Haruta was woken to the sounds of heavy panting, considering they were able to sleep through Namur snoring, this definitely surprised them. Maybe it was because it was on their side of the room. They weren't sure. Either way they sat up, looking over towards the sound's origin.

They couldn't make out much in the darkness of the apprentice cabin, however they knew exactly who it was coming from. Dragging themselves out of bed, they felt their way over to where Alex was sleeping, masterfully avoiding all the junk on the floor, (they had been saying they'd clean for months) until they were standing over the girl's face.

They pressed their hand to her forehead, immediately jolting away with a sharp hiss as the boiling hot skin came in contact with their own.

"Oh boy..." They muttered to themselves, it's not like Haruta was surprised that Al was ill, but rather that they hadn't expected it to be quite that bad. The head doctor Tam had said to them that she might develop some kind of fever or something, she wasn't exactly in the best condition. The rock thing definitely hadn't helped.

Straightening Haruta sighed, trapesing over to their snoring brother, he really did sound like a bear on steroids and they would not compromise on the matter. Also, it pissed off Namur, so of course they needed to annoy him, it was their job as his younger sibling.

"Nam's wake up!" They shouted down his pointed ear, throttling the Fishman with all their strength. "Whaaaa? Gerroff me!" Namur grumbled, flinging his pillow which smacked Haruta in the face.

"What do you want! I'm trying to sleep Haru go away!"

Haruta dodged the next pillow that was lobbed their way, Namur was notoriously grumpy when he first woke up. They couldn't say they really cared; they were used to it. It was their job to wake up their brother in the morning, considering he would sleep through Pops banging on their door and that was hella-loud too.

"Alex is sick. So wake up will you."

Namur was silent for a moment, they couldn't see what face he was making, but if they had to make a guess as to what he was thinking, they would probably go with slow comprehension.

"Oh... she did get sick after all"

"Yeah, my hand almost melted when I touched her"

"Is it that bad? Tam did say she might get a bit ill."

"Yes, I was woken up by her panting and I can sleep through your jacked up bear snoring"

"Tch! I'm not that bad!" Namur snapped, whacking Haruta on the arm causing a jolt of sharp pain, so they retaliated with a slap of their own.

"DO TOO!" They retorted, in response Namur hit Haruta on the side much harder this time, they punched him under the jaw.

"SHUT UP!" The Fishman elbowed them forcefully in the ribs, they kicked him in the stomach.

"YOU SHUT UP! TUNA FACE!" Haruta yelled as they proceeded to bite him, as he pulled their ginger hair "ORANGUTAN!"

"FISH STICKS!"

"PRINCESS GINGERBREAD MAN!"

A loud bang on the wall next door rang out, however it fell on deaf ears as the two siblings continued to fight. The squabble slowly getting louder and louder, until the beating on the wall was drowned out.

On the other side of the wall, Newgate was lying in bed, firm irritated grimace in place. All he could hear was Haruta and Namur arguing. Normally if he beat the hell out of the wall they'd shut up, however that was not always the case and clearly tonight was one of those.

The man pushed himself out of bed with a sharp angry huff, stomping out of his cabin and storming down the corridor by about 5 feet and opened the door to his loud kids' room.

While most of the time having the apprentices next door was quite nice, other times Newgate really wished their room was the other end of the ship. Why couldn't they be nice and quiet like Marco, Jozu and Vista had been? Or at the very least quiet like Jozu and Vista, Marco had been the loud problem child.

He snapped on the oil lamp just on the inside of the room, brightening the cabin enough to make out two kids frozen mid-attack. "What the fuck are you two doing?"

"Ahhhhh... mornin?" Haruta staggered out, they moved away from Namur, who had sat up ramrod straight grinning innocently.

"Try quarter past four in the bloody morning!" The blonde man barked, he was tired and sort of hungover, he was not in the mood for their bullshit right now.

"It's still morning though..." Haruta laughed nervously, Namur planted his face in his hands "Haru, noooo. Just stop..."

"Again! Why the hell are you two fighting!"

They both went blank for a second, as if they had forgotten, then at the exact same time looked each other in the eye, realisation hitting.

"Alex is sick" Namur stated looking somewhat guilty, Haruta nodded in a agreement, mimicking their brothers expression.

The man sighed "Then why didn't come get me instead of arguing with each other"

"Sorry" His kids mumbled in unison, glancing away in shame. Newgate let the subject drop, they were sorry that was the main thing, no good harping on about it.

"Let me have a look..." Though before the words had even finished coming out, Newgate had already noticed that the girl wasn't just sick... no she was dying. But he didn't dare react, the man made his way over to Grumpy, as normally as possible and crouched over the young girl, placing the back of his hand on her forehead.

He kept his expression carefully concealed, if he reacted negatively in the way he wanted to, his two kids would have been in a crying, scared state before he knew it. She was burning, when he brought his hand away it was dripping wet, the kid was sweating buckets. Though that's not what bothered him nearly as much, it was how thin her haki had pulled itself, all it was doing was holding what little life it had together.

"Child, turn on the other lamp will ya"

A second later the room brightened even more, until Newgate could see the kid properly. Her face was bright red, drips of perspiration ran down her cheeks, a dark circle was dug under her good eye. Painful breathes were pushed out, shuddering horribly as she would inhale.

All Newgate could feel from the girl was pain. Agony. It hurt, he could have easily blocked it off or ignored it, but he couldn't bring himself to. This was all that was telling him that she was still alive, even though he could see her breathing, this was what he understood most and if she was suffering he was damn well gonna suffer along side her.

"Namur go get Tamantha"

"Wait is she that bad?"

"Mmmm"

"But when Tam checked on her last night, she said she'd only be a little sick, right?" Haru mumbled, they were suddenly looking much more concerned. A wave of worry hit him, which was a very unusual emotion to come off the 13-year-old. Namur had also started to feel uneasy aswell, though his was more well hidden, knowing full well Newgate would probably feel it.

The man softened a little, gently patting Haru on the head. "She said 'probably' not 'guaranteed' Doll." Newgate answered quietly, as he heard Namur open and close the door, no questions asked.

His boy was generally much more aware of situations then Haruta. He was more down to earth then his sibling too, who, for the most part had their head in the clouds 90 percent of the time.

They just didn't see things quite the same; Haruta was more 'the hit first ask questions later type'. While Namur would think things over before he did anything, not to say he always did it, but he was most definitely better then even some of his older siblings.

That was just the way they were, it was most likely why they butted-heads constantly. Two opposites living in close proximity to each other always were going to have something to argue over.

Despite that, they did get on extremely well. Whether that was because they were both the only other teenagers or if they just genuinely enjoyed hanging out, it really didn't matter to Newgate, as long as they were happy that's all he needed to know.

"Tam did? Alex didn't look that bad before, she was up and talking and everything." The red-head exclaimed, a little bit of upset in their voice. Though emotionally there was some panic beginning to surface, which Newgate knew would start to show soon enough.

"Well, maybe she was much worse then she was letting on..." The blonde man sighed, letting his large hand rest on his kid's head in attempt to calm them a little. It was times like these that he wished everyone were born with a natural grasp of observation haki, it made comforting people much easier. But sadly that wasn't the case, it was a skill that had to be learnt, children for the most part couldn't manage to manifest it until later. And that was with a lot of training as well, though there was some rare exceptions or particular circumstances.

"Really? How could you hide something like that?" Haruta said gesturing at the ill girl, a look of scepticism playing along their features. The man crouched down to eye level, holding their gaze which Haruta normally had trouble with, but they did try to make eye contact which he did appreciate. He could feel their fear settling a little, he smiled, leaning forwards he gently knocked his forehead to theirs, a quiet sniffle was all he got in response. "You'd be surprised Doll..."

Newgate turned his attention towards Grumpy, heart sinking further, how hadn't he noticed sooner... what kind of father didn't notice something so obvious? A drunk asshole most likely... then again the girl really hadn't felt so terrible before.

He wouldn't have had a drink if he thought she wouldn't be okay and when Tam had checked her over, she seemed pretty certain that the kid just needed some rest. She'd had something to drink and she'd eaten. She definitely wasn't on deaths door that's for sure. Grumpy would have been down in the infirmary if she had been.

Then why was she like this now?

He scooped up Grumpy in one arm, making sure she was still wrapped up in her blanket. That's when something dropped to the floor just as he was adjusting her. Haruta frowned, they bent down, searching for whatever had made the noise. He left them search, then wandered over to the scruffy old couch in the corner and slumped into it.

He was promptly jabbed in the back with a broken harpoon, it had been used as a giant dart at some point having missed the huge target board above. He absently pulled the thing out, handing it over to Haruta who had found whatever had fallen, who half grinned taking it, but seemed more interested in the object they'd found, turning it over in their free hand making a distinct rattle. "Thanks, I couldn't pull that one out and Namur wouldn't help."

"What'cha got there?" Newgate asked curiously, Haruta didn't reply, instead passing it over to his out stretched hand.

He frowned, it was some kind of small bottle made of glass, it was rough and felt chipped in several places. A worn label was peeling off, he squinted, but the bad light and his eyesight didn't let him read it. "Doll, take it over to the light and read the label. I can't see shit without my glasses."

Haruta nodded, taking it off him and wandered over to the lamp, holding it up. "Pops... I think it's medication? It says... uh? The name's gone... it just says something, something blockers? What's that mean?"

"Beta blockers?" Newgate said loudly without much thought, wincing at his mistake. He'd had, maybe, a like slip of panic, just for a split second, because he knew exactly what those things were... it was heart medication. The same damn things he had to take. Though his heart condition wasn't even really a problem to him, but that was only because of his Devil Fruit. Being a tremor man had its advantages, particularly in that department...

So that explains it... no wonder.

"What's that?" Haruta asked, walking back over to him, looking up at him hopefully making Newgate feel like a piece of shit. "If we give them to her, do you think she'll feel better?"

Newgate only strained a smile , before letting his head fall backwards, closing his eyes for a small while. Knowing full well he was probably going to be up for who knows how long. Also he didn't want to have Haruta staring at him like that. "Let's just wait for ya sister... we'll tell her about the pills and I'm sure that'll be helpful."

The man tried to relax , to seem as calm and unconcerned as possible, hopefully it would make Haru feel better. He just needed to act as his normal, self assured fearless character, a nice shield to protect his family with. Even if deep down all he really wanted to do was have a swear, kick the crap outta something and then drink himself into a mindless stupor. But that wasn't helpful in the slightest, he just hated these situations, these situations where he couldn't do nothin' about. It wasn't some enemy he could break in half or a problem he could run head first into.

It was his child slowly dying in his arms, while her sibling was blissfully unaware. He wasn't a doctor... he was a warrior.

Where are they! Come on! Come on! Fuckin'ell!

The Yonko had never been big on worrying about things, he'd learnt early on in life that worrying wasn't very helpful. It far more efficient to take care of those concerns as soon as they appeared, instead of letting them loom over his head.

However, he wasn't a doctor... as such he couldn't do anything about this current situation. He really hated that. Not to mention the trek over to the other end of the ship was a pain in the ass, it did take a while to walk. Then of course Namur had to wake up Tam, who was a notoriously deep sleeper. Probably not the best trait in a doctor, however once she was up and away, she was nice and efficient, so that was something. With all that stuff to consider, he could only assume that they'd be waiting a little while.

So to summarise Newgate was more then a little stressed, he was trying very hard not to tap his foot or more likely open his eyes, get up, and start pacing.

A couple of moments later he felt Haruta climb up, settling down on his sternum. He couldn't imagine how comfortable that was, but he just left them be. Haruta's emotions had settled into a soft, hopeful and contented ebb, soon enough those faded as they feel asleep. Leaving Newgate in a mess of worry and panic, no longer having to keep up that facade, that was until Namur and Tamantha were back.

Well, at least Haruta had no trouble going back to sleep, they were snoozing away quite happily, not a care in the world. Though that was probably because their father was here, taking care of their sister now, so they had nothing to be anxious about, which in the man's books was very sweet. But that didn't stop his fuckin head was have some kind of screaming match with his body, who was on the verge of running off to find his kids.

Thankfully his brain won out, Newgate lifted his head up carefully, avoiding any sharp movements that may have woken Haru who was the complete opposite to their brother, they were a very light sleeper.

His tired eyes peering down at his children, the 13-year-old was curled up practically absorbed into their green jumper, all he could make out was their wild ginger hair sticking out. Looking much like some kind of inverted carrot. He placed his arm under them, as he sat up from his slouched position, praying he didn't accidentally drop the kid. Luckily they remained as they were, not even a slight reaction to being moved.

It was at this moment he realised just how wee Grumpy actually was, she was much smaller than Haru and they were quite short as it was. It made him wonder how someone could be half-giant, then be shorter than the average human child. It was quite odd, maybe her human parent was very short... he just hoped that said parent was the father and not the mother. Toki and Oden popped into his head. Do not even question it Newgate... Don't think about your stupid little brother doing that.

Newgate scowled in disgust at those thoughts. Despite knowing what Oden was like, he did not want to think about that, ever. He wanted his little brother to stay innocent... even though he'd heard stories that told him otherwise.

The man stood up quickly, shaking those thoughts away with a grunt of revulsion. He treaded lightly over the floor boards, being sure to make little to no noise, as he stopped in front of Haruta's bed. Kneeling down, he swiftly placed them onto the mattress, chucking their cover over them. They grumbled in their sleep, clearly displeased with being removed from their warm spot on his chest. Resting his huge hand on their head, he ran his thumb through their hair a couple of times, they finally settled back down into a contented rest.

He sighed, usually he would have left them to sleep, but once Tam came in, having Haru catching some Z's on him wouldn't be very practical.

Normally he wouldn't have been quite so careful, on most occasions if he'd woken his kid, he would have probably shrugged it off. If they happened to complain at him, he'd probably laugh and tease them or in some cases tell them to bugger off if they were particularly angry at him. This would either shut them up or they would indeed storm off in a huff. Either way he wasn't going to mollycoddle his kids. If they were sharp tongued little brats with him, he would fireback in kind. If they wanted to be laid back and friendly then he would be the same. That was just the kind of father Newgate was.

However, he was also known for just randomly picking up his children, in whatever way he had grabbed them, be it by the scruff of the shirt or even by the leg. He wasn't the gentlest parent in the world, he was clumsy and admittedly part of that was because of how ridiculously big he was.

But he'd be lying if he said that was the only reason, Newgate was quite rough anyway. He wasn't the most well mannered or even the nicest person. He said and did whatever he wanted, if he didn't like something he wouldn't beat around the bush. He could be extremely blunt and rude, not having a single care as to what the outside world thought of him. The Yonko wasn't some kind of saint, he was a pirate and pirates were not good people, there was no point pretending he was.

There were very few things the pirate captain really cared about, there was his family or anything that he deemed to belong to him, be that an island he had claimed or an actual person he deemed a friend. Anything else wasn't important. He wouldn't pretend otherwise.

Ruffling Haruta's hair affectionately once more, he reluctantly left them alone. Newgate trudged back over to the couch, quickly studying the thing for anymore sharp objects before he sat down. Satisfied, he sank into the threadbare cushions, groaning softly. He was so fucking tired...

He felt some whispers of emotion bubble up, mostly too mixed up, too quiet to make out, though there was one that he did recognise, sadness... Then a little whimper came from somewhere, he frowned, not recognising the fragile haki or the small voice. Until he realised it had come from the girl, it was so different from the sharp tongued, stubborn brat on the rock, well until the sea king... however Newgate didn't want to think about that particular nose dive.

A pale blue eye was staring up at him. Though the glassy blank stare made him wonder if she was seeing him, it was so distant and unfocused.

"Hey Grumpy, it's alright... you're safe." He soothed, she was struggling, her hand reaching shakily for something unseen, as if trying very hard to pull herself out of her feverish state. Though the pained emotion that came from her, told him, that whatever she was seeing wasn't pleasant. This stubborn little brat was still trying to fight, even if she was barely conscious. He wasn't sure if he should be impressed or concerned.

He delicately pushed her hand down with his own, settling it back onto her chest. Still Grumpy tried to move, however her eye was slowly dropping, until she had fallen back into an uncomfortable sleep. Making his heart drop even more, he didn't want to lose her... he didn't want the girl to close her eye, he wanted her biting and heckling him... telling him to shove it or angrily calling him names.

"Come on little one, just be my stubborn daughter a little longer..." He whispered gently, resting his chin on top of her hair, ignoring how hot and sweaty she was.

The door suddenly clicked open, in came Tam, followed by a disgruntled Marco and an even more exhausted Namur.

Finally! Newgate gestured towards sleeping Haruta, putting his finger to his lips. Only for Namur to loudly fall over, startling the kid awake.

"WHAT! ARE WE UNDERATTACK! WHERE'S MY SWORD I'LL- Oh, you guys are back-"

They noticed the Fishman on the floor, he's legs sticking up in the air and they burst out laughing "Hey... Namur you're stupid!"

"No! I'm not! It's your fault, I tripped on your crap"

"Not my fault you're walking around with your eyes closed!"

Here we go again...

"Will you two shut up!" Newgate snapped, he was no in the mood.