"Alright! We've got some questions for you," Nami decided, taking charge since she was the smartest of the curious bunch.

After happily greeting the ones from Celadon, the group were sat comfortably in front of one Rosan who they found out was the Angel of Death, Reaper.

The redhead in question, nodded his head. "Ask away. I'll answer to the best of my ability."

To avoid leaking anything to Enel or anyone untrustworthy, Rosan went through the horribly taxing task (he was going to enjoy his sleep after this) of linking with everyone there, excluding a Gan Fall who excused himself, claiming that he'd come back the next day,

He never linked with so many people and he could already tell that the only reason his head was not pounding so strongly, was because of his amazing Devil Fruit.

Mod blushed at his praise and smiled brightly with a roll of her eyes.

Nami felt her curiosity about their scout somehow rise.

He was full of so much mysteries! Everytime they thought they learned something about him, he revealed something else!

"So you're really Reaper?" She started off, just to test the waters.

The redhead nodded and stood up. They watched as his armband seamlessly transformed into a long black cloak, with white lines donned all over, that covered his entire frame.

He pulled out a black mask that had a white rose carved into the side of it and placed it on his face. The redhead pulled up his hoodie and they watched as his face instantly became shrouded in darkness.

The only thing they could see, was the faint red glow that was his left eye.

To finish off, he held out his ringed left hand and the crew watched as Ram transformed into a gigantic scythe. The Angel of Death effortlessly spun it, before balancing the shaft on his shoulder.

"This is how I look," he said calmly, spreading out his wings to give them the full picture.

"Wow," they awed, glancing up and down at the figure.

He certainly fit the bill of Angel of Death. He was stunning in his disguise and let off an ethereal air that Rosan did not typically have.

It was almost like looking at a completely different person. He even felt as chilly as Rosan had been when they first met him!

"Booo, take your shirt back off," Maro scowled, crossing her arms petulantly.

As they gazed at the cloaked figure, stamping down the trepidation at that ominous aura, a thought occurred to them.

"So the reason everyone says you were so short… was because you were a child?" Nami whispered in shock.

The world's most renowned bounty hunter, was a child! The person who was practically the boogeyman of the sea, who parents warned their children about… was just a kid!

Granted, Rosan was older than all of them except Robin so they were those kids but still! He was one of the highest starting bounties ever and he was just 14 when it happened…

"Yes, I was... short for my age and had a very sudden growth spurt," he explained, much to Maro's misery.

The Queen waved her hands everywhere in outrage. "He was so short goddamnit! We used to be the same height and he never was taller than me up until that stupid growth spurt!" She whined.

"You're still stuck on that?" Angel mused with bright, amused, eyes. "You should be glad that you grew yourself, shortstack."

Maro spluttered at that. "S-Shortstack?! I'm 5'10, you asshole! I am literally one inch shorter than you!"

Angel shrugged. "I could make Master adjust my height accurately and you can try again. Your 5'10 to my 6'2..." she mused.

The Dokkaebi wheezed. "No thanks. I'm good. I think our heights are perfectly fine!"

"Right..." she said dryly.

Everyone snorted at the wives.

"Are you actually… you know… otherworldly?" Usopp asked tentatively, gazing at those eerie yet captivating wings of his.

"I knew you would have believed all those rumors about me, Usopp," Rosan sighed softly. "I was born human, don't worry. Though, these wings are those of an Angel."

"B-Born human?!" Usopp cried to himself. What the hell was he now?!

"So these are Angel wings…" Zoro muttered. "What made you decide on them? Did you use these before becoming a dragon for more power?"

Rosan shook his head, pulling his hoodie back and taking the mask off to reveal his features again.

"I learned Ragnarok before Shinigami," he revealed much to their surprise.

W-Wasn't he starting a little big?!

"Going from a dragon to an angel is a little... crazy," Nami said slowly with a sweatdrop.

"It is a bit crazy... but I love fantasy," Rosan admitted.

"Really?!" Usopp asked in surprise. The pragmatic and logical redhead, was into the fantasy theme?! He really was an enigma!

That put into perspective just how different this Rosan was from the one with emotions.

He nodded in confirmation. "I used to always have Mom, Robin or Mod-chan read me a book on fantasy... I especially loved tales about dragons," he explained.

That... was so adorable.

"Ever since I first unlocked Modification, my greatest goal was to be able to modify myself into a dragon. It was a childish dream of mine but I attacked it for 5 years before finally figuring it out."

They listened with undivided attention. Learning more about Rosan was always interesting to them and they didn't miss the fond smile that made its way onto Robin's face.

Those two must have been on quite the journeys...

"I'm wary about anyone learning of my identity. I prioritize my anonymity above all else and transforming into a dragon, isn't something a lot of people can do," Rosan said dryly.

They nodded in amusement.

"At the same time, I wanted a steady supply of money so I wanted to begin bounty hunting without risking anyone learning who I was…"

"That's where Reaper came in," he hummed. "I wanted an identity that I could separate from Rosan and I wanted to continue flying because I love flying. So I sought out to unlock a new transformation that would allow me to achieve my goals."

Their eyes widened in interest, even Maro's because she wasn't privy to all the little details like this.

"I didn't want a full transformation like Ragnarok because that would take far too long too unlock and it was just for a throwaway disguise anyways. But at the same time… I'm very vain so it couldn't just be any type of wings," he told them.

"You're a trip," Nami sighed at the redhead. He was way more vain then she expected him to be but then again, everything about him was rather stylish.

"I know," he shrugged. "I wanted to continue the fantasy theme so normal animals were a no. I was going to do Pegasus but I didn't like how the wings looked on me."

"Ah, so that's why he insulted Gan Fall's bird so ruthlessly," Usopp thought to himself, sweatdropping at the redhead.

"I couldn't really think of an alternative though but while I was researching, Angel messaged me and that's when I thought to just use these wings."

Angel blinked at that, before flushing beet red. "W-Wait a second! I'm the reason you chose Angel wings?! Why did you never tell me this?!" She gawked in disbelief.

Demon and Maro also had looks of surprise on their faces and Rosan blinked.

"Must have never occurred to me," he shrugged helplessly. "I was pretty secretive at that age so I guess I just never thought to mention it. Also... your name is Angel. Thought it was self explanatory."

He grunted as his little sister leapt on him with a happy squeal. "Look at me! When people ask about how Reaper came to be, I guess I can take all the credit," she preened.

"Aiko wouldn't appreciate that, considering she's the one who named me," Rosan replied calmly.

"We'll split it 50/50," she cheered, mostly because she liked Aiko. The woman was one of the only others who was willing to keep Maro in check and that was always a plus.

"Wait, named?" Nami asked curiously. Don't tell her…

"Ah, yes. I didn't name myself Reaper. My friend Aiko did," Rosan informed them, telling about the events of when he first landed on Fregate.

They listened with slack jaws as Rosan casually told them of how he helped free an island from a tyrant, while gaining a biweekly stipend from them in the process.

He didn't even have an alias yet. He just used a disguise that he had as a 4 year old and added the wings on top of it…

"You got that famous by accident?" Sanji balked, cigarette falling out of his mouth.

Rosan hummed. "Yes. I just wanted to hunt bounties and cash them in but one thing led to another and I became famous in all 4 seas…"

They spluttered at that.

"Y-You… You made the Angel of Death… as a throwaway?!" Usopp balked in sheer disbelief.

Rosan nodded. "Everyone put far too much value in a disguise I didn't really care about. Reaper was never meant to be anything more then an alias that allowed me to mess up once and the moment I did mess up once, I immediately retired."

"Why the scythe?" Zoro asked curiously. It was a strange weapon to use and he never saw Rosan use it even once.

"When I was a prisoner, I discovered that I was abnormally good with the scythe... but I also hated the scythe. So I used it on Reaper so that no other weapon would incite suspicion... unfortunately I kind of like using the scythe now but I can't use it much even though it's my best weapon."

Zoro nodded thoughtfully at that. He wanted to fight against that weapon. He always wanted to test his blades against those of the Angel.

"Wait... did you just say you were a prisoner?" Chopper spoke up quietly, horror welling up inside of him.

Rosan nodded. "A story for another time... but yes. I was captured and temporarily enslaved by a person who I've already killed," he revealed.

None missed the way Robin's gaze darkened.

"That... I'm sorry to hear that," Sanji frowned deeply, looking at his savior with sad eyes.

"It's fine... I got my revenge on them all. They will never hurt me again," he said quietly, glancing at the hand on his shoulder.

He smiled gently at Robin and pulled her a little closer.

Sabo chose that moment to speak up. "Speaking of which… what exactly did you do to make your starting bounty 500 million?"

Everyone froze at that reminder and looked at their scout in horror, realizing that he did have a bounty that high.

500 m-million?! Holy shit… He was worth so much beri.

Rosan hummed and frowned. "If you want Sabo, you can tell your boss. I don't mind if he learns about me being Reaper."

The revolutionary blinked at that. "You don't care if I tell Dragon? Really?"

That was nice to hear but why?

"Sure, feel free. He's proven that I can trust him. Just make sure you two keep it to yourselves. I trust Dragon and Sabo, not the revolutionaries."

The blonde nodded at that. That sounded fair enough to him.

"Right, now that we've got that sorted out…" Rosan began. "Nami, Zoro. Do you remember when I mentioned that we needed a new ship because mine was permanently damaged when I was 14?"

The two perked up and nodded at that. It was right before they landed on Usopp's island.

Wait a second… 14 would have been the age he retired Reaper!

"You realized. Yes, the event that damaged my ship and my retiring of Reaper are the same," he hummed, eyes glowing faintly in the dark of the night.

"Believe it or not, I believe my bounty was supposed to be higher then 500 million," he admitted.

"H-HIGHER?!" Usopp asked with bugged eyes. What the hell? What could he possibly have done to deserve something higher then 500 million...?!

"Rosan… what did you do?!" Nami hissed. Someone didn't just get 500 million as their first bounty and admit that it was supposed to be higher!

It meant that his crime was so serious, they hid it and still slapped an abnormally high bounty on his head.

"Enel won't be the first Kami I've battled and defeated," Rosan said cryptically.

What did he mean by that? Rosan fought another Kami before?

Everyone there who didn't know already, simply blinked in confusion.

All but one at least.

Sabo's eyes bugged at hearing that message. "Rosan… what did you just say?!"

They jumped at the urgency in his tone and glanced at the wide eyed Sabo in concern.

"We reacted the same way," Maro said in a sagely manner, nodding in sympathy.

Demon and Angel nodded along with exasperated expressions.

"We left him for a few days... and he immediately gets a bounty. Master is a complete trip," Angel sighed.

"Wherever he goes, chaos follows. I do feel like my life has gotten significantly easier since retiring to Celadon," Demon smiled.

"I killed a World Noble for attacking my ship and trying to have me enslaved," Rosan confirmed calmly.

Sabo felt himself freeze at the admittance, jaw slowly dropping at the casual tone his brother was taking.

After all, The Celestial Dragons were the main enemies of the Revolutionaries. To hear that his brother killed one was… it was shocking!

"You reacted worse then when you were a child," Rosan pointed out, smiling slightly.

"Y-You told me this already?! I already knew you were Reaper?!" The revolutionary spluttered.

Wow… he really did tell them everything. Sabo was touched that someone as jaded as Rosan, trusted him despite his amnesia.

"What's a Celestial Dragon?" Chopper asked curiously.

He never expected Sabo of all people to react like that!

Robin, who was content to just observe and chat with Maro, decided to explain to them.

"They are the ones who rule this world," she began. "The World Nobles are allowed to do anything they please and face no troubles for it. If you strike one, an Admiral will come after you as soon as possible and you don't want that to happen."

Nami, Usopp and Chopper went pale at that.

"O-Oh," they stammered, gazing at the psychotic redhead with a look that meant "Don't even think about doing that while we're near you!"

"He tried to have you enslaved?" Zoro frowned. "Can they really just do that? No one should be allowed to have that much power."

Sanji begrudgingly agreed with the swordsman. So Reaper ended up killing one of the most important people in the world…

He deserved it. What a shitty noble.

"That reminds me!" Nami said suddenly. "How did Sanji already know you were Reaper?!" She asked in confusion.

Sanji blinked at that, face not betraying anything but mind running a mile a minute.

What would Rosan say?! Would he reveal Sanji's heritage as a prince? Or mention his abusive family?!

That would be terrible—

"Sanji met Maro and I when I was 13," Rosan replied, much to the chefs dread. "He was going through something difficult and we helped him out. He made a promise to me so I figured I could reveal my identity to him when we were at the Baratie."

"Ah, so that's why he avoided you so much!" Nami slammed a fist against her palm, while Zoro snorted in amusement.

Sanji blinked before a flash of embarrassment made its way on his face. "I was THINKING! THINKING!" He corrected.

Maro cooed at that. "Awww, you were embarrassed? It's a good thing I wasn't there! I'd have made you wanna die," she gushed, pinching Sanji's cheeks and shaking his head back and forth.

"Please… stop," the chef said in the most defeated tone. He was thankful Rosan didn't reveal his past but getting embarrassed because of Maro was just not pleasant at all.

He was still thankful though and he made sure to glance over at Rosan to let him know…

Which was why he saw Robin smile knowingly at him and his eyes went blank in despair.

SHE KNEW! ROBIN KNEW ABOUT HIS PAST! THAT DAMN REDHEAD AND TRYING TO GET ONE OVER HIM AT ANY POINT!

It was then that Nami noticed something. "Hold on, you and Maro both met him? What was Maro doing with you?"

The Queen beamed at that and said, "Oh, I'm Grim!" She revealed casually.

…

"WHAT?!" Nami shrieked, gazing at the gorgeous queen with wide eyes.

"She's my student after all," Rosan hummed calmly. "Maro became Grim when I was around 12."

Maro smiled softly at that, eyes turning fond as she recalled everything. "Master saw the potential in me and offered to train me… he saved my life," she admitted quietly.

Their eyes went soft at the tone the hyperactive queen took.

"He saved your life?" Chopper asked curiously, gazing at Rosan with awe.

That statement from the queen, made them all curious.

How did Maro and Rosan meet? If what he was saying was any implication, the redhead gained an interest in her long after he lost his emotions.

Maro gazed over at Rosan with nothing but love in her gaze and her smile was uncharacteristically small.

Rosan caught her gaze and he returned a smile, reaching a hand over to pull her in a hug while absentmindedly stroking her hair before releasing her.

"Master and I's first meeting was when he showed up to my island when I was 11," Maro revealed, remembering the memory perfectly.

She once asked Rosan to show it to her just to remember and to compare the growth.

It was surreal. Maro didn't even recognize the little girl in the memories... She had been so small and weak!

"Reaper was ordering some apples before I showed up and stole them from him," she admitted.

They balked at that. "Y-You stole apples from Reaper at 11?! Why?!" Usopp whispered in disbelief.

Maro smiled sadly and said, "I felt like I had no choice because I hadn't eaten actual food in days."

"!" They gasped in shock.

She hadn't eaten in days...?

"Maro was a homeless orphan," Rosan revealed softly.

"W-What?!" They said in shock, gazing at the somber smile of the Queen.

She nodded in confirmation. "Everyone on my island hated me. I don't know why and I still really don't get it, but Master said my parents might have been pirates…"

The Dokkaebi glanced at her fair hand with a neutral expression. "It was really hard to live. It was a struggle just eating and if it kept up, I probably would have died. If Master didn't find me... I'm not sure what would have happened to me."

They couldn't believe what they were hearing. Maro was homeless? They hated her?! But she was such a sweetheart!

Angel's eyes were narrowed in guilt because of how much problems she caused Maro back then.

Kami, she had been such a bitch... Maro had already had it bad enough and she made no move to alleviate the stress.

The redhead placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and planted a kiss on her cheek as apology, frowning deeply at the memories.

Maro smiled and kissed her back, no hint of animosity on her features.

Just the fact that she genuinely didn't have an ounce of bitterness in her eyes, spoke volumes of the queen.

"It sucked honestly. Sometimes I ate garbage just to make the pangs go away and I was getting more and more desperate… I found out that stealing from people who didn't stay on the island for long, was my best bet and I never saw Master before... so I thought I could just steal from him and hide," she revealed softly.

The Queen snorted. "He found me instantly. It's honestly embarrassing. I barely got to finish an apple!" she laughed.

"She was a dirty little thing," Rosan remarked, easily recalling how she used to look. "Rags for clothes, absolutely filthy… she didn't even have a name to herself," he told them.

Their eyes bugged at that. "Wait, she didn't have a name?!" Nami said in horror, gazing at the queen with wide eyes.

Was her name not always Maro...?

She shook her head. "No… I didn't have one until Master named me Maro. He… instead of killing me he offered me the chance to join him."

They glanced at Rosan in shock.

"You named her…?" Sanji said in wonder, gazing at the two that had far more history then he expected.

Everyone else was just as surprised. They had no idea that Rosan of all people had named the Queen of Celadon...

Wow... these two's relationship went even deeper then they initially thought.

"He saw something in me that no one did. Everyone ridiculed and hated me but Master he… he built me up from zero and he turned me into the something he promised to make me," Maro said, gazing at Rosan with an unconditional type of love.

"I will do anything for him because he did everything for me," the Queen finished, making her way over and engulfing the redhead in a tender hug.

The small smile Rosan let out, was genuine and he returned the hug, crushing the Dokkaebi into his frame.

"I simply chose to invest in a person who survived off of sheer spite. Someone who's eyes shown with determination despite the terrible hand they were dealt," Rosan said truthfully.

Maro's eyes turned foggy at the tender tone he used and she buried her head in the crook of his neck as he began to speak.

"You are the one who accomplished everything. Even after I treated you so harshly... you still flourished under my teaching. You are the one who made me care for you. I don't deserve any credit besides giving you the tools needed to wrestle fate into your own hands..." he continued, stroking her hair.

"You have done a complete 180, my prodigious student. You're beautiful, married and above all, the Queen of the most prestigious island in the North Blue. You being Grim, is only secondary to everything else you've accomplished now. You have exceeded my expectations and I placed the highest faith in you already."

"Mgmm," Maro sniffed once, twice, before breaking out in a bawl.

"W-Why are you making me cry right now, M-Master? Y-You know I'm emotional a-and this isn't about me!" She sobbed, soaking his shirt with her tears.

"Because I like tormenting you," he admitted, rubbing her back soothingly. "It's no fun if a teacher can't mess with his student."

"Y-You're just a dick," she mumbled through a watery breath, sinking further into his chest as she got tired.

"Hm, many people say that. Perhaps I should start taking their words serious," Rosan mused.

Everyone watched the two former bounty hunters with soft eyes. To hear of their relationship… those two were even closer then they first thought.

So these were Grim and Reaper, two kids who had messed up childhoods…

To think that Rosan had turned Maro from nothing into this... to learn that he named her of all things.

"That's adorable," Nami sighed fondly, smiling at the two.

"Isn't it?" Angel grinned fondly, watching as Maro slowly but surely fell asleep. Her wife always got tired when she became emotional and these days, she immediately fell asleep afterwards.

"Those two have an adorable bond," Demon chuckled. "Maro was right. At one point, the only person who had faith in her, was Master and it never once wavered. He saw something we didn't and he acted accordingly and now look at her! She's our precious Queen who the people of Celadon would do anything for!"

He wanted the people of her old island to see her now. To see the night and day change from Maro. To know that she was more important then every single one of the people who scorned her.

She deserved some bragging rights.

"Grim and Reaper… two kids just terrorizing the sea and striking fear in all bounties hearts," Nami couldn't help the laugh at the thought that people were panicking at two kids who were barely teenagers.

"Up until they usurped a king and Master made Maro and us stay on Celadon," Angel added dryly. The redhead gently removed Maro from Rosan's person and settled her down next to her, rubbing her hair soothingly.

"It's why Grim doesn't have a bounty… she wasn't there when Master killed the World Noble," Demon laughed softly.

Usurping a king… Rosan really was a psycho. No lack of emotions would be able to change that fact.

The scout shrugged. "It was a good opportunity and the former king was a tyrant. Celadon's evolution is as impressive as Maro's and it's thanks to her."

The redhead stretched slightly and hummed. "Alright, I think that's all the questions we should have… is there anything else we should discuss?"

Everyone looked at each other in contemplation before shaking their head in a no motion.

Nami suddenly raised her hand and said, "Zoro and I made a discovery actually!"

The group glanced at the Navigator in curiosity at that and she puffed up with a large grin.

"This Upper Yard, is actually the other half of Jaya! We're on the City of Gold!" She exclaimed.

There was a brief moment of silence before a wave of excitement pulsed through the pirates.

"Gold?!" Luffy's (Rosan had barred him from speaking, considering they were all speaking through his link) eyes widened in glee at that. "Perfect, just the kind of adventure I've been waiting for!"

Nami's grin widened. "That simplifies things a lot! Let's get all that gold!"

Rosan nodded at that. "My pocket dimension will be getting a lot more stuff in the upcoming days. We'll take everything that we can."

Angel and Nami both grinned at that and high fived the redhead.

"You have our blessing!" They cheered.

The rest of the group looked at the unholy trinity of greed with matching sweatdrops.

"At this rate, I fear your hoarding problem will never get solved… Especially with Angel and more recently, Nami enabling you like this," Mod sighed forlornly.

"H-Hoarding?!" Nami gaped. "You can't hoard treasure, Mod-chan!"

Rosan nodded in agreement. "See? I told her the exact same thing. It's like she wants us to spend it all in one go. My mother has terrible money management skills."

"What a shock," Nami muttered. Mod looked like she could do it all...

He couldn't blame her. Mod didn't have to deal with the money most of the time. First it was Robin, then it was Rosan.

But still, she should have learned something from him… how lazy of her. He expected her to be better then this.

"L-LAZY?!" She bellowed, making them all shrink in fear at that tone. "Do you even hear yourselves?! You and Nami have a serious problem and only I see it! How dare you call me lazy when I'm concerned!"

Poor money management skills? Was he serious right now? Rosan was just trying to infuriate her and it was working!

Rosan, being the only one who didn't shrink in fear, shrugged. "I just call it how I see it—"

The redhead suddenly grunted and hunched over, as the most pounding headache he ever felt, slammed into his head with crushing force.

Robin steadied him with an amused expression on her face that very loudly screamed, "Why would you antagonize Mod-chan?"

"That's what me being lazy looks like, you ungrateful brat. This headache stems from the fact that you linked with so many people but thankfully for you, I can keep it at bay… if I so please!" She humphed, crossing her arms across her bust with a glare.

Rosan, curse his stubborn soul, refused to submit. "This is nothing. I'm accustomed to being bombarded with headaches, courtesy of someone I know quite intimately."

"I-Intimately?!" Sanji stammered to himself.

Robin sighed at the two. "Rosan. Mod-chan. Please stop being so childish."

There was a brief silence, before the two begrudgingly said, "Fine/Fine."

Rosan straightened himself back up at the feeling of the headache vanishing and sighed.

"I'll forget about the revenge I planned on dishing out," Rosan muttered, pulling the exasperated Robin into a side hug.

"You should stop being so stubborn one of these days," she advised the redhead, leaning into him with an amused smile.

Watching him and Maro, filled her with all types of warmness. Those two were so precious!

"If I stop being stubborn, Mod-chan will run over me," Rosan muttered.

"LISTEN TO YOURSELF! DO YOU JUST SAY THE FIRST THING THAT WILL IRRITATE A PERSON?!"

"If the truth manages to irritate you, then yes."

"Come into the mindscape, I have some words for you."

"No, I'd rather not have to deal with such an insufferable person."

"I-Insufferable?! Just you wait until I get my hands on you!"

"Father you should come in! I wanna see you!"

"Just come out then. I'm not entering the mindscape."

"...Coward."

"...What did you just call me? One second, I must teach my unwise mother a lesson."

"BRING IT ON, STUPID SON!"

"WOOHOOO! FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!" Ram cheered.

The Straw Hats sweatdropped.

"Is this what goes on in Rosan's head all the time?" Nami asked in disbelief. She never expected Mod to scream so readily at someone… or engage in a fight with them but it seemed like there was not a single soul immune to Rosan's effects.

Robin nodded with a suffering sigh as the redhead abruptly fell asleep. She placed his head on her lap with a shake of her head. "We argue all the time unfortunately. It's always Rosan's fault too. He's incredibly insufferable."

Usopp nodded sympathetically. "You know, I believe you wholeheartedly."

Everyone else nodded in unison and Robin let out another sigh.

She should have gone with him to make sure they didn't do anything stupid.

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

After settling their differences and sufficiently beating each other up (they somehow both felt Robin's warning glare and agreed to stop... for now), Rosan woke back up to talk plans.

The Straw Hats just finished preparing for a late night dinner, in the process of discussing their course of action tomorrow morning.

They would split up into groups in search of the treasure while also guarding the ship.

"Angel and Demon, you can stay with me," Sabo stated. "I don't plan on fighting unless I have to so I'll keep you both safe," he told them, smiling at the twins.

They nodded with smiles. They had been spending quite a lot of time with Sabo and it was always pleasant.

"I wanna fight someone," a groggy Maro slurred. "Gimme one of the priests to fight."

"You can fight the one I fought," Sabo told her. "He's probably going to come attack me for what I did to him, so he's all yours."

She shot him a lazy thumbs up, head lolling until she rested it on an embarrassed Angel's chest and purred.

"Nice," Maro said shamelessly.

Angel held her head but made no effort to remove her wife. "You are a pervert."

"I just appreciate things worth appreciating," she muttered.

Angel's blush deepened.

Robin glanced at the campfire and said, "It's getting late, we should put out any unnecessary fires before the enemy finds us."

…

Luffy and Usopp looked at each other before the rubber boy smirked in exasperation.

"Do you hear that Usopp? She wants to put out the fire!" Luffy said it in a manner that suggested that Robin truly didn't know something that he did.

"Cut her some slack, Luffy. She's too used to the darkness," Usopp sighed forlornly.

"I figured Master would have at least taught her," Angel sighed in disappointment.

"...Huh?" Robin said in confusion, looking down at the Rosan whose head was resting on her lap.

The redhead shook his head in her lap. "It was an oversight on my part. I thought this was common sense but I guess not."

"...What are you all talking about?" The Devil Child muttered, genuinely baffled by what was happening right now.

Usopp and Luffy both collapsed in front of the two and beat their fist against the ground, laughing at the hopeless woman.

"You're always supposed to have a campfire!" Luffy cackled like it were incredibly obvious.

"The desire to have a campfire when camping at night, even if you're on your last legs, is what makes you human!" Usopp roared his laughter.

"Watching that wood burn is so motivating!" Angel gushed.

"It's not camping without a campfire," Rosan nodded in agreement.

Robin sweatdropped deeply at the three.

...Seriously? Even Rosan and Angel?

"You guys are definitely the stupid ones," Nami grumbled in annoyance. Were they serious?! Why would they have a campfire in such a dangerous area?!

"Luffy! This good enough?" Zoro asked, referring to the massive amount of branches piled on top of each other. He and Sanji went out earlier to go collect it and came back with quite the impressive amount.

"YOU GUYS ARE IN ON THIS TOO?!" Nami roared in disbelief.

"It's hopeless trying to convince them otherwise," Mod sighed. Her little idiots went out camping all the time on random islands for the hell of it and they never once cut out the fire.

They mostly did it to get Maro used to the sensation of camping because she really didn't like it very much at all, claiming it reminded her of being homeless, so they tried to help her out.

It didn't completely work, but at the very least she could sleep in a tent without complaining.

Demon nodded. "This isn't something normal people are meant to understand," he said calmly.

"Finally, people who get me," Sabo sighed happily, shooting a thumbs up at the giant stack of wood and making Nami collapse further.

Why were they all so abnormal? Where did she go wrong choosing such a crew?

"Light this up for us, Rosan!" Luffy requested.

The redhead, whose head was still lying on Robin's lap, only held out a finger and shot a small beam of fire at the pile of wood, lighting it up instantaneously with the heat of his draconic flames.

At that moment, Maro shot up, all signs of grogginess gone and screamed, "PARTY!"

"YOU WERE JUST SLEEPING A MINUTE AGO!" Nami roared at the Queen.

SERIOUSLY! WHAT WAS WRONG WITH THEM?!

Maro and Luffy began dancing excitedly and that was the cue for the party to begin in earnest.

"PARTYYYY!" Ram cheered, transforming into her human form and leaping into the fun. "MARO!"

"RAM!" Maro cheered crashing into her best friend and spinning with her. "Looking as crazy as ever!"

Ram readily returned the hug and grinned wolfishly. "No comment on how hot I am?! Are you maturing or in trouble?"

"Trouble!" Angel replied without hesitation, leaping into the group hug and nuzzling them both, letting out a laugh of joy as Maro easily began spinning them both.

Robin's sweatdrop vanished and a small smile formed, as she watched the festivities taking place.

Even the arrival of a pack of wolves did nothing to dampen their demeanor and the animals joined the fun, dancing with the group and sharing their own provisions.

Rosan finally removed his head off her lap and instead opted to sit next to her, gazing at them all with a small smile on his features.

Robin couldn't prevent the swell of fondness for all of them from forming and found herself reassessing the Straw Hats once more.

She was already growing to love them and they just kept reaffirming her decisions.

"It's infectious, don't you two think?" Mod asked kindly, watching as Maro began dancing with the lead wolf there.

She wanted nothing more then the both of them to have unconditional trust in this crew because this crew was amazing and they deserved it.

Robin was already growing to love them all... but Rosan was still keeping his heart closed. Sure, he was revealing more and more information... but he was just too wounded to open up fully and she didn't want that to be the case any longer.

It said something, that Robin was closer to fully assimilating with the crew, then Rosan was... when he was the second member of the ship.

"Yes… I've never met a crew like them," Robin admitted, gazing at them all with a bit of wonder.

"Luffy did a good job finding them," Rosan muttered.

Robin smiled and said, "Of course he did. He managed to recruit you first after all so he must have good taste."

Mod's smile went wide as Rosan turned a somewhat startled gaze towards Robin.

"You aren't upset with me anymore?" He asked softly, taking a sip of the drink the polite wolf brought them. He rubbed its ear and the wolf took a seat next to the duo.

Robin took a sip of her own drink, smiling at the rather calm wolf that was resting next to them.

"You know I don't stay mad for long… we already spoke and I didn't reprimand you because I'm mad… I did it because I worry for you," she said softly, raking a hand through his lustrous red spikes and marveling at how soft they were.

The Devil Child stared at her best friend. The one who was actually here. Sometimes, she marvelled at the fact that he was actually alive and well.

"I'm scared," she confessed. "Scared that I'll have to go through the torture of not seeing you again for years. You are my everything, Rosan. You made me feel alive and I lost you."

Robin fixed weary eyes on him that rooted him to his spot and reminded him that he caused this.

"There were times where I really did consider just ending it all, just so I could see you again in the afterlife… even once," she confessed.

Rosan went cold at that statement, eyes going wide in shock.

"Oh Robin," Mod said, despair seeping into her tone at the reveal. The woman held a hand over her mouth as tears began forming.

"I strove to survive because I know that's what you wanted and… even after so long, I remember your words of us meeting each other again and you were right!"

Robin knew this would only make Rosan think of himself negatively but airing everything out was better then keeping it in and he could come to terms with it faster.

"Now that we're reunited… I can't lose you again Rosan. I don't want to see a timeline where you actually die because… because I don't think I can—"

The woman was cut off, as Rosan grabbed her and pulled her into an embrace. She didn't realize she was shaking until his warmth made her stop and she let out a shuddering breath.

"I hate myself," Rosan confessed and it was Robin's turn to widen her eyes.

The woman looked up at his expression but couldn't muster up anything to say due to the sheer self loathing he had in his gaze.

He… she knew he had plenty of self loathing but Rosan hated himself?

Mod's gaze went wide because she didn't know this either.

Was… was this one of the things Rosan hid from her?

W-Why...? Did… Did he really not trust her anymore?

"I can't do anything right. I'm supposedly a genius but I've never once felt like one," the redhead admitted.

"How could a genius make so many stupid decisions after all? The chain holding my guilt is gone, but it doesn't change what I've done. I abandoned Ace, I got Meiko killed… I let you think I was dead for 16 years…"

Rosan gazed at her with a sullen gaze. "Like it or not, you've ended up like this because of me. You didn't deserve that. I shouldn't have lashed out at you. I shouldn't have taken so long to look for you. I failed you, Robin. This whole time, I'm the one who broke my promise and that's unforgivable."

It was at that moment that Mod realized, Rosan was never going to coexist with the Virus even if she spoke to them. He would wait for the opportunity to destroy them and take it with malicious glee the moment it slipped up.

...The woman clenched her fist nervously. Could she… could she really stop Rosan if that was what he wanted to do? What if… What if he turned on her? What if he saw it as her betraying him…?

After all, Rosan loved Robin more then anything and the virus managed to turn that into hate… was it her right to stop him from dishing out justice?

After all, Rosan probably hated the virus as much as he hated himself…

"Because of me… there's a chance you could have killed yourself Robin. I wasn't just your everything… you were my everything and I disregarded that for some stupid virus whose motives I don't even know," Rosan snarled unexpectedly.

Mod couldn't help but jump at the noise that confirmed her thoughts.

Robin looked at the brief rage on Rosan's face and was left speechless. Was this what he seriously thought this whole time…? Was this the effect she had on him?

He should know she didn't blame him for what happened. How could she ever blame him after witnessing the atrocities done to him? Even then, he realized that he had wronged her and the only reason he didn't look for her sooner, was because he was sure that she had travelled to the Grand Line.

If Rosan had gone to the Grand Line, with Meiko, Angel and Demon... they would have had a difficult time just surviving.

Rosan knew all of this... so why did he allow it to affect him to this level?

The rage vanished from his face as quick as it came and Rosan stared her directly in her eyes.

"I hate myself because no matter what I do, the people who should hate me, love me and I don't feel like I deserve that," he finished, closing his eyes.

That… it felt good laying his mind bare for Robin and Mod-chan. What he really thought. No one knew but him. He never confided in this with anyone except giving Ace a few details when they were younger.

Robin gazed at her best friend with sorrow as the realization hit her like a freight train. It was so simple.

Rosan was depressed. It was no wonder that he was so stubborn in how he viewed himself. It was no wonder he kept seemingly regressing in mindset no matter what anyone else said.

It was no wonder he had no reason to live for the longest and hadn't found one yet.

She couldn't believe it took her so long to find out because it really was so obvious in hindsight.

The very first word Robin would use to describe Rosan, was emotional. The boy was practically saturated in his own emotions and it even showed in the way his eyes tied into them.

It was how he had grown to love and care for her so much after all.

Rosan was someone that loved with his whole heart… and love and hate were two sides of the same coin.

The more you loved, the more capacity you had to hate and for someone like Rosan, whose love seemed boundless at times, it was only natural that his hate would be just as strong.

To someone like Rosan, who never wanted to let his loved ones down, his failures would obviously impact him far more then his success would and his emotional disposition made it far worse!

It was a double edged sword… one that he couldn't deal with on his own because he grew up relying on so many people…

Well, after Mod, Robin was the one he relied on the most so she'd do her duty and help him however she knew.

"Rosan, do you want me to hate you?" Robin asked calmly. "I don't think you want that but just to be sure, do you?"

The redhead shook his head immediately. "No, I don't… It's complicated," he said wearily, looking confused.

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

"Do you want me to disappear from your life?" She asked instead.

"Absolutely not... I would never want that," he replied firmly, a hint of that infamous possessiveness seeping into his tone.

"So you just want me to reaffirm all the bad things about you, but you don't want me to do anything about it? What exactly will that solve, Rosan?" Robin prodded.

"…" The redhead said nothing. He knew how foolish he sounded right now and that was why he had no response.

"What do you want me to do?" She asked him gently.

"I... I don't know," he said with a hint of frustration in his tone. "I want to work hard to earn your forgiveness but I can't because you aren't even mad at me. I just... don't understand why you aren't mad at me."

"But why do you want me to be so angry with you, Rosan?" She pressed. "Should I be angry with you... because you were being tortured on both ends when you were only 9 years old? Would you be angry at me if I told you the exact same thing happened to me?"

Rosan was about to immediately say of course he wouldn't... but shut his mouth as the realization hit him.

Robin smiled at that. "Do you see? How pathetic would I be, if I blamed a child for being upset with me... because he got tortured physically and mentally for 6 entire months?"

"..." the redhead said nothing, realizing that she was completely right.

"Got him," she thought victoriously. Not even he could argue against this.

"I don't care what you feel like you deserve, Rosan. You're a self critical idiot who's so emotional, you can't possibly be trusted to make sound judgment alone…"

Robin took a deep breath. "Everything about you just screams... Rosan, I think you have depression," she revealed calmly, gauging his reaction.

Like he always did, Rosan almost immediately regarded what a person said about him in disbelief but what made Robin admire him so much was what he did afterwards.

He stopped disregarding it as soon as he started and began to seriously apply what he knew to himself, coming to a decision quickly.

"I'm… depressed," he muttered at the revelation.

"You're... depressed," Mod repeated, not believing she didn't catch this herself. Her eyes were wide as she digested that information.

The redhead deeply pondered that and nodded. "It makes plenty of sense… I've always been very emotional and with all that's happened to me… it would be easy for them to become dangerously negative… I even lost the will to live... That would explain why I just can't take stock of anyone's words," he mused.

He was depressed. What an amusing thought… Why did that revelation lift so much weight off his shoulders?

Robin nodded with a small smile on her face. This was what she meant. Rosan was such a good user of Modification because he was adaptable to the core and always open to anything.

No one held the redhead more accountable then himself, even if it was to a fault, and he would seek to make changes as soon as possible. That was far harder then he seemed to realize and not many people could claim to be able to do that.

"You understand now, Rosan? Please don't make decisions on your own," Robin requested gently. "As long as I'm with you, trust my judgment and my judgment says that you absolutely deserve to be loved, okay?"

"You're the only one here who hates Rosan. Everyone else loves you and you know it. You're outnumbered for good reason," she finished gazing at the redhead with a firm gaze.

"…" Rosan found himself gazing at Robin again with an unreadable gaze, thoughts hidden to everyone but himself once more.

Then, a burst of warmth flooded his body and he nodded, hugging Robin tightly.

She melted in his grasp and readily returned the hug.

"I know I have no right to ask this… but please, never leave me?" He asked quietly.

Robin couldn't help the shudder, at the vulnerability in his voice and tightened the hug, breathing in the scent of roses.

"I'd never leave you, Rosan… So please never leave me," she requested right back, just as vulnerable.

Rosan squeezed her reassuringly. "I won't. Not again. I'll never let you go. If anything gets in the way of that, I'll tear it to shreds," he promised.

"…" Mod smiled gently at the two. They were precious to her. She would do everything this time around to make sure nothing got in the way of them.

The Devil Fruit stared up at the castle that seemed to leak more and more with a steely gaze, clenching her delicate fist at the beautiful building that looked more akin to pure crystal.

"We can talk about this… you don't have to make things more difficult then they already are. I… I won't be able to protect you if you decide to do anything stupid against Rosan," she said to the castle.

It did not reply.

Mod took a deep breath. "Rosan… he will destroy you! It doesn't matter what tricks you have up your sleeve, he will find a way and he will succeed and if it comes down to it, I can't stop him. Please, once you two inevitably meet, don't antagonize him more then you've already done. I know you understand the stakes… Pestilence. Just please stay quiet and let me speak to him."

It did not matter what tricks they had... now that Rosan was aware of it... the virus wouldn't be able to stop him. When he set his mind to something, Rosan was unstoppable and if he set his mind on destroying the virus... he'd even go through Mod to do so.

She didn't want that to happen... she'd break if Rosan ever turned his blade on her so she just prayed that Pestilence understood the stakes.

The castle did nothing but gleam in the frozen weather and Mod turned away from it, heading back to their home before Rosan had a chance to catch wind of what she was doing.

It shuddered.

Robin and Rosan continued to embrace for who knows how long until they were broken up rather rudely.

"STOP BEING SO FUCKING LOVEY DOVEY OVER THERE AND COME JOIN US, YOU INTROVERTS!" Angel screeched at the duo, making them jolt.

"OR KEEP BEING LOVEY DOVEY! I DON'T MIND EVEN THOUGH I'M YOUR DAUGHTER!" Ram cheered, glaring at Angel and making the woman put her hands up in a placating gesture.

"I DON'T MIND EITHER! ACTUALLY, HOW ABOUT YOU GUYS JUST TAKE IT ONE STEP FURTHER AND— mfgh!" Whatever Maro was about to say, was interrupted by Angel and Ram both slamming their hands over the Queen's mouth and tackling her to the floor.

"I HATE YOU!" Sanji roared to the redhead.

"Idiots," Mod sighed. All of them were idiots. And hopeless. And idiots.

Robin removed herself from Rosan's hold and stood up with a smile on her face, holding out her hand for the redhead to grab.

"I hope your dancing really did get as good as you claimed it to be over the years. Though, I did enjoy laughing at you all the time," She prodded.

Rosan snorted and grabbed the offered appendage, pull himself up with enough force to tumble the woman into him with a surprised yelp that settled into a glare.

"I learned how to dance just so you don't laugh at me anymore," Rosan said truthfully, smirking at the woman steadying herself on his frame.

While Rosan was good at singing, Robin's dancing abilities eclipsed his own as kids (partly due to the fact that he couldn't dance…) and she lorded that over him with a smugness that she only radiated around him.

His massive ego never took as much hits as then… so he made sure to learn how to dance so that she wouldn't make fun of him anymore.

"Not a lot of people would admit that so freely," she said dryly, walking hand in hand with the redhead to join the festivities.

"You should know by now that I'm not a lot of people," Rosan replied just as dry, feeling like a strange weight was lifted off his shoulder.

He would accept Robin's offer to rely on her because she deserved to be listened to and… she was right. If Rosan really was depressed, which looked very likely, then it was best to not trust his own judgment.

He would trust her. He would place all of his faith into her and listen to what she thought. If she truly did think he deserved to be loved… then he would stop thinking otherwise.

Besides… it felt nice to acknowledge her words that he was loved.

Loved... the redhead took a long look at her with inscrutable eyes.

Robin glanced at the Rosan who idly squeezed her hand a bit tighter and smiled at the pondering look in his eyes.

He caught her gaze and formed a small, true, smile at her that made her heart soar.

"MASTER DANCE WITH ME AFTER YOU'RE DONE WITH ROBIN!" Angel demanded.

"OH THEN ROBIN CAN DANCE WITH ME! I SWEAR I'M GOOD!" Maro cheered.

Rosan sighed and that made Robin let out small laughter. "I haven't even been up for a full minute and they are this demanding," he groused.

"Well, you have me to split up half the work now," she supplied helpfully. "Does that make you feel better?"

Rosan stared at her for a moment before eventually nodding.

"Yes... Yes it does make me feel a lot better."

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

"You're telling me… Kamakiri got injured because you were trying to collect Vearth for that little girl?!" Wyper hissed.

To say that he was livid at hearing that Kamakiri took an attack from Ohm because of such a stupid reason, was an understatement.

Without any hesitation, he yanked the arm holding the bag of Vearth and sneered at the shame faced Raki.

"Do you realize what we're up against?!" Wyper snarled violently. "Not only are we up against Enel. We have his Priests to deal with too!"

Yanking the bag out of her hand, the Shandian glared harshly at her. "If I knew you were here to play games, I wouldn't have brought you. This is a matter of life and death."

Raki flinched but reached out for the bag with a look of panic. "I understand I messed up, Wyper but that bag is Aisa's treasure! Forgive me but please don't throw it away!"

Wyper was about to do just that until a hand stopped him.

A wounded Kamakiri, panted as he held the mans wrist. "I can still fight. This is nothing to get so worked up about, Wyper. What has you so on edge?"

He glared at the injured man, clenching his fists so hard he nearly drew blood.

"You talk big for someone so weak. If you value your lives, you'll get out of my sight. Send Enel my regards before he kills you."

"I encountered the Deviant and his allies," he snarled. "Enel and the priests are not our only enemy. The one with Black wings is a threat too."

Raki went still at that. "You encountered the one with black wings?" She asked tentatively, remembering Aisa's words clearly. "He didn't attack you?"

"He nearly blew off my entire midsection but besides that, neither of us were keen on escalating it any further," Wyper grunted, annoyance mounting. "The outsiders don't take us seriously and that's a decision they will come to regret."

The woman looked a bit unsure of that decision but nodded at his resolve.

Wyper glared darkly into the distance, thoughts filled with both Enel and the Deviant.

"You have too much belief in what little strength you have, good luck surviving the day. With how outmatched you are, you're gonna need it."

He survived the day and he would survive the next. This war would end in the Shandians victory and they would be the slayer of not one, but two Kamis.

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

"I'm surprised you actually showed your face, despite the humiliation you suffered," Ohm grunted with a smirk.

Shura glowered at him, eyes promising death if he continued to run his mouth.

Ohm effortlessly ignored it.

"You… mmmmmmm!" Gedatsu said sternly, glancing at Shura with a firm glare.

"No one understands what you're saying, idiot," the string priest snarled.

The swamp priest dropped his jaw in shock as he realized his error. "How careless of me…" he muttered in disbelief.

"Hmph, my fellow priests are utterly worthless," Ohm grunted, turning away from the two. "One dead, the other defeated instantly, and the final a complete idiot."

Shura and Gedatsu both went stiff at that and rounded on the iron priest.

"What was that?" Shura asked with thinly veiled contempt.

"I'm not going to repeat myself to a person who lost in the open zone. I suppose you're only useful in your trial area," Ohm said, facing the gate.

That seemed to do the trick and Shura immediately charged the bald priest, initiating a brawl between all three.

"...The vassals are here."

Yama sighed in annoyance and said, "Open the gate."

The commander of the warriors was about to open his mouth, but went still at the sudden presence next to him.

The priests froze. At once, they slowly turned towards the large commander.

"Aren't you guys too weak to be treating this whole thing so laxly?" Enel asked lazily, biting into an apple as he regarded them.

In a flash, all three agents were floored with equally pained grunts and their aggressor lay on his seat in a relaxed stance.

The Kami of Skypiea bit into his apple languidly, as he regarded them. The silence was filled in with the noise of him chewing before he finally swallowed.

The three bowed their heads in shame.

"You 3 aren't taking our Blue Sea threats very serious and you don't have the luxury of doing that," Enel said bluntly, polishing off his apple and letting out a lazy yawn.

The three nodded stiffly, not saying a word, and Enel smiled in amusement.

"Yahahahaha! Since you're clearly not convinced, allow me to enlighten you," the Kami of Skypiea said, smirking at the group.

"Besides the fact that Shura was defeated in a single blow by one of the Blue Sea dwellers, Satori was defeated and killed by them while they were all doing some form of training with blindfolds on," he revealed calmly.

There was a pregnant pause.

"W-What?!" They repeated in disbelief. Surely that wasn't possible!

Satori wasn't impressive, but he was still close to them in strength! He wouldn't simply lose so handily!

Enel reached out to grab another fruit. "I'm opening up all of Upper Yard to you starting tomorrow. The Shandians are of no concern to me so deal with them quickly and focus your efforts on the Blue Sea dwellers."

"And that reminds me, the Blue Sea dwellers are multiplying. There are at least 3 other people with them but I can only feel one of them. Two of them are completely undetectable to me," he revealed, looking utterly unfazed by that revelation.

The Priests eyes bugged. "How did they manage to bring more people with them? How can you not feel them?!" Ohm asked in surprise.

"My fellow Kami. He vanished from Skypiea before suddenly coming back," Enel stated with a hint of curiosity.

The Priests felt their eyes widen at the information they were receiving.

It seems they really were treating the Blue Sea dwellers too lightly.

Enel paused as if suddenly remembering something and the Kami yawned.

"Oh, leave my fellow Kami to me. A mere Priest cannot defeat them and he's already shown me that. I'll deal with them when the time is right but for now, avoid him or you'll suffer the same fate as Satori," he advised with a small shrug.

The Priests were shocked to be hearing this coming out of Enel's mouth.

"What is the meaning of this, Enel-sama?" Shura asked curiously. "Why all these rules?"

The Kami shrugged. "When our plan is this close to being completed, I will have no setbacks. Maxim is almost complete and once that happens, we have no use for this place."

He bit into another apple and chewed slowly, gauging their reactions with a lazy gaze.

"I will not tolerate anymore failures from you. Tomorrow, you will deal with the Blue Sea dwellers, or suffer the consequences. Understood?"

The three saluted. "Right, Kami Enel-sama!"

Enel smiled at that and dismissed them.

Those 3 would probably be dealt with once more by the Blue Sea dwellers. They had quite a bit of members that could defeat them but that didn't matter.

They couldn't defeat him after all.

"Yahahahaha! Things are getting interesting," Enel mused, beckoning one of his female angels over to begin feeding him grapes.

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

For once, Rosan wasn't being completely crowded by his insufferable family as they all slept. They were all at separate parts of their camp spot (Ram was sleeping with Mod-chan), too tired to bombard him with their beloved group sleep.

Tonight it was just Robin like how it normally was. The woman was tucked into his left side, breathing evenly in his neck with one arm resting on his chest in the comfy tent.

Robin had been surprised to see that his claims of being able to dance, weren't just baseless like when he was a kid and the woman had taken a great joy in running him through more and more difficult routines.

He had kept up with her through the whole thing, but she was still a better dancer than he was so he was content to let her lead it. Clearly she enjoyed being the lead dancer way too much and it made him consider letting her be a lead performer in their battles sometime in the future.

They got so lost in their little competition, that by the time Angel and Maro threw their tantrums (they were far too spoiled and he properly disciplined them both), the Devil Child was showing signs of tiredness.

It was thanks to his "hellish" training that she was only slightly tired but they had been dancing for quite a while.

Coupled with the fact that she soon began to dance with another stamina freak and a person who didn't actually get tired, it was safe to say she'd be getting a good sleep.

Guess he could go repair the ship while he was still up. He'd be done quick and then get some rest for the next day because he was admittedly tired from Maro and Angel's antics too, along with linking with so many people.

He tried to carefully disentangle himself from her so as to not alert her but he forgot he wasn't dealing with his dead at night family.

Robin let out a tiny noise and blearily opened an eye the moment his incredible warmth disappeared.

"Mmm… Rosan? What's wrong?" She asked, resisting the urge to yawn as she gazed at the redhead sitting up next to her.

He immediately ran a hand through her hair. "I didn't mean to wake you, sorry. I just wanted to go fix the ship before morning came. You can go back to sleep, I'll be back fast."

The woman looked like she was protesting that decision, if the way she was pushing herself up meant anything but Rosan immediately prevented her from doing that, by laying her back down gently but firmly.

"Sleep, you're tired," Rosan muttered, continuing to gently rub her scalp.

Robin sighed at the pleasant feeling and nodded slowly. "Okay… come back quick, you need to sleep too and you're a comfortable pillow," she murmured, closing her eyes and letting the tiredness take over once more.

He nearly rolled his eyes but simply stood up silently, making his way over to the ship.

It was just him right now. Mod and Ram were asleep, leaving the redhead truly alone for once.

Occasionally he would do this if he wanted to practice a technique alone. There had been one technique he had been theorizing a lot on (he never actually put it into practice) and he was hoping to try it out on Enel soon.

If it worked... he'd be quite pleased.

Right now, he was doing nothing so secretive. He just didn't want to wake anyone up for such a simple task.

Rosan floated over to the ship, with plans on how to swiftly repair it. He could make it workable with Modification but he couldn't fully fix the ship. The more damage it accumulated, the less effective his repair technique would be and the ship was made out of wood too.

If he was right, his repairs on the ship would be barely effective right now.

Luckily most of the problems with the ship were artificial. Something that would end the ships career permanently, could not be fixed by him.

They would need to get a new one soon. This ship was never meant to sail the Grand Line and it was showing. Even Rosan could tell that it was on its last legs and he wasn't a professional shipwright by any means.

It accumulated far too much damage… At best, he could make it sail worthy and prolong its end for a bit longer.

Rosan ignored the fog seeping into the area and continued to float over to the ship.

It was then that he noticed it.

The redhead went still as he gauged the sight before him. Then, he narrowed his eyes and adjusted his vision so that it could pierce through the fog, flames licking his lips as he prepared for combat.

It was a shadowy figure and they were… hammering away at the ship?

Why couldn't he make them out? Rosan could see in total darkness but they were somehow not fully visible through fog?

Strange.

Perhaps Enel had sent one of his minions to destroy their ship, considering the Kami probably couldn't feel Merry with none of them on it.

Not wasting anytime, the redhead flew over to their ship, ready to put down the intruder and gauge the damage they were inflicting.

"Oh, you're here! And you're alone too!"

Rosan froze.

Who said that? They sounded childish like his ring but Ram didn't sound that childish and her voice wasn't that high pitched either.

But… that voice was in his mind. No one spoke aloud but he heard that familiar ringing in his head that meant someone was speaking to him telepathically…

Was that some Devil Fruit...

The figure was looking directly at him now. Perhaps they always sensed his arrival…

A haki user? Was this one of the priests?

"Don't be silly, Rosan! Of course I could feel someone who's apart of the crew!"

None of his crew members could read minds and he was the one with the ability to speak telepathically to people, via linking.

He was only linked to Robin currently and he was very sure she was sleeping.

"Who are you?" Rosan asked quietly, not once letting his guard down.

"Always so untrustworthy... I can't say I'm surprised."

Now that he was closer, he could see that this was a child and they were dressed in a sailor's raincoat. Despite peering closer, Rosan couldn't make any features at all except for a wide smile that showed no teeth.

They didn't look human. Rosan was fairly sure this was a dream because he was looking at a ghost right now.

"You don't believe that… do you now Rosan?"

"I asked you a question," Rosan bit out calmly. It was a bit too realistic to be a dream but then again so had his encounter with Meiko.

Unless neither were dreams…

The redhead glanced at the ship and noticed that instead of destroying, it was in the middle of actually being repaired by this weird ghost thing.

Interesting…

Rosan moved to place his palm on a damaged part of the ship and began the process of repairing it, never taking his eyes off the thing for a second.

"I'm Merry."

He paused, raising a brow and turning towards the child.

Merry? As in the Going Merry…? As in their ship? She was alive? Ships were alive?

The ghost nodded happily. "Yes! I'm the Going Merry… I'm so glad to meet one of you finally! I wasn't expecting any of you to show up but you do like working at night."

...

Rosan furrowed his brows as he idly continued to repair the ship. "I have no reason to doubt your claims but why reveal yourself to me first? I'm probably the worst option."

"That's not true! You're one of the best," Merry protested, large grin vanishing. "You and Usopp take care of me the most! He's the only other one I would wanna meet first."

"Hm," he said in disinterest, making sure the mast was straight and gluing it back to its spot with Modification.

The ship's spirit sighed. "You really are too self critical… Fine, I wanted to tell you something since that's what you want to hear."

Even the ship was chastising his critical tendencies… he had some serious issues.

"You do but that's why everyone's trying to help you," she nodded victoriously.

This was very likely the Merry… she knew a lot.

Whatever.

"Tell me what you wanted to say, I'm just about done fixing the ship and if I take too long, Robin will seek me out," Rosan muttered quietly.

The spirit got serious. "Rosan, I'm on my last legs."

Rosan tilted his head.

"You've done an amazing job with Modification but… I won't last much longer. Very soon, I won't be able to set sail anymore and I don't want to take you all with me."

It was just as he predicted. "In that case, we should find a new ship before that happens. I imagine if you sink, your spirit will die too."

"And you said you were a bad choice too… I'd like to sail with you guys for as long as possible but if that's what you want to do, I won't say no!" The spirit beamed before going sober.

"But that's not what I want to ask… I…" She took a deep breath.

"When the time is right, I want you to tell them that I can't sail anymore."

There was a pause as Rosan registered her words and he tilted his head.

"Why me and why when the time is right?" He asked quietly. He didn't see the point of this at all.

The spirit smiled sadly. "You're the only one who won't care enough to try and mince their words. You'll make them understand that I can't sail."

Rosan stared evenly at her. "Fine. I'll bring it up at my own discretion and I'll keep this conversation a secret," he said quietly.

"Thank you. You understand me well," Merry said truthfully, gazing back at the repaired ship.

"Look the ship is repaired! Thank you, you did a much better job then I would have done!"

"It was nothing… you're our ship after all," Rosan waved off. "I'm heading to sleep now."

Merry nodded vigorously before waving at him and vanishing.

Rosan looked at the spot where the spirit of the Going Merry was and hummed.

Ships being alive…

"Rosan, come back to sleep," Robin grumbled.

The redhead shook his head at the spot and turned away from the ship.

"Right, I'm on the way. Why do you keep waking up? Did you miss me that much?"

"Portgas D. Rosan. I am tired. I refuse to argue with you right now."

Rosan rolled his eyes at how annoyed she was. "Right, I'll come be the little girls teddy bear since she can't sleep alone."

"I'm far too tired to continue this. Come back now and let me sleep in peace."

With that, she cut their connections and the redhead actually snorted.

She was utterly ridiculous.

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

Memory Viewing With Robin and Rosan - 6 (Covers Chapter 19)

Continued!

Italics = Memory talking mostly.

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

Robin let out a sigh of exasperation at those sharp eyes staring into her soul and calmly ate her portion of the food before finally rolling her eyes.

"Rosan, my injuries from Crocodile aren't even prevalent anymore. Do you really plan on watching me the entire time?" She asked incredulously, gazing at the redhead with an amused gaze.

"Yes," he said without hesitation. "I need to make sure you're completely fine. Is my food easy to consume? Any lingering pains? Have you been getting enough rest?"

"I'm fine, mother," Robin stressed in amusement, finishing her plate off and standing up. "Come on, let's clean up and then we can continue your memories."

They had postponed it in light of wanting to be prepared for Alabasta and then Robin got injured and Rosan went full mother mode and she was sick of it being delayed.

The moment she stood, Rosan materialized by her side and Robin felt her jaw slacken a bit in disbelief.

"So fast..." she thought.

"I'll clean everything, you don't have to stress your body out," he murmured, taking the plate out of her hand and dropping it in the sink. He moved swiftly and surely and washed every single dish before she could even protest his decision.

"You're being a bit too overprotective don't you think?" Mod asked. The woman sounded terribly amused and resisted the urge to laugh at the look on Robin's face.

"I agree with Mod-chan. This is insanity, Rosan! You've even been going easy on me in training! Surely you don't plan on coddling me the entire time?" She asked incredulously, staring at his back in shock.

He had become incredibly overprotective of her since they met up again but this was absurd!

"..." Rosan hummed pleasantly and glanced back at her. "Perhaps I've been a bit out of line..."

"A bit? Rosan you aren't even letting me wash my own dish!" Robin exclaimed. "I really don't mind the overprotective streak, but do you think I'm going to die from washing dishes?!"

"I think it's cute!" Ram beamed.

"Be quiet, Ram," the Devil Child said calmly.

"Yes, Mother!" she saluted.

Rosan sighed. "You're right. My bad... I just worry," he admitted, drying his hands off as he fully turned to face her. "I thought I had Crocodile figured out, but he still caught me by surprise twice and one of them ended up with you getting hurt."

"And I told you, neither of those instances were your fault," Robin chastised. "Crocodile showing up early was his own fault and me getting injured was my fault," she said firmly.

Rosan had played his part to near perfection but two simple mistakes, that weren't even his fault, negated all of that. Seriously, he was unreal! The redhead had them dancing in his palms up until then but none of that mattered to him all because she got hurt.

"All the planning in the world won't matter to me, if you get hurt," he said seriously.

"And I appreciate that, but I can't not get hurt Rosan. It'll happen as long as we're on this journey and you need to come to terms with that," she frowned.

He said nothing for a while, before nodding reluctantly. "I'll try," he said shortly.

Robin sighed. She knew it wasn't going to be that easy but small steps.

"Can we please continue your memories now? I feel perfectly fine and we stopped right after your battle with Garp," she requested.

She got quite antsy about it and Rosan had told her quite a bit of what happened even before she saw the memories.

Rosan nodded. "First we bathe. Then we can continue," he said quietly.

Robin sighed and resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Actually, I am a bit sore so could you help me clean up?

He no doubt noticed the lie but he made no comment on it and instead nodded his head.

"Right, I can help you," he said, sounding pleased to be doing so.

The Devil Child did roll her eyes this time but she smiled.

She was so unbelievably whipped.

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

The memory began with Rosan waking up in a room all alone.

"So just like that, your emotions have vanished again..." Robin mused. Currently his expression was back to completely neutral.

He wasn't even fazed by the fact that he had lost to his most hated enemies. Garp had completely crushed him with no effort yet he only made not of it for a minute before moving on.

The redhead had been asleep for an entire day and he had no clue where either Ace or Luffy were, so his first order of business was finding their locations...

It was there he ran into his new caretakers.

The bandits.

It started off as well as Robin expected it, that being Rosan immediately threatening them in a non-threatening tone the moment the leader, Dadan, tried to lay ground rules.

"I know who you are. You have a bounty of 7.8 million, right?"

They were making it too easy for him, with how open they were with their emotions but the redhead didn't seem interested in further antagonizing them.

So he ignored everything she said and instead questioned the whereabouts of both Ace and Luffy.

"Are the bandits still alive? You haven't killed them?" Robin asked curiously, watching the redhead regard them like they weren't even human.

He hardly even reacted to their words when they said they had no clue where Ace or Luffy were.

"No, they are still alive," he said surprisingly. "Dadan and I had a rather terrible start... but I've grown fond of her."

Robin blinked in surprise at that. "That's rather surprising," she murmured.

She never expected Rosan to spare someone who annoyed him. He was rather trigger happy.

The young redhead walked out of the home of the building where he was met with the destroyed ground of his brawl with Garp.

Robin's eyes lit up in amusement, as Dadan's complaints were immediately silenced by the stony redhead effortlessly repairing everything there by just palming the floor.

Then, he vanished deeper into the forest without so much as a bye.

"People must find you so infuriating to deal with. Such versatility and you never talk about anything," she muttered in amusement.

He shrugged. "It's not like I want people to talk to me," he said neutrally. "Their curiosity is their own fault. I never try and have people be interested in me. They just end up liking me on their own volition."

Robin rolled her eyes. "Of course they do. You're an anomaly. Emotional you and emotionless you, are two different people and maybe some people can pick up on how abnormal your current version is."

Rosan sighed. "Anomaly, enigma, paradox... I suppose human curiosity really is a fatal flaw. Many people who wish to learn about me, regret that decision."

"But not all of them do," Mod intervened quietly. "I think everyone interested in you... just sees the same thing Robin and I saw. That compassionate boy with enough charisma to make you believe in anything he says," she added.

"Even buried deeply, I'm sure some people can just feel what you can become," Robin agreed. "Maybe it's for a different reason... maybe to sate their own curiosity, but everyone wants to see Rosan fully unleashed."

Ram nodded vigorously. "Only at your full potential, will I ever reach mine, Father!" She exclaimed with bright eyes, looking so much like Meiko.

The redhead tilted his head at that. "I've always been a showoff at heart... I suppose that part never quite vanished and now I'm unintentionally grabbing so many people's attention," he snorted quietly.

"You are. For someone who's so bad at dancing, you manage to mesmerize me with your movement. It's rather captivating," Robin complimented.

"I know how to dance now," he replied calmly, not even flinching at her backhanded compliment. "I'm no longer moving with no rhythm... I've learned a thing or two."

Her eyes glittered in interest at that statement. "You'll have to show me one of these days. I'd like to see if you can at least keep up and make it look good," she said, amused smile on her features.

"She's so annoying," he thought to himself, rolling his eyes as her amusement only grew.

Of course she could tell he was thinking that.

"Alright... I have a lot of stamina though. You might not be able to keep up," he replied.

"Challenge accepted," Robin nodded with a glint. She knew how competitive Rosan was, so this was sure to be good.

Young Rosan was currently in the process of looking for Luffy, which brought them all to a deep and massive valley.

After coming to the conclusion that he fell down, the redhead floated down and quickly found his target.

Little Luffy, was a torn mess with bite and claw marks everywhere. Currently, he was being chased by a group of wolves that very clearly wanted to eat the small boy.

"Has he been down here for the whole day?" Robin asked in concern, watching how nonchalant Young Rosan was treating the entire situation. "And Ace did this to him? Was he truly this angry as a child? I knew that's what you said but..."

It was hard to believe he would send such a small child like Luffy down here...

Mod sighed sadly. "Ace... had a difficult life. He really didn't have a choice but to end up like this," she muttered, knowing she didn't try and make it any easier.

Rosan nodded with a frown. "Being told the son of Roger is better off dead for most of your life... no child deserves that. He was far too young."

Robin's gaze softened at that. "It seems we were all far too young when we experienced what this world has to offer," she said softly.

No one said anything to refute her statement but the universal agreement rang through the air.

As Young Rosan escorted Little Luffy back to their new home, he decided (as his new caretaker) to bathe the dirty and injured boy.

"That is so cute," Robin couldn't help but gush a little, watching the way Luffy latched onto Rosan. "You're like his father!"

"..." Rosan sighed. "Sometimes I feel like everyone is my child in some way... Luffy is just the most dependent," he grunted.

She giggled as the redhead chose to summon a ship directly in front of Dadan's home, with no intention of explaining a single thing to them. He went deeper into his ship with the dozing Luffy and swiftly bathed the sleeping child and himself, before repairing the rubber boys outfit and putting his standard clothing onto himself.

"Bathing and clothing... have I actually become his caretaker?" Young Rosan said to himself, staring at the sleeping and clean child with an expressionless face.

"Is that such a bad thing?" The past Mod said in amusement. "I can tell you from experience, it's really not all bad."

"...I came here to search for my brother and instead found a group of New World pirates, a legendary Marine, news of my little brother's upbringing... and now I'm following a captain who I'm currently in the process of raising because he'll die otherwise," he said blandly, hoisting up the unconscious child and walking off his ship with him.

"That... is a fair point," Mod said sheepishly.

Robin laughed in joy at that. "So that's why Luffy listens to you so much!"

Rosan simply grunted. "I'm his oldest brother after all. Over the years, he has both earned the positives and negatives of being the youngest."

She shook her head in amusement. "I wouldn't doubt it. You are quite rude despite going to such extents to please those you love."

He snorted and said nothing, making her smile widen.

Robin was unable to keep the blatant interest off her face, as Young Rosan stared out the window into the night sky, as Luffy slept, until hearing the door to his new room open, revealing Ace in all his glory.

The freckled child stared off with his alleged brother, a range of emotions on his face that were impossible to hide from espionage specialists like Rosan or Robin.

"Would you like to talk? Outside?" Young Rosan asked quietly, finally breaking the silence.

Robin watched the conflicted boy nod his head tightly and the two made their way out.

This was a long awaited meeting... and based on Ace's expression, Robin was sure it wasn't going to all work out immediately but it had worked out.

It started simple enough, with Ace questioning Rosan on general things and the redhead answering to the best of his abilities.

Robin felt a pang at how desperate Ace was to see a picture of Rouge. The anger on his face had completely melted in favor of wonder, as he drank in the sight of the woman who had birthed him.

He probably hadn't known how she looked this entire time...

Her heart shuddered even more, at just how surprised Ace looked to hear that she loved him... like the idea of someone loving him was an impossible concept.

She wasn't even surprised to see the anger come roaring back as the reality of the situation reared its head to Ace.

"Why didn't you come with me?" Ace asked, trying and failing to reign his anger in.

Robin expected the anger. She would never fault Ace for feeling whatever emotion he felt he should feel. It was his right to be angry for just discovering the existence of his brother and just the fact that they were so close now, spoke volumes on both him and Rosan's character.

But it wasn't going to be easy because they were both infamously stubborn...

But at the very least, none of that infamous stubbornness was there on Rosan's half. He had long accepted that he was completely in the wrong and understood there was not a thing he should be stubborn about.

So he told Ace whatever he could without any hesitation.

"He's really trying in his own way," Robin thought with a small smile. The redhead had grasped onto Ace and brought him to a more secluded area, revealing Ragnarok's wings in the process and a portion of Modification.

Even if Ace ended up fully hating him and wanted nothing to do with him... Rosan was resolving to tell him everything he asked about. The secretive redhead would never do that normally, especially if there was a chance that person wouldn't keep such a secret.

Taking it one step further, he even brought his little brother to the Mindscape!

"That's what I like about you," she said offhandedly, missing the startled gazes of Mod and Ram. "You always feel the need to go above and beyond to express yourself. Even your loss of emotions hasn't changed that."

Rosan watched his younger self explain everything to his little brother about Modification and glanced at Robin. "Why don't you let me go above and beyond for you then?"

The Devil Child shook her head. "You're already doing more than enough for me, Rosan. Please believe me when I say, this is perfect. I've always been fine with letting you be the extra one," she murmured, gently rubbing his bun.

"..." Rosan sighed and nodded reluctantly.

Robin rolled her eyes in return. "Why do you love to make your own life so difficult? I mean just look at you! If not for Mod-chan, both Ace and I could have potentially wanted nothing to do with you!" She reprimanded him gently.

Mod smiled a little nervously at that.

"Her methods are a bit different for Ace however..." Robin frowned, gazing at the nervous Devil Fruit. "Yes, she's adding context to your statements... but she's also trying to direct Ace's anger to her instead of you..."

The Devil Child gazed at Mod with slightly furrowed brows. "...Mod-chan, I hope you aren't trying to minimalize Ace's justified anger."

Before the nervous Devil Fruit could speak up, the memory version of her did.

"Rosan, I'd like to talk to Ace. Alone please."

Robin's eyes narrowed further, as Rosan acquiesced with the request and left the Devil Fruit alone with his little brother.

"What do you think they're talking about, Father?" Ram asked curiously.

"She's threatening him most likely," he said flatly and bluntly.

"Oh..." Ram simply shrugged.

"So you knew even then," Mod muttered quietly, watching the younger Ram poke and prod Rosan while sitting on his lap.

"You did a terrible job hiding your intentions there," Rosan replied neutrally.

Robin turned towards the woman with a deep frown, seeing how guilty Mod looked but not letting her get away from this scott free.

She would never let Rosan get away with anything... there's no way she'd let Mod get away with something.

Mod caught her gaze and nervously bit her lip, pretty features narrowing in guilt.

"I just wanted to protect Rosan!" Mod finally blurted out, expression cracking. "I apologized to him! Of course I realized how out of term I acted when I threatened a boy who had every right to be angry but it was for Rosan's sake," she whispered.

The woman clenched her fist. "Didn't you see? You and Ace make up just about all of Rosan's guilt because of the things he's done to you and he lost a chain because of it. I knew how important that meeting was for Rosan and I didn't want anything to slow down his recovery... At this point of my life, I wouldn't have even let you jeopardize him, Robin," she admitted.

Robin's gaze softened. With how seemingly nonchalant he was regarding everything... Mod must have felt like she was under a lot of pressure to save the redhead who didn't even seem like he wanted to save himself.

Of course when one of the keys to Rosan was right there, she would do everything in her power to take charge and make sure it didn't negatively affect him.

"Mod-chan, has anyone ever checked up on you and how you're doing after all of this?" Robin asked quietly. "Have you ever had a chance to just wind down? I can't imagine how stressed you must be nonstop while dwelling on Rosan's condition."

The woman flinched back. "R-Rosan knows when I'm getting burnt out and he makes me stop..."

"But Rosan is the indirect reason you're so stressed, Mod-chan. Even if he's trying to help you, you can't fully wind down because you're worrying about him," Robin pointed out gently.

The redhead said nothing, content to not involve himself in this conversation.

Mod nervously began chewing her lip at that, red eyes wide in confusion. "But... But it's just so difficult. I always get so scared at the idea of leaving Rosan alone because... because I've always been the one constant in his life. The one time I wasn't... he was being tortured and that haunts me," she admitted in a near whisper.

"I'm not a fragile piece of glass, Mod-chan."

Both the Mod in the memory and the one watching froze at that statement.

"But he's not alone anymore," Robin said assuringly. "Can't you trust me? You need to relax more. I understand that you aren't human, but no one should be as stressed as you have for so long."

Mod opened her mouth but realized that Robin was right and promptly shut it.

"I trust you as much as I trust Rosan. Of course I do," she whispered.

Mod missed the way Rosan scoffed under his breath.

Robin did not but she made no move to call him out on it yet.

"So when we tell you to relax, please actually relax," she requested, shooting Rosan a glance that let him know they'd be talking about that scoff later on.

He caught her gaze and simply nodded.

"I will," Mod nodded vigorously, looking determined. The woman was a workaholic, always keeping an eye on Rosan's wellbeing or the inner machinations of his body.

Considering she quite literally could not get tired, Mod had no reason to really ever stop so it was up to them to make sure she got to enjoy the benefits of humanity.

Robin smiled and gazed back at the screen, noticing that Young Rosan and Mod had figured out their problem in the memory too.

He was currently on Celadon spending the week, so as to give Ace space away from him to come to a sound conclusion.

The redhead had mostly just spent a rare occasion, doing nothing at all. He hung out with the three rulers and just followed along with whatever they wanted.

Robin could tell that Rosan or Mod weren't used to such... lackadaisical behavior but they didn't complain.

But the week ended quickly and Rosan had immediately gone back to Dawn Island... right next to a family of Crocodiles that were trying to eat Luffy.

"I forgot Ace was trying to kill him," Robin sweatdropped a bit, watching the poor child flounder about with the most helpless expression on his face. "Thankfully you aren't so short anymore... you might have drowned otherwise."

"You speak about my height like it's the only thing I dwell on," Rosan grunted.

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

"..." The redhead's face was expressionless.

Robin made no attempts to hide her laughter at him.

It seems like Luffy wanted no help in his pursuit of finding and befriending Ace and compliant Rosan would never argue otherwise, so he let the woefully underqualified 7 year old do it.

While letting Luffy do that, he went off to the capital of the kingdom, to garner more information from it.

"Ah such a gorgeous face you have!" An obese and wealthy woman stated, gauging the tall redhead with hungry eyes.

Young Rosan flashed a small and disarming smile. "Thank you. This kingdom is so beautiful," he said kindly.

"You aren't from this kingdom? I knew I would recognize such clear nobility! If you don't mind, please allow me to treat you to some of Goa's cuisine while I tell you all about our wonderful kingdom," she gushed.

The redhead simply inclined his head, following after the woman while acknowledging the gazes of the many people there.

"I'm glad you don't specialize in infiltration. I fear that's another thing you'd be dangerously good at," Robin muttered, watching him effortlessly manipulate information out of the woman, all while pretending he had his emotions.

"Long-term infiltration, has never been something I've enjoyed but I can trick a few civilians. If I utilized Modification, I could probably trick higher ranking people too," he replied, watching his younger self "reluctantly" leave the company of the disgusting noble.

It had drifted into night and the redhead had learned quite a few things about the wealthy part of Goa, all while receiving free gifts in the process.

"It pays to be beautiful," Robin rolled her eyes.

"I suppose that's why I give you so many free gifts," he replied.

Robin blinked at that and regarded the redhead with a raised brow. "How many people have fallen for that one?" She asked in amusement.

"None. I've never told anyone else that besides you," he retorted smoothly.

She opened her mouth and closed it. "Smooth," she admitted in defeat.

Ram nearly squealed at that smooth as hell reply. Father always had a comeback!

Robin watched the Young Rosan slowly float back over to Dadan's home...

Only for him to pause at the sound of conversation going on.

"He's a demon child! We can't control him and if the government finds us, we're all as good as dead! Ace is uncontrollable! If he dies, he dies."

Robin frowned deeply at that, more then a little displeased that they were saying these things about a 10 year old.

Clearly, Young Rosan was in the same boat. Honestly, she was surprised he hadn't killed them all yet.

She watched all of the bandits go pale, as Rosan appeared in their line of sight with that vacant expression.

"Seems they've understood they messed up." Robin resisted the urge to snort.

"The mind of a child is impressionable. "Should I be alive? Am I a demon? A monster? Would I be better off dead?" If told something many times, they will have no choice but to begin believing those doubts."

Robin shuddered at that. Those words resonated with her more then she would have liked to admit... and she was sure they resonated in some way with Rosan too.

After all, even at 24, the redhead still thought he was nothing but a monster.

"You mean to tell me that you and Dadan actually get along now after hearing her say such things?" She couldn't help but ask, watching the redhead give them one final warning before departing, subsequently running into Ace in the process.

"It's hard to believe... but yes. Dadan is terrible at expressing her actual thoughts... She truly does consider herself Ace, Luffy and I's mother and over the years, I've picked up on how much she really cares," Rosan said softly.

Rosan would only ever acknowledge Mod and Rouge as his mothers, but he did like Dadan. She was a good person.

Robin smiled at that.

A real monster found it impossible to forgive.

Young Rosan and Ace flew towards the tree where they had their first conversation and the redhead remained silent, content to let Ace get out everything he wanted to say.

The teen redhead had long resolved to answer any of Ace's questions and answer them he did. He told Ace about his lack of emotions, about how long he had been travelling the seas for... and even about why he lost his emotions.

The redhead held nothing back, not even his secret identity as Reaper.

Robin was proud of him.

Evidently, Ace was not as proud because he punched his older brother in the nose without any hesitation and though Rosan saw it, he made no move to dodge it, allowing it to connect without a noise of complaint.

"I don't hate you. I resent you. No matter what your reasoning is, you still abandoned me for 10 years. We're supposed to be brothers, but I didn't even know you existed until recently. The only reason I don't hate you, is because you look like you've had your own problems over the years. I wouldn't even want to look at you if you weren't like this and I'd hate you as much as I hate Roger."

Robin flinched at that admittance but could understand where he was coming from. She might have been the same way, if she realized Rosan was living happily while she thought he was dead. She'd never be able to forgive him.

Even after offering to leave permanently, Ace refused it and just told the redhead not to interfere with his life if he didn't want him to.

Ace may not think it, but he was also a good person. Many people would have done everything in their power to hurt Rosan if they learned the things he did... and the redhead would have allowed all of it to happen too.

"I expected it to go a lot worse," Robin said truthfully.

"You and me both," Rosan nodded.

With that conversation settled, they watched Luffy doggedly try to earn Ace's favor for the better part of 3 months.

"It's no wonder you didn't try arguing with him when he asked you to join his crew... Luffy is relentless," Robin couldn't help but awe.

Nothing phased the rubber boy long enough to make him stop in his pursuit of Ace... and Young Rosan just watched it all while finding things to do on this strange island.

"When he sets his mind to something, nothing can stop that boy," Mod sighed fondly. "He and Rosan really are too similar. Trying to get them to sail the same ship under normal circumstances, might have been impossible."

Rosan snorted. "Impossible is one way to put it. I'd have never agreed."

Robin pondered at that. "Do you think you'll regret following him if you ever gain your emotions? To the point where you may stop sailing under his flag?" She asked curiously.

"..." Rosan said nothing, prompting everyone to look at him.

"Rosan...?" Mod said unsuredly, never once thinking about that possibility.

Would he... leave the crew behind like he did with the leaders of Celadon?

"It really all depends on how I view the idea after gaining my emotions," he said truthfully. "I don't... truly consider myself a Straw Hat at the moment but just like many things, that can just be attributed to my lack of emotions. I probably won't leave because Luffy is already unique enough as a captain... but who knows what my motives will change to if I ever unlock all my emotions?"

Robin frowned slightly at that but nodded her head.

Whatever decision Rosan chose, she'd follow him. Despite how fond she was growing of the crew, she wouldn't be able to sleep comfortably without Rosan next to her.

"But, if you want to stay with them, I'll stay too," he said easily. "I don't know what will change with my emotions, but I know I'd hate to not have you next to me and if you choose to stay with them, I will too."

Robin blinked at that statement and regarded him with wide eyes, before a small smile made its way to her face and she burrowed into him.

"And what if we both want to do different things?" She asked.

"We'll come to a compromise," he replied easily.

"Of course we will," she thought fondly, burrowing deeper into him as she continued to watch the memories.

Currently, Rosan was with that one bartender, Makino, and he was helping her out like usual.

Robin found it very funny whenever Rosan worked in the bar. The influx of woman inside of the bar, was thanks to him working there and they never left him alone for even a second. Like how he treated every civilian on this island, the redhead was civil and polite, accepting their compliments but never returning one.

It was funny to see her abnormal best friend try to interact with normal civilians. Rosan was far from a civilian and the word must have been foreign to him.

Alas, she couldn't bask in the amusing sight for long because he had wrapped up his business and with a few parting words from Makino, the redhead left with a plate of food for Luffy and began floating through the forest.

Robin did not miss the way Mod's eyes darkened into something dangerous and realized something bad was about to happen.

She opted to not speak up and instead focused on the screen.

Mid flight, Young Rosan noticed Ace and what had to have been a younger version of Sabo.

The two were panicking about something and Robin had a sinking feeling she knew what it was.

She hated that she was right.

"N-no! That Luffy, he still hasn't talked!"

Little Sabo had said that and Robin looked at the far younger revolutionary with a worried expression as he explained the whole situation to the Rosan who had just asked.

"Pirates kidnapped him?" Robin muttered in concern.

That... that wasn't good. Pirates didn't care if you were a woman or a child... they had no morals at all.

Luffy was in danger.

Robin gnawed her lip as she watched Rosan opt out of using his Save Point, simply because he didn't want to kill people who had been unfortunate enough to witness it.

She knew he didn't care about Luffy at this point in the memory... but she really wished he did.

As they headed to Gray Terminal, the sound of flesh being struck immediately stuck out to all of the ones watching the memory and Robin felt a glare already forming.

"Don't tell me they..." she whispered in a slight amount of horror.

Her question didn't take long at all to be answered because Young Rosan suddenly surged forward in a burst of speed, bursting into the room housing such a disturbing noise.

What Robin saw, made her sick.

Dangling off the ceiling, with just a rope tying them up, was a bloodied and beaten Luffy. The little boy was bleeding heavily, audible splatting noises were heard as it dripped off of him and landed on the floor.

"Won't tell. Won't tell!" He was chanting to himself, tears and blood falling from his figure.

Robin's gaze darkened dramatically at the sight and the strong urge to hurt someone overcame her.

"How dare they?" She whispered dangerously, glaring at the Pirates who had done this with barely restrained fury. "How dare they do this to a little child? Don't they have any moral bones in their body?"

"No," Rosan said quietly. "That's why I taught him a lesson."

Taught him a lesson...?

Constant unending interrogation.

A steadfast silence.

Disapproval. Anger.

Needles.

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

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

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

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

Robin jolted at that. Eyes going wide as the memories flashed through Rosan's head almost too fast to register.

Looking at the teen's face, you wouldn't even think he was thinking of anything like that in the first place!

"This reminded him of Daybreak," Robin thought with a deep frown.

She watched the redhead walk past the group of pirates so he could cut down the injured Luffy... but the Pirate's patience had clearly reached his end and he was tired of being treated as if he weren't a threat.

"Treating you like you aren't a threat?" The younger redhead asked as he reached out his gloved hands and crushed the man's saber between his palm.

"I don't think you understand. You aren't a threat," he finished.

What followed next, was a beatdown that Robin, Mod and Ram all felt very satisfied watching.

Rosan brutalized him. He chose to fight the man with his own weapons, transforming Ram into spiked gloves to deliver his beating.

To make matters worse, he made the man sensitive too.

Then he tortured him.

The Pirate, Porchemy was his name, stood no chance at all after the first punch landed on his sensitive skin.

"Good," Robin said darkly, watching Rosan blur his fists against the man's skin until Porchemy looked properly tenderized.

"Satisfied?" Rosan asked, watching the man's body hit the floor with a wet thud.

"Very," she replied with a pleased smile.

Disgusting man. Hurting a child with no remorse. The things money made people do...

She was glad Rosan chose to seek out Luffy this time around instead of waiting for him to show up.

It seems this was the event that got all 4 of them close with each other too because Ace had finally warmed up to the brave rubber boy.

Something in the conversation, interested Robin very much.

"Rosan's my friend b-but he acts more like an adult and he's not really all there too..." Little Luffy exclaimed.

Robin's brow raised high at that final part.

"How does Luffy know you aren't all there? What does he mean by that?" Robin muttered with an interested gaze, looking at the small and injured boy with a curious eye.

Was there more to Luffy then she had given him credit for?

"You're not all there! A big piece of you is missing, stupid," Luffy informed them.

"I wonder how he knew that," Rosan muttered with his own narrowed gaze. "Luffy is perceptive... but saying "a big piece of you is missing" makes me question just how perceptive he really is. I wonder if he can also sense my sleeping ambition..." Rosan muttered.

Robin smiled at him. "I think he can... When we were walking to Kureha-san's castle, he mentioned that a piece of you is missing as well... I wonder what exactly he means by that."

Mod sighed. "Trying to have Luffy explain it is an impossible task. It's best if we just assume he means your emotions for now."

They nodded at that.

"I can try and ask him later regardless," Rosan said quietly, watching the memory of the day begin wrapping up.

Sabo had officially moved in with them and they had all 4 began hanging out way more frequently.

Robin smiled a terrific smile at seeing them drag the redhead into their escapades. If it didn't involve fighting, they abused Rosan's skills religiously. It was so adorable!

He even trusted Sabo enough to reveal his fruit!

"Th...This is where I apologized to Ace," Mod said quietly.

"And I'm proud of you for that, Mod-chan," Robin assured, holding the woman with a smile.

"You didn't even need me to tell you to do it. This is why you're the most mature of us," Rosan replied calmly, ending the memory for now.

She smiled tentatively at them. "I was going through a lot... truthfully speaking, when you were 12 and 14 my stress was most heightened," she admitted.

The redhead rolled. "Ram and Mod, you can undress, I'll give you both massages... Robin I'll get you in the real world," he said suddenly.

Mod's eyes lit up at that and Ram began cheering.

"Alright! I'll go clean up first," Mod said excitedly, turning away and practically skipping in glee.

"AUNTIEEE LEMME BATHE WITH YOU!" Ram shouted, rushing after her as she ripped article after article of clothing off.

"WAIT UNTIL YOU'RE IN THE BATHROOM TO UNDRESS!" Mod shouted back.

Rosan shook his head. "They take years to bathe. It's why I don't bathe with them as much. I'll get your massage out of the way first."

Robin smiled in return. "It's a good thing we've bathed already. Come, I want that massage. They just feel so great," she sighed at just the memory of his massages.

Honestly, if he kept giving her massages like this, she might just fall in love.

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Bonus!

"Thank you so much for agreeing to meet with us again, Queen Maro!"

Maro flashed a polite and charming grin at the man and held his hand. "Of course King John! I'm sure both our kingdom's will benefit greatly from allying with each other."

She didn't miss the way his eyes flickered to her large breasts and resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

Even with her most conservative kimono? Some people sure were shameless.

"Now that the professional talks are done, would you like to go out for a drink?" The King asked shamelessly, smile turning just a little as it revealed all his intentions to her.

"We're both married and it's happily on my end. We should not let such rumors spread around about us," Maro refused politely. "I just drank tea with your wife the other day, while we talked about our spouses! She's a sweet woman and loves you very much!"

"She did say you should lay off the sweets though!" Maro made a show of laughing and idly beat her hand against the desk once, cracking it cleanly through the middle.

"Woops," she said sheepishly, resisting the urge to sneer. "Sometimes I don't know my own strength!"

The King began sweating nervously at the casual show of strength from the Queen and coughed.

"Y-You're right! How forgetful of me! I wouldn't want such rumors to spread!" He laughed nervously.

"Don't worry about it! Now, I'd like to explore your island just a little bit more until it's time for me to head back to Celadon. A pleasure talking to you and the wife!" She beamed, waving at the king and walking through the door of his office.

"Fucking prick," she muttered under her breath. "Who the fuck does he think I am? Why would I ever cheat on Angel? He's not even attractive enough to be that cocky against my wife."

"Another person flirting with you, my queen?" One of her soldiers asked in amusement.

"Don't even get me started," she complained. "It's every island I go to! I miss when people didn't look at me in blatant lust..." Maro sighed.

Puberty had struck her a little too hard sadly. Around 16, her body had suddenly just exploded in growth, to the point where Angel's jaw had dropped when she took a single look at her girlfriend's chest.

That was the day her kimonos became a lot more conservative.

Ever since then, the eyes remained on her just as much as Angel... As a former Bounty Hunter/Assassin, she did not like that very much but what could she do...

Everyone she met was always a prick. There was never a day where someone wasn't trying to flirt with her and like cool, she was glad she was hot... but her wife was amazing and also extremely hot so why would she ever even consider someone else?

This was why she wanted Angel to come on these trips with her. She missed Angel...

Master and Luffy had started their journey too... she hoped they were doing okay. She hadn't heard from them in a while.

Maybe all the eyes on her, was karma for all the times she shamelessly stared at Master.

Would she ever stop? Not a chance in hell!

Master had actually once asked why she flirted with him so shamelessly and not Demon... or anyone else for that matter besides the inhabitants of his body.

"Demon's my brother! That'd be gross!" Maro said easily.

"...But aren't I technically your Father?" Rosan asked slowly.

"In the raising me aspect! My Father wouldn't steal my first kiss like that!" She beamed.

"...But you asked me to do that," he blinked.

"Because you're not my actual Father! Duh! Stop trying to make this weird, hottie!" The Queen demanded.

The redhead simply tilted his head and sighed, dropping the conversation and confusing her greatly.

The Queen planted a kind smile on her face and accepted the caramel apple offered to her, letting out a genuine hum of delight as she prepared to bite into it...

Only for her lone guard (as if she needed more) to snatch it out of her hands.

"H-Hey, that's mine!" She protested with an open mouth gazing at the exasperated female soldier with a look of outrage.

"My Queen, we went over this. Stop randomly eating gifts given to you without us at least checking it for anything," she chided with a firm glare, making Maro splutter.

"But I want it nowwww," she whined, stamping her feet on the ground like a brat.

The soldier rolled her eyes. "No. But, I'll let the chefs know that you want a caramel apple. Queen Angel already told me not to let you eat anything offered to you. She has far more survival instincts then you," she sighed.

Maro sulked at that. "Fine, you go let them know and I'll explore a bit more before we sail. I'm kinda sick of this island and I miss Angel and Demon."

The soldier saluted sharply. "Of course, my Queen. Remember what I said," she warned before turning and making her way over to the ship.

The queen rolled her eyes. Look at her cute little underlings looking out for her! Bah, they were all too stiff for their own good. Maro was a Dokkaebi! Some little poison would never affect her strong physiology!

Overprotective jerks... let her have some fun dammit!

But... they were so adorable when they were being overprotective of her. It was seriously so cute!

Fine, she'd let it continue... for now. One day she'd get tired of it! One day for sure!

As Maro gushed about her cute citizens (unintentionally blowing off dozens of suitors) the woman reached a shore and paused as she noticed something.

The woman squinted her eyes and stepped closer to peek at whatever that was poking outta the water.

"Is... THAT A SUB?!" She squealed excitedly. "WOW! THAT'S SO COOL!"

Maro wanted to get a closer look... but how would she do that?

Her eyes lit up and she nodded to herself.

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

One of the very last things Trafalgar Law ever expected to see... was a beached Polar Tang.

He had landed on this island to stock up on provisions and had just finished up... when he saw the bizarre sight before him.

A beautiful woman, was currently hounding a very confused and scared Bepo, gushing over his cuteness and asking if he was actually a talking animal.

"So your names Bepo right?!" She beamed, not giving him any personal space whatsoever. "Are you like one of those cosplayer people I've heard so much about?"

"N-No," Bepo answered meekly, gazing at anything but the overwhelming woman.

The woman gasped. "Does that mean you're actually a talking bear?!"

He flinched at that and held his head. "Sorry..."

Maro squealed and effortlessly hoisted him up, shaking him back and forth like he didn't weigh a thing. "What are you apologizing for?! You remind me of me when I was younger. I used to say sorry for everything! You did nothing wrong unless being so goddamn adorable is a crime! Seriously, a Polar Bear wearing a jumpsuit is like the cutest shit ever!"

The Polar Bear had a dust of red as the strange woman continued to fuss over him but that soon turned into a strangled yelp as she began squeezing him with a godly amount of force.

The rest of the Heart Pirates watched the entire thing with dumbfounded expressions.

Who the hell was this woman?

"C-Captain, you're back!" Penguin shouted in relief, glancing a little jealously at Bepo for hogging all the woman's attention.

"...What the hell is going on?" Law asked as calmly as possible, dropping his bags on the floor and holding out his hand.

"Room: Shambles."

Maro blinked as a blue circle surrounded her and then gaped as Bepo was replaced with a bag.

"Thank you captain..." Bepo rasped, clutching his chest at suddenly feeling air again.

Law gazed at the shell-shocked woman and racked his brain for who this could possibly be.

Blue hair with white streaks, fair skin, orange eyes... quite beautiful too.

Why did all of these ring a bell?

"WOAH! A DEVIL FRUIT?!"

The man resisted the urge to flinch, as she materialized directly in front of him with an excited gleam.

"Did I hear them call you captain? Are you the captain of little Bepo right here?! That's a sick Devil Fruit you have there! Oh does that make this submarine yours?!" She asked in quick succession.

"She's dangerous," Law thought instinctively, noting the predatory gleam in the woman's eyes. "She probably closed the distance to make sure she can still reach me if I attack her."

Then she gasped and sheepishly rubbed her chin length hair. "Oh where are my manners! It's nice to meetcha, I'm Queen Maro!"

"He's a pirate... but I don't recognize him on any posters," she thought to herself, humming curiously as she assessed their threat levels.

None of them were stronger then her. She was certain of it... but this guy's Devil Fruit was pretty tricky.

It was why she was this close to him after all. Maro only needed to hit him once and she was sure he'd be down for the count... She also had an illusion up. She was actually standing directly to the left of the copy of herself.

"Queen Maro? Of Celadon?" Law thought in a bit of disbelief. What was the Queen of the most prestigious island in the North Blue doing here?

Had she just been the one to beach the Polar Tang? How the hell had she done that?

"Oh! The Sub?" Maro grinned a little at that. "I wanted to get a closer look at it, so I dragged it outta the water!"

"S-She grabbed it and just lifted it out!" Shachi gaped at the memory, sweating nervously at the queen.

There was a reason the idea of attacking her never once crossed their minds, considering she had lifted their sub with all of them inside of it with little to no effort at all.

You were telling him this was a Queen?!

"So you just wanted to get a look at the sub, Queen-ya?" Law said slowly, unable to comprehend this woman for the life of him.

What were her motives?

"Yep! You guys are pirates... but I don't think any of you have bounties and this isn't my island anyways," she shrugged. "Here, I got my curiosity sated. I'll put it back for ya!"

They watched the beautiful woman walk over to the sub with dumbfounded expressions.

True to his crews words, Law watched with a slightly surprised expression, as the deceptively monstrous woman lifted the sub over her head with barely a grunt, began floating over the water, before gently placing the Polar Tang into its home once more.

Then, she vanished from her spot and appeared directly on land again.

In front of him.

"I thought she was an idiot but she knows exactly what she's doing," Law thought with a bit of respect.

If he did choose the route of attack, that little display showed him that she already figured stepping out of his Room would likely negate his abilities and the distance she travelled was larger then his biggest current room.

"I'm Trafalgar Law," he introduced the woman. "We've recently become a pirate crew. The Heart Pirates. That's why we don't have bounties yet."

She nodded eagerly at that, flashing him a grin as the predatory gleam in her eyes vanished. "You have an awesome Devil Fruit! What is it if you don't mind me asking?"

Law pondered her request. "The Ope Ope no Mi. It turns me into a free modification human and let's me do a lot of things inside the room I summon."

"Free modification human?!" Maro thought in disbelief. Was his fruit like Master's by chance? Could he modify people in the room as he wished?

Wait... he had replaced one of his grocery bags with the bear in his hand! Could he do things along that scope?!

That... was kind of ridiculously awesome.

"What else can you do with it?!" She asked with starry eyes.

Law smirked at the fascinated look in her eyes and held out his hands. "Room."

Maro went slightly on guard as the blue sphere surrounded both her, Law and his crew and she watched wearily as he took that gigantic sword of his out.

To her surprise though (she had been about to set him ablade), he turned to one of his crewmates and did a lazy slash.

Maro watched with a slack jaw, as his head severed from his body, before lazy floating over to the smirking Law.

"C-Captain! You know I hate when you do this!" Penguin complained, even as the man tossed his head up and down.

The Queen's eyes glittered at seeing him perfectly speaking. "THAT'S SO AWESOME! HOLY SHIT!" She cheered.

"I'm a surgeon so it makes my life easier, Queen-ya," he nodded.

What guy didn't like being praised by a gorgeous woman?

Maro's eyes sparkled. "You're a surgeon? You should totally go on a date with my brother, Demon! You're pretty cute and he's hot as hell!" She beamed, fishing in her kimono for something.

Law blinked at that, not expecting the sudden topic switch.

"AHA!" She yelled triumphantly, showing him the picture of her older brother. "Look at him! Isn't he gorgeous?! I bet you're his type too! You guys can nerd talk about medicine and stuff!"

This woman was ridiculous.

Law nearly snorted at her actions, but instead opted to keep the smirk on his face as he gazed at the picture.

At the very least, she hadn't been lying. Even though Law had no intention of hooking up with someone just because she said so, he could admit that her older brother was in fact "gorgeous".

He was very easy on the eyes, with soft features that enhanced how naturally pretty he seemed to be.

"Thanks for the offer, but I'll pass," Law said dryly, sheathing his blade once more and giving Penguin his head back.

"Awww. You two would have been so cute!" She sighed. "Oh! Look at the time! If my soldiers start looking for me, they might start a fight with you guys!"

"And stop calling me Queen-ya! Call me Maro!" Maro demanded, waving at them enthusiastically and grabbing Bepo into another hug. "See ya Law-chan! If we ever meet again, lemme introduce you to my cute as hell brother!"

With that, the Queen shot them a peace sign and vanished.

Law stared at the spot she was at with an almost perplexed expression.

"She's so scary," Bepo wheezed.

"She's so hot..." Penguin sighed, glaring jealously at the bear.

"She's smarter then she looks. She controlled that entire conversation and I didn't even get to ask her what her Devil Fruit was," Law mused, shaking his head.

What an interesting person. It was a shame they'd probably never meet again and she was a Queen. She would have been a good addition to his crew.

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

Maro happily ate her caramel apple with a pleased hum as she sailed back to Celadon.

The only thing she thought about the Heart Pirates was this.

"I hope for that guys sake, he never becomes enemies with Master. Trafalgar Law? Yeah he's definitely gonna want that fruit."