A/N: Obviously, there's no real explanation for Don Patch's reasons for dressing as a woman so often, and I only thought of this as an interesting, yet sad, theory. Also, Beauty X Don Patch.
In a forest around the Maruhage/Hair Kingdom...
It was almost midnight when Beauty awoke to the sound of someone playing a guitar. Sitting up, Beauty looked around the inside of the small tent, and realized that everyone was fast asleep...except Don Patch's sleeping bag was empty. Normally, Beauty would have paid this no mind and have gone right back to sleep. However, since that guitar sound was probably coming from Don Patch, and it was keeping her awake, she had no choice but to go and stop it.
Sneaking out of the tent quietly, Beauty yawned and slowly followed the sound of the guitar, which grew louder and louder as she approached its origins. Soon, after pushing away a few bushes, Beauty found herself standing before the edge of a lake, and Don Patch was sitting on the sandy shore, playing a small guitar.
Beauty was about to run over and give him a good kick for waking her with his stupid guitar, but then Don Patch stared to sing, his sight directed up at the shimmering moon above:
Love lost,
Love gone,
Never to be seen again,
She said she cared, she said she wanted me to know,
How much she loved me, before she went away,
And I was left all alone, a broken shell, a broken man,
Love lost,
Love gone,
Never to be seen again,
Your face will be forever etched into my mind,
For I could never forget a face as sweet as yours,
You meant the world to me...and still do,
Love lost,
Love gone,
Never to be seen again...
Beauty had tears in her eyes by the time Don Patch finished singing. She had never heard him sing so well...or sound so sad. She wanted to just run over there right now, and give him a great big hug, if that could mend his broken heart. And that's exactly what she did.
"...Beauty?" Don Patch didn't seem surprised by her presence, nor did he seem angry at her like he usually was. In fact, he seemed...glad that she was here.
Removing her arms from around his body, Beauty blushed slightly as she said, "I'm sorry, Don Patch, it's just...I heard you playing the guitar, and I decided to check it out, and then I heard your song, and I...and I...it was really beautiful..."
"You think so?" Don Patch asked with a small smirk, "I'm still working on it. I've been working on it every night since I joined you guys. Usually I go really far away and practice so not to disturb anyone, but this lake...it's just so beautiful, and the moon reflects so magnificently off the surface, so I couldn't help but play here...so I'm sorry that I woke you."
Beauty shook her head. "It's okay. So...does that song have any special meaning? Or is it just something you wrote up?"
"It's...for my wife." Don Patch replied, and the night air became a few degrees colder.
"Your wife?" Beauty exclaimed, "You had a wife? I never knew..."
"Hmm...I sure did. Remember the Lil' Patches?"
"Yeah."
"They're my kids. All of them. Without a mother OR a father there to teach them the world."
"...Even that guy in the coat and hat?" Beauty asked.
Don Patch shook his head and muttered, "Of course not. He's just a family friend who owes me, so he watches over the kids for me."
Beauty thought for a while, thinking about everything she'd just heard. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but...what happened to her?"
Don Patch sighed. "She died of cancer a few years ago. We met in high school; she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. And she was the most kind. She was sweet and loving; she had room in her heart for every single one of our kids. It was after giving birth to our latest child that we learned she had a rare type of cancer, and there was no cure for it. Yet...she accepted her fate, and lived every day like normal. I figured she'd eventually crack under the pressure...but she never did. She never told the kids, even as she laid in the hospital bed at her final moments. Her last words were...that she'd always love me."
Don Patch gripped his hands together and held them in front of his face, but it couldn't stop Beauty from seeing the tears roll down his face.
"I'm...I'm so sorry, Don Patch..." Beauty said, struggling not to cry as well.
"After she died, I thought I'd go mad," Don Patch continued, "I started seeing things...hearing things...saying things. I realized I might be a danger to the children, so I asked my buddy, that guy with the coat, to take care of them. I eventually delved into the secret world of being a Wiggin' Specialist, if only to get my mind off the pain and emotional sorrow. I learned to hide my true emotions well, so as not to hamper any missions or fights I am apart of. My desire to see my wife again became strong that I even started...acting like her..."
"So...when you dress up as a woman...?"
"Yes. I don't act exactly like her, since no one could ever reenact the way she spoke, and thought, and loved and lived. It's also why I have Ya-ya around, to be like her. I just miss her so, so much...my life, my sanity, my freedom all came apart the moment she let loose her final breath...I want to write a song for her, to show how much she means to me, and how much it hurts that she's gone...maybe that could help free me from this curse I've put upon myself...and now you know my secret, Beauty."
Beauty couldn't help but wrap her arms around Don Patch again. "You poor, poor orange candy thing," she whispered, "I never knew...you suffered so much..."
Don Patch wrapped his own arms around Beauty and replied, "Beauty...you know, in some ways, you're alot like her...I love you, Beauty..."
Beauty couldn't help but smile at that. "I love you too, Don Patch..."