Hello, my tall tales! I am Writing this story on Morgan again along with another new baby. I'm not sure if this will be a one shot or a series. The way this is going, it'll probably become a series... Just what I need while I'm working on others plus school work on top of that.
I am Morgan Marisol Seamore... as I told some of you in Sea and Sun. You other readers don't have to worry about reading it because this is in the world of reality. Well, take my hand and I'll tell you about my real troubles.
Ace, my lover, is dead. But, before he died, I was pregnant. I gave birth to the twins the day he died. We already decided on names at the time: if they're boys, their names will be Edward and Jack and if they're girls, then their names will be Rouge and Orchid. However, I didn't think I would have a boy and a girl. When I saw that Ace had died, I named them the names he picked out: Edward and Rouge.
"Come on, Rouge! You're such a sissy!" Eddie said, running ahead of us.
"I am not a sissy!" She said, enraged.
It's been two years now and they're handfuls. I've stayed at the Gray Terminal. Garp doesn't know who these two are yet but I'm sure he'll have a clear answer if he sees Eddie. Eddie looks way too much like Ace for him to be anyone else's child. We did a good job hiding our relationship. Not even Garp has heard of me but... I need help and protection. I can look after these two just fine but others seem to be suspicious the older Eddie gets. The only difference between how he looks and how Ace looked at his age are his eyes, which are a cerulean blue.
Garp would definitely know who's children they are because Rouge looks exactly like her namesake. She has the same strawberry blonde hair except I trimmed it to a pixie cut. She has aquamarine colored eyes. Each of those two have a piece of me in them because I have one cerulean blue eye and one aquamarine eye. It was nice to see that they had something that resembled me. Also, neither of them have freckles.
Lost in my thoughts, my shoulder bumped someone on accident. I meant to apologize but I looked up to see Garp himself staring back down at me. Should I tell him now?
"I'm sorry, sir. I didn't see you there." I found myself saying before seeing that Eddie and Rouge are running a little too far ahead.
"Eddie! Rouge! Don't go too far now!" I shouted before running after them.
Oops! I said their names in front of him. If that's not a dead give away, I don't know what is. They both stopped and waited for me to catch up with them. I readjusted the picnic basket under my arm before allowing them to both take one of my hands.
"Are we going to see a tiger?!" Eddie asked excitedly.
"Hopefully not. They're dangerous, especially for children your age." I told him.
"Aaaaw... but I wanna pet one." Rouge said.
I laughed.
"I don't think that's possible." I laughed.
Rouge is crazy about animals. She's always feeding the strays, bringing a dog in through the door and begging to keep it. I can't afford to take care of a dog, so she usually ends up leaving it outside. They usually disappear eventually and I tell Rouge that it's because they found a new family. I remember having to hide one that died from distemper. I made sure to bathe Rouge that night so she wouldn't pass it on to one of her other pets.
I notice Garp following us. I sighed, having a feeling that I will probably have to tell them who I am and who those two are. I allowed him to follow us, keeping the children busy until we finally reached our spot in the meadow. I set out the blanket while the children went and played. I noticed that Garp wasn't around. I guess he won't be joining us today. Then I noticed Rouge carrying something white in her arms. I grew horrified when I saw what it was.
"Look what I found! It's a tiger cub! Can I keep it?!" She asked.
"Rouge... put that cub back where you found it." I told her sternly and fearfully.
"Why? What's wrong?" She asked.
I'm trying to gently tell her why while trying not to agitate the cub.
"Because that tiger cub has a mommy and when a mommy finds a stranger holding her baby, she'll get upset. How would you feel if I found a stranger holding you?" I asked her.
"But he's not scared of me. See? He's my friend." She said.
It's true, the white tiger cub was all out nuzzling her and chuffing happily. She could barely hold him, he was so loveable.
"Yes, but you're still a stranger to the mommy and she's not going to be happy finding a stranger holding her baby... Um... Put him down right now!" I shouted at her, seeing a giant tiger behind her.
"Why?" She asked before slowly turning around to see the tiger snarling at her.
Instead of dropping the cub, she pannicked and ran away with it. The tigress roared angrily before jumping right in front of her.
"Rouge, put the cub down!" I shouted at her.
"No!" She said.
"Rouge, she doesn't want you to have her baby whether or not he's your friend. Put him down or else she will hurt you." I told her.
She gently set down the cub and he hid behind the tigress's leg. The tigress raised one of her paws, ready to strike. Rouge closed her eyes, bracing for the hit. I couldn't get to Rouge in time.
CRACK!
Edward's fist connected with the tigress's jaw. He stood in front of Rouge, an angry snarl curled his lips. The hit was hard enough to knock her off balance. For a two year old, he had some amazing strength. He glared at the tigress as she looked down at him. She roared angrily but then someone tackled her away from them. Eddie and Rouge ran behind me quickly, both of them crying into my leg.
It was Garp and he was pissed. He gave her a few punches before letting her go. The tigress didn't stand a chance. She limped back into the forest, her cub at her heals. Two other cubs joined them in their retreat. Garp got back up and walked back over to us.
"Are you alright?" He asked.
"We're fine. Thank you." I said to him before tending to Eddie and Rouge.
"Rouge, don't ever pick up a tiger cub again. Your lucky Eddie and Garp saved you. Eddie, good job on protecting your sister. That was crazy, you scared the hell out of me, but good job." I told him.
"I'll admit, that had to be one of the bravest things I've ever seen a child your age do. You're your father's son alright." Garp chuckled.
"What?" Eddie asked.
"I had a feeling you'd figure it out, Garp." I sighed.
"After all this time, who'd have thought Ace had a lover, the daughter of Captain Jack Seamore no less. Your father and great grandfather were some of Whitebeard's biggest rivals. Yet, here is his daughter mothering the children of Portgas D. Ace. Did your father find out about this?" Garp asked.
"No. We kept our relationship a secret from everyone, even our own relatives as you can see." I said.
"Yeah, well you're lucky no one back at HQ even thought Ace may have had a girlfriend or else they may have sent out a bounty for those two." He said.
"You're not going to turn me in, are you?" I asked him sarcastically.
"And kill my first great grandchildren?! You insult me!" He scoffed, sitting down on the picnic blanket I set down.
"Mom... Who was our daddy?" Rouge asked.
"We had a dad?" Eddie asked.
"You never told them?" Garp asked, surprised.
"I don't want them to go around telling everyone." I said.
"Well come here. I'll tell you all about him but, you must keep it a secret from everyone." Garp told them.
"Alright." they both said, hopping onto his knees.
He told them about how Ace was and the times he was raised her. Then he looked at me.
"Your mom knows more about his pirate life than I do." He said.
I sat across from Garp on the blanket. The twins looked at me expectantly.
"Well, your father was a notorious pirate. He was known as Fire Fist Ace because he had a devil fruit power that allowed him to control fire. He was at first, captain of the Spade Pirates. But one day, he went after Whitebeard's head some time after he had become captain of the Spade pirates. He fought Whitebeard and then, when Ace was on the brink of death, Whitebeard offered him to join his crew and become one of his sons. He refused but then he fell unconscious. When he woke up, he had already been considered part of the crew. He attempted to kill Whitebeard several time but then Marco convinced him to join. He accepted and became part of the crew, gaining Whitebeard's mark on his back. Whitebeard's real name was Edward Newgate, which is who you're named after, Eddie. He was a great captain and a good man. Ace was proud to call him his father. He accepted Ace as he was instead of how others had feared him." I said.
"Why did others fear dad?" Eddie asked.
"Because Ace was the son of the Pirate King, Gold Roger." I told him.
"Wow... That's kind of cool but does that mean people will fear me?" He asked.
"That's why I want you to keep everything we've told you a secret. People won't fear you if they don't find out." I told him.
"Me, too?" Rouge asked.
"You as well, Rouge. No one else can know who your daddy is unless I say it's okay." I told her.
Both of the twins frowned. I really hated to see them unhappy but I smiled.
"Hey, there are people in this world who will always care for you no matter what. I loved your daddy and so did Grandpa Garp and we always will." I said reassuringly.
Rouge smiled while Eddie still had a frown. She nudged him with her elbow.
"What?" He asked.
"Smile, darn ya, smile!" She said, grinning.
Garp and I laughed at her cuteness and Eddie cracked a grin. She can make anyone smile easily. She's the baby after all and even Eddie won't argue. He firmly believes that it's the job of the older brother to protect his other siblings... even if Rouge is technically a few minutes younger than him. They're actually born on a separate day: Eddie just a few minutes before midnight and Rouge a few minutes after midnight. It's nice to have a separate birthday for each of them.
"Mommy, how did you and daddy meet?" Rouge asked.
I smiled when she asked. The day I met Ace was quite memorable alright.
"My dad and Whitebeard were fighting. My cousin, Jeriko, and I were aboard her ship, The Red Albatross. We were alongside dad's ship, The Black Dragon. We were there to back him up when Ace used his Fire Fist, intending to blow up both our ships. I stopped it with my power to control water. However, Ace and the Whitebeard pirates were still too strong and both of our crews were tired from a run-in with marines. So I used my power to create a title wave and used it to hurl their ship away... But, that meant that I had to jump onto Whitebeard's ship." I told them.
"And then what?" Both of them asked at the same time, leaning in to hear more.
"Well, they didn't entirely know what to do with me. Whitebeard wouldn't allow them to kill me. So he left it up to Ace to take me back to land. However, on our way, we didn't get along too well at first. He was as wild as fire while I was as calm and steady as a river. Combining us only seemed to make hot water and that led to problems. He threatened my life several times. Maybe we would have gotten along better had I not been the daughter of Captain Jack and had I not have known he was of Whitebeard's crew. But we started off hating each other." I told them.
"So, exactly how did you concei-" Garp began.
"I'm getting to that but maybe not including that little detail though." I chuckled.
"What detail?" Eddie asked.
"You'll know when you're older. But anyway, our views of each other changed when we ran into Marines when he dropped me off. I walked away from him and I told him that I never wanted to see him again. A marine actually had your father cornered, a seastone handcuff was attached to his arm to keep him from using his power. I fought them off of him and they were forced to retreat. I freed Ace from the handcuffs... But it turned out that he got horribly injured. I helped him heal and then we had our first actual conversation." I told them, remembering that day.
Flashback...
Ace silently stared at me as I wordlessly healed the wound on his ribs. I won't be able to heal it all the way but, he'll live at least. He'll need to stay and have some rest but oddly enough, he's not even making a move to leave. He just stared at me, scanning me for something: a reason as to why I was helping him.
"You'll have to wait until that wound heals more. My power can only do so much." I told him.
"Why are you helping me." He asked.
I looked back at him, straight in the eyes.
"In truth, I never could hate anyone enough to let them die, even someone whose been giving me hell all this time." I said before walking out.
I laid on top of a hill that overlooked the entire island. The look he gave me was of surprise when I left. I know he probably stereotyped me, considering my father has been rumored to be cruel. He really isn't. The was one time he had to mercy kill a pregnant woman but she and her unborn fetus were skewered on a spear when he got to her. He was just said to have killed her with that spear and watched her bleed out. The government is willing to make up any kind of rumor to have some enemy killed. I never believe in any rumor or stereotype unless I saw it myself. My father, such a gentle giant, is rumored to be so... barbaric. I felt tears prick my eyes and then I heard the footsteps of Ace.
"Can I join you?" He asked.
"Sure." I said, fiddling with a necklace around my neck.
Ace has seen me nearly lose my life for this necklace. It had stones that represented the sea and sun: the blue sapphire for the sea and the fire sapphire for the sun. He figured it would be a good conversation piece.
"So... What's so important about that necklace?" He asked.
"It was my mom's." I told him.
"Oh..." He said.
"My daddy made it for her. The stones represent the sea and the sun." I told him.
"Sea and sun? What significance does that hold?" He asked.
"It's quite a childish story but its one my dad had always told to me before bed and his father before him. This story brought him and mom together." I told him.
"Really? What's it about?" He asked.
"Well... The sea was shunned by the sun because it would always take away it's water and turn it into steam. The sun hated the sea because it would reflect it's own glory and shine back at him with the same brightness. Only the moon, the sea's mother, would hide it with the cover of night long enough to for the sea to recover. However, the moon couldn't always be there for the sea. So one day, they got into a fight so horrible, that the sun evaporated the sea to only a puddle. This displeased the moon greatly and she shielded the earth away from the sun and everything else. The sun soon found that he had nothing to shine for, so his light faded little by little every day. The sea, as she recovered, never hated the sun and even missed his light. So, she begged the moon to move out of the way and eventually, she did but the sea only saw a tiny dot in the sky that was once the sun. It was barely bright enough to reflect off the sea's surface and enough for the sun himself to notice. He flickered a little brighter to see if it would scare the sea away but she stayed. Slowly, he glowed brighter and then brighter until he was finally back to his former glory, the sea never left all the while and from then on, the sea and sun were always in harmony. The sun even allowed it to rain so that the sea would never dry up. The moon still didn't forgive the sun however, and would stay hide on the other side of the sea that he wasn't on. He would also sometimes paint a rainbow in the sky of the most violent storms for the sea to admire. The only thing the sun wanted in return was for the sea to reflect him as a reminder that he always had someone who cared." I said.
He sat there in silence and finally sighed.
"So... Why does Whitebeard hate your father so much? Is the rumor about him true?" Ace asked.
"The one involving the pregnant noble woman?" I asked.
He nodded.
"He did what he could to heal her. Her own husband did that to her because the child wasn't his but, no matter what my dad did, he couldn't heal her. She begged him to kill her... so he did. He caused a blood vain to rupture in her brain, making her death quick and without any further pain. Her husband blamed it on my father so that he would be sitting pretty while my dad took the fall for his actions. My dad simply shrugged it off. I guess it only matters as long as I know who he really is." I said.
Ace frowned, obviously feeling horrible now.
"Hey, you're really one to judge on someone's lineage, son of Roger. Didn't old Whitebeard teach you any better?" I chuckled lightheartedly.
"Oh shut up... and who told you that?" He asked.
"It's no secret, Ace." I told him.
"Yeah, you're right." He sighed.
We stared up at the night sky and talked. I've never laughed so much in my life.
"One day, it was time for Ace to leave but, he couldn't leave me, so we went on adventures together. We did a good job of keeping a low profile. Eventually, our feelings grew until we became lovers. Only Whitebeard and Jeriko knew about our relationship. Both of them promised to keep it a secret to their graves. I remember the day I found out I was pregnant with you two. It meant that my journeys were at an end but, it meant a new journey was just beginning." I told them.
"How did dad react?" Eddie asked.
"I bet he flipped." Garp laughed.
"Well..." I began.
I waited in the cabin nervously until Ace finally came back in. He had been away for only a few weeks.
"Hey, beautiful." He said before kissing my cheek.
Then he noticed that I was nervous.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
I didn't know how he'd react. He always talked about how his childhood and his lineage. Would he be upset because we'd have to worry about hiding the child? He seemed to think I had horrible news but I smiled at him. Ready or not, here it goes.
"I'm pregnant." I said.
I scanned his face for anything to indicate that he was upset in any possible way. He was shocked but then he hugged me with a smile. I was relieved that he wasn't upset or anything. We talked about the baby (we didn't know I was having twins at the time) and what we should do.
"I'm definitely going to have to hide you." He said.
"Does that me you won't see me a lot?" I asked him, making a pouty face.
"No. I'll visit whenever I can, it's just that I'll have to hide you better than my father hid the One Piece." He said.
"Oh great, now I'm going to be buried treasure." I chuckled.
"What good is treasure if you can't occasionally tap into it? Besides, you mean the world to me, I'm just trying to keep you safe." He said.
"I know. I knew the moment I kissed you." I told him.
"I will always keep you safe, Morgan." He told me.
I smiled at him.
"I know you will." I said.
"I love you." He said.
"I love you, too." I told him.
"How romantic." Rouge sighed.
"Tch! It was kind of sappy if you ask me." Eddie said.
Garp just smiled.
"I guess the responsibility of protecting you is up to me." He said with a grin.
"Garp, you don't have to-" I began.
"I insist, Morgan. You're family now." He said.
I was touched that I already seem to have his approval.
"Thank you." I said to him.
"Can we eat now?" Eddie asked.
"Yeah. Would you like a sandwich, Garp?" I asked him.
"Sure." he said.
We spent the afternoon talking while the twins played. The tigress and her cubs came back but this time, she tolerated my kids playing with them and she just sat in the shade, keeping an eye on them. However, I knew that the secret of their lineage would one day come out... but it came out a little too soon when I saw someone coming. It was Makino and she had what looked like a wanted poster. Tears streamed down her face as she handed me the poster. My heart stopped when I saw it. There, on the front of it, were my children, twenty-five thousand beri a head.
Cliff Hanger to kick off the new Morgan series! Here we go!