Full Summary: Being reincarnated into the One Piece universe is not what one would expect after death. Especially when the 'character' you've been born into is someone who technically doesn't exist. Were things supposed to remain the same, or were you suppose to change them? Only time will tell, supposedly.
"I am an informant. I know things. Most of them unfortunately not pleasant." - Portgas D. Roux
Warning(s): Slash/Yaoi, Timeline Alterations, Reincarnation.
Main Pairing: Undecided
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, obviously.
19 years before canon
"Vice. Admiral. GARP!"
Having failed to get the damn old man's attention, Roux couldn't help but yell out Garp's name, his gentlemanly demeanour disappearing as he slapped the Hero's back as hard as possible without the use of Haki.
He was, currently, being carried on the Vice-Admiral's shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
How did he come to this, you ask? Well, simple. Let's rewind back to a day earlier.
Roux was humming softly to himself as he stalked through the halls of the Marine HQ, in his hands was a folder, his eyes skimming the words written on the papers without minding anything else.
That was mistake number one.
Whilst flipping through the pages, his inattention caused him to bump into someone. He would have fallen to his ass if not for the hands holding his shoulders to keep him steady. Quickly closing the confidential folder, he looked up - because the majority of humans in One Piece are tall - and parted his lips to thank the person, but faltered.
Mistake number two was not hightailing away immediately upon realizing that it was Garp.
"Buahahahaha! What a coincidence! I was just 'bout to see ya."
Roux struggled to keep his composure, but his poker face faltered slightly to show his fear.
It was not that he was afraid of Garp. No. It was more towards being afraid of what Garp might say. After having relieved his nephew to this old timer, he had avoided Garp like a plague. The old man, however, was persistent and selfish, always stalking Roux and gushing about how cute Ace was and how he should visit.
... He just wanted Garp to stop testing his resolve. He had firmly told himself that he would not interfere with the plot, and if that means disappearing from Ace's life, then so be it. A small price to pay.
So, the question was, how did this idiot continuously find him even though he repressed his presence to almost non-existence?!
He suspected Garp had an inbuilt Roux-radar or something. There was simply no other possible explanation. Even Sengoku had a hard time finding him if he didn't want to be found. But this idiot? Ugh! How maddening!
"Vice-Admiral Garp. Well, this isn't really a good time. I'm just on way to Fleet Admiral Sengoku's-"
Garp interrupted with a huge grin.
Not realizing the slyness of this old man's grin was mistake number three. He should've refused stubbornly, or at least jumped out of the window to get away from this crazy old man.
"Ohh? Then let's go together."
"... It's a matter of confidentiality-"
"This must be fate, buahahahaha! I have urgent things to tell him too~"
The Hero of the Marines then threw an arm over Roux's shoulders and dragged him along to the direction of Sengoku's office. It made his eyebrows twitch in irritation.
Keep calm, Roux. Don't turn violent, was the mantra that was repeated in his head.
"Is that so? Then I'll let you have a meeting with him first. Actually, I'm feeling quite peckish-"
He was unable to continue his words since they were already there, Garp having thrown open the door without even knocking.
"Sengoku!" The Vice-Admiral's greeting caused Sengoku to jolt in surprise, some of his paperwork falling down his desk.
"Don't just come in here whenever you want, Garp! Get out and knock!"
"No way. That's too much of a pain." Garp replied, a finger in his nose.
Garp then dragged Roux further into the office, seating them both on the couch without even asking for Sengoku's permission, much to the Fleet Admiral's ire.
"Well? What the hell do you want? Tell me quickly and go away."
Sengoku went back to his paperwork whilst he spoke to Garp, his tone of voice giving away his impatience.
"I'm taking leave. Ah, Red too."
"What?" "I beg your pardon?"
Sengoku and Roux replied at the same time, the former giving Garp a sharp look whilst the latter expressed his confusion.
"Then it's settled." Garp stood up with Roux carried on his shoulder, already having walked passed Sengoku's desk.
"Nothing's settled! You can't do whatever you want just because you're the 'Hero' of the Marines, Garp!"
"Huh? What's that? You want me to leave immediately? Yosh! Let's go, Red!"
"I said no such thing!"
"La la la la la~ I can't hear you."
H-how childish!
"Like hell you can't!"
"We'll be back soon~"
"You're not going anywhere, Garp! And let go of him. He looks unwilling."
"What are you talking about? This was all his idea!"
"I doubt it. Garp. I need him here."
The seriousness of Sengoku's voice caused Garp to halt, the hand on the doorknob twitched, but made no attempts at opening it just yet.
"He hasn't taken any time off for a year. You're overworking him, fool." It was stern. As if Garp was truly worried about Roux's health.
He inwardly sneered at that. Why would anybody be genuinely worried about him? That was simply wishful thinking on Roux's part. Everyone only wanted him due to his role as an informant. The only one who truly cared for him was already forever gone. And what was left of his family would never know of the true him, only his current identity. So what if he overworked himself to his death? Even he didn't care, so why should Garp? He must've misunderstood the old man somehow.
Stop hoping for the impossible, Roux. You weren't even meant to be here. He ruthlessly told himself.
"... Fine. I'll allow a month. Now get out of my office!"
As soon as Sengoku agreed, Garp had already rushed out of the man's office.
That was the last mistake he made. He should've spoken up. Sengoku would've taken his side and prevented Garp from kidnapping him.
Now, back to the present.
Many would ask why he had not escaped before Garp brought him onboard the huge Navy warship. The answer is simple. Garp, that shitty geezer, had forced a cloth - wet with chloroform - against his nose and mouth, knocking him out cold within seconds.
After he had woken up - his head pounding and his stomach rebelling against him - he was already on Dawn Island, Garp once again carrying Roux on his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
How they had arrived here within a day, he had no idea. The only thing he was concerned about was preventing himself from puking his guts out.
Oh.
And Ace.
The shitty geezer was definitely dragging (carrying) him to Ace.
"Garp! For the last time, put me the, urp, hell down... Or i'll, hrk, kill you in your, gehk, sleep... Shit... I'm gonna be sick..."
He didn't even care that his gentlemanly mask was broken nor did he care about talking like a delinquent. All he wanted was to have his feet firmly planted on the ground so that he could lay there like a corpse.
Chloroform + abused stomach + weak constitution = beyond sick.
"We're here!"
He was then dropped carelessly, causing him to whimper as he hit the ground. His hands were instantly on his mouth, not daring to remove them lest he barfed all over himself. When he looked up with watery eyes, there was a familiar looking person standing in front of a somewhat decently sized wooden cottage.
Ah, yes. The mountain bandits' base.
With great effort, he swallowed down the bile and stood up on shaky legs, not at all caring that he was leaning against the Marine's side. Garp himself didn't seem to mind, only laughing loudly as the bandit boss gapped at the two of them.
Whilst she was busy with imitating a statue, Roux observed her with great interest. Dadan was quite the eye-catching lady. Her face was more masculine than his, big as well. She has long curly orange hair and was quite overweight. Her clothing consists of a white collar shirt, chequered trousers, and heeled boots. Compared to her massive size, her feet were adorably tiny.
Once again, Roux decided to ignore the unique proportions of the humans in the One Piece world - they were beyond logic.
"G-G-Garp...-san! Why are you here?!"
Dadan snapped out from her shock after a while, her forehead covered in a layer of sweat.
"For my grandson, of course. Ace-chan~ jii-chan and ji-san are here to visit~"
Roux was so disgusted by the baby speak that he forced his legs into moving a few steps away from Garp - the old man looking far too creepy with his current expression.
... Wait a second.
"J-ji-san?!"
Roux stuttered, his cheeks flushing an embarrassing shade of red at that word. He knew that he was Ace's uncle, but he has never been called that out loud. It made his heart flutter with longing, but at the same time, it reminded him that he shouldn't be here.
"Huh? The brat-, uh, I mean Ace-chan, has an uncle?"
At the glare she received from both Roux and Garp, she looked fearfully away as she 'tactfully' changed the way she called Ace. He seriously hopes that his nephew would answer when someone calls him Ace and not brat. If not, this bandit boss was in a whole world of pain.
"Yep." Garp replied without missing a beat, causing Roux to pinch his nose in exasperation.
"Garp-san has more than one son?!"
"Yep."
Don't just agree randomly, you senile old geezer! Which part of Roux even bore a resemblance to this idiot, anyway?! To be mistaken for Garp's son... How unpleasant! Roux decided to simply ignore the insane old fart in favor of taking out his irritation on Dadan. Picking on the weak was something of a bad habit of his when he was stressed.
"Curly Dadan." He called out politely with an utterly fake smile on his lips.
"Ah? What? How did you know my name? Well, forget it. Nice to meet you."
She held out her hand, which Roux took. He didn't release his hold even when she began to tug. He merely tightened his grip, causing her expression to scrunch up in discomfort and hesitancy.
"You and your family committed many, many impressive crimes throughout the decades. As a concerned and law abiding citizen... I feel that it is my obligation to report you to the proper authorities. However, I am a gentleman who believes in second chances. So how about we strike a deal? I don't request the death sentence for you, and you don't tell anyone of my existence."
His polite smile only widened when she gapped and pointed at him, looking at Garp with disbelief.
"Buahahahaha! Sorry sorry. I forgot about the whole secret relationship thing. Then, Dadan, forget everything I just said."
The only female here appeared to be struggling for words.
Well, he couldn't blame her. She did, after all, just get threatened with execution. Even Garp had not done such a thing, merely blackmailed her with jail time.
"Well, do we have an accord, Curly Dadan?"
"Yes! Yes, deal yes! J-just let go!"
He complied, causing her to let out a sigh of relief as she rubbed her reddened hand.
Hm. Had he been too hard on her? His behavior wasn't at all gentlemanly. Perhaps he had overreacted... Ah, nevermind. This was a one-time thing, anyway. He didn't plan on coming back here again anytime soon (or ever).
Besides, it was her own fault for looking more manly than him. Was it possible for them to somehow swap hormones or something?
... Wait. Ivankov could help with that, couldn't he? Something to research on.
"Er, Garp-san? Is your son ok? His smile looks..."
"Leave him be. He's probably daydreaming about stupid things."
Ah. Not good not good.
Roux quickly fixed his expression.
"May we come in?" He asked politely, a disarming smile playing on his lips.
Dadan simply shuddered.
"Yeah. Anyway, who are you?"
"Oh, my. How rude of me to not introduce myself. I am Roux. A colleague of Vice-Admiral Garp. I'm simply visiting his grandson. A pleasure, Dadan-san." He tipped his fedora in a gentlemanly manner.
Again, she shuddered.
... Really, what a rude woman.
Time has never flown so fast. Three weeks have gone by in a flash. Tomorrow was the day Garp and he would leave this peaceful island, with Garp going back to the HQ and Roux taking a detour to North Blue.
He, however, felt content. Relaxed. After a whole year of overworking himself to forget his heartache, he was finally able to loosen up.
This was a month he would never forget (and he took many photos to remember it by). He had been reluctant at first, but baby Ace had him wrapped around those tiny fingers as soon as he laid eyes upon his nephew.
As he carried the one-year-old in his arms, the child cooing cutely whilst he drank milk from the baby bottle, he could truthfully admit that he felt alive once again. After Rouge's departure, it had been hard for him to cope. Twins shared a special bond, a connection. On the day she left, he felt half of his soul follow her into the afterlife.
He quickly shook his head to rid himself of those depressing thoughts. He should be focusing on the present, not the past. Currently, he was taking a walk in the forest, having had enough of Garp's loud snoring. How the geezer could eat whilst sleeping at the same time... Well, now he knew who canon Ace got that habit from.
As soon as he kept the baby bottle and burped the child, Ace yawned loudly but struggled to not fall asleep.
He chuckled fondly, knowing how much children disliked going to bed. It was truly a mystery how the minds of younglings work. As an adult, sleeping all day was his dream. To just lay in bed without worries... But, alas, due to responsibilities and duties, it simply wasn't meant to be.
Having found a decently sized boulder to sit on, he slowly began to rock Ace whilst humming softly under his breath, the melody a nostalgic one. It was a song from Earth. A lullaby, to keep nightmares at bay (by Liz Vibert). He had sung this to Rouge every night during their younger days. Now, he sang to Ace. Every night since his arrival here.
Bad dreams go away~
Good dreams are here to stay~
Candy canes and lolipops~
Jelly beans and lemon drops~
Ice cream castles in the snow~
Jelly beans all in a row~
Sandy beaches waves go by~
Birds are flying in the sky~
Sweet dreams will come to you~
A memory and a song or two~
You'll hear children laughing and having fun~
They'll all be playing in the warm summer sun~
You'll feel a cool breeze upon your face~
Now you're in your special place~
When he looked down, baby Ace was fast asleep. Roux couldn't help but grin widely at that.
Works like a charm!
Not able to resist, he kissed the baby's freckled cheeks, chuckling delightfully when his nephew scrunched that cute button nose of his in his sleep.
Roux wanted nothing more but to bring his nephew back with him - screw the consequences.
...
..
.
But he was too much of a coward to intentionally change the plot.