Chapter 5: Children of Fate
One month later, Bell-mere visited The Watering Hole to say goodbye to Magdalena before she leaves for the East Blue. She walked into the restaurant to find Abigail getting ready for the breakfast crowd.
"Hey Abby."
Abigail looked up and saw Bell-mere standing in the doorway.
"Bell-mere! It's been a while since I've seen you. How've you been?"
"I've been well. How about yourself?"
"Oh, we've been getting along just fine. Are you hungry? I can have my father whip up something really quick. Will Rosinante be joining us?"
"No, I'm not going to stay very long. I actually came here to say goodbye."
"Goodbye?" Abigail frowned. "You're leaving?"
"Yeah. I'm headed to the East Blue on an excursion. I'll be gone for a couple of years."
"Does Rosinante know?"
"He knows." Bell-mere replied. "In fact, he's gone too. He went to the North Blue last month on a special assignment. I can't tell you the details because it's classified."
"Oh, I see." Abigail nodded. "Well, I'll miss you both."
"I'll miss you too, Abigail." Bell-mere smiled. "Is Magdalena here?"
"Nana went back home after her near-kidnapping experience. She lives on a bayou that's a whole weeks journey from here."
"Oh. I was hoping I'd get to see her before I left." Bell-mere sighed sadly. "When you see your grandmother, can you tell her goodbye for me and Roci?"
"Of course." Abigail nodded. "Be safe out there, okay?"
Bell-mere nodded as she pulled Abigail in a loving embrace. "Take care of yourself, Abigail." She said softly. "Make sure Jean-Baptiste doesn't work too hard."
"I'll do my best." Abigail laughed tearfully.
The girls broke their embrace and wiped the tears from their faces. Bell-mere gave Abigail a sad smile before leaving the restaurant; giving one last look at the place that meant so much to her and Rosinante. Not long after Bell-mere left, Jean-Baptiste emerged from the kitchen, wiping his hands with a towel.
"Was that Bell-mere just now?" He asked.
Abigail nodded. "She's going to the East Blue on an assignment. Rosinante is gone too."
"He is?"
"Bell-mere said that he left last month on a secret assignment in the North Blue." Abigail sighed deeply before adding: "I'm getting off of work early and heading to the LeBeau Manor."
Jean-Baptiste didn't protest his daughter's request. He simply nodded in understanding.
"Eat something first before you make the journey out there." He instructed.
Abigail nodded as she got ready to greet the first customers of the day. "Please don't do anything reckless, Nana." She prayed.
Fate can play funny tricks on people. They can be for the greater good or just for the hell of it. For Bell-mere and Rosinante, fate played a whole crapload of tricks on them. Being seas apart from each other wasn't enough for fate to rear it's weird-ass head. No, fate was going to go all out for the two people who deserved every good thing life had to offer. Starting with Donquixote Rosinante.
Rosinante spent four years undercover as the right-hand man of his brother's pirate crew, the Don Quixote Family. He went under the alias Corazon, an unintelligent mute giant with a clumsy streak who enjoyed throwing children off a building and scaring them shitless. He kept the unintelligent mute persona for the sake of not blowing his cover. Doflamingo and his buddies just assumed he couldn't speak due to a trauma so Rosinante let them believed that. However, the clumsiness was all his. Rosinante did his best to scare the children away from the Family but there were three children that didn't give in to his tactics. One child appeared before Doflamingo wearing a necklace full of hand grenades around him. His name was Trafalgar D. Water Law. The 10-year-old boy wanted to kill everyone before he dies from a deadly illness. Rosinante heard about this demented soul and decided to greet him personally: by throwing him off of a 3-story building. Over and over again. Law hated Rosinante with a passion. He hated him so much that he stabbed Rosinante, in an attempt to kill him. It didn't work out, the boy was short for his age so he didn't hit any major arteries. Doflamingo had a cardinal rule: Hurt the Family and you get executed. So, it surprised Law that Rosinante (or Cora, as the kids call him) didn't rat him out. Rosinante didn't know how this young boy became such an important part in his life. He didn't know when it started or what possessed him to kidnap Law and visit every hospital in the North Blue to find a cure for White Lead Disease. All Donquixote Rosinante knew was that he had to save this kid. He had to make sure that his life was worth living. Most importantly, he had to prevent Trafalgar D. Water Law from becoming like his brother. Even if it meant the cost of his own life.
Fate had a way of testing the limits of people. Fate also had a way of bringing out their endurance and determination. Such was the case of Bell-mere.
It was supposed to be a simple excursion. Two years of exploring the East Blue and then visit her village after so many years away. But her unit hit a snag in the Oykot Kingdom. Pirates have plundered the small kingdom, leaving it nearly destroyed. Bell-mere was pushed to her limits fighting off pirates and dodging explosions. But one explosion came unexpectantly, sending Bell-mere flying nearly 50 ft. in the air. She was severely injured and suffering from major blood loss.
No. This can't be how I die.
Bell-mere called out for help but to no avail. She felt her life slip away with each passing minute. Tears flowed down her face as she laid slumped on the ground. She thought about Rosinante, how he would react when he heard the news about her death. Her boyfriend was a pure soul and she knew that his brother would twist that beautiful soul into something evil.
I'm sorry, Roci. I'm sorry I broke our promise.
Just as she was about to lose consciousness, a child's cry for help snapped her back to the land of the living. Bell-mere sat up and saw a little girl with purple hair, holding a baby in her arms. She didn't know where these kids came from or where their parents were (but it was safe to assume they were dead). All Bell-mere knew was that they needed someone and lying down waiting to die won't do anyone any good.
"Hey, where are your parents?" She asked the toddler.
"They're dead." The girl cried. "I found her buried in a pile of rubble. She's okay, I think."
It was at that moment, Bell-mere found an extra wind of life that she was praying for. Godlike strength returned to her as she scooped the two girls in her arms and ran towards a nearby ship. Her right leg was giving her hell but she kept running. Bell-mere had to live! These girls lost everything, her dying would be just a really cruel joke. The young Marine finally reached the ship and after sending Tsuru an encrypted message, she set sail to Cocoyashi Village….to home.
After a surprise homecoming (and some colorful words from Genzo), Bell-mere and the young girls were examined by the village doctor. Although on the brink of death, Bell-mere's injuries weren't as severe as she thought. But her right leg was permanently damaged and she would walk with a limp for the rest of her life. But it beat dying. The girls, however, were in perfect health. Bell-mere learned that the four-year-old girl was named Nojiko and the baby (who was nearly two) didn't have a name, but Genzo called her Nami because she cried too much. Tsuru visited Bell-mere in Cocoyashi a couple weeks later, thankful that her top commander was still alive. But that elation soon turned into shock when Bell-mere announced that she was going to retire from the Marines. As disappointed as Tsuru was, she understood. These girls needed a mother and despite Bell-mere's rough exterior, Tsuru believed that she was the right woman for the job. And that's how Bell-mere became to be the mother she always dreamed of being.
Thanks to the hands of fate, Rosinante and Bell-mere both had charges they were responsible for. Charges they loved as their own and would gladly give their lives for. But Fate wasn't done with the two young Marine lovers just yet. They had another trick in store:
Which brings us to a large chateau on the bayou outside of South Quarter.
It was in the late afternoon when Abigail arrived at her family's estate chateau. She looked around to see if her grandmother was resting in her gazebo near the bayou. Then Abigail walked up to the house and knocked on the door.
"Nana! Nana, it's Abigail. Open the door."
When she didn't receive a response, Abigail unlocked the door and entered the house. She observed her surroundings. The house was well kept, as usual. But it was eerily quiet. Usually, Abigail would hear the sounds of Gullah music or the Television Snail playing in the background. But the only sound she heard was silence. And boy was it loud.
"Nana, I'm here!"
"Abigail, is that you?"
The young girl looked up to see Magdalena coming down the stairs to greet her.
"What are you doing here, child?"
"I know you told me and Papa not to bother you, but I have to tell you something."
"Is something wrong with the restaurant?"
"No, the restaurant is fine." Abigail exhaled deeply before continuing. "Rosinante and Bell-mere are gone."
Magdalena's eyes grew wide with shock. "What do you mean gone? Did something bad happened to them?"
"No. They left for separate assignments. Belle left for the East Blue last week and Roci left for the North Blue almost two months ago. They may be gone for a while so…they wanted me to say their goodbyes for them."
"Oh no, this is not good. The timing couldn't be more horrific."
"What do you mean? What's wrong?"
Magdalena was about to respond when she was cut off by the sound of a baby crying. Abigail looked at her grandmother in confusion.
"Was that a baby?" She asked.
"Of course not! That was…the Television Snail." Magdalena chuckled nervously.
"We don't have a television snail upstairs. What's going on?"
The crying became insistent, causing Magdalena to sigh in resignation and headed back upstairs. Abigail gave a flabbergasted look before following her grandmother upstairs to a nursery. What she saw was beyond shock: Magdalena holding a newborn baby in her arms, making soothing noises.
"It's alright, little one." She cooed. "You just had a bad dream."
"Grandmother, who's baby is this?!" Abigail demanded.
"Shh! Hush, Abigail!" Magdalena hissed. "You're going to wake up his sister!"
"Sister?" Abigail looked to see a bassinet beside her, where another newborn baby laid, sleeping peacefully. The young girl put two and two together and realized what her grandmother had done. "Nana…please don't tell me you did what I think you did."
Magdalena held out a hand to silence Abigail, trying to rock the baby in her arms back to sleep. After putting the baby boy back in his bassinet, Magdalena took Abigail by the hand and led her to the other room.
"I know how bad this looks but…"
"You used your Devil Fruit Power?!" Abigail screeched. "Nana, do you realize how reckless you're being?!"
"Hush, Abigail!" Magdalena scolded. "I just put Felix back to sleep, please don't wake him up again."
"The baby's name is Felix?"
"Yes, and his sister's name is Norah."
(Now, in case you haven't figured it out yet, Magdalena possesses the power of the Stork-Stork Devil Fruit. She has the power to create offspring by using the DNA of two individuals she touches. The last two people Magdalena touched were Bell-mere and Donquixote Rosinante. Therefore, she produced, not one, but two babies sharing the likeness of two beloved Marines.)
Abigail brushed her hair back and sighed. "You named them? I thought you let the parents name the children?"
"Their parents did choose the names, dear."
Abigail was stunned to silence. "Are you saying that…Rosinante and Bell-mere are the parents?"
Magdalena smiled and nodded. "Indeed, which is bad timing. I was going to introduce the twins to them tomorrow."
"You know how draining your power is, Nana." Abigail pointed out. "You get exhausted producing one baby. Why'd you produced twins?"
"I couldn't decide between giving Rosinante and Bell-mere a girl or a boy, so I created both." Magdalena shrugged. "Besides, don't you think it'll be fun to have a male version of Bell-mere and a female version of Rosinante?"
"Perhaps. You can't keep them here forever, you know. It will drain your life force."
"I know my limits, Abigail. I can keep them for three years. Then, I will find out where Belle and Roci are and reunite them with their children."
"But Belle's in the East Blue and Roci's in the North Blue." Abigail pointed out. "There's no possible way you can send both babies."
Magdalena laughed. "Now, Abby. I'm sure you've read The Parent Trap when you were young. Now, since you're here, you can make yourself useful. There's some laundry that needs tending to. I'll go make us some dinner."
Abigail watched as her grandmother calmly walked down the stairs and made her way to the kitchen. She entered the nursery and took a peak at the two new bundles of joy. It was too early to tell which child resembled which parent, but her suspicious were confirmed when Felix somehow tumbled out of his bassinet. Abigail caught him before he hit the floor. The baby boy opened his eyes, revealing them to be reddish-brown: the same color as Rosinante's. Abigail smiled.
"You are most definitely Rosinante's son."
This was the story of how two young Marine Officers fell in love with each other but were torn apart by circumstances beyond their control.
But where their story ends, a new one begins.
Call them Children of Fate or Children of the Heart
This is the beginning of an incredible journey for the offspring of Bell-mere and Donquixote Rosinante:
The Devil Fruit Twins, Felix Rocinante and Norah Lammie.
To Be Continued….
HI! THIS IS ZABE ROGUE! IT'S BEEN A WHILE, I KNOW. I'M BACK WITH A ONE PIECE SERIES THAT CAME INTO MY HEAD RECENTLY. THE SERIES WILL BE ON A03 AS WELL. THIS IS MY FIRST TIME WRITING A03 FAN FICTION SO PLEASE REVIEW AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK. AS FOR MY PREVIOUS FANFICTION, I MAY UPDATE THEM OR NOT...I HAVEN'T DECIDED YET. THANKS FOR READING! I WILL UPLOAD THE SECOND STORY SOON.