the audacity to say that I overexaggerate?!"

She knew she should be listening to him right now. She deserved it after all for not having any trust in him… but how could she pay attention to the words, when all she could feel was the pure outburst of emotion…

It was just so overwhelming.

Rage. Relief. Worry. Happiness. Terror… Love.

It wasn't like before where they threatened to overwhelm her… No, Rosan's emotions were pouring through so strongly, that she found herself getting effortlessly swept up in the tide.

So despite her better judgment, Robin interrupted the furious redhead.

"If you just stopped to think for one fucking second, that they could lie to you, maybe you wouldn't have done something so incredibly fucking stupi —"

"R-Rosan?" She whispered, gazing into his, so bright, eyes.

He stopped what he was saying and raised both his brows high, wondering if she was stupid and Robin knew that he was very willing to ignore what she just said to continue tearing into her, so she made sure to hastily speak up.

"Did you… lose another chain?" She asked, making the redhead pause.

His eyes narrowed but he nodded. "Yeah… the last chain was my refusal to let my past, especially Meiko go… but if I kept on refusing, Izumi would have beaten me. Don't think you're talking your way outta this one by the way," he explained.

Robin felt the whole world freeze around her, by that simple statement from Rosan.

"You… moved on from Meiko?" Robin asked and if possible, even more tears began welling up in her eyes. "Is that how much I matter to you… that you'd move on from her… for me?"

Rosan sighed, anger melting momentarily as he nodded. "Of course. I couldn't stand to lose you too. I will always hold Meiko dearly but at the end of the day, she's a memory and that memory of her was standing in the way of me saving you… I'd never be able to forgive myself if you became a memory too… even if you fucking want to become one," he replied.

Robin felt lightheaded at that and attributed it to the fact that she was bleeding heavily…

But she knew that played no part in the way she currently felt.

Rosan… he chose to move on from Meiko… he came to terms with the fact that she was gone… he actually managed to overcome his greatest weakness.

Even she herself doubted he'd be able to do so... because Meiko was perfect in every way... and Rosan was a person who loved so much. She didn't think he'd be able to do so...

She was just awful... to the very end, she doubted Rosan's capabilities but she never once should have done that because Rosan was amazing...

She's a memory and that memory of her was standing in the way of me saving you.

He... chose her over Meiko.

I'd never be able to forgive myself if you became a memory too.

He chose to move on from Meiko... just for her.

"Rosan… I love you," Robin said softly, eyes practically glowing as she took in everything about this gorgeous redhead.

Everyone's eyes widened at her declaration.

Well everyone except for one.

"You love me? Of course you love me. What, did you stop loving me during the trip here?" Rosan sneered at her. "Or are you saying that in hopes that I stop being so pissed? Don't think that you can get out of trouble by buttering me up —"

Robin grabbed Rosan's face and slammed her lips against his own without any hesitation.

She poured all her heart into it, unmindful of the fact they were both bleeding, unmindful of the fact that she interrupted him again, unmindful of the state of Enies Lobby.

No, all she cared about was her sun.

She wasn't sure how long she kissed him for but she savored it totally and completely on the off chance Rosan didn't return her affections because he was well within his rights to not do so.

When she pulled back, she saw Rosan's stunned gaze and they made eye contact again.

"No… I love you," she said again.

That felt really good...

"...Oh," Rosan said in a daze, a dark red blush appearing on his stunned face that made her smile despite the situation.

That must have been what she wanted to talk about huh... well... uh...

Huh. What was he talking about again?

She bowed her head slightly, before locking eyes with the shocked redhead. "I know you're mad at me… You have every right to be… I'll do everything it takes to earn your trust again… but right now, I'm just so happy that you said such sweet things and even though you're mad, you make me feel so alive a-and I just thought you looked so beautiful at the moment and I couldn't resist this feeling and it's been steadily building —"

Robin let out a surprised noise, as Rosan suddenly wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close, embracing her fully in his comforting warmth.

"I love you too," was all he said.

Then, he smashed his lips against her own and she melted in bliss.

"YES! WE DID IT!" Mod cheered, hugging the ecstatic Ram who was crying tears of joy.

"AFTER SO LONG! WE WON!" She squealed, picking Auntie up and spinning her.

"FINALLY!" Nami cheered, pumping a fist into the air.

"Y-You were supporting this, Nami-san?" Sanji rasped, feeling happy for the both despite his clear devastation.

They… were good for each other.

Yeah… yeah...

"It's about time," Zoro and Usopp sighed in unison.

"...THEY WEREN'T DATING?!" Franky yelled in shock, jaws dropping to the floor.

"Shishishi!" Luffy laughed happily. Now they got to eat the great wedding food!

Robin felt her heart soar, as Rosan returned the kiss with equal vigor and crushed her into his frame with a rare desperation.

Doubt. Fear. Hesitation… all things that showed he was afraid of opening his heart in such a way… but none of that even came close to the overwhelming love he felt for her and it made tears spill from her eyes again.

She couldn't believe she tried to throw this away. She would never try and throw this away again so Robin wrapped her arms around him and returned it in equal fervor.

They ignored everything around them except for each other as they continued to soak in the others presence, lips locked the entire time. As it progressed, they seemed to meld further and further into each other —

"Ahem."

The two jumped at the noise and reluctantly broke the kiss, stepping back like startled cats as they gazed at their amused crew with slightly surprised eyes.

The brunette felt rather disappointed that it ended and judging by his face, Rosan was too.

Robin felt her throat lock up, as she saw all of her allies with their own set of injuries. They looked like they had been in a war and exhaustion seeped into all their frames because of her stupid actions.

But they were all here and alive and they were gazing at her with such relief in their gazes, that she couldn't believe she never saw how much they cared for her.

"You guys…" Robin wanted to cry again, ducking her head. "I'm so sorry… because of me you all got dragged into such a mess… I'm so glad all of you are okay! Thank you so much!"

"We're glad you're okay!" Luffy responded happily, nursing the heaviest injuries next to Rosan.

"You guys did good… finishing your fights before I did," Rosan praised, a proud look in his eyes. "I know I said first one here gets a favor… but since I was the first, I'll do all of you one."

Their eyes widened at that and they gazed at each other, before smiling in unison.

"We want you to go to sleep until you're fully recovered," they all said.

They couldn't keep the satisfaction off their faces, as Rosan's eyes widened in genuine surprise and his mouth opened in shock.

"What…?" He muttered in confusion, scratching his head. "Didn't you guys hear? I, Portgas D. Rosan, will do any one favor I can for you all… each. Separately. One. Not together."

"We know," Luffy beamed.

"But you haven't properly rested since this whole thing started," Zoro shrugged, steadying the unconscious Chopper who blearily began waking up.

"You've been tearing yourself apart in every direction and now look at your condition," Nami chimed.

"You got your blood all over Robin-chan too! We're using our favor to make sure you get a full earned rest, you walking corpse," Sanji barked.

"Rest is vital… I learned this from Sniper Island. A well rested warrior is most important," Sogeking nodded.

Franky cried and wiped his tears. "You guys move my soul! Get that rest brother! You've done enough!"

Robin couldn't keep the shock off her face at their statements and chanced a glance at Rosan.

His eyes were almost innocently wide, unable to believe that someone wouldn't want a favor out of him... and in a way, that was rather heartbreaking because Rosan probably thought the most valuable thing he could offer to people, was his usefulness.

He never thought someone would turn down his resources, because he was so resourceful and this amazing crew must have really caught him off guard.

Finally, his shocked expression turned amused and an actual grin made its way to his face that looked stunning.

"Pft kahahahaha! Alright fine, I'll get some sleep you cute ass kids. Just don't regret this later, I rarely offer something so good," Rosan laughed a genuine laugh of joy as he gazed at his ridiculous crew and they felt their eyes widening at the earnest sound of it.

It… was really endearing. They didn't know Rosan was capable of laughing so innocently…

Robin gazed at the laughing redhead in wonder and hugged him tightly.

"Thank you so much… Rosan," she murmured, taking in everything about him and feeling her defenses weakening once more.

Rosan gazed down at her and sighed.

She was still in trouble but for now… for now he would spare her just for the moment.

Besides… he was just really happy he got her back.

He scooped her up and returned the hug, squeezing her as tightly as he could as relief flooded through him. He desperately planted another kiss on her bloodied forehead and ignored the red marring his lips in favor of the sheer relief flooding his system.

"I'm so glad I didn't lose you," he whispered, shutting his eyes tightly as he let out a shuddering breath.

"He's shaking…" Robin thought in sorrow, just holding the redhead and offering him her presence. "He… I nearly ruined Rosan for life…"

Kami she was so stupid. What was she thinking…?

Never again… she would do anything it took to make sure she got to spend her days with this amazing crew.

Rosan eventually opened his eyes and took a step back. "We need to get off this island. Our allies should have secured themselves an exit by now, but I sent a few birds in case to remind them…"

Robin removed her head slightly from his neck and looked into his eyes. She felt more then a little nervous and reluctantly asked, "Rosan… do you actually plan on pressing that… button?"

Rosan tilted his head. "Robin. I'm going to make sure Enies Lobby is destroyed today and this is the most euphoric way I can do it…"

Then he grabbed her chin and locked his gaze onto her.

"You don't have to be afraid. I'm here for you."

Robin shuddered. Rosan was… he was brimming with charismatic energy. His words demanded attention and who was she to doubt him?

She would never doubt him again. It was her job to always believe in him and she would never forsake such a duty.

"I'm not afraid. Not with you here," she nodded strongly. "Do it. Destroy Enies Lobby. I… I want to see it too."

Rosan grinned wolfishly and Robin was finding that when he grinned like that… Rosan was so beautiful.

Ah… she really did have it bad. She was going to end up following him to the ends of the Earth at this rate.

Rosan hummed and summarily pressed on the Golden Den Den with no hesitation, making sure his disrupter was no longer interfering in case it affected even this thing.

Then, he tossed the snail on top of the shuddering Spandam, still writhing in pain and unable to sleep because of being forced awake by the demon in human flesh.

"Front Row seats to a Buster Call… I hope you enjoy it," Rosan mocked.

Spandam wheezed, and it turned into a squeal of agony, as a foot materialized over his crotch and stomped.

Then, two arms sprouted on his neck and began repeatedly slapping him until Robin grew satisfied.

"It's only right I hurt you while you're defenseless, since you derived so much pleasure from hurting me while I was defenseless," Robin smiled.

"Enjoy the last few moments of your life, Spandam. Your ignorance of the Buster Call is appalling. I would tell you to value human life… but I have no interest in yours anymore."

Rosan smirked at her words, idly squeezing her before he turned serious.

"Alright, those allies of ours should be getting a bunch of escape ships for us all so we'll get outta her—"

Rosan and every single Straw Hat paused, as an urge to walk over to the edge of the bridge came over them and they rushed over.

What they saw left them completely stunned.

Sitting there, in the seas of Enies Lobby, was their very own ship, the Going Merry.

They watched with wide confused eyes.

"M-Merry?!" They shouted in confusion.

"Could you guys join me, for one last ride?" An ethereal voice asked them gently.

"!"

"Sure thing, Merry. If that's your last wish, I'll gladly accommodate it," Rosan said softly.

"That's Merry speaking?!" Usopp asked with wide eyes.

Rosan simply held onto Robin and jumped onto the ship, wincing in pain as he landed and having the Devil Child immediately steady him.

Usopp immediately scrambled after him, yelping as he landed face first on the deck and the Straw Hats followed suit.

"Thank you for accommodating me, you all… I really appreciate it," Merry said happily, sailing them away from the Judicial Island.

"Merry you can… you can speak?!" Luffy balked in confusion.

"This whole time… have you been alive?!" Usopp wondered, mask still on as his emotions threatened to overwhelm him.

"...Yes, you guys breathed life into me," she replied eventually. "All of you. Luffy, Usopp, Rosan, Zoro, Nami, Sanji, Robin, Chopper… I wouldn't have been alive if it weren't thanks to all of you."

The Straw Hats, felt their throats lock up at that as they realized Merry was sailing over to a giant ship.

"Iceburg? What are you doing here?!" Franky called out in shock as they witnessed the Galley-La ship.

"...I'm here to pick you all up," Iceburg said softly, gazing at the crew with an impressed gaze.

To think they had actually managed to completely retrieve Nico Robin without suffering any losses.

What a monstrous crew. They really were crazy.

"Pick us up?" Luffy asked in confusion. "But we already have Merry!"

"Sorry guys, this is as far as I can go."

They blinked in confusion, before horror crossed their features as Merry split in half.

"W-What?!" Luffy and Usopp gasped in shock.

The other members eyes closed as they realized what she meant by one last voyage.

Merry was going to die here…

Rosan frowned deeply, emotions flaring wildly. "One second Merry… you may be unfit to sail, but that doesn't mean you have to sink here… just give me a bit and I'll patch you back up and put you somewhere nic —"

"Rosan… it's okay. Thank you so much for how much you've helped me but you can stop now… My time is up."

The redhead paused at that, before a scowl crossed his features. "So you want to sink here? Why? What's the point of this?! You didn't have a problem when I brought it up on Skypiea but now all of a sudden you want this?" He asked in disbelief.

The crew jolted at that, gazing at the redhead with wide eyes.

"Y-You spoke to Merry already?" They asked in shock.

"...Yes, I did," he said quietly.

"Don't be upset with him… I asked him to tell you guys when I was going to sink at the right time… and I wanted him to keep it a secret," Merry said softly.

They froze at that, remembering how Rosan was trying to nudge them into getting a new ship… remembering how he was so sure that she wouldn't last much longer.

They thought he was just being pessimistic… it was Rosan's job to show them the grim side of the world and keep them set on reality… but to think this entire time, he was trying to break it to them as gently as he knew how.

"I'm sorry for making you keep this a secret… maybe if I told you to tell them immediately they would have been able to cope with it."

The redhead shook his head. "I've kept many secrets. One more is nothing… I'm sorry that despite everything, it still turned into such a mess. I should have played a stronger hand."

Usopp froze at the reveal and he gazed at the redhead with devastated eyes.

So Rosan was just acting on... the requests of Merry. It wasn't just his pessimism and yet Usopp had...

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

An apology would never make up for what he did…

"So you truly wish to… sink here?" Rosan asked hesitantly, unsure as to why he was feeling this way.

"Yeah Merry, at least let Rosan repair you!" Luffy insisted.

"No… I don't want that. I want to sail with you guys until I sink and that moment has come. It's fine, really," Merry assured them. "Please, let this be our final goodbye."

"B-But Merry!" Nami protested, tears welling in her eyes. "Won't you reconsider—"

"I understand," Rosan said softly, eyes closed in acceptance.

Merry was their ship after all. She probably couldn't stand the thought of them riding another ship, while she was still alive.

But at the same time, she wouldn't bare to kill them because she truly was at her ropes.

"You're a stubborn and selfish girl, Merry. You must have gotten that from Luffy and I."

"...Guilty as charged," the ship laughed.

Luffy stopped protesting as well, realizing the same thing as Rosan. "Alright Merry… but the seafloor is dark and lonely, so we'll see you off," he decided.

"Of course Captain… thank you for being with me in my final moments."

No one else had any complaints, boarding Iceburg's ship with sullen gazes.

"I've never seen a ship like this one," the mayor said quietly. "She was broken up but… she still asked me to repair her so that she could sail one last time. Even with the fact that there was no hope for her, this ship defied all logic and sailed off to come see you guys one last time. There is no ship as incredible as this one… it's... no, she's lived a splendid life."

The more sensitive members of the crew began tearing up at that admittance, bowing their heads at how amazing Merry was.

Rosan summoned the most gentle flames he could muster, before aiming at the Merry and engulfing it.

As it lit up with fire, every single Straw Hat reminisced about a different moment that brought them closer to the ship.

Nami was brought to tears as she remembered the first time they all got the ship.

Zoro stared stonily as he recalled all the places he had slept and all the times he kept watch.

Sanji bit his cigarette as he remembered the time they finally set sail for the Grand Line.

Chopper recalled the incredible sensation of reaching Sky Island and the pleasant feeling of departing on the balloon octopus.

Robin recalled chasing the sickly little redhead all around the ship, leaning onto the railing as she finally captured him and sighing in exhaustion.

Usopp and Luffy recalled every moment they could, as they kept on a brave expression.

Rosan recalled almost nothing which was why he was confused as to why his emotions were overwhelming him again.

It must have been because of the memory of talking to a little ghost, that told him that they were about do sink. Because now that he looked at it again, it crushed his heart from all angles.

"I'm sorry. I wish I could sail with you guys forever. I had so many fun adventures and we experienced so much in such a short time…"

"DON'T APOLOGIZE!" Luffy screamed, tears falling from his eyes as his expression broke. "WE'RE THE ONES WHO SHOULD BE SORRY!"

"I'M NO GOOD AT STEERING SO I RAN YOU INTO ICEBURGS AND I RIPPED YOUR MAST! AND ZORO AND SANJI ARE STUPID SO THEY BROKE ALL KINDS OF STUFF! USOPP AND ROSAN WOULD FIX YOU EVERY TIME BUT THEY AREN'T GOOD AT THAT! WE SHOULDN'T HAVE FAILED YOU, MERRY!"

"But I was still happy."

That simple sentence floored them.

Rosan grit his teeth as his emotions threatened to burst out and he ruthlessly stamped them down. But even despite that, tears began forming in his eyes that he couldn't prevent and he blinked in shock, as a hand inconspicuously formed and began wiping the tears.

He hesitantly turned towards the teary eyed Robin and she smiled encouragingly at him.

"All of you, thank you so much for caring about me," Merry said, a brilliant joy in her voice as she fully sank into the ocean.

"M-MERRRYYYY!"

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

"ADMIRAL AOKIJI HAS CALLED A BUSTER CALL ON ENIES LOBBY!"

"WE'VE SUDDENLY RECEIVED MULTIPLE TRANSMISSIONS FROM THERE AS WELL!"

"WAS THE SIGNAL BLOCKED?! WE'RE RECEIVING FAR TOO MANY CALLS!"

"PREPARE THE BATTLESHIPS FOR ENIES LOBBY!"

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

Everyone on the Galley-La ship watched with blatant interest, as Rosan randomly started a stream.

The screen opened and revealed itself to the whole ship.

"Just a little memento," Rosan stated calmly. "Since we've declared war against the World Government, I may as well start off with a bang. Anyone who has me as an enemy, will regret that decision. Do not touch what's mine."

Robin shuddered at that tone and nodded in his hold, managing to quell the boiling anger momentarily.

Their confusion only lasted a moment, as they saw multiple warships appear outside the vicinity of Enies Lobby.

"...What did you do?" Iceburg asked curiously, a look of trepidation forming on his features.

"Did my boys get off the island?" Franky asked Rosan.

The redhead nodded. "All our allies have escaped, I made sure of it. The only people on that island, are The World Government."

Then he turned towards Iceburg, eyes sharpening into something dangerous.

"They tried to take Robin from me so I'm making a statement," he muttered, holding the woman possessively. "Since this entire thing has started, I've almost completely blocked out what happened to Enies Lobby."

Their eyes widened at that. "You did?!"

Seriously? Was that why no backup arrived despite the mayhem Rosan caused?

Rosan smiled. "Communication is a powerful tool. That's why I always have a way to communicate with you all. Communication allows one to amass information and when one doesn't have information…"

They found themselves nodding at his words, realizing once more how scary Rosan was.

Without Robin and Rosan on Water 7, the Straw Hats realized just how out of depths they were without the two relaying info to them.

"It's very powerful and the more you rely on it, the more devastating it is when you suddenly don't have access," Robin muttered quietly.

A red spark danced between his fingers. "When I made my Cube, I discovered that my lightning can interrupt signals and so I taught myself that first. When you're in a war, everything becomes much easier if everyone is cut off from each other."

Franky chose to speak up. "Cube? What's that?" He asked in interest, remembering the redhead's words earlier about their combined efforts surpassing Vegapunk.

Rosan glanced at him, interest in his gaze. He pulled out his own cube and showed it to him.

"Communicating Using Bio Electricity, or Cube for short, is an invention I made that lets me communicate with other cube users, using my body. As a result, no one can interfere with my signal like the Marines tend to do," he said softly.

Franky's eyes bugged at that. "You made your own communication device?! WHAT?!"

That was incredible! Franky never even thought of something like that... hell, did any other form of communication besides Den Dens exist?!

Red wasn't kidding... if they combined their efforts... they really could make some crazy things...

Rosan saw the fascinated look in Franky's eyes and vowed to explore that after he healed... but for now, he just wanted to enjoy one thing.

The show.

Everyone watched with wide eyes, as the Government ships began unloading shell after shell on Enies Lobby, lighting the place up with fire.

A screen, this one only seen through Robin and Rosan's link, showed Spandam attempting to scream in horror as a cannon fired straight into him with no remorse, smashing into his body and killing him on impact.

"The only thing they should know, is that the Straw Hats invaded Enies Lobby and did an enormous amount of damage due to a dragon that's probably the Red Devil. Afterwards, the signal was cut for a duration… until it suddenly let up again and Spandam requested a Buster Call. Evidently, the Straw Hats proved to be an even bigger threat than they imagined and a Buster Call was deemed necessary to take them out."

Rosan's eyes flashed dangerously. "This is the information I've manipulated. Once they realize we've long escaped and they've destroyed Enies Lobby for no reason. They will understand that Portgas D. Rosan does not take threats to his loved ones lightly. If you touch the things I claim, I will make you regret every decision. I will make you lose. I will make you fear."

He clutched Robin tight and sneered as he gazed at the screen.

"He's terrifying."

Portgas D. Rosan was a monster. To do all this because someone took something he claimed...

Iceburg gazed at the redhead with wide eyes, not believing he had done all this just because they took Nico Robin from him.

If anything, it seemed like Nico Robin was the one preventing him from attempting to destroy the world. Judging by the way his entire stance seemed to lessen the longer he held onto the pleased woman, that seemed to meld into him, that notion seemed to be very true. His highly murderous aura was gone now.

"You might be the scariest person I know," Nami awed, looking at the terrifying redhead who had just destroyed a core Marine stronghold… who had just killed thousands of soldiers... all because they took Robin from him.

When he said he was possessive… they never realized he meant it to such a psychotic degree. Rosan was an actual psychopath.

"I've protected everyone that isn't the Straw Hats identity," Rosan muttered. "All of us will probably get a bounty increase, but you Water 7 folk are safe."

They gazed at the surprisingly thoughtful redhead.

"So you were attracting all that attention… to defend our identities?" Franky asked with wide eyes.

"No. I attracted all that attention because I was really pissed and I felt like killing them all," Rosan said bluntly.

They sweatdropped.

"But… I wanted to repay you all for helping us and I hate owing people favors for a long time. You are free from the criminal life of being branded with a bounty and all of Water 7 will avoid being burned to cinders for the part they played. My debt is repaid," Rosan said bluntly.

Iceburg's mouth opened in shock. "You're… keeping Water 7 safe?"

"Of course. The Franky Family and the Galley-La foremen shouldn't be hard to identify and you see the power of a Buster Call. You went through the risk of becoming enemies of the World Government, so I turned that risk negligible."

"You…" Iceburg gazed at the redhead with a stunned gaze.

"What? Surprised that the partner of Ohara's Devil was capable of this? Hate that two demon's act differently then what you expected?" Rosan asked mockingly.

"I don't like you because you like to judge people without ever meeting them, so I'm gonna do the same. I hate people who can't make judgment on their own and rely on what they hear. I hate people who view the world in two colors. I hate people who won't leave a normal girl alone because she's talented... But Franky is apart of Water 7 and I've gained a lot of respect for him... because he's helped us a lot," he revealed with a frown.

Franky's eyes widened at that and the cyborg began comically crying.

"YOU'RE TOO TOUCHING, RED!" He sobbed, wiping his eyes.

"…" Iceburg said nothing for a moment, before he bowed his head. "I'm sorry to the both of you Portgas D. Rosan and Nico Robin… I've… learned a lot from this and you've helped me grow as a person. You don't ever have to forgive me and I wouldn't be upset... but I did change from this and I have you to thank for that."

"Apology not accepted," Rosan said bluntly, making everyone sweatdrop. "I'm too vengeful to just accept it... but I did lose a lot of blood and I haven't been thinking straight for the last hour so maybe when I heal I'll change my mind."

"I understand. Just know, I'll do whatever it takes to make it up to you," Iceburg said seriously. He then gazed at the defensive Robin with an apologetic gaze.

"I never should have condemned you like the rest of the world did… after hearing what Rosan had to say about you, I realize that I'm no better than the corrupt World Government… sentencing an 8 year old to a life of that… Truly I can't put into words how sorry I am, Nico Robin," he bowed lowly, unmindful of his injuries.

Robin blinked in surprise. "I'm not as vengeful as Rosan so I accept your apology… but what Rosan had to say about me? What did he say…?"

The mayor smiled and recalled the conversation.

"My purpose is for Nico Robin, my best and first friend, to be free to do as she pleases without assholes like you, who'd paint an entire image of a person based off rumors and propaganda, hounding her every time she even blinks. All I want for Robin, is for her to understand that as long as I'm alive, she's allowed to live with the knowledge that someone will always acknowledge her as the human she is."

The archaeologist stood there, stunned as they relayed the words he had said to her and she gazed at the redhead with wide eyes.

"You… you said that?" Mod whispered, tearing up at Rosan's conviction.

"Of course he did! Mother is Father's and Father is Mother's!" Ram beamed happily.

Robin smiled shakily as the redhead tilted his head, unsure as to why she was tearing up again.

Of course he'd be confused. To him, a statement like that was as easy as breathing. He was super embarrassing like that... always saying the most sincere and blush inducing things with no shame at all.

His goal since the first time they met, a lonely four year old boy and an isolated 8 year old girl, had always been to make her feel belonged.

"Yes, you're right Ram… I belong to Rosan," she confirmed.

"...Of course you do," Rosan said simply.

The redhead shut his eyes as a wave of pain washed over him and he rasped as his body began screaming, adrenaline fully wearing off.

Slender arms wrapped around him and he opened his eyes to see the exhausted Robin holding him up.

"We should sleep soon," she murmured. "Our blood is also spilling everywhere on each other."

"Remember Robin, you still aren't out of hot water just yet…" he muttered, eyes shutting as the lull of sleep threatened to overwhelm him.

"I… understand but until then, I'll enjoy this," she replied back.

He picked up his best friend and walked off into some random direction. "I'm gonna go sleep now. I dunno when I'm gonna wake up, I don't even know how I'm walking right now."

"Maybe you shouldn't be carrying me then," Robin muttered, despite enjoying the feeling and hugging him tighter.

"I just lifted an elephant and threw it in the ocean with these injuries… do you really think you're heavy at all?" he replied blandly.

"...I'm not sure how, but for the last hour, you've managed to say the perfect thing every time," Robin said with a small smile.

"Do you know who you're talking to?" Rosan snorted and they disappeared deeper into the ship.

"I'm tired," Luffy yawned, falling back and going unconscious immediately.

"I'm gonna go cry myself to sleep," Sanji said somberly.

"I need to think about this problem," Zoro grunted, referring to his sword.

"I… can't move. What happened? Did we win?" Chopper whined in confusion as Zoro carried him away.

"I'll explain it to you later," the swordsman grunted.

"My outfit got ruined. I'll have to buy an entire new wardrobe as compensation," Nami sighed.

"Just have Master Rosan repair it."

"Oh right. Then I can get the wardrobe as a bonus instead."

"You are utterly unhinged, Master Nami."

"I'm superrr out of cola," Franky grunted, trudging off to go refill.

"Everything hurts," Usopp moaned, falling flat on the floor as his body gave out.

"Get some rest, we'll let you know when we're back on Water 7," Iceburg assured.

The Straw Hats…

Hm, Franky would look good in their crew.

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

As Robin opened her eyes, she was greeted by the most bizarre form of the Mindscape yet.

It seemed like the area had split off into three sections and it was utterly enchanting.

First, was the rainforest. This piece of his mindscape was where Robin and Rosan both woke up at. It was raining as heavily as ever, with the trees sagging at the weight of the water, soaking the duo to the bone. Neither minded though, far too used to the sensation to let it bother them.

What was most interesting, was the thunderstorm accompanying the heavy rain. Thunder roared, as the rain pounded into the ground and lightning struck periodically.

Next, the tropical forest that Robin had loved oh so much had come back and she couldn't keep the fond grin off her face at the memories it invoked.

The sun hovered over it, light being blocked by the densely packed trees and the healthy grass swayed in times with the gentle wind. In the distance, they could see the pink house of their home resting there with a full garden of fruits and flowers.

Finally, the frozen forest gleamed frigidly, as unchanging as the first time it first made its appearance. Unlike the other two areas, nothing moved at all. The trees were utterly still, the wind did not blow, there was no precipitation… it was as tragic as ever and the giant castle loomed above it all, the only thing that changed in that area due to having no more heavy chains surrounding its body.

They all met in the middle, cut evenly into three pieces. It was bizarre to see how nothing spilled into their respective areas, almost like a barrier kept them all separated.

"Not bad," Rosan muttered, hair still flowing free as he gazed at his changed mindscape.

Robin liked that it was still free… but she wanted it just a bit shorter considering it was flowing past his shoulder currently.

His hair grew too fast… She would cut it after they woke up… whenever that was, both were rather exhausted.

"It's beautiful… it really fits the force of nature motif… even your mind is beginning to reflect it," she smiled.

He glanced at her and the smile vanished as she saw his chilly gaze.

"C'mon," was all he said, before walking off.

"...Right," she muttered.

Seems like now that emotional levels were back to stable levels, Rosan was back to being justifiably pissed at her.

The chilly expression was a lot worse than his anger… Robin knew how to deal with Rosan's anger, but she had no clue how to deal with his indifference.

It already stung and he had barely begun…

"Rosan I—" Robin tried, catching up to him.

"Just save it. I'm not trying to hear it right now," he cut her off, pushing open the door to their home.

She flinched at that, feeling a sadness swelling at his words.

She was unable to dwell on it for too long, because her attention was quickly taken away by the two woman crashing into her with enough force to floor her.

"M-MOTHER! I MISSED YOU SO MUCH! H-HOW COULD YOU JUST LEAVE WITHOUT SAYING A WORD?!" Ram sobbed, hugging her with all her might and spilling all the tears on her clothes.

Mod, while not as furious as Rosan, was still glaring at her heatedly, tears falling freely as she gazed at the Devil Child.

"What were you thinking?!" She hissed, clenching the woman desperately. "I can't… I can't believe you tried to sacrifice yourself for us, young lady! I never expected you of all people to make such an idiotic decision! Did you truly think we would have taken that lying down?! You have no idea how much trouble you're in right now!" Mod barked, red eyes glowing brightly with anger, hurt and relief.

Robin's heart clenched at that. She really had only been thinking about how this was going to affect Rosan in the long run but she knew differently now.

She thought that just Rosan being alive, would have eventually caused them all to heal... they would pick themselves back up and hurt... but they would eventually heal.

But she was terribly wrong.

Mod, who had grown oh so emotional over the years, would have been just as big of a wreck as Rosan. She wouldn't have been able to help the redhead back to his feet because she'd be just as broken.

"I'm… so sorry you all," Robin whispered, closing her eyes. "I thought I was doing what was best for everyone but it's only now that I realized, I would have caused the worst outcome with my actions."

Mod's furious gaze turned soft at that, unable to stay mad at Robin for long.

She could never stay mad at any of her children for long.

"After the fight with Aokiji my fear for all of your safety was at an all time high. I thought… if the World Government came for me again, they'd eventually send an Admiral or even call the Buster Call… so I figured that just trading myself in exchange for all of you to be safe would be well worth it instead of you all dying because of me," she explained, shutting her eyes.

"Izumi threatened to reveal Rosan's identity as Reaper if I didn't comply with her," she revealed. "She tricked me. I know now that her goal was always you and she used me to do it… I have no excuse for not seeing through her lies but in that moment, I really was trying to protect you, Rosan," Robin said, a hint of desperation in her voice as she gazed at the frigid eyes of the redhead.

"Oh Robin…" Mod said sadly, forgiving her after hearing the woman spill her heart out. "You should have at least spoken to us, we could have talked this out —"

"So you took advantage of me telling you that I couldn't control my emotions, abused the fact that I couldn't control my emotions to make me cry, ran me off, made me especially vulnerable to Izumi's illusions, wrote me a note saying you were leaving… and then you tried to sacrifice yourself?"

Everyone froze at that ghastly tone and hesitantly turned towards the source.

The look on Rosan's face, was nothing she had ever seen. His eyes were wide in fury, but they were utterly frigid and unfeeling. It almost didn't even feel like he was looking at her but she could tell.

Robin flinched at his reminder, holding her head at the accuracy of his statement.

"You basically admitted to having no trust in me at all… to the point where you'd side with my most hated enemies in the world… and you thought you were doing what was best for me? You thought the best thing for me... was killing yourself?" Rosan whispered in disbelief.

Finally those eyes lost the coldness in them and they were replaced by pure, unadulterated fury.

"You fucking hypocrite."

Robin reeled at that, hurt in her eyes at the words of Rosan.

"R-Rosan wait... she was in a vulnerable state," Mod tried to defend her, stepping up with a nervous expression.

"AND SO WAS I! AND SHE KNEW THAT! SHE FUCKING KNEW I WAS VULNERABLE AND SHE TOOK FULL ADVANTAGE OF ME! SHE USED ME! SHE TARGETED MY DEEPEST INSECURITIES AND ABANDONED ME!" Rosan roared furiously, glaring at the Devil Fruit and silencing her immediately.

Robin wilted at the truth of his words. She wanted nothing more than to crawl in a hole and hide because facing the facts was so hard.

Mod nervously wrung her hands and said nothing, gazing at her fuming son with wide eyes.

Ram frowned sadly and said nothing, watching the exchange with serious eyes.

Rosan was fully incensed. His eyes were glowing like the sun as he gazed at them all. "I SPILLED MY HEART OUT TO HER. I TOLD ROBIN EVERYTHING ABOUT ME! I TOLD HER THAT MY NEW REASON FOR LIVING WAS HER. AND YOU KNOW WHAT SHE DID? SHE SPIT ON EVERYTHING I SAID AND TRIED TO KILL HERSELF! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO FEEL ABOUT THAT?!" He snarled.

They all wilted at the genuine hurt and rage in his voice.

Robin couldn't prevent the tears from forming at the sheer sorrow she was feeling from him.

"I looked Robin dead in her eyes and said I don't care if she's hiding things from me because I know she'd never put me in danger on purpose and she did exactly that," he whispered.

"Robin looked me dead in my eyes and told me to never sacrifice myself for her, then tried to do the exact thing she told me not to do. How am I supposed to accept this? How do you honestly expect me to take this?" He asked genuinely, eyes full of despair as the reality of the situation crashed into him.

Robin bowed her head as the tears fell in earnest, realizing just how torn up Rosan truly was over this.

Rosan wasn't done. The redhead's anger drained off his face as he sagged, trying hard to resist the urge to cry because even if his emotions were out of control he would never cry of sadness.

"And you want to know the worst part?" He whispered.

No one dared to say a thing and Robin shakily looked into his heartbroken eyes, sure that her eyes were reflecting the same thing.

"The worst part is, you loved me and I loved you too... and you were going to die before we could ever talk about it," he revealed.

Robin froze completely at that. "You... you..."

"Loved you?" Rosan asked, letting out a sardonic laugh as he shook his head. "I was going to tell you the same day you drove me away and I'm guessing you were gonna do the same thing... but instead of talking, like I wanted... you just ran and ran and then you made me run. You didn't even plan on telling me that you loved me like that… you were never even planning on giving me the chance to reciprocate my own feelings… you know I have abandonment issues and you left with just a note," he said so quietly they struggled to hear him.

"We finally made so much progress… so why did you try and leave me, Robin? Don't you understand that I just can't handle losing anyone else? Why did you fill me with so much hope and then stomp on it?" Rosan asked brokenly, gazing at her with glistening eyes that shattered all of them.

Twice now… Twice she had made her lovable redhead cry and Robin let out a sob herself at the genuine question. The way he said it… the way he was looking at her… It was asked so innocently and sadly.

But she had no answer for him. How could she ever answer that question? She never wanted to be asked something like that...

Rosan felt his resolve weakening and turned, dashing away from them all as he shut the door behind himself.

They watched him go with tears all falling down their eyes.

"Rosan! Please wait and let me explain!" Robin shouted.

She wasted no time and departed, chasing after the redhead with desperate tears.

"R-Rosan, Robin wait! Please!" Mod tried to shout. The woman pushed herself up and immediately tried to chase after him, only for Ram herself to grab and hold her back.

The ring, who had been completely silent the entire time, was gazing at Mod with a teary, but firm, expression, preventing the woman from chasing after them.

"Put me down Ram! He needs me!" She struggled in the rings grasp.

"No Auntie…" Ram denied, shaking her head.

"But why? I don't care if I'm sick… I'll go speak to him and you won't stop me!" She snarled, eyes glowing bright in warning.

The crying ring whirled Mod around and locked those unique irises onto her own, looking incredibly serious for once.

Mod went still, never expecting Ram to look like that. She looked up at her niece with wide eyes.

"What are you gonna do once you go out there, Auntie?" She asked seriously. "Are you gonna go out there and tell Father how he should be acting? Are you gonna tell Father that Mother just made a mistake and he should forgive her? Do you really think that's the right thing to do?!"

Mod flinched back and her expression turned hurt. "N-No, I was just... I just wanted to make sure it didn't get out of control because..."

"Because what?! Auntie, Father is his own person! Are you saying he shouldn't be allowed to react how he wants to react?!" Ram interrupted her with a deep frown.

The Devil Fruit's eyes went wide and she shook her head hastily. "That's not... that's not what I was going to do..."

"Yes it was!" the silver haired woman shouted, making her go completely silent. "Auntie, you can't coddle Father like this! You were gonna go out there and take mother's side by minimizing Father's anger! Why doesn't he deserve to be angry? Why does he need to be calmed down?! We don't get to decide this! This is his body, Auntie!" Ram said firmly.

Mod wilted more and more at Ram's words, tears beginning to form in her eyes and Ram's expression softened.

"We need to let Mother handle this because it's between those two. If Mother can't handle this alone... then maybe things aren't meant to be. But trust me, Mother will handle this because those two were made for each other," she said softly.

Mod opened her mouth and then closed it, sagging as her tears began harshly falling.

"H-He looked so vulnerable and broken… I was reminded of the days when he was just a tiny boy who couldn't sleep unless I was holding him," she sobbed. "It's so hard to see my baby boy sound and look so sad, Ram! I hate it more than anything!"

"I-I do too Auntie… but this isn't something we can help him with. We don't even know the full scope of what happened because we were incapacitated… our words would just be hollow to his ears… you know how Father is," she explained patiently, hugging and soothing her caretaker.

Mod sniffed and buried herself into Ram, shuddering in the protective hold of the taller ring.

"I know… it sucks so badly. We always want to be there for him… but right now it'll just do more harm then good. Mother is the only one who fully understands right now. Whatever happens with them… should be decided by them alone and not us."

The Devil Fruit hesitantly nodded. "Y-You're right, Ram… I needed to hear that. Thank you… Just now, you were really incredible, y'know?"

The ring smiled softly. "Being so useless while Father did everything, really showed me a lot of things… He looked… really cool figuring all these things out on his own," she said honestly.

Mod blinked at her words in shock, before it became thoughtful. "He did, didn't he… and you're not useless Ram, you managed to summon a barrier that saved him! You're figuring things out on your own too!"

Ram nodded thoughtfully.

"It's… not a bad feeling," she said truthfully.

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

"Rosan, please wait!" Robin shouted, chasing the redhead into the rainforest.

She wasn't even sure he could hear her because of the heavy rain, but Robin would not let it end like this because if she did, she might regret it for the rest of her life.

The redhead, who had been running far too fast, didn't seem to hear her, content to run as far away from the house as possible until he finally seemed to deem this distance enough.

The moment he stopped, he grunted as something crashed into him. They were both brought to the wet floor and he began struggling in their grasp, eyes lit up in warning.

Then, he registered the scent of flowers, even through the heavy rain.

"I didn't ask you to follow me," Rosan hissed venomously, watching as Robin's tears mixed with the rain, both falling on him.

Robin said nothing and Rosan began snarling.

"Didn't you hear me?! LEAVE!" He barked, refusing to allow his weakness to be viewed by anyone else. "JUST GO, ROBIN! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

She shook her head harshly. "No! I can't do that Rosan! I won't let you suffer alone!" she retorted with a sad frown.

If anything, that seemed to infuriate him even further and she winced back as a heavy pressure slammed into her.

"You won't let me suffer alone?!" He hissed venomously. "YOU WON'T LET ME SUFFER ALONE?!" He roared, actually looking like he was about to attack her on the spot.

Robin froze as his eyes flickered to complete black before vanishing.

"This whole thing started because you wanted me to suffer alone! You took my heart, you captured it and then you did whatever you wanted with it and crushed it!" He scowled furiously.

She began trembling atop him and his anger began seeping into the mindscape.

Thunder began crashing harder, the rain began forming a small puddle underneath the group that Rosan began sinking in.

"Please, Rosan! Can't we just talk?" Robin pleaded, refusing to let him go in case he vanished.

It was a miracle he hadn't thought to kick her out of his mindscape yet...

Perhaps it was because he wasn't done lashing out. Nothing Robin said seemed to appease him in the slightest. His eyes were a burning torrent of rage and in any moment, he might actually bite her with those bared fangs.

"Now you want to talk?" He asked incredulously. "All I wanted to do was talk, Robin! I practically begged you to talk to me! I embarrassed myself over and over against asking if we could just talk and you brushed me off every single time!" He howled, struggles intensifying.

Robin wilted at that, holding her head at the truth of his words.

"You said the worst things possible to me! You said you were tired of me! You told me to leave you alone and now that I want to be left alone, you can't accept?!" Rosan growled lowly. "Now that I don't want to talk, you think we have to talk?! Why do you get to decide all these things?! Why am I not allowed to make my own choices?!"

"Because... if we don't talk right now, things might get to a point that I never want it to get to," Robin whispered in defeat.

Rosan finally got up and shoved her off of him with a furious scowl. "You had your chance to talk and you shattered my heart into pieces, Robin. I decided against all odds to put my trust in someone again and you proved to me that I was wrong. I'll talk to you when I'm ready," he said with a tone of finality.

Before he could even take a step, Robin appeared in front of him once more and he clenched his fist.

What didn't she get? Why wouldn't she just leave him alone?! Why did no one ever want to leave him alone—

He froze as he was pushed to the ground and grunted as his body connected to the wet floor.

Before he could properly get up, two arms hoisted him into a sitting position before wrapping around his neck.

Robin, sitting on the redhead now to make sure he didn't run until she at least said this, shuddered into his frame.

"I knew how much you cared for me… but a small part never realized it was to this extent… because a small part of me never thought I'd be able to help you like Meiko did," Robin whispered into his ears.

Rosan went completely still.

"You're right, Rosan. I'm such a massive hypocrite… I did take advantage of your emotions, I did side with your most hated enemies… I did so many things to hurt you and I hated myself for every single second of it!" Robin sobbed.

"When Aokiji froze you solid, I could only think about the day Ohara was destroyed and the fear of losing you made me so irrational. I just… I didn't want everyone to lose your light and I thought the only option, was to give myself up instead."

Robin curled into his frame. "But deep down, I didn't want to leave you… I didn't want to be separated from you for even a second. I was just so scared and I thought the weight of the world was too much for our crew to handle so I gave up before we could crumble…"

"...But I won't give up again. When you fought Aokiji… you didn't do it because you were trying to die for me… you did it because you wanted to protect me! That's always how it's been. You just want to keep me safe a-and I took that for granted but I won't anymore… so please, Rosan… please let me make this up to you in anyway I can because I don't want to lose you!" Robin wailed, desperately clinging onto the redheaded joy like he would disappear from her life at any moment.

She couldn't lose him. Not again. She knew now that her days should be spent with Rosan and the Straw Hats and she didn't want to lose her sun. She knew it was selfish of her and Rosan was well in his right to hate her for what she did... but she just couldn't let it end like this.

Rosan had every right to want nothing to do with her after what she had done to him but she would do anything to get him back —

Two strong arms wrapped around her and she froze at the tender feeling.

"What type of hypocrite would I be, if I made you try to earn my forgiveness?" Rosan whispered softly, eyes tender as they lost the anger. "After what I did to you… you think I'd stoop so low? I won't let you make up anything to me, because there's nothing to make up."

"I understand why you did what you felt like you had to do. I know you got manipulated... but it still hurts alot knowing that you would have just died and left me alone. It felt like such a slap to the face, when I realized you didn't trust me the way I trusted you," he said, wavering slightly.

She narrowed her eyes in guilt at the truth of his statement.

"If I were in your shoes… I never would have even considered that an option and I just assumed you would think like me," Rosan admitted. "But we don't think the exact same do we?"

"You thought I was throwing my life away for no reason against Aokiji… but I thought I was doing everything in my power to protect you from someone who had just threatened you to my face. If we had just communicated properly we could have resolved it," he sighed.

"NO!" Robin shouted, making him reel in surprise. "Rosan… I was the one who wasn't properly communicating. It's like you said... over and over again, you tried to speak to me. If I had just properly conveyed my feelings… if I had just talked to you like an adult… so much could have been avoided. You continuously asked me if I wanted to talk and I constantly blew you off and that lies solely with me," she said shakily.

"I'm glad you're not angry anymore... but surely there's something I can do to make it up to you?" She asked hesitantly.

But to her disappointment, Rosan simply shook his head.

"There is nothing. I have nothing to forgive Robin… because despite everything I said, I still trust you. You're one of the most important people to me on the planet… I was always going to still trust you... I just wanted some alone time to deal with my anger but you didn't wanna let me," he said truthfully, smiling wryly at her.

I still trust you.

Even after what she did. Even after driving him to this state… Even after all that transpired, he could still say he trusted her.

"I lost you once… I refuse to lose you again," he murmured, pulling her close.

Robin bit her lip and then she broke.

"I love you Rosan! I really do love you! Never again. I'll stay with you even if you grow tired of me!" She cried, hugging him with all her might and bringing him to the floor again.

Rosan sighed fondly, glad that the rain had been hiding his tears, and said, "I'll never grow tired of you… but you're probably gonna grow tired of my gaze. Consider yourself grounded," he smiled.

"I accept it!" She said without hesitation. "Ground me for as long as you want… I won't complain, not even once."

"Of course you won't. My best friend is a person who always goes with the flow," he responded gently.

He had been angry. Furious even… but after hearing Robin admit her insecurities about Meiko, it had knocked the wind out of his sails.

After hearing that him being frozen, evoked her ptsd, he realized he could never be angry at this girl…

Because she was his Robin. Rosan had done plenty of idiotic things… it wouldn't be right if he stayed upset at her for doing her own idiotic thing.

As far as he was concerned, she really did have nothing to be forgiven about because this still didn't come close to his sin to her.

So no, he was no longer upset with her at the moment but he'd still never forget this and it may make him even more overprotective of her in the future…

But he didn't think she had a problem with that.

...Good, because he didn't have a problem with her wanting to stay with him either.

Truthfully, he was… wary (terrified) of opening his heart again. But this feeling… he truly did love Robin and… and she loved him too right…? If she really did love him like that…

Rosan chanced it and lifted his soaked head off the floor. He leaned forward and planted a tentative kiss on the woman resting atop him.

His eyes widened as she reciprocated with zero hesitation, forcing his head back onto the ground with the force and molding their bodies as close as possible.

Robin struggled very hard, but eventually broke it and leaned back to gaze at him once more.

"I know you're afraid… I'm afraid too. I'm terrified truthfully," Robin said truthfully, staring into those bright irises that had regained their life because of her.

Robin had played a significant part in him losing every single chain… she didn't matter how selfish it sounded, Rosan needed her and his actions made it clear every single time.

So, now it was time for her to be just as selfish and claim the redhead as hers so no one got any ideas.

"We're both so afraid Rosan but… we shouldn't let our fears conquer us," she said knowingly. "Both of us want this… right?"

"...Yes I do want this," Rosan said with a bit of hesitation, confidence steadily rising as she spoke to him.

"Then why are we letting fear rule us? I… I'll become as strong as possible to alleviate some of your fear… but we should never let fear stop us from being happy and you make me happy," she finished, making sure to never take her eyes off of him for a second.

What she saw, pleased her immensely.

Rosan's trepidation was gone, rain doing nothing to hide his surge of confidence and he nodded strongly.

"Yeah, you're right… I won't be afraid if it will get in the way of me being happy," he said confidently, wrapping his arms around her as he stood up.

"So… wanna go out?" He asked, smiling in a charming manner.

Robin rolled her eyes with a fond smile. "I've kissed you and you've kissed me, yet you still felt the need to ask me that question?"

"Of course, I like to be certain of things so that people have no complaints regarding the actions I take. Wouldn't want any misunderstandings to arise," he replied in amusement.

Robin sighed and nodded, tucking her head into the crook of his neck.

"Yes, Rosan, we're going out now."

She just knew he was smirking that insufferable smirk of his because she was smiling herself.

"So how long have you liked me for?" Rosan asked suddenly, taking in her features with a bit of wonder in his eyes.

Robin blinked in surprise at the question.

"Well... I had a crush on you when we were kids... and I acknowledged that I regained feelings for you at Skypiea... when you told me that I was your new reason to live."

Truthfully, Robin was fairly sure her crush came back after Rosan kissed her at Alabasta but it transformed into love after Rosan's actions in Skypiea.

Rosan pondered that, with a look of surprise. "Huh, same as me then. I had a crush on you when we were kids too... and I'm pretty sure my feelings came back sometime before Alabasta because when I got my emotions back... I kinda got bulldozed by my feelings," he admitted.

Robin actually had a look of surprise. "You had a crush on me when we were kids? You had a crush on me after regaining your emotions?" she asked in surprise.

He nodded, scratching his red hair with a nervous smile. "I didn't want to make things awkward between us so I hid it... but yeah it was really overwhelming. Even just you sleeping on top of me was too much," he revealed with a sheepish laugh.

Robin thought about the implications of that statement. "Oh... wow. I didn't know you had a crush on me when we were kids."

For someone who had such little control over their emotions, Rosan had been very good at hiding his feelings...

Or maybe she was just oblivious.

"Yeah, I realized that I liked kissing you way more than Mod-chan," Rosan told her with a small smile.

Oh so she really was just oblivious.

Go figure.

"You should be thankful I loved you back. Not just everyone will accept you randomly assaulting and kissing them," she retorted with a small smile.

"I guess that's why we're dating now. You're saving all those poor people," he retorted smugly.

She couldn't resist the laugh at that and just sunk deeper into him.

The two just remained their, in the middle of the rain, steadily letting their own emotions reach tolerable levels, but both content with each other.

Well, that was until Rosan slapped her right on the cheek.

The noise resounded even through the steadily calming storm.

"Forgot that I promised I was gonna do that," he muttered, watching as her head turned in shock.

"I know why you did it… I really do but I'm going to kill you, Rosan," she said, lunging on the redhead.

"You literally said you would accept any punishment!" Rosan retorted, fending her off to the best of abilities. He hastily grabbed the arms trying to wrap around his neck and gazed at her with incredulous eyes.

"Yes I did up until you slapped me with ridiculous force! What is wrong with you?!"

"You're lying in our relationship already?! We need to lay some ground rules out about this toxicity."

"I'm beginning to have regrets already, insufferable little boy."

"Get used to it. This is the normal feeling of someone who has to deal with a person as awesome as me."

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

Mod and Ram watched as Rosan and Robin both entered the house with looks of anticipation on their faces.

The best friends looked like they had been arguing harshly and judging by the red mark on Robin's cheek, it didn't look too good for their eyes.

Mod really tried to take Ram's words into account. She really did think Rosan deserved to feel angry at this... but Mod also knew that when Rosan was angry he said things he didn't mean in the long run.

When he was upset, he just wanted to hurt the other person as much as they hurt him... and to her eyes that's probably what he had done...

So she immediately rushed her.

"R-Rosan, please! I know you're upset and you have every right to be, but I don't want it to end like this!" she begged, gazing up at him with desperate eyes. "Please, find it in you to forgive Robin!"

"?" Rosan tilted his head.

"I know what Robin did was so insanely stupid but please just punish her a-and then we can eventually move past this… I love you two so much and I was so happy when you finally kissed and I think you're both so good for each other!"

"Mod-chan."

"I know Ram and I should be more upset too and trust me, we'll never forget this b-but that doesn't mean you should cut her completely off! W-We all make really stupid mistakes! I've made so much errors and yet you forgave me so please forgive Robin!"

"Mod-chan."

"I admit, I haven't caught up on your memories and I'm sure when I do, it'll be so much different but please let me make a selfish reques —"

Mod paused, mouth opening in shock, as Rosan grabbed Robin by the waist and pulled her into a kiss right before their eyes.

"W-W-Wha," she stammered, face going bright red as she watched them with bugged eyes.

"Woah," Ram muttered in awe, eyes glittering.

Eventually, Rosan pulled back and glanced at Mod with amusement in his eyes.

"Surely there would have been a better way of showing her we made up then that?" Robin said with a raised brow. "...Not that I mind your methods."

The redhead snorted. "Sure there are, but should we really do that in front of a crowd?"

Robin paused, before she realized what he meant and she let out a suffering sigh. "You don't have an ounce of shame in your body. Weren't you blushing red when I kissed you at Enies Lobby?"

"I'm bad at receiving a taste of my own medicine," Rosan shrugged helplessly. "But we made up, Mod-chan… and we're dating now."

Mod and Ram blinked owlishly at that.

"You... are?" Mod muttered in confusion.

Rosan nodded with a small smile.

"FINALLY! N-NOW I DON'T HAVE TO READ THOSE ROMANCE BOOKS ANYMORE… I just need to finish the series I started because I'm a completionist… yeah," Ram said, nodding to herself.

"What a normal reaction," Robin smiled in amusement.

Rosan smirked and raked a hand through his hair. "I'd be a hypocrite if I never forgave Robin because despite everything… Robin forgave me when she had no reason to… so of course I wouldn't stay mad at her," he said softly.

"I'm glad that you haven't pushed me away but... I still feel guilty… surely there's something I can do?" Robin muttered with a frown.

Rosan shook his head and dragged her close. "You refused to let me make it up to you back when we first met again… why do you think I'd want you to do that?" He asked in amusement.

Mod watched the two converse and realized Ram was right… this was something they needed to figure out on their own and she was so glad they did...

"I'm so happy for you two. Really, I'm so happy!" Mod sobbed, tears falling freely as she collided with them both.

Robin and Rosan let out equal gasps as Ram joined and tackled them to the floor.

"So do you guys wanna sleep in separate rooms now?!" Ram asked excitedly, eyes glowing. "I-I won't barge into the rooms at certain times but Auntie and I will really miss you sometimes so we have to talk about living arrangements more!"

"You are far too depraved, Ram," Robin pointed out with an exasperated sigh.

"I guess this is a side effect of Maro being her best friend," Rosan muttered, scratching his head at her words.

"OH! I HAVE TO TELL MARO AND EVERYONE ABOUT THIS!" Ram squealed in glee. "WE DID IT! WE FINALLY GOT THEM TOGETHER!"

Both Robin and Rosan blinked.

"Finally got us… together?" Robin muttered in confusion.

"Were you guys… plotting to get us together behind our backs?" Rosan asked with a raised brow.

Wait… that made so much sense.

"They weren't even being subtle," Robin sweatdropped in realization.

Mod began shaking her head in disbelief. "So you guys really didn't realize until now? We all thought this was an elaborate prank…"

Rosan grunted in amusement and stood up, hoisting all of them up with him.

"Nope, I never thought about it. The last time I dated was when I was 12," he replied.

"I've never dated," Robin supplied helpfully.

Mod laughed helplessly at that. The two didn't even realize they both reciprocated each others love so she wasn't even surprised they didn't notice.

"Alright, I promised my crew I was going to sleep until I'm fully healed, and I'm even exhausted in here so I'll go do that now," the redhead muttered.

"Me too," the brunette sighed.

"I still feel a little sick… so I'd like some rest as well," Mod yawned, tucking into Rosan.

"I'm going… to finish this book," Ram nodded, not feeling tired.

"Alright… oh and by the way…"

Rosan glanced over at Mod with a serious look in his eyes and she instantly grew a little apprehensive before stamping it away.

"Once we fully recover, there's something we need to do."

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

"You're telling me that Enies Lobby was destroyed… and the Straw Hats are alive?!" Sengoku asked in disbelief.

At the hesitant nod, the Fleet Admiral felt the worst headache he felt yet since learning of the existence of the Straw Hats.

The entire day was one giant goddamn headache.

Cipher Pol had made the first mistake. It had already been made clear, that the Straw Hats were not an average rookie crew and to err on the side of caution, especially when dealing with the Red Devil.

Going after Nico Robin without knowing the full extents of the Red Devil was incredibly reckless and in their hubris at seemingly doing so, they hadn't even managed to secure the blueprints of Pluton because naturally, Iris D. Rosan had taken egregious offense to that and killed one of the more resourceful members of the assassins.

Not only that, they failed to properly frame the Straw Hats, failed to kill any witnesses and failed to even confirm if the blueprints truly were left with this Cutty Flam.

Now Water 7 was well aware of the World Government's attempts on their mayor's life and they could practically kiss their very beneficial relationship goodbye.

Identity completely revealed, affiliation revealed, no blueprints… and no Nico Robin.

They were supposed to be the best assassins of the generation… yet they had utterly and completely failed. If it were up to Sengoku, they'd be thrown in Impel Down at the earliest convenience but unfortunately, they were likely dead...

But that wasn't even all. In fact, that wasn't even the worst of it.

No the worst of it lie with the Straw Hats and Raisa's goddamn menace of a son.

The Red Devil… Iris D. Rosan had caused complete and utter mayhem on their numbers.

It immediately began when CP9 announced that one of their agents… Blueno was it (his Devil Fruit was a useful asset)? Had been killed by him… and he didn't transform into a dragon to do so.

That had caused the first bout of confusion, hearing about an amorphous black figure that had brutally killed one of the agents had not been what Sengoku was expecting.

Not only that... it was able to somewhat control and caused anything around it to dissolve at a touch. The description confused Sengoku greatly and he frowned in contemplation, before temporarily discarding the thought.

What followed after the news about what happened on Water 7, was what had caused his headache to evolve into a migraine.

The entirety of the Straw Hats, led by the Red Devil had invaded Enies Lobby in order to get Nico Robin back.

In contrast to the reports, the Red Devil had immediately began wreaking havoc on the island… as a dragon not the amorphous black figure he had been described as before.

Now he felt as if he were back to square one on trying to figure out what the redhead's Devil Fruit was. An inky creature with corrosive properties and a Dragon?

Was he a shape shifting Mythical Zoan? One that could transform into any creature it so desired?

That was his surest guess but he had already assumed once about the man's Devil Fruit and refused to do so again. Until they got further confirmation, his fruit would be labeled as unknown and Sengoku would personally have to do research on anything documented.

As they received a report on what was transpiring (it didn't sound great), they suddenly stopped altogether and his subordinates had assumed that their 10,000 soldiers had rallied enough to take care of the Dragon and his other crew members.

After all, it shouldn't have been difficult. 10,000 soldiers and the greatest group Cipher Pol had ever produced should have been more than enough to subdue a small group of pirates…

And that was when they suddenly received a Buster Call order on Enies Lobby along with about a dozen other calls that had no one on the other line.

That was when they realized something…

The reports didn't stop because they were dealing with the Pirates… it stopped because the signal was being blocked.

Someone that was in the Straw Hats, had interrupted the signal to HQ and cut off all connection to Enies Lobby, thoroughly deceiving them in the process.

Sengoku had an inkling on who it was.

Evidently, the Straw Hats were more dangerous then they could ever believe, because a Buster Call was deemed necessary enough to be rid of them and without any hesitation, the World Government had bombed down their own island just to stop a crew with immense potential and Nico Robin from growing more.

But something wasn't adding up.

How was it that they were receiving reports that the Straw Hats were still alive, while everyone stationed on Enies Lobby was killed?

The first thing the Marines had found when inspecting the island… was the burned and mangled body of who they believed to be the director of CP9, Spandam…

The one who called the Buster Call according to Kuzan (he had given him a Golden Den Den and that information made Sengoku grow a few gray hairs).

That cowardly man would never call in a Buster Call, if his life would be put in danger… So clearly, the Straw Hats had done even better then they were expected to do. To the point where Spandam felt the need to call a Buster Call to ensure at the very least, mutual destruction was reached.

But the Straw Hats were still alive and Nico Robin was still free.

How could that be —

...What if Spandam didn't call in the Buster Call?

No… if they were strong enough to dismantle 10,000 agents and Cipher Pol… and then escape a Buster Call even despite the injuries or fatigue they should have…

It took 30 minutes for HQ to reach Marineford… there was no chance they'd be able to escape in that time without at least being spotted.

But the Straw Hats weren't even encountered on the island. They had presumably been killed in the crossfire… but Spandam's body was near the beginning of the Bridge of Hesitation (which was why no one saw him)…

What stopped him from crossing the full distance and saving himself? If he was too injured to move… why was he able to call in a Buster Call?

It had to do with the fact that all the Straw Hats were still alive… Because Spandam wasn't the one who called in the Buster Call.

"The Red Devil is cunning and extremely intelligent. He hides a plotting mind behind immense strength but he has both. While fighting both Hina and I, he lured the rest of our squad to him. The entire time, we were just dancing in his palm and he planned on taking us all out in one fell swoop."

That was part of the report left by Smoker after the events of Alabasta.

Did that mean... Iris D. Rosan had called in the Buster Call? Was he the one that pressed the button?

What on earth was the Red Devil exactly? He had Nico Robin in his palms and the two were so important to one another, he had raided and destroyed Enies Lobby of all places, while seemingly suffering no losses.

They truly were lovers. No one would go to such extents for Nico Robin if they only wanted her for her knowledge in the Poneglyphs.

No one would willingly go to war with the World Government for such a thing unless they had the backing of one of the Four Emperors. No, their bond was genuine so if they intended to capture Ohara's Devil, they'd need to account for something like this happening again.

Iris D. Rosan... he seemed to act more like his uncle than his father. Such a reckless and insane move was eerily similar to —

No, it was best if Sengoku did not think of that day. He already felt his hair graying, thinking Rosan inherited things from his uncle, was a surefire way to an early retirement.

Not only that, one of the Straw Hats (for his sake he wouldn't assume it was Rosan who had done so) had the abilities to cut their communications off completely.

If the Red Devil was allowed to completely grow… if he was as much of a prodigy as his mother and he reached his full potential…

He hadn't even dwelled into the captain of the Straw Hats, Monkey D. Luffy. To readily drag his entire crew to Enies Lobby and to win. His growth was just as dangerous. He was shaping up to be as monstrous as Garp and having a prime Garp as his enemy, was the very last thing Sengoku would want.

This was no normal crew at all. They had not suffered a single casualty? That was utterly absurd...

Sengoku grit his teeth and grabbed his headache pills, that he had prescribed to him coincidentally around the time he learned about the Straw Hats.

"Raisa and Dragon… you two gave birth to such troublesome children," he growled.

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

The Straw Hats and co had come back to Water 7 without a hitch, all sleeping throughout the entire trip and letting their wounds heal.

Once they landed, they were escorted quietly (the citizens wanted to see their heroes) to a nice and comfy house.

That had been two days ago and Rosan, Luffy and Robin were still asleep.

While Luffy had programmed himself to eat while sleeping so as to not miss a meal, both Robin and Rosan were dead to the world.

It was odd to see the redhead sleeping… to be honest, they hardly ever saw him asleep.

Both he and Robin liked sleeping with each other and since there was only the men and woman's room, they slept in his Pocket Dimension to avoid unnecessary breaching of space.

Honestly, they hardly saw Robin sleeping either. Those two just showed up, wide awake and ready to go.

Despite being brought here separately (Franky had carried Rosan and Zoro Robin), the two somehow still ended up right next to each other.

Robin's slightly bandaged body rested atop Rosan's heavily bandaged body, while the redhead had an arm around her waist, keeping her steady. They both let out inaudible snores as they slept their injuries away.

It was surreal to see Rosan's perfectly kept hair so disorderly. Despite disavowing his heritage, the redhead did manage to nail the royalty look very well.

But here he was, keeping a protective hold on Robin and sleeping his injuries away, while she burrowed into him.

It was adorable. The two looked incredibly peaceful…

But of course, that peace never lasted long. Not when the Straw Hats were involved.

The day had started off simple enough. Luffy was sleep eating, Rosan and Robin were still sleeping but their injuries looked fully healed and Franky stopped by to visit them with a proposal.

"I want to make the greatest ship in the world… and I want you guys to ride it," he had offered them with an eager grin.

The Straw Hats who weren't sleeping, Kokoro and Chimney (Usopp was spying on them outside), gazed at the cyborg with raised brows.

Franky explained to them the existence of a piece of rare wood called Adam Wood. It was the strongest, highest-quality wood on the planet. Not only did he manage to secure some for 200 million, he used the other 200 to secure a bunch of materials to make the worlds greatest ship.

And he wanted them to have it…

"I drew some blueprints but after hanging around with you guys, I found myself editing before I even realized!" Franky exclaimed. "I already had a general idea but now I'm going to use everything to make it even better then what I had planned!"

Fantastic! If what Franky was saying was true, then they could get a ship that rivaled that of Roger!

Considering he had used their money to build it... it kinda all worked out and they'd end up getting something better than they ever initially planned for!

As Franky smiled at their enthusiasm, the wall to their temporary base was suddenly smashed open with a thunderous noise that had everyone shrieking in shock.

"W-WHAT WAS THAT?!" Nami shrieked in horror, gaping at the completely destroyed wall.

"WHO ARE YOU?!" Sanji barked warily, pushing himself up and glaring at them.

Then they saw the man's getup.

Oh no… the Marines?! What were they doing here? An entire platoon seemed to be here as well...

This was bad… Rosan and Luffy were both still asleep! Could they wake them up while holding the Marines off at the same time? Just how many were there anyways?

"So you're the Straw Hats…" He mused gruffly, gazing at each one.

It was a gigantic man, dressed in standard Marine attire with unique shoulder-pads. On his head, was a dog mask that hid his general appearance.

Without any hesitation, the man dashed over to the happily snoring Luffy and slammed him into the ground with a heavy punch.

"WAKE UP! DON'T SLEEP WHILE I'M VISITING!" Garp roared indignantly.

Luffy's eyes shot open at that and he yelped in pain.

"O-OW! WHY DID YOU JUST PUNCH ME —"

The Straw Hats watched in disbelief, as the teary eyed Luffy went white in horror.

Their infallible captain, going pale at the sight of someone

"You and Rosan seem to be causing a lot of trouble, well Luffy?" Garp asked in amusement, grinning down at the boy.

"G-GRANDPA?!" Luffy shrieked, eyes bugging in terror.

Eyes snapped open at that scream.

Every Straw Hat froze simultaneously at that.

"G-GRANDPA?!" They repeated in horror.

Luffy's grandpa was a Marine? Wait what the hell was this?! Why was Luffy was terrified of him?!

If possible the situation got even worse.

A figured rocketed forward and slammed into Garp, knocking him straight out of the hole he just created with enough force to bulldoze a few of the Marines waiting outside.

The Straw Hats horror only grew, at seeing the wide awake Rosan glaring through the hole with a scowl set firmly on his face.

"Who the hell said you could visit, dumbass old man?" Rosan sneered.

Garp laughed, utterly unfazed by the redhead's attack as he dusted his outfit. "Well well, if it isn't my most unruly grandson! Still trying to kill me, Rosan?! I thought we were past this stage!"

"If I were trying to kill you, you'd know, Garp," Rosan snarled, shooting out a puff of fire as warning.

"YOU KNOW HIM TOO?!" The pirates shrieked in horror.

Oh right... Rosan was Luffy's brother. Wait hold on, if Rosan hated the Marines and this guy was their grandpa...

Oh no, this guy was really strong! Rosan definitely tried to kill him and failed!

"Didn't I tell you to stop calling me your grandson? I don't claim you dumbass," Rosan said bluntly.

Quicker then anyone could react, they watched in horror as Rosan's body was instantly embedded into the floor beneath him, courtesy of Garp slamming a fist on their scouts head.

"R-Rosan?!" Everyone shouted in disbelief.

"DON'T BE SO HEARTLESS TO YOUR GRANDFATHER!" Garp shouted at the violent redhead.

"OH NO, ROSAN!" Luffy yelled, scrambling to his feet. "QUICK! GET UP SO WE CAN RUN AWAY!"

Garp blinked, before it widened drastically as he saw Rosan still conscious, blocking the punch with both his arms.

"Oh? Looks like you learned some new tricks! And you feel a lot livelier too!" Garp laughed boisterously, as he effortlessly weathered Rosan's Haki enhanced punch to the gut.

Rosan sneered and leapt back, dragging Luffy up in the process. "Yeah no thanks to you. You've been hitting us with these for 10 years and didn't think to explain what it was? I would have liked to steal more techniques from you."

Wait… Luffy and Rosan's grandpa had been hitting them with Haki enhanced punches for 10 years?

What the hell was wrong with him... this monster of a man was a demon too!

"You unruly brats don't ever wanna learn anything from me!" Garp responded with a shrug, before a look of shock crossed his features. "WAIT! YOU MADE ME USE THOSE TECHNIQUES SO YOU COULD STEAL THEM FROM ME?! I THOUGHT MY GRANDKIDS THOUGHT I WAS COOL!" He shouted in disbelief.

Garp raised a fist and gazed at the quivering Luffy and staunch Rosan.

"It looks like I have to give you guys a few more Fists of Love!"

Luffy yelped and hid behind Rosan, who effortlessly shielded him.

"I already told you stop being so harsh with Luffy you stupid old man," Rosan's eyes narrowed and he bared his fangs. "What the hell are you doing here? Who asked you to visit? Here to capture us? I'll rescind my vow to stop killing you if you are."

Luffy peeked his head out from behind Rosan and nodded vigorously.

"I'm not here to capture my Grandkids… I'll just say I couldn't do it," Garp retorted, sticking a finger in his nose.

"Please just say they got away," Bogard, his second in command, replied with a sweatdrop.

"...You're here to visit?...Leave we don't want you here," Rosan said in a deadpan.

He grunted as a fist smashed into him, launching him into a wall and causing spider webs to form.

"BE MORE CONSIDERATE TO YOUR GRANDFATHER! I HAVE FEELINGS TOO!" Garp shook his fist, glaring at his rudest grandson.

Everyone balked at the interaction and gazed at the unhinged old man, realizing where Luffy got his intense will to live and insanity from.

Monkey D. Garp was terrifying.

Rosan huffed, eyes glowing madly as he glared at the stupid old man.

"I'm going to hurt you and I will enjoy every second of it," he growled lowly, peeling himself off the wall.

Before Garp could retort, a tiny yawn made Rosan's head snap in a direction.

"Rosan are you okay?" Robin asked, suppressing another yawn. "You suddenly got out of bed."

Rosan completely disregarded Garp and turned to face her, closing the distance immediately as the anger melted off. "Ah, did I wake you? Sorry about that, my older brother senses were going off."

The Devil Child shook her head and leaned on Rosan for support. "It's fine, I feel like I've been sleeping for far too long anyways —"

The woman froze, as she gazed at the Marines outside and her eyes narrowed…

Until she saw Garp.

"Ah, Garp-san it's nice to meet you… here to visit Rosan and Luffy?" Robin greeted politely, holding out a hand for the stunned man to shake.

"She knows Garp?!" Everyone thought in shock.

"…" Garp said nothing for a second, before the old man laughed boisterously and dragged the shocked woman into a comical hug.

"I KNEW THEY TALKED ABOUT ME!" Garp continued laughing. "MY GRANDDAUGHTER IS SO MUCH NICER THAN MY UNGRATEFUL GRANDSONS!"

"Granddaughter…?! Is he a psychopath?!"

Robin let out a noise of surprise at the strong grip of Garp and that turned into a yelp, as she was summarily ripped out of his grasp by her very possessive boyfriend.

"She's not your granddaughter you senile old man," Rosan snarled, holding the amused woman away from him. "Are you alright? Did that dumbass squeeze you too hard? He's so stupid that he doesn't understand his own strength."

"He's become even more protective somehow," Robin thought in amusement, fondness swelling as she allowed him to fuss over her. "I'm fine Rosan, it woke me up."

Somehow, that was the wrong thing to say.

Rosan scowled deeply and turned a thunderous gaze onto Garp, placing her down gently in the process.

"Listen you 90 something year old fossil," he began, taking a step forward and glaring at the Vice Admiral. "You probably don't realize alot of things since your skull is so damn thick, but you have a freakish amount of strength to compensate for the fact that you're extremely stupid."

Everyone's jaw dropped at the way Rosan was talking to the Hero of the Marines of all people. He spoke to him with such familiarity, that they knew for a fact this wasn't the first time he insulted Garp.

...Didn't Garp mention something about Rosan still trying to kill him? W-What was wrong with their scout?

They knew the redhead showed no fear, but this was ridiculous!

"90?!" Garp barked. "I'm 76 you unruly brat! Even if I were 90, it would take you 20 years to beat me!" He growled back, slamming his head against the redhead.

"You can count past 20?" Rosan hissed, not relenting for even a second and pushing back.

"I have the perfect way to show you!" Garp retorted eagerly..

Before the two could devolve into the many fights that they had constantly gotten into over the years (the score was 871 – 0), Robin gently pulled Rosan away from Garp.

"You just woke up," she chastised. "Stop fighting for just one second please."

Rosan opened his mouth, then scowled and closed it.

"I'm not strong enough yet but I'll get you one day, senile old man," he sneered, allowing Robin to push him backwards.

Garp snorted. "Look at you getting me all distracted… Luffy, I heard you ran into your dad."

Luffy tilted his head. "A dad? Rosan, I have a dad?"

Rosan nodded after a short moment. "Yeah."

The crew balked. "Wait, you know Luffy's dad?! But you told Aokiji you didn't!"

The redhead shook his head. "I told him I don't know my dad. I never mentioned not knowing Luffy's."

Garp picked his nose and nodded. "Yeah… your father's name is Monkey D. Dragon, the Revolutionary."

…

"WHAT?!"

"LUFFY IS DRAGON'S SON?!"

"DRAGON IS GARP'S SON?!"

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THAT FAMILY?!"

The roar was absolutely deafening.

Luffy scratched his head. "Rosan, who's Dragon?"

"…" Rosan closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh. "Garp… what the fuck? Why the hell would you reveal that information?" He asked genuinely.

Garp sweat a bit as he realized his mistake.

"Oops, I said a little more than I should've!" Garp scratched his head sheepishly. "Just forget what I said… at least I didn't reveal that Rosan's father is Cutter!"

…

"Who?" Everyone else, barring asked with a tilted head.

Rosan's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

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

"Dragon is Sabo's boss, Luffy," Rosan explained.

Luffy's eyes bugged. "REALLY?!"

The Straw Hat's eyes widened. That was right! Sabo was the Chief of Staff so that meant he worked directly under Luffy's father!

That was insane! What was with the Monkey D. Family?!

"But who's Cutter?" Nami muttered in confusion.

Rosan's biological father was someone named Cutter?

The way Garp said it… that should have been a noticeable name… but it didn't ring a single bell…

Maybe if he said the full name?

Robin herself was confused as well because that name rang no bells to her either…

Was Rosan's father someone they were trying to cut out of history? Robin didn't know anyone named Cutter and she was sure Rosan didn't either.

Rosan, who was not at all interested, noticed the look in Robin's eyes and sighed.

"Garp, let's talk in private," he offered, catching the old man's gaze.

Over the years… he had begrudgingly began tolerating the man's presence. Even despite being a Marine, Garp clearly didn't agree with their methods.

He knew full well how corrupt his organization was and it was the main reason that he stayed a Vice Admiral.

That didn't make him better in Rosan's eyes in the slightest, because it just made him look complacent. But… he accepted it because even he realized that compromise was needed. So Rosan wasn't quite trying to kill Garp anymore... but moreso protecting his little brothers from the madman.

So he tolerated him...

Even if the man insisted that he was his grandson.

Garp raised a brow but nodded. "I have things to say to you as well. Luffy, some friends want to meet you," was all he said before he walked off with Robin and Rosan.

The last thing Rosan saw, were two people attacking Zoro and Luffy, only to get disarmed near instantly by the formidable duo.

As the three walked off to an isolated location, Rosan waved his hand and the area around them became walled off so as to be more secure.

"Is it fine that I'm here?" Robin asked curiously. She watched in amusement as Rosan's grip on her, subtly tightened and realized that he probably didn't want her out of his sight for even a little.

Garp snorted. "He was going to tell you whatever we spoke about anyways," the old man retorted.

"Hm you know a bit about me I guess," Rosan praised. "Before I start… what did you want to talk to me about?"

Garp grunted. "The Marine Base in the East Blue… why did you destroy it?"

Rosan eyes flew open at that.

"What? How do you know that?" He muttered in confusion, brows furrowed.

Garp sighed. "There was a call and we heard your dragon's roar. I recognized it instantly but Sengoku found out after the report in Alabasta."

Something clicked.

"That's why my bounty was 100 million," Rosan whispered in realization. "Did that corrupt squealing idiot manage to make a call before I killed him?"

Fucking… how did he make such a mistake? Did he somehow reach the Den Den? Rosan had thought he was out of reach or too lost in his pain to do so.

A foolish oversight on his part...

"Maybe you shouldn't be saying this around Garp?" Robin said softly. She had seen the memory and that man had went out of his way to ruin an entire islands life, just for money...

He deserved to die.

The redhead shook his head. "You shouldn't be surprised Garp. That man was one of the most corrupt Marines I've met yet," he said calmly.

"Keeping an entire island subjugated for 10 years, accepting money from a pirate, refusing to report said pirate for taking over… Just thinking about it pisses me off. People like that are why I hate your organization," Rosan said darkly.

Garp scratched his head. "So it really was because he was corrupt… that makes me feel better for not reporting you… and you didn't do it to anything else… until Alabasta and Enies Lobby at least."

Rosan blinked. "You didn't report me?" He asked, genuinely surprised.

"Of course not… A corrupt Marine is even worse than a pirate. It means no one who can deliver justice to them," The old man sighed tiredly.

"…" Rosan gazed at Garp with… some respect in his gaze. "You've changed a bit Garp. I didn't think someone as stubborn as you could do that."

Rosan grunted at the fist planting itself on his head and glared murderously at the old man.

"I could say the same to you, brat," he grunted. "You're much different… not as shackled like when we first met."

Rosan shared a glance with Robin and smiled. "Then you already know why I attacked Enies Lobby," he said softly.

Garp snorted. "You did it to protect someone you love," he replied, gazing at his granddaughter with a contemplative expression. "I always did think it was stupid that they made a little girl look so dangerous. So she can read? Who cares."

Robin's eyes widened at his words, before she smiled a true.

"You… are a good person, Garp-san. I see why they refer to you as the Hero of the Marines," she eventually said.

That... it felt good to know that good people existed in the world, who understood that she was a victim to the corruption of the World Government.

Garp placed a massive hand on her head and ruffled it with no hesitation, ruining her bedhead even further.

"She's a good one!" Garp laughed. "...Are you sure you want to like him?" he whispered loudly, pointing a finger at the glowering redhead.

"I'm very sure," Robin replied without hesitation, placing a palm on Rosan's chest to stop him.

Rosan grabbed the outstretched arm and pulled her to him, before glancing at Garp. "Garp, how much does the World Government know about my biological parents?" He asked with a frown.

Garp turned uncharacteristically serious for a moment. "We know about both your parents… Why? You want to know about them?"

Truthfully, Rosan didn't give a rats ass about learning about them… but Robin was curious and he knew a curious Robin wouldn't rest until she was sated.

He wouldn't torture her like that so if he could give her answers, he would. Rosan knew she was curious about his family lineage anyways and there was a resource here so may as well.

It's not like he hated his lineage. He just didn't care for them.

"You're so considerate," Robin told the redhead with a grateful smile. "Thank you for accommodating my selfish curiosity."

"Anything for you."

Rosan nodded. "Yeah, tell me what you know."

Garp stuck a finger in his nose. "Well I don't know much about them. I didn't really care enough."

Rosan felt a tick form and resisted the urge to attack him. This stupid goddamn old man… why would he not start off with that?

Robin giggled at his antics.

"I met your mother a few times. She's a lot like you and you look alike too," he grunted, recalling what he knew. "She traveled the New World by herself at a young age... and I think that's where she met your father. From what I know of her, I'm surprised she abandoned you."

"Everyone says she's like me," Rosan grunted at that, unamused.

So his mother was someone with extreme amounts of talent. She was able to traverse the New World at a young age and it had likely been before she gave birth to him...

It truly sounded like Rosan was Raisa's child. He was sure he'd probably be traversing the New World far earlier in his life if he had not gotten robbed of his ambition.

Which meant his father had to be someone dangerous too, if he was able to actually rape her.

"What about my father... You called him Cutter? Based on what Aokiji said, he's quite a bad egg."

"…" Garp frowned at that. "Your father isn't someone that is very well known but he was apart of a crew that was the most dangerous to exist…"

Both their eyes widened in interest at that.

"He was nothing special in the crew, just a little kid at the time. He has a grudge against me so when I was the one sent to capture him in the South Blue, he fought instead of escaping despite how beat up he was," the old man revealed with a severe frown.

"What did you do?" Robin asked in interest, fascinated by hearing about Rosan's parents.

His mother a formidable queen and his father was apart of the most dangerous crew?

Who was this Cutter? What was the story behind Rosan's father?

"That crew he was apart of when he was just a kid... his brother was the captain of it and I defeated him a long time ago. He disappeared for years before suddenly showing up and invading your mother's island, then right after I captured him," Garp grunted.

Rosan hummed, brows furrowed. "His full name… what is it?" He asked.

"…" Garp seemed to age a few years mentioning that name.

"Rocks D. Cutter."