It's official. This is a dork!fic now. orz

Because killing Sabo off for real at the cliff scene? Oops, didn't happen.

Thanks to all anons who take the time to review~ If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

Reviews do influence the story. While I (usually) won't take requests for plot developments, your comments can inspire all sorts of things. Example: I had the idea for Garp's dream after reading a review by SNicole25-san.

Also, using Arial size 12, A4 standard format, this fic is 80 pages long. Without ANs, and no page breaks between chapters. Holy carps—

000

Part IV: End of the Beginning

-Rainbow-colored Morning-

Makino's pregnancy taught me many valuable lessons, the more relevant being:

It sucks. Not worth it. Let humanity disappear.

Jokes aside, it was very difficult for all involved (and 'uninvolved' too, once I got a hold of a certain red-haired pirate).

"Aaaaaaaaah! Who forgot to clean after eating?!"

"…I'm sorry! I'm sorry for screaming… sniff. It's just… why… why didn't they use plates…?"

...fortunately, our mother-to-be already had a balanced diet, and had no problems with lactose (that would have been particularly cruel, considering the main sources of calcium were dairy products). The additional portions of cheese and vegetables also supplied the required extra calories, so that aspect was easy enough.

"If I eat any more liver, I think I'll hurl."

"Ann, I feel like eating tuna… cheesecake. Oh, with extra raspberry jam and grilled bell peppers!"

"What do you mean, no alcohol? And only a cup of tea?!"

…mostly.

The so-called morning sickness was a hoax, dangit! It wasn't so much a morning affliction as an 'all-hours' problem; although an empty stomach did make for worse pangs—or so Makino said.

"Whoever said pregnant women only need an additional three hundred calories was mad," father confided. "Your mother would bake one cake every day. Then, she'd set aside a small piece… and promptly devour the rest." His left eye twitched. "Not counting all that cheese, vegetables, fruits, cereals… and when the fortieth week came about, she weighed fifty kilograms. Fifty!"

"The one time I sat on a preferential seat, the old lady sitting by my side gave me the evil eye." Mother frowned exaggeratedly.

"At any rate, I have no idea where all that food went, but it certainly didn't stick. Especially because right after giving birth, she returned to her usual forty three kilograms self... there wasn't a single stretch mark to tell the tale. In fact, were it not for the scar from the cesarean section, no one would be able to tell."

"Why they had to cut you out of my insides? Well… the contractions started, the water broke… and then, everything stopped. We just… fell asleep. The doctor administered medication, but it had the opposite effect." Mother pumped her fist. "I guess no one can get between us and sleep!"

"That's not a good thing!"

Er, thinking about it, Makino's pregnancy was probably the most normal I'd seen so far.

Fortunately.

"I have wonderful news!" Makino exclaimed from her seat.

"You're pregnant." Ace then propped both elbows on the small round table, bored.

"You were very conspicuous about it." Sabo crossed his arms in amusement.

"I'm not the youngest anymore!" Luffy grinned and stood up. "That's awesome!"

"You… don't mind?"

"I teach. Brats. I can handle another kid." Sabo shuddered. "Probably."

"It's gonna be so magical! Oh, I can't wait to dress the baby in tons of cute onesies! And toys! And we get to decorate a baby room! That means… shopping!" Before Ace could flinch at the 's' word, I deflated. "But not for a few months. For now, everyone has to help Makino out. She can't do strenuous activities and must eat regularly. Also, we should take her to the city for the more specialized exams sometime soon."

"I can carry you." Ace mumbled. "To Edge Town, I mean."

Makino laughed. "Thank you for the offer, but I do need some exercise."

"You're sulking." I sat beside Ace.

"Not sulking." From his perch by the cliff, he stared at the vast sea. "Just thinking."

"A beli for your thoughts?"

"That's too cheap. My thoughts are much more valuable than that." Ace's lips quirked teasingly.

"Then, how about telling me for free?"

Ace's eyes trailed after a lone cloud. "It's… the baby is coming. What am I supposed to do?"

"You're supposed to be your usual awesome big brother self."

"Awesome?" He scoffed. "I'm not awesome. Thinking about how much the baby's going to be pampered; how things could have been for us, had our father been anyone else…"

"Ah. So you're jealous."

Ace flinched. "Maybe."

"That's ok. But the only reason you can be jealous is because we all care about the baby, right? Our small family is everything they will know. This affection shared between all of us." I extended my arms. "Giving them what we didn't have—we deposit our hopes for the future in those actions. Happiness can be found in making our loved ones happy too."

Ace remained quiet. After a few moments, he leaned his back on the ground. "That baby is going to be a spoiled brat."

"Sure. With Luffy, it was only the three of us, but now, the baby's going to have four older siblings!"

"A big, happy family." Ace closed his eyes contemplatively. "That's a nice thought."

"Yeah." I leaned closer and took his hand. "Hey, Ace?"

"What is it?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

'For everything.' "For being here. With me."

"I'm glad you're here too."

"Ah! Don't!" I leapt from a few meters away and slapped the painkiller bottle from Makino's hand.

"Whoa, the screechy witch's losing it!"

"I'm sorry for overreacting… Miss Makino, I'll give you a massage if it's hurting too much, but this could seriously harm the baby."

She froze. "Oh. I didn't know that."

"Well, I did use it on the bandits, remember? Babies are much more delicate than those barbarians."

"True."

Crisis averted. This pregnancy thing would give me gray hair!

…although they wouldn't really show, considering I dyed it black anyway.

"!"

"Makino?"

"Luffy, I think the baby kicked. I've been feeling movements for weeks, but this is different."

"Wow, really? That's so cool!" Luffy turned to face Makino's belly, which was already showing. "Hey, baby! I want to meet you soon, so eat lots of food and get out of there soon!"

"I think they heard you."

"It's possible." I leaned closer to her. "May I…?"

"Sure." Makino nodded her head.

I poked her belly.

Makino chuckled. "I think the baby's ticklish."

"Baby, can you hear me? My name is Ann! Ann, ok?"

"Do you really want your name to be their first word that badly?"

"It's worth a try, isn't it?" I grinned.

"I'm going to get everybody!" Luffy ran outside to fetch his brothers.

From her seat at the counter, she smiled and patted her belly. "You don't have to rush. I can wait until you're ready."

"I can't feel anything. Are you sure it's not gases?"

I slapped Ace's head. "The baby is inside Makino, of course she'll feel the movements easier. It may be a while before we get to feel the baby kicking."

"Why did you have to slap me anyway? It was a legitimate question! It said so in those books!"

"Ace. You can't just say that to a girl's face!"

"Eh, why not?"

A hand touched my shoulder. "Don't mind that, Ann. Boys will be boys. And you yourself aren't really that 'lady-like' in the first place," she added amusedly.

"That's different! I behave in front of people. Besides, Sabo doesn't say those things." I turned to him—

He picked his nose. "Did you say something, screechy witch?"

"…forget it."

"Ready? Three, two, one…"

I started the piano intro, Sabo soon following with the violin.

"Yohohoho, yohohoho!" Everybody sang together. "Going to deliver…"

"Your dad would put earphones on my belly all the time. So, you listened to many composers, from Chopin to Tom Jobim before even taking your first breath. He was such an adorable dork back then."

There wasn't a way to record music yet (dials didn't count), so live music it was. I'm not sure the baby would benefit directly from it, but the simple fact Makino was more relaxed was reason enough.

"I can hear it! I can hear it!" I exclaimed gleefully.

"What? The baby talked or something?"

"No, silly! The heartbeat! The sound is faint, but steady."

"Can I?" Before Makino could respond, Luffy had already leaned his head on her belly.

"This is so cool!" I could almost see stars in Luffy's eyes.

Seeing Ace's hesitant looks, Makino smiled. "Do you want to listen?"

"...can I?"

"Of course."

His eyes widened in fascination. "This is..."

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yeah." He closed his eyes.

Ace slept on Makino's lap as she patted his head.

"Ann, really?"

I paused mid-stroke. "Wanna help?"

"Sure." Sabo grabbed another brush and began drawing squiggles on an unsuspecting Ace.

"What about me?" Came Luffy's indignant cries.

"Shh!"

"Here, you can have mine. I'm done."

I'd never draw a mustache on him for obvious reasons, but anything else was fair game. "Calligraphy Brush Set: 30.000. Ink stick: 4.000. Brother's face when he wakes up: priceless."

...that didn't have the same effect without the ads. Damn.

Before taking Makino there, I paid a quick visit to the clinic in Edge Town.

It was… underwhelming, to say the least.

By that, I mean they didn't have anything that could be remotely considered modern. No machines whatsoever, much less an ultrasound scanner. When I overheard the doctor prescribing bloodletting sessions, I hightailed out of that place.

High Town was probably better equipped, but smuggling a heavily pregnant woman there wasn't a good idea. Forging documents, as well as passing her off as a noble? Not happening either.

Sighing, I bought some candy for the boys and went back. 'Is that why people pray for good pregnancies? Because there's nothing else they can do?'

"I didn't mind it when that Red Haired kid came here. But… that good-for-nothing got you pregnant and ran away! That's it! I'm going to hunt him down!"

"Mister Garp, no! He didn't know anything!"

Grandfather sat down"Ah, then it's ok." He overturned a table. "Like hell it's ok! I still have to bash his head for putting ideas in Luffy's head!"

Grandfather had known all this time. About Shanks' visits. About Luffy's devil fruit.

Well, almost everything, as it turned out, but that's beside the point.

"Shanks is a pirate. Why did you let him near us?"

He sighed. "Roger entrusted both of you to me, but I could never really do anything for Ace. He always had this sadness around him, this hatred… I thought if he had contact with his father's crew members and heard the truth, without propaganda, that it could only help him."

"Granddaddy…"

"As for you, as soon as I heard you speaking for the first time, I knew you had inherited his instinctive understanding of the Ancient Language. This brilliance of yours, you would have thrived in Ohara."

'Brilliance? It's nothing of the sort.' "But Ohara is no more."

"That island was part of Roger's territory. When he died, they lost their only protection and fell."

"That was a massacre."

"Yes, it was. No matter how Sengoku painted it, I never agreed with how it was handled. The knowledge was dangerous, but exterminating even the ones who didn't know anything?" He paused. "Which reminds me. You taught them the Ancient Language, didn't you?"

I shook my head. "I didn't. Although both languages hold similarities, they can decipher the secrets of ancient weapons as much as a devil fruit user can swim."

"I see. That's good. I know you'd never do anything bad with that knowledge, but there's a reason it went extinct in the first place." He looked in my eyes. "Please be careful."

"I will." Before he could go back to the bar, I inhaled and tugged at his sleeve. "Is there any way I can get an apprenticeship in Drum?"

"I was wondering when you'd ask that. You've always wanted to be a doctor, right?"

I nodded mutely.

"I'll make arrangements. Take the next four months to tie any loose ends and prepare. "Next time I visit, you'll go with me."

"Th-thank you, grandfather." I bowed.

A large hand patted my head. "You are one of my cute grandchildren after all. Now, let's go back before your brothers start to worry. They seem to think I'm out to kill you all or some such nonsense."

I nodded and followed after him.

Since no one won the argument between blue and pink, we (meaning Makino) settled on pastel yellow for the walls, light orange for the door and thick off-white curtains.

The crib was a gift from Chiken, as her younger son had recently grown out of it. We repainted it lilac and hanged a mobile with little veggie-shaped baubles. Luffy then carved a few wooden figurines of grilled meat (with the mayor's help) and attached them to it.

Sabo was assigned the drawers, and opted for baby blue with white polka dots.

"That was fun!"

"Modesty aside—nah, who cares about modesty? This is the most awesome baby room ever." Sabo put the brush down and wiped his brows.

"The baby's going to be color-blind." Ace stated, doing his best to contain a grin.

"Thank you for your hard work, everybody!" I had forbidden Makino from going near the paint fumes, so she was waiting by the door. "I made some orange juice. Let's all take a break!"

One December morning, I woke up to Luffy's pouncing.

"Annie! Annie! Makino told me to get you! It's urgent!"

Sometime during the night, Makino's contractions had started. She had woken up and didn't think much of it. But contrary to her previous experiences, they had formed a pattern and the intervals between them were getting shorter and shorter.

"Ace, start the stove, and boil water—lots of it. Also, in a smaller pot, sterilize the fruit knife." I turned to Sabo. "Fetch the pile of towels and cloths, and prepare the bed." I then turned to Luffy. "Let's go see her now."

The next two hours passed in a blur of screams, curses (somewhere in the Grand Line, Shanks sneezed—constantly) and nervousness.

It was messy; not only the amniotic fluid—nature's protective bubble wrap for babies—had to go somewhere, but if the muscles in that area had relaxed enough for a baby to pass that meant…

It was stressing. I wanted to rip all the manuals that instructed the readers to "Keep calm". "Keep calm my backside," as Makino had so eloquently put (not in those exact words, but the sentiment remained). And it was so slow! Having to watch, powerless, was the most frustrating part.

The first part of the baby I saw was… red hair.

Pushing the side of my brain that kept repeating this isn't how nature works dangit!, I replaced the soaked towels with fresh ones and waited. Meanwhile, Ace had adjusted the temperature of the water bottles and was piling them inside a nest of sheets. Sabo had gone to the neighbor to fetch more towels, since we had underestimated the need for that particular item, and Luffy was making another pot of tea.

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

A perfect little girl.

I cleaned the fluids from her body, mindful not to harm the umbilical cord yet (the placenta was still inside) and handed her to Makino. By that point, my vision had blurred completely.

The baby was well.

The baby was alive.

"The baby… the baby is in Heaven, Ayumi-chan…"

The baby was alive.

Alive.

"Welcome to this world, little Rouge."

Rainbow-colored Morning_end

Bonus: Garp's Dream

Sengoku rubbed his temple. "You're telling me the Pirate King's secret twins, the Revolutionary Leader's only son, a runaway noble and a cleaver-happy barmaid were raising the daughter of Red Hair Shanks all this time? I'm too old for this sh*t. Screw you all, I'm retiring!" The ex-Fleet Admiral grabbed a suitcase and jumped from the window. "Garp, you're the new Fleet Admiral!"

Fleet admiral... admiral... admiral...

That last word kept echoing, louder and louder and louder...

"NOOOOOO!"

Garp jumped awake, snot bubble popping out. "Whew, it was only a nightmare. The ship should arrive in Windmill soon, and there won't be any red haired kid!"

When he saw Makino's belly, he had to resist the urge to scream and run away.

And that's why Garp didn't train them during that particular visit. He was too out of it. *shot*