Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one

Considering starting a new chapter story. I just can't decide which of my plunnies it is going to be. I might put my poll back up. Then again, I might not. We'll see. Until then, have ficlet. Hope you enjoy and please review. It makes me happy.

Crocus

Ah. Ah. Achoo! Ace glowered at nothing in particular as his legs dangled off the edge of the bench. "This is stupid," he said. "It is just a cold." Marco and Namur had let him tag along on one of their minor errands for Pops, and he had been having a great time. Until this. Ace wasn't sure which was worse, the guy's bedside manner or those ridiculous drums that seem to come from nowhere.

The old man just glowered as he examined Ace out of the corner of his eye before shoving the thermometer back into the boy's mouth. "It is never just a cold. Not on the Grandline." Turning, Crocus walked over to one of his shelves, removing several jars. "Whitebeard and his children understand this." Another knowing look. "Roger did too." It was after all a disease that had brought down the King of Pirates in the end.

Ace nearly choked on the thermometer.

"Really boy," Crocus tisked. "You didn't think the Phoenix would take you to just any doctor did you?"

Ace just looked away.

"You've got his face. Rogue's freckles though. Your hair hangs more like hers too."

His Mom? Ace frowned. This guy had known her? He opened his mouth to ask only to sneeze again.

Crocus sighed, removing the thermometer and holding it up to the light. Slight fever but nothing serious. Opening a nearby chest, he pulled out a hand-made blanket and wrapped it around the kid's shoulders. "Take care of that," he told him. "It was a gift from your Father."

Blinking, Ace looked down at the blanket. He hadn't thought that man was the type to give gifts. "He bought this for you?"

Laughing, Crocus shook his head. "No, he made it."

"You're joking," Ace said flatly. He knew quality work when he saw it. He could have sold this blanket for a pretty penny in High Town.

Crocus's eyes twinkled with mirth. "Is it really so shocking that the mighty Pirate King knitted?"

Tales of Roger