No one is sure how or when or even why it happened, but over the years, Dogra has somehow become the unofficial news bearer of the Dadan family. Maybe it's because he had been the one to tell them of Sabo's accident all those years ago, or maybe it's because he's the one that always manages to somehow get hold of the news coo first.
Dogra had been the one to bring news of Luffy's first bounty (which had ended up being Dadan's first entry in the scrapbook she'd made for her youngest foster son).
And he had been the one to come in, hiccupping and sobbing, hands nearly crushing the newspaper that told of Ace's untimely death.
He had run into the headquarters, eyes sparkling with joy after the Strawhats' comeback.
And he had clutched two copies of one newspaper with white knuckles, breathless with awe and excitement, after the events in Dressrosa, and Sabo's miraculous revival. Even in his extreme joy, his incredible foresight had allowed Dadan to update Luffy's scrapbook with one copy of the newspaper article about the fall of Doflamingo, while the other copy had become the first entry in Sabo's brand new scrapbook, the final book in the ASL trilogy they had always thought would remain incomplete.
Over the years, Dogra has reliably kept the bandits updated on all their three youngest members' adventures, so when he bursts into their headquarters one morning, out of breath and clutching a newspaper to his chest, all heads immediately turn to him.
When he doesn't immediately say anything, standing speechless in the doorway for a minute, all the bandits know it must be huge news, something game-changing. They search his face, looking for clues as to the nature of the information. He looks utterly dumbstruck, which could be just as easily mean amazing news, as it could mean horribly world-ending news.
But his eyes look suddenly glossy, and then big, fat tears roll down his cheeks, and everyone feels their hearts stop, the air growing cold with dread.
"Okashira…" he whispers, looking straight at Dadan. "Luffy…"
The name is barely more than a whisper of breath, but everyone hears it, and they all flinch away, recoiling from the thought of something happening to their youngest brat. Losing Ace had been hard enough; they can't go through it again with Luffy. They just can't.
"No…" Dadan whispers to herself like a prayer, lumbering to her feet and making a grab for the newspaper in Dogra's hand, detesting what she knows she'll see there.
Her eyes land on a sunny smile, beaming out frojm the page, and it takes her a minute to process the words in front of her, so vastly different from what she had expected.
"I can't believe it," she chokes out in a strangled voice that the others misinterpret as grief, and clutches the newspaper to her chest, sobbing.
By the time Magra gets the newspaper out of Dadan's grip so he can see the news with his own eyes, he and the rest of the Dadan Family are grieving, convinced that the absolute worst has happened.
But then Magra sees the headline, and he blinks in incomprehension for a few moments.
Then, the words process, and he stumbles back a few steps, eyes widened in shock.
"NO WAY!" he yells, heart full to bursting with joy. He turns to his needlessly grieving family, an ecstatic smile on his face, and they stare back at him in confusion.
In a voice loud enough so that everyone can hear, he reads out the newspaper headline, clearing up the misunderstanding as his eyes fill with tears of joy.
"STRAW HAT LUFFY BECOMES PIRATE KING!"
SkyGem: The end! What did you guys think? You like? Please do leave a review and let me know what you thought, yeah? And cast your votes on who you want to see next chapter! Makino, Nojiko, the Marines, and Garp are all tied for next chapter with 2 votes each! You can vote for as many characters as you want per chapter, and if the one you voted for last chapter hasn't been featured yet, you can vote for them again.