A/N: I do not own One Piece.

A/N: English is not my first language.

Even in her half asleep state, she already knew laughter what had woken her up. Female laughter was what almost shook her fully awake, having her eyes getting used to the mostly dark room and the idea of being up before the breakfast was set on the small table or even before they lights were lit for the day. It was unknown female laughter what had her frowning the second she realized those weren't the maid's voices, nor of someone she knew, and that list was strictly limited to the few he decided to let near her room. It was fiercely guarded, equally fiercely followed, almost as intensely as the rule he had always repeated to her in between studying seasons and lunches, the only rule she had always known.

"Don't open the window, and if I'm not with you, you don't get open the door"

It wasn't something she had understood, barely after she somehow grasped the concept of 'rules' once reading became a must and an everyday teaching. And to be fair, she had not asked about it either.

By the time laughter could be heard once more, this time louder than previously, mixed with the voice of a man that she did know very well, she was already gripping on the grey, old and close to rusty knob. It was the confirmation of his presence what made her blink more than once and turn the thing around without as much as pausing to confirm she had done it properly, pulling the door open with silent steps, revealing the cold and empty hallway that separated her door from the few others on that last floor. It was automatic, really, to listen to his voice and just walk towards the sound- If she concentrated enough, it always reminded her of a figure stretching its arms in her direction, but before she could determinate whenever it was someone she knew or not, it quickly changed to his image and crunched figure.

The floor always was big enough to had her freeze for a second, unfamiliar although it was at the other side of the door she always watched, and the stairs always were distant enough to not tempt her into walking them down. It was easy to concentrate on the sound that, if possible, grew louder and louder until she stood in front of another wooden door she had maybe seen opened once or twice before being lifted and taken back. Once again, it was her turn to get up on tip toes to reach the ever so high knob, smiling despite her confusion when she was able to turn it successfully.

When the door was half open and she could take a peek inside the smile disappeared completely, already bothered by how loud the noise was.

He was sitting in a chair that looked a lot like the ones in the part of her room dedicated to toys and picture books, holding a glass that was full of some red liquid she wasn't particularly interested in, a large grin on his face. Around him were many women wearing dresses that did not look like the ones she was told to wear, although some looked like the ones the maids did use, all of them shorter than anything she had seen before. It looked even shorter on the woman sitting on his lap, the same place she was to sit when he stroke her hair, but even knowing it was the same place and the same person and the same sunglasses, the girl somehow understood what she was seeing was completely different from her own situation.

A small but already important part of her mind, five years old or not, already knew those short dresses and loud laughter and large earrings were the reason the maids weren't to leave her alone after lunch. It was an instinct thing, also in the way her stomach twisted uncomfortably, to the point of being upsetting.

Doflamingo looked away from the great sight in front of him once he pulled the glass of wine away from his lips, licking the trail of alcohol left by the drink, catching the black highlights of short hair by the door once it caught the light of the candles lit inside the room, and he frowned. When he realized he was found in a situation that could maybe not very well be understood by a kid –or maybe perfectly comprehended- she leaned forward while pushing away with one hand the body sitting on his lap, mouth opening to call out her name, but before she could say a thing the door was closed once more.

"What did you do now?" Later that day, when Vergo came in to talk over a few details that needed to be taken care of before he parted and the girl had hugged his leg in the same manner a baby monkey would to its mother's back, it was easy to notice Doflamingo's frown as he watched them both with arms crossed over his chest. It took Vergo one minute to take in the pile of books thrown at his feet and the sour look on his face to know that something had happened, and to see Yue ignore the blonde captain as she resumed playing with a stuffed animal, very much giving him the cold shoulder, was certainly illuminating.

"She caught me cheating on her" Was the mumbled answer as another course of action was being considered "And now she doesn't want to talk to me"

With completely impassive face, Vergo had said something that made perfect sense at the moment, and in theory it should have been something accurate enough for it to work. To overcome that little problem wasn't a necessity, but as the source of distraction and amusement that could very much resemble an adopted puppy, Doflamingo actually considered Vergo's words "She's a kid, she will forget about it soon enough"

She didn't speak to him for almost a month.

If you had asked the newly ranked Executives, it would have been said the captain only was in a particularly bad mood, his consistent frown being more than enough proof of it, so word spread and no one was to ask about it until it went away by itself- As Executives they were bound to find out the truth sooner or later, probably testing what they thought they knew, but as of now it was something not enough Trebol was in mood to go around talking about. So Doflamingo resorted to a merciless move, and without any kind of moral he practically shook the tear shaped red gem in front of the girl's eyes, after she was dragged to sit on his lap.

"You like it? You think it's pretty?" As any other child was bound to do, she was upset due to how suddenly she had been taken away from her picture book, but the red thing caught her attention for a moment, realizing the color was actually quite a lot like her own eyes. It took her a second, or maybe two, before she looked at the man's face for the first time in what seemed long, making him smile mischievously as she nodded, almost reluctantly glancing at said object every few seconds "Then it's yours"

The pirate reached for one of her small hands, which really weren't even half of one of his, maybe the size of his middle finger, and left the jewel on top of her open palm. It didn't take long for her to look at it, examining the thing with big curious eyes, lifting it by its chain to have a better look at the color that change of shades whenever she moved it. After a few seconds, hesitantly, she looked at him again.

"Really?" A maniac laughter almost drowned her small voice, since it was the first time in weeks she had actually addressed him instead of asking her care takers to do it, as he lowered his hand to stroke her black hair, amusement written all over his face.

"Really" He nodded.

"Why?"

"Why not?" He made face on purpose, removing the chain from her hands to pass it over her head until it hung from her neck- She still was small enough to do that, probably would be for a couple years more. The man assumed that after what didn't seem like long, in the near future, he wouldn't be able to do it anymore "After all you've always been a good girl" He smirked sideways "My good girl"

"Are you sure about that?"

At night, when the candles were lit and faint rain could be heard from the openings between the ceiling and the wall and through the only window hovering over a tall shelf, the man sat on one of the chairs of her room while the girl had been left sleeping soundly, holding onto the feathers of his coat as he went through some papers when Vergo walked through the door, pausing for a moment before asking.

"Why do you ask?" Doflamingo raised an eyebrow at him without as move as lowering the papers.

"That's one of the few family jewels you managed to get back, right?"

"So what?" Doflamingo laughed, but even though it was loud, the kid didn't wake up "Even when my little brother finally finds his way back to me, I doubt he'll think of this as important. I'm not going to use it. And she likes it" The grin, if possible, grew in size as he not so gently tapped the top of the little head, but there was nothing besides a small movement of her legs as a response to it. Doflamingo threw him the clipped papers on his hand, already signed and properly organized, and snickered again when Vergo predictably caught it without moving from his place, the spaghetti on his cheek barely swinging "If she keeps on thinking that what I can give her is prettier than the things she can see outside this room, then she won't want to leave. I decided she won't go out anymore, so its best if she starts on believing it's natural to just stay here- Maybe once you come back from the Marines for good, I'll think about it. Maybe"

The other man just shook his head, sighing almost imperceptibly.