I hope you all had a better couple of months than I did after I last updated. Things have been busy at work and my father died very suddenly, far younger than any of us ever expected. So as you can imagine things have been pretty shitty for me, and my motivation to write has only just started to recover.
I am glad I had already written most of this chapter beforehand, otherwise it would have been an even longer wait.
Enjoy!
With a yell, the three boys lunged forward. Ace and Luffy with their pipes, Sabo with a crooked metal pole he pulled from between the waste around him.
Bluejam grinned nastily, and raised his gun. Around him, his men brandished their weapons, ugly sneers on their faces.
Pure menace fell like a lead blanket over them all. A threat that called to the hindbrain of every living person present. Waking the part that still remembered being nothing but a strange monkey, hearing the tiger roar just a foot away and realizing you were stuck on the ground and would never win the foot race to the tree. A menace that reached the heart of that ancient part of all of them that told them Death itself was among them. All of it focused onto a single, undeniable command;
HALT.
It echoed through every nerve, down every spine. Screamed at all the ancient monkey parts that disobedience was death. Natural selection was here to do its job and movement would be dancing on your chair with your hand raised shouting 'pick me!'
HALT. DON'T MOVE.
Every single person froze. It was as if the world itself screeched to a standstill.
Even the rats scurrying in the garbage were abruptly silent. Even the flies dropped out of the air in their haste to stop their buzzing. Sabo felt his heart miss a beat, two, and shook. Every muscle in his body had locked in frozen terror. His breathing was suddenly fast and quick and instinctively as silent as he could make it. Their opponents were worse off; some looked like they were too scared to even breathe, while others had collapsed with eyes rolled up and foaming at the mouth. Bluejam himself stood still as a statue, for the first time fully focused on someone other than Sabo and his brothers. His face had gone white as chalk.
"I have had quite enough of this."
It was said calmly, almost conversationally, but it was edged with tension, like a last nerve about to snap. Underneath, the command still sang.
HALT. DON'T MOVE.
Sabo's own instincts sang with it, like leaves rattling along with the whistling of the wind. Like the monkey sitting very still and quiet in the short grass, hoping against every bit of common sense that by some miracle the tiger hadn't noticed him.
HALT. DON'T MOVE.
Here is a predator unlike all others. Disobedience is death.
Don't move. Don't breathe. Don't piss her off.
"W-witchc-craft…" one of the least affected ones stuttered with terrified reverence, eyes wide and face ashen, like a monkey that just couldn't stop himself from letting out a tiny little squeak of fear.
"Witchcraft? That's not very original of you."
Haltingly, feeling as if his neck had turned into a rusted and useless hinge, Sabo turned his head. Ace's mom was looking at Bluejam and his gang with an expression that made the hairs on the back of his neck jump to frightened attention. Her lips were curved in a facsimile of a smile.
Sabo shivered. Outwardly it appeared to be a perfectly nice smile, yet despite the frosty friendliness in it, threat hung around her like a dark storm cloud, choking and heavy. An invisible pressure that heralded devastation. Like standing next to a perfectly normal tree when you knew, down to your bones, that lightning was going to strike it in a second.
She stood like a queen among peasants, utterly assured that none would are lift a finger without her command. The first twilight oranges painted the sky and their surroundings, gilding her strawberry-blonde hair with ruby-gold. She loomed like a giant, like certain doom. Stood tall and sure and unmovable as a mountain. Looked at the junkyard pirates like a goddess of the sea might at a dishevelled ship that had haplessly sailed into her storm. No mercy was to be found in her eyes.
Don't move. Don't move.
Bluejam was feeling the threat too but rallied himself, which might be the most impressive thing he had ever done in his life. It was the most stupid too.
"Who the hell are you?!" he cried out. His gun was shaking as he shifted the target from Ace to the bigger threat that had presented herself.
"I am Portgas D Rouge. Ace's mother."
Each and every thug's face took on the sickly shade of curdled milk. Part of Sabo felt a warm rush of satisfaction at that. His brother's name was well known. His strength too. And with all of them caught in whatever web Mrs Rouge had spun, it was obvious who had the upper hand here.
Vaguely, he felt a little smug that he knew her name now, and he didn't even have to ask. But that was a tiny part of him desperately looking for a shred of normality.
In the silence, Ace's mother stepped forward and drew with her knife a single black line in the air.
For a moment, the world held its breath. Then, silent like a sigh, every weapon fell to pieces, cut so cleanly as if they were made already bisected. The sliced-off parts landed with dull thumps on the packed trash beneath their feet. The sound echoed louder than thunder in a bare mountain valley.
The pirates and thugs screamed in panic.
Sabo and his brothers stared.
Okay, Sabo thought shakily. Okay. He had known Ace's mother had weird powers. Had seen it in his father's office. Was feeling it even now. But that was on a whole other level.
This… this was like the legends of the power of the Pirate King himself.
For the first time since meeting the woman, he actually considered what it meant, that she used to be the Pirate King's wife.
Fear ran cold prickly fingers over his spine at the casual display of power.
It was the last straw for Bluejam's men. Their knees hit the ground in echo of their broken weapons. They put up their empty hands, each of them trembling like a reed. "M-mercy," the bravest one croaked.
Around Mrs Rouge the sense of threat intensified to the point that Sabo had a hard time breathing. Bluejam, who was getting the full brunt, was sweating like a pig and getting somehow increasingly pale, despite the already ghostly shade he sported before. Any more and he would simply fade away into nothingness.
"Mercy? After you raised your weapons against my sons? My own children?" Mrs Rouge walked forward calmly, as if she was taking a stroll in a garden instead of approaching the pirates that had been the unopposed rulers of the trash heaps since the day they landed on Dawn's shores. Like the unhurried tread of a tigress, knowing her prey knew they were already caught. The knife – a double-edged dagger, Sabo saw – was more threatening in her hand than the biggest gun in existence.
"P-please…"
"Give me one good reason," Mrs Rouge said softly, "Why I shouldn't gut you like the pigs you are right now."
The pirate's Adam's apple bobbed. "We'll… we'll leave," the man promised desperately. "We'll leave and won't bother you or your boys anymore. We'll even pay you, just, please, h-have mercy, we don't wanna die…"
"RAAAH!" All attention snapped to Bluejam, who apparently had lost the last of his marbles, if the wild, maniacal look in his eyes was any indication. He pulled a large dagger from his belt and stormed at Ace's mom with the single-mindedness of an enraged bull. "TO HELL WITH YOU, WENCH! I DON'T FLEE FOR NO WOMAN!"
"Then die," Mrs Rouge said dispassionately, stepping forward to meet him.
Her dagger met his. His sprung apart in two pieces. Hers continued, trailing black like a dark comet.
There was the sound of a short but sharp rain shower.
This time, the thumps were a lot weightier.
Sabo hastily looked away and yanked Luffy and Ace around too for good measure. They went easily, just as much in shock as he was.
They had killed and gutted prey often enough, witnessed murders and muggings plenty of times here in the Terminal. But this felt different.
This time, it wasn't just any dumb animal, and it wasn't just any normal sort of killing. He wasn't sure if he wanted to see what her black cutting attack did to a human body.
He focused instead on Bluejam's crew. Most were praying desperately for salvation, crying and watching Mrs Rouge as if the sea itself had risen up to swallow them whole.
Mrs Rouge looked them as if they were less significant than worms. "Leave this island," she commanded, and her voice brooked not even the thought of argument. The command was echoed by the air itself, like thunder after lightning. "Never return. And if you ever bring trouble to me or my children again, I will personally come to carve out your worthless rotten tongues and feed your corpses to the sea. Now get out of my sight before I change my mind!"
LEAVE. NEVER RETURN.
"And take your trash with you!" she shouted after them as the first made a break for it faster than Sabo had ever seen anyone run. The ones who had been slower to rise hastily grabbed their downed comrades and fled too. Two even had the presence of mind to pick up the remains of Bluejam.
Within mere seconds, all that was left of the confrontation were broken weapons and the fresh red stains on the ground.
Sabo was left unable to do anything but stare.
Mrs Rouge huffed. The sound was so normal Sabo heard himself let out a somewhat hysterical giggle. He immediately yanked himself back under control and breathed in deeply. He slowly let the breath he'd been holding escape, the way he had learned to do whenever he desperately needed to calm himself down, and was relieved to feel some of the tension in his body dissipate. He still couldn't take his eyes off her. He could almost see it when she let her strange power go. She went from toweringly tall and as impossible to resist as the ocean itself to a normal ordinary woman again, even though there were not visible changes. The looming air that whispered threatthreatthreat to every single hair he had at the back of his neck finally eased.
"There," Mrs Rouge said with satisfaction as she sheathed her dagger again. "Those shouldn't be a problem anymore."
Beside him, Sabo felt his brothers stir. Ace let out a huff not unlike his mother before, and swung his pipe a few times as if he was trying to shake his arms loose, or maybe was imagining a few thuggish faces as targets. Sabo knew that nonchalance was more a front than anything, an attempt to claw back control the way his own careful breaths were. On his other side, he could feel Luffy's excitement rise like a balloon now the unnatural pressure was gone.
Sabo himself didn't stop his silent, wide-eyed staring.
Mrs Rouge's brow furrowed a little. "Sabo?"
"Teach me how to do that," Sabo breathed.
For the first time, Mrs Rouge laughed out loud. The sound was nothing like Sabo's own mother's awful tittering. This was kinder. Heartier. Happier. A bit like Makino and a bit like Luffy, but mostly like Ace in the rare moments his brother fully relaxed and let himself be.
It rang like bells in the fading silence, like a brook starting up again after a long drought. Involuntarily, his spine and shoulders loosened.
Sabo suddenly choked a little as some of her words belatedly registered. "Wait. Did you call all of us your children?!"
Mrs Rouge startled a little and gave him an assessing look. Fascinated, he saw spots of pink appear on her cheeks. She straightened and gave him a challenging look, arms folded over each other in a stance that was startling reminiscent of his brother's more stubborn moods. "Ace claims you as his brothers. That makes you my sons as well," she declared, as if it should have been obvious.
Sabo gaped at her.
Ace did too.
The only one who did not was Luffy. He just nodded as if that made perfect sense to him, looking delighted as he did so. "That's so cool, I've never had a mom before!" he exclaimed, cannonballing into her arms.
Mrs Rouge laughed again and caught him as if he weighted no more than the baby rodents Sabo occasionally found amidst the trash. "I'm glad that makes you happy, Luffy. I hope I'll be a good mom to you three."
She got a bright shishishi in return.
Ace fidgeted. Sabo almost wanted to laugh, because Ace looked part as if he'd been slapped with a fish, and part envious of Luffy's easy affection. Though whether he was jealous of his mother or his little brother Sabo couldn't guess. It was a pity he was still too stunned by that declaration himself. He wasn't sure how he felt about it.
It was… it was a lot to process, especially because Mrs Rouge claimed him too, even though he already had a mother! And sure, Mrs Rouge already had proven to be better than his own parents. And sure, she couldn't be worse than Dadan, and the old hag was pretty okay for all that she shouted at them a lot…
But he wasn't sure he actually wanted a real mom again. It felt somewhat insulting, to be asked to depend on a stranger when they did perfectly well on their own. Dadan and the bandits barely helped them and they were fine. Couldn't she be like Miss Makino and just give them some stuff? That would be so much easier to deal with.
He hadn't forgotten that by law, he was hers to do with as she pleased. He didn't know the details of the contract, but he knew that much at least. And she would be a lot harder to get away from than his own parents, that much was obvious.
He carefully didn't look at Bluejam's bloodstains. But he couldn't unsee his memories.
Yeah, he thought. If Mrs Rouge turned out worse than his own parents, they really would be in trouble.
And Sabo didn't even know the exact terms of his supposed apprenticeship yet.
Right now Mrs Rouge's own copy was neatly tucked away in her bag, but Sabo resolved to steal and read it at the earliest opportunity. He wanted to know exactly what his father agreed to in regards to him.
But he couldn't ask that.
"Are you sure they won't cause trouble anymore?" Sabo asked Mrs Rouge in lieu of anything better to say. He really wanted to believe her after this display, but… "What if they tell my father? Or other pirates?"
"And admit they were terrified of a single woman with three kids?" Mrs Rouge said with a smile. "I don't think their pride would bear it. At worst they will twist the story so much to preserve their pride that no one will be able to recognize us from it. And even if one of them does talk with Outlook, there is not much they can do. The contract with Outlook is airtight and if someone tries to charge me with neglect I would challenge them to ask around. They can probably come up with a good collection of all the unusual things I've done for a profit without much difficulty. As any merchant would tell him: if he doesn't like my methods he should have done more research before signing. So don't worry. I won't let him force you back again."
She hoisted the still clinging Luffy upon her hip and held out her free hand at Ace and Sabo.
"Come now. Daylight won't last forever, and we still have a way to go before we can sit down."
For lack of other options, Sabo followed his brothers' example silently. But he made sure to keep a sharp eye on her.
XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX
Ace walked along with his mom in a daze, one hand clutched in hers, his other tight around Sabo's hand. It didn't even occur to him that they might make a childish picture.
It was… it was really happening, wasn't it? They got Sabo back. They got Sabo back from his father and even Bluejam hadn't been able to take him away again. The big pirate and his crew had lost the moment his mom stepped in. Before the noon tomorrow, everyone in Grey Terminal will have heard. No one sane was gonna try to steal Sabo from them again.
They were taking Sabo home.
It felt unreal. Ace's whole self shivered at the thought that it might be, and he quickly pushed it away.
Ace hadn't believed his mom when she said she could get Sabo back, and hadn't been able to take her seriously when she said there wasn't anyone who could steal Sabo from them by force. But after this, after his mom defeated Bluejam's entire gang without breaking a sweat, he could believe it. He could believe Sabo was really back, and no one would take him away again.
He hadn't thought his mom could do it, but she had.
And it had been so… so easy. So easy for her, when Ace and Luffy had struggled and struggled and all they had accomplished was nearly getting shot.
Something very much like envy sat hot and heavy in his gut, but Ace tried his best to shove it aside. It was his mom. She had promised to each them her tricks, so it was alright, it was fine that Ace hadn't been able to get Sabo back himself. Once he had learned his mom's tricks he would be able to beat the nobles himself.
Ace could cry, he was so happy.
Mostly though, he just felt exhausted. His head too full. His body heavy in ways it shouldn't be, even after a few nights of bad sleep. It wasn't like they'd had to fight really hard today, so why was he so tired?
It was hard to think right now, but he had his mom and his brothers, and their hands were steady in his, gently pulling him along. So he didn't bother trying to think and just let his mom take the lead.
XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX
Rouge guided her boys through the forest, and tried not let her heart rule her actions.
Rouge felt them slip through her fingers, sure as sand from the beach. With their brother safe and evening falling, she knew that the children's first impulse would be to return to whatever place they usually stayed the night. And that, that was something that made her heart clench. She knew herself, and from the short time she had spent with Ace, she had the feeling he had inherited more from her than just her freckles.
She'd always disliked confrontations with people she loved. She did it, but it had taken time and some harsh lessons to learn to stop putting them off. Ace… if she wasn't careful, he might run from her and not come back. Who knew how long it would take before he stopped avoiding her? Who knew how his doubts and insecurities would twist his thoughts on her if left alone? Now she had him she didn't want to let him go. Her boy was so hurt and unsure, she wanted to hold him and keep him near, not wait for him to come back to her without knowing if he ever would. What if he was happy already where he was? He might never feel the need to seek her out again. She didn't know what his life was like beyond the bare bones he had given her, but her heart clenched at the thought of letting him leave regardless.
It didn't help that she had come to love the other two as well.
Luffy, who had all the brightness and optimism Ace sorely needed in his life. Whose love for his older brothers was the definition of unconditional. Whose carefree smile and cheery thirst for adventures reminded her of her own beloved. Whose easy trust had left him snoring on her shoulder, as if she had carried him like this a hundred times before.
And Sabo, who was wary as a street cat but so obviously cared about Ace despite his own hurts that Rouge had to resist hugging him. The way Ace clung to the blond boy made clear that Sabo was his most trusted confidant and his staunchest support. The young blond had all the caution towards her that Luffy was incapable of and Ace couldn't muster with his own emotional state being what it was right now. The set of his shoulders and the faint frown between his eyebrows told her louder than anything that he was watching her for the slightest hint of ill intent, as reliably and carefully as a seasoned first mate would watch the back of his captain.
The three of them together were incredibly endearing and Rouge was glad Ace had found such perfect brothers for himself. Even now, stumbling with tiredness as they were, the love these three shared shone bright like a beacon.
Rouge knew that if Roger and she had ever been able to have more children, she would have wanted them to be like Sabo and Luffy. In her mind, she could hear her beloved laugh with glee at the prospect of stealing them for their own.
She prayed she would be able to make that fantasy a reality.
They had taken the jungle trails instead of the Main Road to discourage pursuers. None seemed to follow them. Still, Rouge preferred not to wait around and find out if her feelings were right, and was steadily marching home. But she knew from the way the boys observed their surroundings that this area was far more familiar to them than the Road. And each step reminded them of their own home.
Rouge resisted the urge to pick all three of them up and run all the way back to her cottage. It was irrational and it would only damage the fragile trust between them. But it was hard. So hard.
And became even harder when Sabo suddenly halted.
Ace halted with him. Rouge glanced back at the blond boy. Sabo had paused at the split in the trail they just passed, as if expecting them to veer off into the forest. From the look on his face, he fully expected each of them to go their own way here. Ace hesitated as well, uncertain about following her, instead of going home to wherever they usually went. His gaze oscillated between them in indecision.
Rouge glanced at the path splitting off from the trail they had been following. It was the kind mostly used by deer, or, in this case it seemed, by young boys. It was leading further up the mountain, and away from both Goa and her home.
The two boys were sharing looks that filled her with dread.
Rouge's hand had tightened on Ace's before she realized it. Looking into her son's eyes, she couldn't for the life of her make her fingers relax. Because his look- oh, she hated that look. So uncertain and unsure. Shy and hesitant and so full of doubt. She wanted to wrap him up and hold him close so bad it hurt. He was hers and hurting and if she let go, would she ever see him again? She didn't dare risk him running. Didn't dare risk him avoiding her, when things between them were still so very fragile.
She was frightening, she knew. So powerful compared to them. Her Will so much greater and more practiced, even though it was rusty from a decade of inactivity.
It frightened herself a little too. Ten years, and it had been so very long since she wanted something as much as this, as much as Ace and his brothers. So long since her desires were so strong, pulsing like the heart of a volcano within her, like waves beating on the shore. It was a blaze where for ten years had only rested cold ashes, and the heat was pressing against her insides like a living thing.
There was a dragon in her heart, and for the first time in a decade it was awake. It was a great and terrible beast, whose fire burned down a dozen cities with one breath, and levelled mountains with a sweep of its mighty tail, and it's wings were a storm on themselves. She had almost forgotten what it was like, to have that great hunger yawning around her heart, to have those claws try to reach through her chest for that which she desired, to have those wings beat up winds till it felt like she could soar from the pressure billowing against her chest. It was awake, her Will, and it was wholly focused on these three boys. Her boys, for her heart had already claimed them, and her longing was far too strong to ever deny her desire.
She feared that if she let go everything she had gained in these far too short hours would slip between her fingers and leave her cold and broken and bereft once more. The draconic greed in her twisted and fought against the mere thought of that happening.
She couldn't. She couldn't. If Ace wanted loose of her, he had to pull himself loose.
But she wasn't going to pull on him either. Because her son was wild and proud and hurting, a dragon in his own right, and she refused to become something he might hate. So she held herself still, and did the hardest thing she had ever done: she waited for her son to choose.
In the end, Ace didn't pull himself away. Didn't insist she handed over Luffy. Just shared a long glance with his brother, an entire conversation passing unspoken, before they continued to follow her gentle tug towards her home.
Her breath, that had halted in her lungs, slowly stuttered out again.
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Home was awkward. Was stilted silences and uncomfortable shifting as she invited the three in and offered them free reign with the snacks she had on hand. Luffy's little nap had done nothing to dull his appetite, and whatever the older boys were thinking, it didn't stop them from eating. The cookies were gone in a blink, and the dried meats only lasted longer because they took more time to chew. Her dried fruits and crackers were suffering significant losses too.
All the while, the boys didn't say a word, and Rouge herself was unsure how to start a conversation.
It was easy to act when the path to their goal had been clear. But what kind of actions would get these boys to trust her? They were all wild things, that much was clear to her. How did you convince three wild children to stay, when you barely had the patience to keep yourself from holding them close? Too much and they would surely flee from her.
The stakes were so high, but she was determined to win her son's heart back. To win the trust she would already have had if they hadn't been separated, and to earn herself the right to embrace him whenever she desired. She was his mother. His affection was hers by right. All she had to do was convince him it was safe to give it to her. To give in to her and let her take care of him. She would keep him safe and would do everything in her power to make him happy. All he had to do was let her.
And the other two, well, she had no right to them, but she would snap them up in an instant anyway. Ace had claimed them as his brothers, so indirectly they were already hers. All they had to do was give her their trust and she would give them everything she had to offer in return.
She wanted it so badly she very nearly shook with it.
Ace was the key here, she knew. Luffy was already halfway attached and Sabo would keep his distance until he was surer of her, but Ace was the one who had the most connection to her. Out of the three he was the one who had the emotionally investment in getting to know her. Ace was the one for whom she'd done all this and she was sure they knew it. They were too smart not to know.
Ace was the one with the highest stake in this after her. If she could get him to stay the other two would be far easier to convince too.
And the first step… the first step was to actually speak with him. Speak with him without schemes and plots getting in the way.
Setting her last few plates of fresh fruits and crackers down, she turned to where her boys were sitting, holding each other close.
Sitting down with them was more terrifying than diving to Fishman Island for the first time. But she had done that once with joy in her heart, and she certainly would do this, even though her heart was full of trepidation this time.
They watched her sit, each in their own way.
Luffy, with a sleepy contentedness that was only kept from being true sleep by the promise of more food.
Sabo, with the wariness of an alley cat and the sharp eye of someone who knew the danger of interested adults all too well.
And Ace…
Ace was a mirror of her own feelings. Hope and fear and exhaustion. This day had been tumultuous for the both of them. Even now, she felt the urge to pinch herself, and she was certain that for Ace it was no different. There were several badly hidden red marks on his arm to prove it.
She knelt down on one of the cushions close to them. She deliberately did not put the table between them, because this was not a negotiation, but she longed for the familiarity of it all the same. She folded her hands in her lap and resisted the urge to fidget.
"Are the three of you okay?"
"We're fine," Sabo said curtly, eyes wary and sharp.
Rouge did not miss how the blond not-so-subtly placed himself between her and his brothers.
"Why wouldn't we be fine? We got Sabo back!" Luffy replied with a giggle. One arm was still firmly wrapped around Sabo's waist, and he did not seem inclined to let go any time soon.
Rouge smiled at the youngest boy, but her attention was caught by Ace, who looked wide-eyed and startled at her question. As if an adult inquiring after his health was a strange and unusual thing.
Rouge very carefully buried the flare of anger she felt at that out of sight.
"It's good to hear that you are well, Sabo and Luffy. What about you Ace? Are you okay?"
Ace's eyes darted frantically around for a moment before he dropped his gaze to his lap. "I'm fine," he said quickly, sounding rather like he would prefer it if Rouge never asked after his health ever again.
Rouge fidgeted. It was so hard to start a conversation when you didn't know where to begin.
So she fell back to her tried and true method: straightforwardness.
"Ace, I… I know we didn't really get time to talk, before. But, um, if you want, we could talk now?"
"Ah. Uh… okay?" there was a silence, in which they both awkwardly stared at the floor.
Rouge let out an ungainly laugh, running a hand through her hair. Figures they both have the same troubles. It is both painful and wonderful to see herself reflected in her son. Speaking of Roger had been simple compared to this. Herself? That was a whole other matter.
But this was her son, and though she always felt uncomfortable doing this, she knew that she would have to discuss both their feelings now too. This talk was too important to leave them out.
"Ah, this is so difficult," she said, to reassure him and herself both. It seemed they both had the same struggles, but given she had more experience with them, it was only fair that she would be the one to try and bridge the heavy silence. "I'm not… Not very good at this, forgive me. My first mate always made fun of me for having so little difficulty with talking to strangers, but getting all tongue tied over talking about difficult things with people I care about. But I really want to talk to you, even though I don't know where to begin. So I thought, maybe you have a question you want to ask? I know you got many, but, um, if you want, please ask them. I want to answer them, I swear. I will answer them. You deserve that at the very least from me."
Ace fidgeted, rolling his pipe between his hands. He bit his lips and stared at one of the feet of the table she had brought so long ago from her parents' home all the way onto her ship and later to here. It was such a simple thing, but it had seen the world with her. The clumsily carved patterns along the edge and legs were a tangible memory of her late father, and the polish even now reminded of her mother patiently kneading flour and water into dough just a short distance away in the kitchen while Rouge busied herself with whatever tinkering she felt like; of both her parents and herself carefully tending their ledgers here. For her, it had always been a place to figure things out on.
Ace didn't know the significance of the patterns his eyes traced in his indecision. Didn't know it was his own grandfather's work, didn't see his own grandmother's hands whose everyday activities had polished the wood that smooth, the echo of both their hands that had left the scratches and dents in its surface, overlaid by the scratches and dents and ink stains Rouge left herself. Rouge prayed she would have the chance to tell him.
Maybe Ace could feel that hope from her. Roger had always been good at that, for all that he was as subtle as a seaking otherwise. She hoped he was. It was a good gift to have, even though it would be burdensome for someone whose parentage was as hated as his.
"Why… why are you here?" Ace asked plaintively.
Why don't I know you? went unsaid, but not unheard. Why didn't you raise me?
Her heart broke, hearing the unspoken questions. "I… before I explain I want to make one thing absolutely clear, okay?" Because she could see a little of the shape of it, a little of the pain he carried with him, in the far too few hours they have spent together now. And there was one thing she refused to leave unspoken, because she couldn't bear the thought he didn't know. "I wanted to be there for you. I wanted to raise you. I didn't keep you hidden for so long just to give up on you after. I wanted to, and I still want to. Me not being there for you," she swallowed the lump that threatened to form in her throat, "it was never my choice to do so. Do you understand that?"
Sabo glanced between her and Ace. Luffy seemed uncharacteristically serious, but maybe it wasn't so surprising, since Ace was clearly someone very dear to him.
As for Ace himself… he looked like he had one boulder of a lump in his throat as well. A red flush graced his cheeks. Rouge wasn't sure it was out of embarrassment or something else, and she wouldn't presume. Finally, he nodded.
Rouge nodded as well. Suddenly, this whole situation was far too painful, and she glanced out of the window before she could start crying over everything she wished he knew already. All the things he should know already by right. That he didn't sat like a massive bruise on her heart and lungs.
"I… uh, I'm not entirely sure how much you know already, so I'll just start from the beginning." A small smile flitted over her face. "Well, not entirely, that is a very long story and has to wait for later." Because for all that she wanted to tell Ace about his father, that topic had already proven to be sensitive one. Better to wait till she had a better idea on how to approach him, or until Ace gathered the courage to ask.
"When I was pregnant with you, things were… difficult. I knew from the very moment I realized I was carrying you that things wouldn't be easy. Roger had been ill for years by that time-" she saw Ace startle at that, and was once again disappointed in Garp. Garp knew of Roger's circumstances. He should have told Ace. Setting her anger aside for the moment, she continued, "-which is one of the reasons why the marines got to execute him at all. Roger had turned himself in rather than wait for them to hunt him down. He knew they would make a show of killing him, and he was okay with that. He only regretted that he would never get to see you born, but with his illness, that wasn't a guarantee regardless. We both had hoped that with his death, the marines' focus on him and any possible children would die down."
Rouge took a deep breath. "We miscalculated. We thought we knew how the World Government thought. We didn't realize that some people in that organisation had become obsessed with Roger and his legacy. Instead of them focussing all their power on containing the surge in piracy and all the big names jockeying for Roger's title, they instead focused on trying to destroy anyone who was connected to Roger."
"The Baterilla Bloodbath," Ace whispered, voice breaking.
Rouge's heart broke with him. "So you know about that, huh? That sea-soaked idiot, why did he think that was a good idea-" she harshly bit any stronger words back. Not now. Focus on the story. "Yes. Those trice-cursed cowards. They went after any child that might possibly be his, making huge assumptions on the age of any offspring Roger might have had, and they found hundreds of possible candidates. Baterilla is the most famous, but there were more places where they did similar, all because Roger might have lingered there for a while."
She glanced at Sabo and Luffy. Sabo looked downright sick, while Luffy was frowning like a tiny thunder god, which was so against his normal sunny deposition Rouge would have smiled if the topic wasn't so heavy. "For your understanding, Baterilla is a pretty large island. It's about twice as big as this one, and more densely populated. Baterilla wasn't the only island the marines occupied in that area, because there is a very large thriving sea trade between Baterilla and nearby islands."
"What the marines didn't know when they shut all movements and communications down, was that they did have Roger's wife and child in their net. And I wasn't going to let them find out." She looked at her son, and wished she could spare him the heartbreak she could see in his eyes. She refused to let the guilt stand though. She had seen that look far too often in the mirror, and at least she had been able to choose how to handle what happened. Had had a choice back then and made it, even though it ached like a bleeding wound to this day.
"Ace, my choices have always been my own. I chose to keep and hide you. No one should have had to pay for Roger's crimes but Roger himself. The World Government and the marines chose to escalate things. The guilt for the slaughter lies squarely on their shoulders. They didn't have to pursue a dead man's unborn child. They didn't need to slaughter anyone unlucky enough to not have an airtight alibi for their baby. They didn't need to slaughter children, period. Roger was the first of his family that chose to become a pirate in at least three generations. My family, if they went the criminal route, never did so openly. There was no reason for them to assume any child of his would continue what he started. Yet they chose to prosecute you as if you already had. That is not your fault, understand?"
"But… I almost killed you. If I hadn't been born-"
"That wasn't your decision," Rouge snapped. "I made that for you. You were an unborn child, Ace, just a little baby. You didn't have any choice! It was my choice to put my life on the line, and I will never regret it. You are my son! No damn marine gets to decide whether you get to live or not, no matter what it costs me!"
She took a deep, steading breath, forcing herself back to calm. "And it wouldn't have mattered anyway," she added wretchedly. "The marines didn't have proof, just rumours. Rumours are a dime a dozen and easier started than a fire in dry grass, especially one as juicy as this. They would have searched for Roger's child whether a child was there to find or not. That bloodbath would have happened even if I had never gotten pregnant with you. There was nothing any of us could have done to stop it."
Even now, that thought sat like bitter bile at the back of her throat.
It was only thanks to her reputation of sinking any damn pirate who dared bother her that the marines hadn't looked too closely at her. Without the mask she had upheld so religiously during her entire carrier, she would have been caught. It still shook her, knowing how close she had been at times to abandoning the façade. How close she had been to flippantly throwing away the very thing that had ended up protecting her and Ace the most.
But all the effort had proven itself to be worth it in the end.
It was the only reason why Ace had escaped the marine's scrutiny. Because by the time Rouge knew what was going to happen, what the Gorosei had ordered, Ace was already old enough to have a presence. Barely, but it had been there. If any of their Haki specialists had looked to closely, if any of the Cipher Poll members she knew had been among the horde of marines stationed near her had taken a moment to probe deeper than surface level, then she and Ace wouldn't be sitting here. She wouldn't have gone down easily but with the strength of some of those present, she would have been too tired to flee effectively even if she did successfully defeat all present forces, and after that it would only have been a matter of time before she was hunted down and executed.
It still filled her with bitter fury, left poison and acid on her tongue knowing that to save her son's life, she had to stand aside as hundreds lost their own.
But she was a D. Always and forever. And if there was one thing she wasn't capable of, it was sacrificing one of her own for the sake of strangers. She couldn't.
But that didn't mean she hadn't wept, hadn't screamed and cried her horror to the sea after the marines finally left.
Rouge breathed in deeply, trying to calm the fire licking at her insides, and pushed back the tears that threatened to spill. She wanted to rage so badly at the injustice of her son carrying the guilt for those massacres on his far too young shoulders. She wanted so badly to rip and tear at anyone who had let her son walk around with those toxic beliefs. Garp and whoever took care of him were going to face her wrath for letting this happen, later. Right now she was talking with her son and his brothers.
She held onto that thought with both hands, and brought herself back in equilibrium. Patience. Calm. These boys didn't deserve to witness this anger.
"There was nothing any of us could have done," Rouge repeated bleakly. "I know some of Roger's crew publicly denied him ever having had a lover, but the marines seemed to interpret that as a confession instead. It only fuelled the marines' bloodlust. I know of a brave friend who tried to end the slaughter by claiming she was the one Roger loved, but all that did was get her brutally murdered, and even then the marines didn't believe they had gotten the one they had been searching for. So many people tried, not for me or Roger, but for themselves and their loved ones, but nothing anyone did stopped the massacres. Only when the marines had spilled enough blood to paint the Red Line red in truth was their bloodlust finally sated. By that time I was so weakened from prolonging my pregnancy that I had to entrust you to Garp when he came to visit. It was he who told me you had died during the voyage. It was only today that I realized he'd lied to me."
She looked into Ace's teary eyes, silently imploring him to believe her. "I swear, Ace, if I had known you lived there would have been no power in the world that would have kept me from you."
"That's horrible," Sabo whispered. "What the marines did-" He cut himself off. He had a pained expression on his face when he looked at Ace shaking in Luffy's clinging embrace, and wrapped his arms around him too.
"It is," Rouge acknowledged. "But Ace, what the marines did- that is not your responsibility. Neither is it mine or Roger's. The marines chose to be monsters. They chose to murder countless innocents. No one forced that on them. Not you, not me, not Roger. If we could have, we would have stopped them. So never feel guilty for their crimes. Do you hear me?"
Slowly, and with tears spilling down his face and horrible little choked off sobs escaping from between the hands he had pressed to his eyes, Ace nodded.
Throwing caution to the wind, she stood up and knelt before the bundle of boys and pulled them into her arms. Because there was a time for caution and there was a time where you had to trust your heart to lead you right.
Her son was bleeding on the inside, and she'd be damned if she didn't try to stem the flow.
Neither Ace nor Luffy struggled as she pulled them into her embrace. Sabo slipped out of her grasp, exactly as wary of touch as the alley cat she had compared him to in her thoughts. But he didn't try to stop her from taking Ace and Luffy, and for that she was glad.
She was so very selfishly glad that her weeping son burrowed into her embrace instead of shy away from her.
"It's alright, Ace," she whispered softly in his hair, running gentle fingers through the tangled strands. She felt herself start to cry as well and hugged the two boys tightly. "I'm here now. It's okay, I'm here for you. I'm never letting the marines lay a hand on you, I promise."
She kissed his head, and then Luffy's head as well. "I'm going to take care of all three of you," she promised, "and no one will be allowed to hurt any of you again."
Ace clutched her tighter, fingers digging into her side. Luffy wound his arms around them.
So they sat and cried, all three together with their fourth sitting close by like a small guardian.
They took a long time to calm down.
XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX
"So… what now?" Sabo quietly asked. Ace and Mrs Rouge were no longer weeping, only quietly sniffling, but he still felt like he was intruding.
Sabo still had trouble processing what had happened. Crazy enough that someone had succeeded in taking him away from his father without violence – well, much violence anyway; Bluejam had shitty timing and Sabo wasn't really sorry to have him gone – but Mrs Rouge was Ace's mom, who Ace had thought was dead, while she had thought Ace was dead. Only neither of them were, and now he had been rescued, and now none of them knew what to do.
She had made his brother cry, which would have had him try to bash her head in under any other circumstances. But Sabo had the uncomfortable feeling that Ace really needed a good cry with his mom.
He still hated Ace's sobs. Luffy crying was one thing, he cried and whined about a lot of things and rarely ever really meant it, but Ace…
Ace crying made Sabo want to kill something.
But despite his misgivings Sabo halfway liked Mrs Rouge already, even though she was dangerous and trouble and really wasn't the kind of person any of them should get mixed up in. She had told Ace stuff his brother had been wanting to hear for a very long time.
She was confusing, Mrs Rouge was. Scary and friendly and helpful and deadly all wrapped up together. It was enough to make anyone's head hurt.
Mrs Rouge held out her hand at him.
Sabo stared at the woman who was holding Ace and Luffy with more care than he had ever seen anyone direct at his brothers. Gentler even than Makino held Luffy whenever their rubber idiot jumped on her without giving a single thought of knocking her over.
More care than Sabo ever received from his own mother in all the years he had lived with his parents.
Numb, he reached out, not really expecting anything from it. But Mrs Rouge grabbed his hand and pulled him into her lap right beside Ace and Luffy, the latter who needed no encouragement and wriggled his arms around him with zero hesitation. Ace and his mother were already fully tangled up.
She was very warm. With his brothers beside him and in the embrace of a woman who could steal from nobles and defeat pirates with ease, Sabo couldn't help but feel safe. That was more upsetting than he expected.
Sabo had held himself together well enough through his brother's grief, but now he felt like crying himself. He hated that a simple touch could do that.
Unlike his brothers, he was silent when he hid his face among the warm bodies around him.
They sat like that for a while. Tension and hesitance slowly unwinding as Mrs Rouge held them close. Held them safe within her embrace.
But they were jungle children, and soon enough antsy energy itched beneath their skin. Mrs Rouge did not resist as they pulled away. Instead she held out a couple of handkerchiefs for Ace and Sabo to use and helped Luffy wipe his face.
"Now what?" Sabo found the courage to repeat as he self-consciously wiped the traces of his own breakdown from his face.
"Now," Ace's mom said with a voice still thick from tears and a stuffed nose, "I'm going to make dinner, and you can help me if you want. After that…" she swallowed, and pulled back far enough to cradle Ace's face to look him in the eyes. Her thumbs brushed the worst of the tear tracks away. "We'll sleep, and then we need to talk. Talk more, I mean. Because I want to keep you, I really want to keep all three you… But you're old enough to have your own wishes."
She met all of their eyes with a gravity that left Sabo a little breathless.
Ace's eyes were wide and just a little wild. His fingers were still tangled in the fabric of his mother's shirt. "I- I don't know," he said, with just a bit of a wail left in his voice.
"That is fine. That is fine." She choked out a laugh that sounded a little awful. "I think we all need some time to come to terms with things."
And if that wasn't an understatement, Sabo didn't know what was.
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True to her word, his mom gave them a good dinner. Ace followed her into the kitchen and together with Sabo helped chop all the meat and vegetables. While Sabo retreated back to Luffy after they were done to make sure their youngest hadn't gotten himself in trouble during his nap somehow, Ace stayed to watch his mom quickly stir-fry the impressive amount of food and set a huge pot of noodles on boil.
His fingers were tangled in her skirt. His entire self felt too unsteady to let go of her now.
Ace hated it. He felt childish and pathetic. He was clinging like cry-baby Luffy, constantly following her around while she finished making the meal. Like Luffy had once followed him.
What if she felt about it like he had? What if she hated his clinginess? What if she hated having his eyes on her constantly?
He hated that he couldn't get himself to stop.
He wanted to. He really wanted to. He wasn't a clingy cry-baby like Luffy. But the monstrous part of him rebelled whenever he tried to let go. It was roaring at him to grab his brothers too, but with Sabo here to back him up, Ace could trust that his brothers would be fine.
His mother still felt too much like a fever dream for him to dare let go of her. For him to dare risk that she wasn't real after all.
But his mom didn't frown or yell over his clinginess. Didn't act annoyed or upset. She just smiled at him, bright and wide. Like the best of Luffy's smiles. Like Sabo, when he forgot to worry about his family or their food or money, when they were done sparring and were breathless with the rush. Genuinely happy, even with the watery sheen to her eyes every time she looked at him.
When she reached out to him in between the sprinkling of the seasoning and the stirring of the pots he saw her hesitate. Ace quickly grasped her hand like he was about to fall off a cliff if he didn't. She pulled him close, and Ace, despite himself, burrowed against her. Ashamed of acting like a scared baby animal, but not being able to stop it.
(He didn't want to.)
Every time he expected her to hate him or push him away, yet every time she greeted him with a smile. Even after he had cried on her several times already!
He didn't know if it was allowed, to want to be close to your mother so often.
He was a thief raised by bandits, and one of the terrors of the Terminal. He was used to taking what he wanted. He just didn't know how to take this. Didn't know how to accept what she was offering, instead of him having to steal it from her. He didn't know why it felt so much better to receive her attention without having to play pretend or demand to get it.
He didn't know a lot of things. All he knew that he didn't want his mom to disappear.
The beastly, monstrous part of him purred at the attention, hoarding it like a dragon with gold, endlessly demanding more. It drove him close to her, into her orbit. It wanted to take and take and take, take everything she would offer. And though Ace hated that part of himself, he couldn't help but reach out.
She was like Luffy, in a way, if far quieter and composed. Luffy too had only needed a few words before Ace could take him for himself (even though there were quite a lot of times where he regretted letting him in a little; he was so very loud and annoying at times).
There were only three people in the world who had ever offered him things, without him needing to demand or take or garner pity. Or his Gramps needing to demand it for him.
Sabo, after they had become friends.
Luffy, after Ace finally stopped chasing him away, even though his little brother's clinginess and desire to always be with him still creeped him out at times.
Makino, ever since she came looking for Luffy and found him and Sabo too. Offering him clothes he didn't have to pay for and smiles that were so genuine he sometimes suspected they were fake.
And now a fourth. His mother. The one person Ace had always wished he could have met. Here. Real. Alive.
And warm. So warm.
He only let go when it was time to eat. He even helped carry the heaping plates of food, and his mom seemed so pleased with that Ace felt himself go red.
Dinner was simple but good. Thick noodles and vegetables and meat, all coated with the same sticky sauce. It was warm and tasty and filling and by the end of it Ace could only feel sleepy and tired.
He was about to suggest that they return to the treehouse when his mom started pulling stuff out of closets and other places.
"Ace, Sabo, Luffy, will you help me make your bed?"
Ace's breath hitched. His eyes burned again.
A hand was put on his shoulder. Sabo gave him a questioning look. Ace shook his head. He was fine really. Just- It was just a bit much.
He stood up, and for the first time in his life helped someone make a bed for him and his brothers.
XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX
After all the shocks that day, none of the boys had the will to refuse her offer to stay the night. Rouge felt inordinately pleased about that.
Dinner had been a success. Her talk, for all the pain it had exposed, had been too.
Her heart ached ever time Ace reached out to her after their talk. Because it made her so, so happy to have him seek her out, but his hesitation spoke louder than anything how often his desire for closeness hadn't been welcomed. Seeing him so hesitant broke her heart. Her son should never doubt how welcome he was with her.
Inside her, her anger reached even more potent heights. When Garp had given her boy to others to raise, he at least should have made sure they treasured him like her child deserved!
But they hadn't, and the scars on her son's heart were plain to see. She could see exactly how often Ace's emotional needs had been heeded in his embarrassment after their little breakdown and the looks Sabo was giving her.
She would be better than all those before her. It was not even a question. It was a determination, a promise.
It was depressing to know that the bar was set so low. But she would raise it up, oh yes.
She would treasure these boys, she thought, if only they'd let her.
Rouge hummed softly as she tucked the boys in. She had built them a single bed, made from a pile of furs topped with her winter duvet, and her spare blanket and quilt to cover them, because they had refused to use hers. The three fit snugly side by side in front of the hearth. Little Luffy was already snoring happily. Sabo was set in the middle, his brothers' arms tangled around him. After having him so forcefully taken, Rouge couldn't say she was surprised.
She didn't mind anyway. With Ace on the outside, she could smooth her hand over his hair, bidding him a soft goodnight. His eyes were large in the dim light, and there was nothing she wanted more than to cuddle him close.
But she couldn't. Not yet. Not without startling him. Her son was obviously a wild little thing, and though he had allowed much from her, going too fast might scare him away. And that was unacceptable.
Tomorrow she would get some better bedding, and start building a new set of rooms. The boys were already so big, she was sure they would want their own rooms some day soon. Her cottage didn't have much spare space for three growing boys. For as long as she had lived here she had always been on her own. Her cottage was spacious, but it only had a living room, the kitchen, an utility room and her own bedroom, as well as various closets. None of those were really suited for repurposing. She would need to build an extension to her home if she wished to have enough space for them.
But that was fine. She was more than willing to do that for her children, even though she wasn't entirely sure her son would want to stay with her. Today had been a series of shocks and revelations, so he and his brothers would probably need some time to process before she could get a decisive answer out of him.
That was fine. She could be patient. And in the meantime, she would make sure they knew she would always have a place for them. Who knew, maybe if she put in enough effort, make them feel welcome and loved enough, she wouldn't even have to ask. Though she would, just for herself. She wanted them to say yes, to consent to her stealing them from their previous caretakers. They were her little boys now. She wanted them to be happy with her, not force them to abandon people they cared about just because she got greedy.
When she closed the door behind her, she was sure she saw Ace make an aborted move towards her. His eyes brimmed with unasked questions he wasn't ready to voice yet.
She smiled at him and at herself as she moved to her own room to prepare herself for bed.
This was alright. For her boys she would practice her patience. That was the way of dealing with wild things. A place to stay, someone to call for help – hopefully it would be as good as a lure as fresh fish was for a stray cat.
It was a bit unfair really. Her son was still young and had gotten some of the greatest shocks of his life. It was completely understandable that he was entirely off kilter, even though Rouge had achieved a mostly even keel the moment she had accepted that her baby boy was alive. Rouge was a D and a D never faltered even in the face of dramatic surprises like this one had been. Not when they had a dream to pursue.
She didn't know what her son's dream was, but hers had been rekindled and was now blazing brighter than a star. No amount of shocks or revealed secrets could make her steps waver in her pursuit of it. Her son would adjust soon enough. And then, hopefully, she would have her answer. The children of D could never remain quiet about their wishes and opinions, after all.
She hoped with all her heart that he would decide to stay with her. Him and his brothers both. And if she had to entice them a little to make that decision, well… She used to be the best merchant in the world. She knew how to tempt someone into making a deal, and she was not afraid to sweeten the pot as much as she could.
She'd do it properly too, no undue pressure or swindling or clever wordplays to trick and deceive; not for her sons. Never for her sons. She would offer them everything they might want, and in return they would agree to stay. Hopefully. Oh, she really hoped for it. She was willing to offer anything so these precious boys would let her take care of them for the remainder of their childhood.
Rouge smiled to herself. She had her dream right here at her fingertips. Right here for her to reach out and claim for her own.
She felt her smile widen. Stretching her lips till her cheeks burned as they adjusted to the expression that was making its way onto her face. She opened the glass box and stroked the petals of the flower Roger had once given her. It's sweet scent wafted up at her like a lover's embrace. She breathed the fragrance in deeply. Tomorrow she would wear it proudly again. The only crown her beloved had been able to offer his Pirate Queen.
For the first time in a decade, that title felt like it fit again.
She sighed happily. She was going to be fine. She had her sons, and a goal, and with their permission she would raise these boys to achieve anything they dreamed of.
She felt her smile widen further, till it felt comfortable and uncomfortable both, like greeting a dear friend after decades of avoidance. Her old smile stretching her features in ways she had become unaccustomed to in the past ten years. But once there it sat firm and familiar on her face. Wide and wild, a baring of teeth at the world in a dare to try and stop her.
A D's smile.
This is for now the end of A Treasure Retrieved. I may add an epilogue or something later on with Garp's side of the story, since I couldn't find a good place to address that within the chapters I have now. I have no idea when or if I'll write it, but when I do I'll add that story or a notification on where to find it here as a chapter 4.
If you enjoyed this story of mine, please leave a comment!