Take a look over there. See that man? The one that just fell over and- oh, he set himself on fire. I bet you think that he's a clown; a klutz and well, I can't deny that. It's true that he's never been a very graceful person and most other people who meet him see that and immediately come to the conclusion that that is all he is. It might not be in your best interests to be in that mindset however depending on his motivations.
Behind those painted lips and the thoughtful eyes is a complex character that has yet to be fully and willingly revealed to anyone. He's full of secrets that even the people closest to him know nothing about. Once upon a time, his brother may have had the strongest bond with him but he's since lost those privileges and now the two dance around each other with suspicion.
He is a skilled tactician fully capable of exploiting the situation in any way possible (he didn't get promoted to Marine Commander for nothing.) He lacks the monstrous fighting skills that some people on the Grand Line have but he makes up for it in other ways. And of course just like many other people, he had a dorky side only special people get to see.
His name is Donquixote Rocinante, the king of hearts.
Let's step a few years back to when Rocinante was 6 and his elder brother Doflamingo was 8.
Both of them had been blessed with being born into a family of the highest status: a Celestial Dragon. Their early years were peaceful and relatively easy. In Mariejois, they were safe from any sort of danger and were free to learn in safety. Out of all the families living there, the Donquixote family was the most peaceful. Homing and his wife's gentle demeanors were passed onto Roci though the same could not be said for his brother.
In contrast to his family, the boy began to share views that were common amongst the Celestial Dragons; for example, that all other humans were below them and their only purpose in life was to serve them. Slaves, or servants as they were in the Donquixote household, had only one person to fear in that house: Doflamingo.
Only Doffy mistreated them and though the servants counted themselves luckier than the other not-so-fortunate slaves that they were in a much gentler household, they still cowered in fear. Doffy began to acquire several weapons in secrecy from his parents, weapons like whips that he used to punish his slaves.
Roci often flinched whenever he saw Doffy ruthlessly doling out punishments but his shy personality kept him from interfering.
"Doffy, why must you punish the servants so much?" He asked timidly once when he and Doflamingo were watching a sunset together.
His brother turned to face Rocinante, face impassive before he smiled. "Because that is their fate." He patted Roci on the head and turned his attention back to the sunset.
Rocinante was very confused. What his brother claimed contradicted the morals his parents always taught him but their morals contradicted the views of the other Celestial Dragons so it was unclear who was right and who was wrong.
Even back then, he sensed that Doflamingo had a bloodthirsty attitude that was just simmering beneath the surface, not quite emerged yet. Was that unusual? He didn't know what people were usually supposed to be like. His brother's fierceness frightened him though so he hoped that perhaps his brother would settle down and be like the rest of the family.
Things quickly fell apart soon after Roci's 6th birthday. He could remember the scorn in the voices of the other Celestial Dragons as they disapproved of Homing's decision to separate and 'live like a human'. At the time Roci had trusted that his father had made the right decision but now he knows that Homing had been foolish and naive. They had all been naive.
The only one who had any disagreement with the new arrangement was Doflamingo but it was for his own selfish habits and not about the consequences that were to follow. His bewilderment at losing his authority quickly changed to anger and he was often the catalyst of the arguments between him and his father.
He followed his brother once in an attempt to calm him and they had ended up eavesdropping on a conversation between their father and someone on their den-den mushi.
"-Could you at least take my wife and children? At this point the whole family will be killed!"
"You chose that life. You can't take back what you've given up so don't call again filthy human." And then they hung up.
It was not long till the disasters came. They lost the house they had been living in due to a house fire started by villagers seeking revenge for the wrongs the Celestial Dragons had done to their kin. The Donquixotes were plunged into poverty and for the first time, the siblings tasted hunger, pain, cold and every other discomfort they could feel. Their mother succumbed to disease, her fragile immune system not strong enough to withstand it.
And then they had been cornered. Tied up, strung up as if they were on stakes, Roci and his family were forced to endure a tremendous torture unlike anything they had ever had to withstand before. The event was the last straw and soon after Roci became mute. Even as an adult, he refuses to linger too long on the awful memories but when he does, through the haze of the fires and the angry chants of the hungry crowd he remembers Doffy's aggressive claims to gain revenge.
That coupled with a few weeks later when Roci was forced to watch his brother shoot lead bullets into the back of his father's head and behead him was enough to confirm that his brother was a monster, a demon of some sort. He fled his brother, uncaring that Doflamingo made no move to call him back.
It was a while before he stopped to think about it more carefully and realized that perhaps that hadn't been the best course of action if he wanted to live. He was alone and there was no one who would help him. He and his brother might have been able to scrape a living together but that had gone down the drain now that Rocinante had run away from him.
He could try to reunite with him but who knows how long that would take. Roci had been running for at least half an hour or more away from his brother and he had payed no attention to his surroundings. He was well and truly lost and he'd have to try survive by himself.
He was fortunate that the first people he met were marines. He was nervous and wary considering the fact that the first people he had met after leaving Mariejois had been enemies and it had been the same for everyone after that.
He tried to keep hidden but he was spotted eventually. Roci ran but he tripped and he cursed his ever worsening clumsiness as a marine approached him. He trembled in fear despite the lack of hostility in the man.
"Boy, are you lost?" He asked.
Was he lost? He hesitated before shaking his head. He didn't have a home to return to nor a destination to reach and all he wanted was safety so in a sense he wasn't lost.
"What's your name?" There was a gentle undertone to the man's low voice that calmed Roci down. It soothed him, reminded him of his parents and he uttered the first word he had said since he had gone mute. "Rocinante."
The marines were the first group of people who had been kind to him after he had lost his privileges and become a normal class human. Sure, there were a few that did not act too kindly with him but most were gruff rather than malicious.
He hadn't told anyone yet that he'd been a Celestial Dragon but he suspected that some people did know. Sengoku, the man who had first approached him was probably one of them.
Roci had struggled through the first few months of training with his clumsiness only becoming worse, the tripping over becoming more frequent and now he was beginning to accidentally set fire from time to time. He suspected that Sengoku had something to do with his transferal to be trained by Vice-Admiral Garp. Thankfully, though the training was rougher, he managed to improve and he began to rise in the ranks.
The accidental spontaneous combustion may or may not have been to do with the smoking habit he had tried taking up.
His best friend was a girl called Belle-mere. Often they could be seen together and it was obvious that she was the more tenacious and dominant of the pair despite Roci's increasing confidence. When he had first been taken to the marine base, Sengoku had left him in her care whilst he had gone to sort out official matters. At first, his timidity prevented him from getting too close but she had refused to let him cower for long.
She had held him by her calloused hands as she showed him the area and he had begun to warm up to her. His trust in her further cemented when she had protected him from some fellow trainees who would have beaten him up if she hadn't socked them in the face and left them running away in tears.
He apologized to her when she got into trouble for it but she had only smiled. "No problem mate!" Their bond never wavered as the years passed and they rose up the ranks.
His time with the marines shortly came to an end around the time when Rocinante was promoted to Marine commander. There had, of course, been a huge celebration amongst him and his dear friends but after that, he had visited a bar in town by himself for some down time.
He hadn't been expecting to meet anyone in particular especially when it was in the dead of the night. It was impossible to mistake who it was.
"Its been a while Roci." Doflamingo said as he seated himself next to his completely stunned brother. He could see now that they were both just as tall as each other but apart from that, there were mostly differences.
Doffy was flamboyant from head to toe, dressed in a suit with some sunglasses and a large pink feather coat that certainly hadn't been there when they had been younger. In comparison to Doflamingo's overflowing charisma that could enchant people at first glance, Roci paled in comparison in his cheap, commoners clothes.
Perhaps it was for the best that he hadn't been dressed in his marine uniform because that could have prompted Doflamingo to harm him in someway and he certainly wouldn't have been given the opportunity to infiltrate his pirate crew.
Their catch-up conversation started off with small talk (slightly awkward as Roci chose to pretend he was still mute and he ended up having to communicate through pen and paper as Doflamingo's understanding of sign language was pitiful) but soon they were making arrangements to meet up again.
"You should join my pirate crew Roci," he had proposed. "It would be a shame to lose contact again after all these years when I thought you were dead."
Don't you- Roci began to write before scribbling it out. He had been about to suggest exchanging den-den sushi numbers but then he realized that this invitation could be the opening he had always wanted. I'll think about it he wrote instead.
Doffy chuckled, wrote down his number on a piece of paper that he handed over before sauntering out of the bar, muttering half to himself and half to his brother "Perhaps I should learn sign language before you come."
Roci waited a couple of moments before dashing out of there, not stopping till he got to Sengoku's office door and knocking. He entered after hearing a muffled "Come in".
"Oh Roci, what brings you here?" Sengoku asked, voice slightly muffled as he munched through a bag of senbeis.
"Sir, I have a request to make."
"You're on leave so soon after being promoted?" Belle-mere asked incredulously.
"It's called a special mission Belle-mere." Corazon muttered as he began packing his things, tripping over a pair of trousers as he tried to cross the room.
Belle-mere chuckled. "Oh? And what would that be?"
"It's to do with my brother." Belle-mere's cheeky face immediately fell at that. She was one of the people who he had confided with about his heritage. It had taken him a long while to build up the courage but he hadn't needed to worry. Contrary to his prediction, she had been very understanding and wished to continue staying friends with him. For that he was glad. They had both warily watched together as Doflamingo had risen up in the underworld.
"I met him in the bar the other night. He invited me to join his crew. It's the perfect opportunity for me to thwart and possibly take out one of the enemies of the marines."
"Its not just about your duty to the marines though is it?"
Roci sighed. "I've always had this feeling that there was something unusual about my brother and not in a good way. He's a monster Belle-mere and it would be for the best for everyone if he went."
Belle-mere shifted uneasily. "How are you going to take him out though? If-"
"Yeah yeah I know." Rocinante waved a hand dismissively, unwilling to think about all the marines who had failed to defeat his brother. "I have no plans yet. It's been years since we've seen each other and we're sure to have changed in different ways than expected."
"So…"
"He probably has a devil fruit of some sort too and that's not going to be something I can combat with my devil fruit. No, I'm just going to have to handle with espionage and leak details of his schemes to the marines."
"Can you handle being a spy?"
"I'm the perfect person for this. After all I am his brother, he won't expect anything from me. I'll just play the dumb, mute little brother."
Rocinante looked over curiously as Belle-mere went into her locker and got out her make-up bag. He cringed as she approached him. "Hold still for a second." Unsure of where this was going, he waited patiently as she applied lipstick and painted some heart shapes under his right eye. He inspected his face in the mirror.
The lipstick was extended far past the corners of his lips and the hearts looked more like triangles from a distance. He looked exactly like a clown. He bent down so Belle-mere could put some sunglasses on but as he attempted to straighten up, Belle-mere grabbed him by the cheeks and quickly pecked him on the lips.
She giggled as she edged to the door. "You can keep that make-up and good luck on your mission Roci. Do try to come back alive okay?" She said before swiftly leaving the room.
He was sure that even the thickest layer of concealer on his face would not hide the red blush on his face.
"How peculiar you look Roci." His brother mused, as he looked Roci up and down. Roci felt very out of his comfort zone in his new attire, face covered in Belle-mere's special makeup and a white shirt with hearts on it. It made Roci stand out and he did not like that. He much preferred being able to blend into the background.
"Well, come this way." Roci followed his brother into his hideout and he decided then and there that he was glad he looked weird because he certainly wasn't the only strange one there. He would have looked more out of place if he were dressed like an ordinary person (especially considering there was someone with a taco hat for christs sake).
"Everyone." The three present in the room immediately turned their attention to him. "I'd like to introduce you all to my brother Rocinante."
The slimy man let out a laugh. "Behehehehe, so you're the little shit who left Doffy neh?" He shut up when Doflamingo glared at him.
He straightened his tie. "Roci, I would like to introduce you to my top executives, Trebol, Diamante and Pica." he gestured to them respectively.
"Nice shirt dude." Diamante complimented though the snigger at the end of it suggested other thoughts.
"I have other people in the crew but they're out on a mission today. You can meet them later. These three though are the ones I am closest to, they've been with me ever since father died." He refrained from mentioning whose fault that had been. "None can be more precious than my own brother though and for that, you will be taking position as the Heart executive. You will be my second Corazon."
From that day on, Rocinante was called Corazon by everyone save for when he was alone with his brother. That suited him just fine. A new name for a new life he supposed, a fake life in fact. He adapted quickly to the new lifestyle, taking everything that came in his stride from the pranks that Baby 5 and Buffalo played on him to the matching black feather coat that Doffy gave him for his birthday.
He couldn't afford to be careless around anyone in the crew, not just his brother. All the members were way stronger than he was and were frighteningly loyal to his brother. It would be the end of everything if the secret came out that he was a marine plotting against his brother.
He began familiarizing himself with the crew members. Though there were a couple that acted normally, the majority of them had some sort of abnormality in their personality. Pretty much all of them had weird appearances as well. Whether they dressed weirdly, had a psychological problem or were just plain strange, it was clear that this was a family of misfits.
They may have seemed more like a family than a pirate crew but one thing was for certain and that was that they were very close. There was no chance of convincing any of them to mutiny seeming as they were all damned just like their leader but Roci found that he could prevent new arrivals.
There was a frighteningly high number of young people who came wishing to join Doffy's crew, more than Roci was comfortable with but somehow he managed to successfully scare off every single one of them and eventually he'd done it so many times that everyone else just assumed that he hated kids when in reality all he wished was to prevent more people from falling under Doffy's depraved hold even if that meant deliberately hurting them.
It was all going well till Law came.
Corazon didn't notice anything abnormal at first and it was only later after he'd thrown Law out of the window and he'd come back that he noticed there was something wrong with Law.
The other kids that he had to deal with in the past were all either weak hearted or cocky little shits who were all bark and no bite. While Law certainly wasn't strong, he wasn't cocky.
There was no mistaking the broken look in his eyes; something had taken precious things away from him and now he was looking for revenge. Later he found out that he was the sole survivor from the now non-existent White town and he finally understood where he had seen that look.
It was the same look Doffy had had in his eyes after finding out he had been demoted to a normal human.
The link between the boy and Doflamingo only made Corazon more determined to get rid of the boy before Doffy influenced him too much.
The usual things weren't working. No matter how many times he got thrown out of the window, Law kept coming back and each time he looked angrier. His constant vows to get revenge on Corazon were frightening coming from a boy his age and his fear was warranted when Law attempted to stab Rocinante in the heart.
He was lucky that he had missed but he still felt like a failure when Doflamingo officially accepted Law into his ranks, planning to train him up to be his right hand man. If Doflamingo succeeded, there would be another potentially dangerous addition to his crew.
It appeared that Law would be staying for the time being while they searched for a devil fruit that could cure him but Corazon remained hopeful. Law was angry and looking for blood but he wasn't completely like Doflamingo yet. There was still time for Rocinante to bring him back to the light.
Corazon bided his time over the next two years waiting for opportunities but he finally swung into action the afternoon he overheard Law's full name. He'd only been passing by and he was about to dismiss it when he heard the letter.
"Trafalgar D Water Law."
He didn't listen to Law explaining his name; he was frozen and deep in thought. He faintly recalled his father's story about the D clan and how they were destined to be 'enemies of god'.
If 'God' was the Celestial Dragons then that meant the D carriers were destined to bring them and the World Government down from their high horses. He wasn't sure how much his brother believed in that but there was a chance that if Doflamingo ever found out, he might see Law as a threat and eliminate him.
Corazon was not willing to take the risk; Law was in danger and he needed to take him away before it was too late.
He was such an idiot.
Doflamingo had been Law's best chance at survival yet Corazon had taken him away from that just because he was afraid his brother would get twitchy over a superstition. He'd argued with himself that though he didn't have the devil fruit they needed, neither did Doffy. He'd hoped that the hospitals would help but none would.
His heart broke every time he approached a hospital only to be met with negative reactions. His heart broke every time Law cried as the doctors and nurses called him a monster. The injustice infuriated him and every single one of those hospitals was burnt down as a result.
The problem was no closer to being solved. All he had done was remove Law from his (somewhat toxic) safe zone and inadvertently bring up bad memories. Every day the white patches spread, Law's health worsened and he got gradually more and more depressed.
They were both despairing but Corazon forced himself to stay positive for Law's sake. For the first time in years, he allowed himself to act natural and it helped that acting like a klutzy clown made Law at least a little bit happier.
Their fruitless quest around North Blue was bringing the two closer and closer together till they were like a father and son relationship.
One night when he had been sure that Law had been asleep, he'd cried a little as he apologized to Law for all the pain he had accidentally caused.
"That time you stabbed me? It didn't even hurt; you were the one that was hurt; how sad! "
He had no idea that Law had heard every single word and taken them to heart.
Everything hurt. He'd been shot way too many times than was healthy and on top of that, he'd been beaten up by Vergo. None of that mattered. All that mattered was getting Law to survive; if one of them had to live, it had to be him. The devil fruit was his and though neither of them had an inkling about how its powers worked, Corazon had faith that Law would be clever enough to figure it out.
As for him, well, it was unlikely that he would survive. The birdcage was up and Corazon needed a plan fast that would make Doflamingo take it down. He gritted his teeth; it would probably take a lot of bluffing and even then, there was little hope of his brother letting him live after his betrayal.
He felt the boy slowly come back to consciousness and as he stirred, he looked down and gave him a wide grin. It definitely wasn't pretty, that much he could tell from the grimace on Law's face. That was fine though as long as Law's last memory of him was a smile.
He placed him in a treasure chest. "Listen up, pirates have a habit of taking their loot to their ships so that means you'll definitely have a chance to get out of the cage. Take the chance when it comes to escape!"
"What about you Cora-san?" This was one of the things he had been dreading to answer and whilst he was almost certain that Doffy would never forgive him, he forced a smile and lied.
"Silly boy, Doffy's target is you and your devil fruit powers. Sure he'll get mad at me but he won't kill me, I'm his brother after all!" He hated that he had to lie again; lying to Law that he wasn't a marine just to stay on his good side was bad enough.
"Calm," He murmured as he used his devil fruit powers on Law. "This is a spell that will cancel out any sound you make. Lets meet up at the next town." It was reassuring to see that Law was satisfied with his answer and more occupied with seeing that he did indeed make no sound.
"Oh yeah, Law?" he grinned at him again with his hand in a peace sign. "I love you" There he got it out. He wasn't sure what Law thought of that since the last thing he saw was his shocked face that was probably more due to the face and not his words.
What he said was true. Why he had started to care for Law like a son he had no idea, all he was certain was that he loved Law enough to let him get in the way of his quest to vanquish his brother and drop everything for him.
It would be an understatement to say he was sad. Knowing his inevitable fate meant that he'd never get to see Law grow up. Over the past couple of months, he'd begun to learn more about Law's true nature that had up to then been hidden by his thirst for revenge.
Under Doffy's lead, though he appeared calm, his anger hadn't allowed for any gentle feelings and the hatred had grown like a parasitic plant. Though the past 6 months had been nothing but pain, removing Doflamingo's influence had done him a world of good for his nature and Corazon had begun to see what he was really like.
Rocinante had shown him that the world wasn't completely shit like he had been led to believe after the eradication of his home and deep inside Law still had some compassion that Doflamingo lacked. He had a promising desire to become a doctor and Roci hoped that Law would try to pursue that route after he was gone.
He would cry about the extra heartbreak he'd been inflicting on Law's heart if it hadn't been for his insecurity about how the latter thought about him. Him and Law hadn't exactly had the best start and even now though their differences had been settled, he had no idea if Law loved him as much as Roci loved him.
He certainly wasn't going to be happy when Roci finally admitted that he had been lying the whole time though whether he'd be angrier about him being a marine or lying in general was something that Corazon wasn't going to live to see.
These were definitely his last living moments. He struggled to breath and he could feel the blood escaping the bullet holes in his body but he tried to force himself to live a few moments longer and give Law more of a chance to escape.
No, I can't die yet. Just a bit longer…
They say your life flashes before you the few seconds before you die but Corazon only thought about the good times he had with Law. The times he had been a deliberate dork to cheer Law up, the times when Law had scolded him for hurting himself, the times he managed to get Law to smile. He only thought of the good times as he forced a smile on his face.
Live free Law and don't forget to smile. He thought before he took one more shuddery breath and died, oblivious to the snow burying his body.
=3=
13 years later and Law was lying in the rubble of Dressrosa almost mimicking the same position Corazon had died in. He wasn't dying but it certainly felt like it. His body had been abused in so many different ways in the past few hours and he'd definitely passed out more than once but he was glad that after all this that he'd finally achieved his goal.
Doflamingo was down for the count and Corazon had been avenged somewhat. Law would have liked to kill Doflamingo with his own hands and he knew he wasn't dead yet but he was so tired he couldn't move.
Exhaustion was fast dampening his high, triumphant feelings and his eyelids were beginning to flutter closed. His vision blurred while he thought about how Corazon's wish for him to be free was finally a reality now that the desire to defeat Doflamingo was no longer hanging over him.
A second before the darkness claimed him for the umpteenth time that day, he whispered "I love you Cora-san".