Descent

by JustAProblem

Scars are a sign of pride and strength. A sign of survival. Naturally, this only applies to the physical scars and not the mental scars. No, mental scars are almost universally agreed to be negative and for good reason. Physical scars merely change how your body looks. Mental scars change how a person thinks. Rosan just wants to enjoy life. He didn't ask for all this. OC! Not-Si!

31. Chapter 31: Do Demons Get Sick?

Descent

Chapter 31: Do Demon's Get Sick?

Nami didn't really mind at all that Rosan was sleeping in the girl's room. Of all the male Straw Hat members, he's probably the only one she would let sleep there.

Besides, Robin had taken up the role as the sick redhead's caretaker and there was no way she'd make the beautiful woman sleep in the boy's room with Rosan because the two really hated being far from each other and as a result, they opted to sleep in the same bed.

It would have been really adorable… if Rosan wasn't so damn sick! Seriously what was wrong with their scout?! The four year old couldn't stay still for even a second and if not for the fact that he had reduced his age by so much (it's almost like he knew how annoying he'd be), they'd have a lot more trouble dragging around the tall redhead whose body temperature was far too high to be human.

Almost as soon as they could, the group checked his temperature and watching the thermometer reach nearly 150 degrees, banished all thoughts about sailing straight to Alabasta.

They needed to find the redhead a doctor immediately and even the tragic news Vivi had learned had not changed the kind hearted Princess' mind.

There had been a massive increase of people joining the rebellion, raising them to worryingly high numbers that would speak of untold slaughter if all out war broke out.

Still, Vivi did not falter in her decision. Even despite the problems she had with Robin and Rosan, the girl truly was too kind.

...Which brought them back to the star of the show.

How Robin was able to consistently stay by the scalding Rosan? Nami would never know but bless her soul because the navigator was absolutely sure she herself would have gotten fed up by now and actually tied down the burning menace.

"He was like this when we were kids and I was almost exclusively the target of his affection for four years. I've gotten used to it," Robin explained with a fond sigh, holding the sick boy who could barely move. His head was resting in between the crook of her neck and the woman didn't seem bothered whatsoever by his insane body heat.

(Rosan had placed a bit of modification on her, much to her displeasure, to make his body heat not bothersome to Robin).

All the straw hats listened (Sanji was glaring deeply at Rosan) in interest, not believing that their scout of all people used to be that clingy.

"Really?" Nami asked, eyes glinting eagerly. It wasn't often that there was an opportunity to hear or see something embarrassing about Rosan. He was an impenetrable fortress but apparently that was very much not the case as a kid.

Robin nodded with a teasing smile on her face. "He hated letting me out of his sight! We used to go on infiltration missions together and I would be the one infiltrating, while he'd wait for me. The first time we did it, he couldn't even wait a full day before he came knocking and tore everything down!"

"I told you I missed you," Rosan's raspy voice rang out, not seeing the problem with what he did.

"You were the one who made the plan! Why would you make a plan that you wouldn't be able to follow through with?" She retorted. The woman grabbed a glass of water and had the redhead drink it, to which he easily did so, sighing at the slight relief in his throat.

"Hindsight is 20/20. I didn't realize how much I'd miss you," Rosan shrugged, tugging his head back into the woman's neck. His sickness was getting pretty bad but he wouldn't let that affect him.

Sure Robin kept dragging him back to bed but he couldn't be expected to stay there all the time right? He was a restless soul, almost always on the move and you were telling him to stay still?

"That's normally what a person does when they're sick, Rosan," Mod deadpanned, staring tiredly at her charge. Bless Robin's patient soul for being able to put up with his nonstop movement. The moment she stopped watching him, he was off doing something he wasn't supposed to.

"L-Listen to Auntie, Father. I… I don't want you to dieeee!" Ram sobbed hysterically. The ring was the only one fully panicking due to seeing her Father in such a vulnerable position and she had been permanently attached to a soothing Mod the entire time.

"I can't die yet and I won't die yet. Stop crying," Rosan grunted.

There was still so much he needed to do. He just found Robin after all and dying to some cold would be embarrassing.

Besides, Modification allowed it inside of his body because it had to have been sure it wouldn't kill him. It was like getting a flu shot but on a much more extreme level...

In theory.

Ram put her hands over her mouth and nodded fervently, sniffing repeatedly but believing her creator's words.

Robin rolled her eyes. "You didn't realize something that simple? We barely knew each other for a few days and you were already insane levels of clingy! Don't you remember when you— Did you just bite me?!"

The woman looked at the little fangs of the chibi and glared at him.

"Stop revealing our past. I said I missed you," he snarked. That bite took a lot of energy out of him and it barely affected her.

"If you weren't sick, we'd have gotten into a fight," Robin said flatly.

"All those spats we got into and you still haven't learned your lesson?" Rosan replied tiredly.

"FIGHTS?!" Sanji roared in disbelief. These two used to get into fights?! Why would Rosan ever hit her?! Was he mad?!

"Yeah, we argued and got in a lot of fights as kids," the redhead responded.

Robin nodded. "Rosan is insufferable. It was at least twice a week when a fight would break out between us."

"You two used to infiltrate places as children?!" Usopp gaped, not believing his ears. He looked at the ridiculously tiny version of Rosan and couldn't believe someone this small could be so violent.

The straw hats were nodding in agreement with the long nose for once. Was Rosan insane?! Suggesting they do something so reckless at the ages of eight and four?

Look at how he looked currently! The four year old was positively adorable right now and looked as if he wouldn't hurt a fly! To hear that he was a complete menace even as a tiny boy, left them understandably surprised.

"It worked out in the end. We never failed a mission," Rosan murmured, feeling himself grow sleepy from exhaustion. "I'm going to sleep, I can't keep my eyes open anymore."

"Wait, we need to bathe," Robin reminded him and the redhead blearily gazed at her.

"I won't die if you bathe me in my sleep. Besides, I'll wake up when I get wet," he grunted simply, tucking his head back in the crook of her neck.

With that, the redhead instantly fell asleep in Robin's grasp and the Devil Child sighed fondly at the sight.

"If only he fell asleep this easily as a child," she muttered, pushing herself up to go bathe with him. "I'd like to thank you again for allowing us to use your room, Nami," Robin said, getting a small smile out of the navigator.

"Of course! I'd never let you sleep in the boy's room and Rosan is clearly not keen on letting you go so the women's room was really the only option. Besides, he's done a lot for me and I trust him with my life," she answered truthfully, staring fondly at the chibi Rosan.

…It was a good thing he was sleeping, he'd never let her live this down.

"Wait, you should let one of us bathe him instead, Robin-chan," Sanji interjected, pointing at one of the males. "He's still an adult despite everything a-and maybe you two shouldn't bathe together."

Robin shook her head no, much to his surprise. "I think the only one Rosan would allow to bathe him, is Luffy and well… I don't think Luffy is very good at caring for sick people," she observed accurately.

The Straw Hats sweatdropped at her accurate observation. Knowing Luffy, he'd mistakenly drown his brother or get him even more sick.

"I'd like to bathe myself as well... I appreciate the concern but it's fine. Rosan and I used to bathe together anyways so it's nothing new," Robin assured them.

...If anything, that made the chef's concerns even worse.

Sanji's jaw dropped to the floor at her admittance and the other straw hats regarded her with their own levels of surprise.

"You two bathed together?!" Nami gaped.

Was Rosan seriously that level of clingy?! Kami he was already a handful right now but she couldn't begin to imagine how much worse he had been.

"Almost everyday… Rosan was incredibly spoiled and he abused his cuteness to get what he wanted. Even though I told him I need some alone time, we still ended up bathing together more often then not and I got used to it much faster than I expected," she sighed fondly, idly stroking the chibi's hair with tender eyes.

"Now let's see how long I can let him sleep before he vanishes again… hopefully he actually does stay asleep through the bath," Robin muttered to herself. She was seriously thinking of tying him down but her love for Rosan, and his hate for being chained, prevented her from doing so.

Wait, that was it! She'd let Rosan rest with her clone so he wouldn't feel the urge to move around so much!

"It won't work but I love your optimism," Mod giggled.

"A woman can dream," Robin replied, shaking her head with a smile. Despite not being able to enter the mindscape, she was still connected via link so it wasn't all bad.

The straw hats and Vivi watched the two disappear with varying expressions.

"T-They…" Sanji stammered, jaw still on the floor in despair. "THEY BATHED TOGETHER?! JUST WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS?!"

"Me and Rosan bathed together too," Luffy beamed. "He stopped me from drowning a lot!"

"WHO CARES ABOUT IF HE BATHED WITH YOU?!" Sanji roared in fury, collapsing on his knees with tears in his eyes. "I just don't get it… how is my love rival so ahead of me right now?! What am I doing wrong?! WHAT CAN I DO BETTER?!"

Nami sweatdropped. Love rival? Was that what he considered Rosan? Was Rosan even aware of this? Somehow, she doubted it and if he was aware… she seriously doubted that he cared.

"What the hell are talking about, dumbass cook?" Zoro raised a brow.

Rosan had not displayed any outward interest in a single soul since they had met but he was suddenly a love rival?

"What did you just call me, shitty marimo?" Sanji replied, raising a brow in surprise and anger.

Dumbass cook? Who the hell did this guy think he was?!

"Shitty marimo? Who the hell do you think you are?!" Zoro raised a brow in return, immediately closing the distance between the two.

The two began butting heads with each other, prepared to come to blows until Nami punched them both in the skull, successfully de-escalating the situation.

"Stop being so stupid," she barked.

"Don't you guys have any problem at all with this?!" Vivi couldn't help but ask, watching how normally they all interacted with the woman. Of all the things to focus on, them bathing was the most concerning?!

Was she the only one who was rightfully wary?! Miss All — Nico Robin (THE NICO ROBIN!) was their enemy and now she was being allowed to just sail with them?! Vivi could barely sleep at night knowing that one of her most hated enemies was currently in the same as room.

Even after everything she said… Vivi just couldn't forget the feeling of helplessness that Nico Robin helped reinforce. That mocking smile… the frozen eyes, the taunting words.

The feeling of seeing someone she cared for get blown up in cold blood… It didn't matter if she claimed to have spared him, she still blew him up!

Why couldn't they see what she saw?! This couldn't… This had to be a setup!

"Nope," Luffy replied easily, looking as carefree as usual. "Robin is Rosan's friend so she's our friend!" he finished simply.

The rest of the straw hats nodded at that. If Rosan, the most ruthless of them, trusted someone that much, then they had no reason to doubt them.

Zoro trusted Luffy and Rosan completely and those two had absolute trust in Robin so he had no reason to doubt her. Rosan especially, had already proven to the swordsman that they were both similarly paranoid.

Sanji similarly, despite his burning jealousy, trusted Rosan completely. After all, the two both knew each other's deepest secret and he had seen how ruthless Reaper could be.

If the Angel of Death of all people, trusted Nico Robin, then there wasn't much reason to not trust her.

She was also incredibly beautiful so that helped. Damn that Rosan for hogging all her attention and being so grabby…

Usopp was a little wary of her but one use of her Devil Fruit, had sent the long nose into a cackling fit that broke down all his fears.

Seeing how the cool and collected woman acted around Rosan did wonders for him as well.

Besides… he thought Kaya and Rosan had something going on (Usopp had seen her blushing around the redhead one time, unaware that he was talking about Usopp being her boyfriend) but this mostly dashed his worries.

"Vivi…" Nami sighed, deciding to nip this in the bud before Rosan eventually did. "I don't know about Luffy, but none of us have ever seen Rosan act like that and I'm sure you could say the same about Robin."

She sent a pointed look towards the princess, who could only look away and say nothing at the truth of her words.

"Those two are happy around each other and it's clear Robin has been operating in a way that would give her favorable positions to survive. It's very possible that Crocodile didn't give her much choice in joining him or not and he strikes me as a guy to kill in cold blood. Am I wrong?" Nami prodded.

Vivi said nothing, only nodding her head tightly.

The navigator sighed at the look on her face.

"You don't have to trust Robin… but we do because Rosan does. He's our scout and he's done a lot for all of us without even a hint of a smile on his face. We trust him with our lives and he trusts Robin with his. Of course we don't have a problem with her," Nami finished.

Vivi watched every straw hat nod in unison and couldn't help but gaze back at where Rosan and Nico Robin vanished off to.

It was true that she had never seen Miss All Sunday show even a quarter of the things Nico Robin showed and that was all because of the redhead who she was currently caring for.

They… they really did look happy to be around each other in a way that didn't scream fake or scheming to her.

If Igaram truly was alive… then Vivi could maybe find it in herself to forgive the woman.

"I'd stop being so hostile if I were you," Zoro advised. "Rosan doesn't strike me as the type to tolerate hostility for long and you've been hostile for a pretty long time."

"If he wasn't sick, I'd have to stop him from attacking you!" Luffy nodded, beaming all the while.

Rosan was possessive after all and he wouldn't allow any threats close to those he deemed his and well… Nico Robin was the first person to ever have that honor.

Vivi nodded shakily at that, not doubting them for even a second. Despite how different he was from them, this crew still had high regards for the familiar redhead and she had to wonder…

Just who was Rosan? Because Vivi was absolutely sure she had seen him somewhere before and it was driving her insane not being able to figure out.

---

It was on Zoro's 130th pushup, did he realize that something was amiss.

Honestly, what should have tipped him off was the snoring on his back but he ignored it, thinking it would have gone away...

Then, he realized that it was way hotter then it had any right to be so he finally checked out what the

Stopping in his workout, the swordsman carefully reached behind him and hoisted his target up with one hand.

Chibi Rosan's eyes blearily opened as he glanced at Zoro with a half lidded expression.

"Rosan... what are you doing here?" Zoro asked slowly, effortlessly holding the tiny redhead up.

The redhead coughed and said, "I... wanted to train so I came here... Since you were in... the middle of pushups—"

He coughed once more and Zoro sighed as he began to lead the redhead to the kitchen to drink water.

"—I figured I'd help you by sitting on your back. They looked too easy so I added some weight," he finished.

The swordsman sweatdropped. "You barely weigh a thing."

"...Oh, right," he muttered. "Where are you taking me?"

"The kitchen... you need some water."

Rosan hummed as he threatened to fall asleep again. "You're going the wrong way. Right now, you're taking me to—"

"Ahem."

The two froze as a dangerous aura washed over them and Zoro turned around to regard the Nico Robin who had a serene smile on her face.

"—The women's room," Rosan finished, opening his arms.

Robin's eyes narrowed at the dangerously cute move, but she grabbed the redhead out of Zoro's very inappropriate grasp and nestled him properly.

"I'll deal with you later," she promised the redhead before turning towards Zoro. "Zoro-san... I'd implore you to learn how to properly hold a small child."

Despite how casual and polite the tone was, Zoro still felt a chill crawl down his spine and nodded slowly, backing away from the dangerous woman who was currently fussing over the sick redhead.

"You left bed again," she chastised.

"I wanted to train," he replied raspily. "I'm thirsty."

The woman glared at him slightly, still turning on her heel to walk towards the kitchen so he could get his glass.

"You're sick. You should not be doing anything strenuous. Are you serious?"

"But I can't be cooped up all day in bed..."

"That's why I let you run off!"

"...You let me?"

Robin's expression turned flat. "Did you honestly think that in your state, you could easily get away from me of all people that much times. I'm just hoping you tired yourself out but you do stupid things instead!"

"Only you can so effortlessly destroy my ego..." Rosan sighed.

"Someone has to knock you down some... you'd actually think you were invincible otherwise."

Zoro watched them go with a sweatdrop, scratching his head all the while.

Did he just get chewed out for his scout's actions? All he was doing was training...

The swordsman sighed.

How did he get to the women's room anyways?

---

Nami was working on drawing a map, when she felt a presence near her.

No seriously, he was radiating so much heat it was impossible to miss it.

"You should be in bed, Rosan," Nami said idly, not looking up from her map and continuing to work on it.

"Robin said if I have the energy I can run off," his squeaky voice came out.

The navigator glanced up and tried her absolute hardest to not squeal at the adorable sight.

Rosan was very clearly wearing one of Robin's coats and the article of clothing looked way too big on his diminutive frame. It was so large that there was a small pile being dragged on the floor every time he took a step.

His large dual eyes were staring up at the taller girl and he asked, "What are you doing? I'm bored."

"Oh! I'm just drawing a map currently... It's always good to polish up your skills and since the weather is tame I figured I'd do that," she explained.

The chibi hummed. "I don't need to polish my skills... once I master something, it stays that way because of Modification."

Her eye twitched at that. "Your Devil Fruit is nonsense."

He nodded. "All people who know about it tell me..."

The redhead began coughing and her eyes turned worried.

"Should you really be out of bed? I know your restless but still..."

Before Rosan could reply, he stumbled and nearly fell flat on his face, only for a flurry of arms to capture him.

They lifted the tiny redhead up and deposited him in calm Robin's arm.

"Don't worry, I'm watching him," Robin assured.

"My hero," he rasped dryly, burying himself into her as a wave of tiredness hit him.

Nami smiled up at the archaeologist. "You sure are diligent, Robin. I'm guessing you had to care for Rosan a lot?"

The sigh she let out made the navigator giggle.

"Don't get me started. The best way for me to put it so that you can understand is that Rosan was like a Luffy who thought out his chaos," she said.

Nami's eyes widened. "THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I THOUGHT!" She exclaimed.

The Devil Child smiled at that. "There was one time where I actually got sick and can you guess what he did?"

Rosan let out a noise but was ignored.

Nami smiled eagerly. "What did he do?"

Robin adjusted Rosan as she took a seat next to the navigator. "After panicking for who knows how long, my best friend here went out and broke into a doctor's home, made friends with his wife, ate some cookies and forced the man to give me a checkup... then he revealed my identity."

"No way," the navigators eyes bugged, as she gazed at the deadpan expression of the flushed redhead. "Seriously?!"

"...You're so dead when I'm healed, Robin," Rosan assured.

"It's true?!"

Nami couldn't hold back her laughter at that and she smiled teasingly at the small redhead. "You sounded so precious, Rosan! Why are you so unappealing now?!"

"You're dead too."

It was so very difficult to take such an adorable child like Rosan's kid form serious. His voice was so squeaky and his cheeks were so pudgy and his eyes were so wide! No wonder he was so confident, the boy had been utterly cute before he turned dreadfully handsome.

Evidently, Robin didn't take him serious no matter what because with a smile she said, "He really was so precious! Let me tell you about the time he raided an entire library for all of their books to put on the ship."

"I thought you liked when I did that," Rosan protested.

Nami let out a hearty laugh.

She was going to like Robin just fine.

---

"Sanji, I'm hungry."

The chef nearly told Luffy to wait for dinner, before realizing that wasn't his voice and he glanced at the sick redhead sitting at the seat of the table.

Somehow, the redhead had managed to get his hands on a plate and utensils and was staring at the chef with a flushed face.

He felt a tick forming but rolled his eyes and said, "What do you want?"

The redhead thought about it. "I don't know... I'm not hungry anymore."

"IT'S BEEN 10 SECONDS!" Sanji roared at the sick redhead.

Rosan shrugged and placed his head on the table. "I'm going to sleep."

The chef resisted the urge to yank out his hair at the antics of the redhead and said, "I've got a soup cooking up just for you. It should be smooth and easy to consume."

"But I want pasta," his muffled voice said, head still flat on the table.

"WELL YOU CAN'T HAVE PASTA! YOU'RE SICK!" The chef barked with razor sharp teeth.

Seriously, was their scout always this spoiled?!

"..." Rosan glanced up at him and the chefs resolve wavered as he saw those big dual eyes begin to waver.

"But... I want pasta," he repeated sadly.

Oh, goddamnit. This was why he was so spoiled.

"Fine, fine," Sanji sighed. "I'll prepare your pasta."

"That won't be necessary."

Robin glanced at Rosan's expression, utterly unfazed by his attempt to abuse his looks and said, "Please give me the soup. I'll make sure he eats it."

The chef swooned at that. "Anything for you Robin-chan!"

Rosan's face shifted once more and he glanced at Robin with a frown. "I'll bite you."

Robin didn't even flinch at his threat. "You're attempts to use your good looks are cute, but you will not make my life more difficult. We already tried feeding you Pasta and it took far too long for you to eat it because it was hard for you to swallow."

"..." Rosan definitely wasn't pouting in displeasure.

Robin resisted the urge to smile at feeling his emotions pouring through.

"Here you go Robin-chan!" Sanji twirled, placing the plate in her hand. "Make sure he eats it all!"

She smiled at the chef, which made him swoon, and summoned a clone to hold the plate. Then, she grasped Rosan and secured him to her body, marching off with a simple, "Thank you, Sanji. Don't worry, I'll make sure he eats it all."

That was more so to herself then the chef honestly... Sick Rosan was... a trip.

---

"You have to eat, Rosan."

"I'm not hungry."

"You can barely move and you haven't eaten anything yet!"

"Because I'm not hungry."

"But you just said you wanted pasta."

"This isn't pasta is it?"

Robin was beginning to think Rosan had actually turned four again because this was absolutely ridiculous. His condition was steadily getting worse and he could barely move now, struggling to even escape for more than a minute (when she didn't allow him to).

She sighed and summoned a flurry of hands that held down Rosan, while opening his mouth in the process. It was almost comical how familiar the sight was and the Devil Child did it as if she practiced 100 times.

She did. Because of this psychotic redhead right here. Back when they were kids she did this too because the boy really disliked his vegetables.

"I'm doing this for your own good," Robin explained, watching him fail to even struggle though he certainly did try. Grabbing the meal (Sanji was an amazing cook), the woman began the arduous process of feeding the sick and stubborn redhead.

"I'm sorry for this, I can't even take over his body at the moment to make the process easier," Mod apologized. She was working overtime right now to catch any slight worsening of his condition in case it did in fact prove to be fatal and it left her rather exhausted herself.

Thankfully, Ram was making her life easier by giving her back rubs as she worked and she was thankful for that.

Luckily, Rosan's Philosopher Stone enhanced body, was doing an incredible job at keeping the virus at bay but it was also putting more stress on his body and draining him very quickly of his energy due to the fact that it believed it was healing something.

"It's okay," Robin replied calmly, making sure Rosan swallowed the food with a laser focused gaze. He caught her blue eyes and forced the meal down his throat, opening his mouth to show her that it was gone.

"Satisfied?" He coughed after finishing the entire soup.

Robin was normally so passive but due to him, she had become a lot less reactionary and a lot more assertive… especially when it came to Rosan.

He was pleased. He may not have acted like it, but he truly was.

"Quite." Robin smiled, placing the empty plate down and grabbing a book she had been in the middle of reading.

He rested his burning head back on the pillow and shut his eyes for a brief moment before snapping them back open.

"What is that noise?" They repeated at the same time.

There was quite the commotion going on outside and it was preventing the two from doing what they wanted to do which was sleep and read respectively.

Robin placed the book back down (was she ever going to finish reading this one?!) and summoned an eye outside to see what was happening.

"I'll relay the information back to you," she offered, making sure he didn't even think about moving.

"Okay," he rasped, closing his eyes again.

The commotion outside was actually due to a plethora of pirates from a massive ship invading them… and a weird looking man eating their ship.

"He's eating the ship?" Rosan repeated. Stupid man, this was the ship he used his energy to repair. If the redhead weren't so sick, he'd have gone and killed him.

Wapol (the eating man's name) had eaten quite a bit of the ship before Luffy got fed up and, though the strange man, who wanted a log pose to Drum Kingdom, tried to eat the rubber boy, he was blasted away by the captain and into the unforgiving water, much to the panic of his crew.

It didn't take long for the invaders to disappear and Rosan snorted in disinterest, coughing after making the noise and making Robin quickly attend to him.

"What an idiot. He's so lucky I'm sick," Rosan muttered, shuddering a bit at the rapid change in temperature. "Modification is failing at regulating my body temperature… it's getting cold and I hate the cold."

"I'm sorry, but Modification has deemed it necessary to focus on more important things and regulation of your resistance to temperature is not one of them," Mod sighed in amusement.

Ever since he was four, the only time Rosan's body had ever not been resistant to the weather, was when he had been captured on Daybreak Island and cuffed with seastone. The redhead absolutely despised the cold and as a result, Modification was almost constantly regulating his body.

"It is getting quite cold," Robin murmured, already moving to change her own clothes. "Most of our clothes are in the mindscape as well… but I should have some in here. Do you have anything for the cold?"

"Nearly all my clothes are long sleeved," Rosan deadpanned, squeaky voice unamused. "But the material isn't really thick enough to suit me in the winter. I tend to wear light clothing that doesn't trap heat."

Robin grabbed one of the many coats she had ended up buying on Celadon, this one violet and suited for the cold winter, and placed it on. After securing the snug coat (Maro's island really did have amazing fabric!), she grabbed another one, this time black and purple, and made her way over to Rosan.

"Making me wear your clothing now? At least I'm still male this time around," Rosan grunted, allowing her to dress him with no complaint.

"That reminds me... one of these days I need to see how you look in your female form," Robin stated, smiling at the prospect of seeing the mature woman.

Rosan had grown very handsome over the years and if Angel was any indication he would be just as attractive as a woman.

"Everyone always wants to see how I'd look as a woman…" Rosan sighed. "Very well, I'll show you after I'm healed."

"She's a natural beauty… it's surreal how someone so wild can look so beautiful," Mod said, displeasure deep in her tone. "I'm glad Rosan was not born a girl. The amount of attention he'd have been receiving… he already receives too much now, it'd be unfathomable."

She'd have to commit murder for her alternate dimension daughter.

"She's super hot and a bombshell. Never seen a chest or ass that huge," Ram nodded sagely. She'd be in the same boat as Auntie if her Father was Mother.

"Please don't be so crude, Ram," Mod sighed.

"I'd rather you not talk about me in such a way. It feels like harassment," Rosan chided, coughing again and prompting Robin to give him a glass of water.

"I can't wait," Robin actually grinned at the prospect. There was always something so fun about harassing Rosan and it hadn't changed at all with time.

"Whatever, I'm going to sleep," he mumbled, closing his eyes and dozing off.

The Devil Child giggled at his brief look of annoyance and picked up her book to continue reading it.

Perhaps she'd finally be able to get it done now that he was asleep.

---

"We're at the island, Robin," Nami said, opening the door and taking in the sight.

Chibi Rosan was sleeping, wrapped up in a large coat that belonged to Robin and cuddling the woman herself, who was raking a hand through his hair.

The absolutely adorable sight was only broken up by the fact that there was another Robin reading a book, as she sat on a chair next to the redhead. She idly flipped through the pages with a look of concentration, eyes glancing over at the redhead every time she did flip it.

Nami was never going to get used to seeing two Robins.

"We're close? Right, thank you for telling me, Nami," Robin smiled, shutting the book and placing it on the stand. The woman stood up and stretched a bit, making sure her coat was on snugly in the process and dispersing her clone.

The moment she did that, Rosan snapped awake and stared at the two of them, flushed face tilted to the side. The redhead was breathing heavily and his eyes were barely open, face a permanent shade of red now.

"We're here...?" Rosan grunted, attempting to push himself up and failing miserably.

Robin hastily moved over to the redhead and hoisted him up, securing him tightly with a soothing whisper.

"Your temperature feels like it rose even more…" The Devil Child murmured, worry set on her features. His body steaming had lessened with time but his condition had only gotten worse and his temperature continued to increase.

Nami tentatively touched the redhead's body and let out a hiss of pain at the sheer heat he was emanating.

"H-He's boiling!" The navigator gasped. Even with Modification, she just couldn't imagine how Robin was able to hold the chibi so calmly. He was burning. "Kami, Rosan, we need to get you to a doctor immediately!"

He couldn't even bite back a snide response. "Robin… I'm getting sweat all over you. You should… give me to Luffy and have him hold me instead," he tried.

Robin had been watching him almost 24/7 and he was eating up basically all of her time right now.

He didn't want to eat up all her time...

"It's fine, I don't mind," Robin assured, preparing to leave the room. "Your safety is my #1 priority right now and some sweat won't bother me. Really Rosan, stop looking at me like that."

Rosan simply hummed and didn't try to debate further, knowing she wouldn't change her mind.

"I hate being cold," he muttered, burying himself further into Robin to try and absorb her body heat.

"I know," Robin replied, allowing him to do so with no complaint. She idly furled up the giant coat on him and it was a testament to his sickness, that he still hadn't modified it to fit his miniature frame.

Nami nearly squealed at the cute as hell sight but held herself. When Rosan healed, she was never going to let him live this down and she thanked Robin for giving her so much fuel to work with.

As far as the archaeologist was concerned, Nami already considered her apart of the crew just because of the information she had on Rosan!

While getting ready to prepare, the sudden sound of a gunshot, made all the occupants in the room pause.

Nami and Robin shared a glance and hastily made their way out of the room.

The three bore witness to the sight of Vivi and Luffy both bowing on the floor. The blue haired princess had a bullet wound on her arm and there was a group of people glaring down at the group from the island they hadn't even docked yet.

"Please, bring us a doctor at least!" Vivi pleaded, not minding the injury one bit. "We don't have to enter your island but we really do need one. One of our members is terribly sick and really needs assistance."

"Please!" Luffy joined, bowing his head.

Rosan's eyes narrowed.

What the hell was this?

"Why are you bowing for my sake?" the redhead rasped, grabbing all their attention. "Do you think I'm in need of that much pity, where you'd bow to someone who shot you?"

"You need help, Rosan," Vivi stressed, getting up and facing the chibi. "No matter what, we have to get you to a doctor. You're getting worse!"

"I'll live. I'm not so pathetic that I'd resort to begging hostile people for help," Rosan retorted coldly, frown set on his face.

He would never bow to anyone when it came to needing something.

The redhead was far too self reliant to ever want help from anyone, much less help to the point where he'd prostrate himself and beg. As long as he could move and breathe, he could handle the situation himself.

Rosan didn't even want to see a doctor in the first place. The only doctor he trusted, was his little brother and Demon was the only person allowed to touch his body with medical tools.

He only agreed to this because of Robin. To be so strongly rejected from something he didn't even want in the first place… they were lucky he was sick.

Vivi frowned, biting her lip in contemplation at seeing how set Rosan was.

If this kept up, even if they were allowed entry, she was almost sure the sick redhead wouldn't accept the help.

"That boy… is he smoking?!" One of the onlookers asked in concern. None missed how flushed the adorable child's face was and the literal steam rising from him.

Was that the sick one…? They… they didn't expect his conditions to be so bad. What on earth had happened to him?!

"…" What looked to be the leader of the inhabitants, stepped up a little closer to the ship and gazed at the unwavering gaze of the sick one in question.

Dalton couldn't help but respect his unyielding nature despite how terrible of a condition he was in and he respected the crew even more for contrasting and caring for his well-being more then he seemed to.

"...Follow me, I'll escort you all into into the village. But just be warned, there's only one doctor in this village and she's a witch," he told the crew.

Rosan nearly snorted, but closed his eyes and allowed himself some rest.

"Thank you!" Vivi said, bowing again.

"You nearly made things more difficult, Rosan. Thank Vivi for being so caring," Robin scolded gently.

"Funny, I was so sure she didn't like either of us but here she is, defending us despite getting shot. What a kind, naive princess," Rosan replied.

He supposed he owed her an apology for standing up for him despite everything. She had no reason to be so concerned for his safety yet here she was going above and beyond...

No one should ever be that kind.

"Come with me," the apparent leader said.

---

"1-156°?! A-Are you even human? How are you still alive?!" Dalton sweat in disbelief, sweat pouring from his face at the redhead before him.

Just who was this small child? 156 was far past the fatal temperature and yet, he was still talking and functional!

"No, I'm a demon," he replied in a quiet rasp.

"Do demon's get sick?" Ram asked curiously.

"Not unless their body wants them to," Rosan said, idly shivering at the freezing temperatures of the winter island.

You'd think because his body was so hot, he wouldn't be very affected by the chilling weather but alas...

"Don't just make things up. She'll actually believe you," Robin admonished slightly, making sure he was comfortable.

Rosan said nothing, focusing on Dalton who kept looking at him. "Don't tell me… my sickness has shocked you… that much. Why… are you staring at me for so long?"

The man flinched in surprise at being called out before composing himself. "It's nothing I just… I feel like we've met before. I get that feeling with you and the blue haired girl right there."

Vivi jumped in surprise at being addressed, staring at both Rosan and Dalton. "I… I don't think we've ever met?"

Though, she did get that feeling with Rosan as well. It was honestly driving her insane why she couldn't pinpoint just where she saw him.

"We've never met," Rosan said decisively, closing his eyes to get more rest. "I have incredible memory. Even a face as average as yours would be memorized by me."

"So rude," everyone thought at once, sweatdropping at the words that came out of Rosan's mouth.

Dalton also sweatdropped but just chalked it up to him being sick and informed them of the only doctor on the island.

"So this Dr. Kureha is the only doctor on the island… and she lives up that mountain?" Nami questioned in disbelief.

They only got treatment when the 140 year old (was that really her age?!) deigned to come down? Then she took whatever she wanted as payment and just vanished without a trace? Not only that, but she had a strange beast following her around as well?

Now they had to just sit here and wait while Rosan's condition got only worse…? That didn't sound reasonable... not only did they need to heal Rosan, they had to get to Alabasta!

"Rosan, we're gonna climb that mountain to get you help," Luffy decided bluntly, lightly slapping the chibi awake.

"DON'T SLAP A SICK PERSON!" They roared at the idiot.

Was he serious?!

The straw hats and Dalton had protests right on their lips at his insane idea and how much things could go wrong but Rosan simply opened his eyes and nodded slowly.

"...Okay. The faster we get this over with, the better. I've never been sick before and I never want to get sick again," he decided, pushing himself up slowly and promptly collapsing back on the bed.

This sucked. Rosan enjoyed having absolute control over his own body and to not be able to even sit up… how embarrassing.

"It's not your fault, Rosan. You have nothing to be embarrassed about," Mod soothed.

After taking one look at the sickly redhead, it was easy for Robin to come to a decision.

"I'm going too," she said without hesitation, already steadying the sickly redhead.

"You too?!" Nami gasped. Robin had already proven to be the most sensible person on the ship and she was going along with this plan?!

The Devil Child nodded. "I told you I wouldn't let them do anything to you and I meant it, Rosan. I hope you don't mind, Luffy."

"Nope!" Luffy beamed. "Sanji, get us some food!"

Robin picked up the tiny Rosan (it was a good thing he had the foresight to change his size…) and secured him tightly to Luffy's back, making sure he wouldn't fall off easily.

"I never thought... I'd see the day... where I'm the helpless one and Luffy has to help me. It feels like only yesterday, where I had to stop you from drowning and getting eaten by a family of crocodiles," Rosan coughed, wrapping his tiny arms around his brother's neck.

"All those times you saved me and now I can pay you back!" Luffy grinned. His brother sure was warm and light but it felt nice in the cold weather!

"Y-You almost got eaten by crocodiles?" Usopp gaped, looking between the two brothers incredulously.

Just what crazy escapades did the two have?!

"Yup!" Luffy said, preparing to leave with Robin in tow.

"Should I come with you guys?" Sanji said, worry on his features for Robin's safety.

He didn't know what he'd do if the woman got hurt when he could have potentially helped her.

"That's okay. I'm strong, he made sure of it," Robin smiled reassuringly, pointing a finger at the tiny redhead who was snoring away quietly on his brother.

To be honest, if Luffy intended to climb the mountain with his bare hands, Robin wasn't even sure if she should go with him but she made a promise to Rosan and she wouldn't dare break it.

With haste, the two quickly left for the castle at the top of the mountain and the remaining straw hats watched them go with worried expressions.

"I'm sorry that we only have one doctor that can help." Dalton sounded genuinely apologetic as he spoke to them, bowing his head slightly. "Believe it or not, we had much more doctors but we were defeated by pirates."

The straw hats, sans Zoro and Karoo (they were guarding the ship), gasped at the reveal and Dalton explained how they had gotten attacked by a group of five pirates, led by a man named Blackbeard.

He then went to tell them that they actually had no soldiers and that civilians had taken up arms instead due to their former king, Wapol, fleeing with his army, leaving the Drum Kingdom to the mercy of the pirates.

A flash of realization crossed Vivi's features. "I remember him now! I met Wapol when I was a child and my father took me to a meeting of kings..."

That was the Levely and Wapol had tried to stir up trouble using her…

The Levely… where Kings and Queens from all over the Blue Seas met to discuss world changing topics—

"AHHHHHHH NO WAY!" Vivi let out a loud shriek as another realization hit her like a freight train.

The princess' jaw dropped to the floor and her eyes turned white in horror.

Everyone gazed at the panicking girl in worry, wondering what made her suddenly react so violently.

"Vivi-chan? Are you alright?" Sanji asked, concern clear on his features.

"Q-QUEEN RAISA!" She screeched, eyes widening further and further as she made connections.

Red hair, bronze skin, beautiful with eyes that glowed… It was no wonder Vivi had nearly pulled her hair out trying to figure out where she had seen Rosan before. She had been thinking of a man when in reality, she had really been thinking of a woman.

"Who?" Nami asked in confusion, Usopp and Sanji nodding along.

Dalton raised an eye at that familiar name. "Queen Raisa? Isn't that the Queen of Wisteria Island, in the South Blue?"

Wait a minute... he knew this girl!

This was Nefertari Vivi of the Alabasta Kingdom… The same Vivi who had been mature enough to avoid all out war with King Wapol all those years ago, which earned his immense respect...

What was she doing traveling with a group of pirates? How odd.

"Who is Queen Raisa?" Nami asked curiously.

Their guide spoke up once more to answer. "She's the sole ruler of a prosperous island in the South Blue, Wisteria Island. She is considered one of the most beautiful woman on the planet and her strength is said to be incredible... Some say she's eaten a Devil Fruit but she doesn't deign to show it to her fellow royals," Dalton explained.

It was hard to forget a woman like that. Even when he had been steadfast in his duties as a soldier, he had taken notice of her and if he didn't, Wapol (and about a dozen other kingdoms) had made it clear they were interested in the stone cold woman that didn't deign to give them any time.

She received many proposals for marriage but the woman didn't acknowledge a single one. She seemed to have no interest in uniting her private (and hidden) island with any others, content to be the single ruling force of Wisteria.

"Gorgeous woman?" That was Sanji and his eyes sparked with even more interest now.

Vivi was shaking, face white and the straw hats stared at her in concern, wondering what was going through the princess' head.

"That's right," Dalton said, as he easily recalled the woman. "She has a natural hue of bronze skin, lustrous red hair and glowing purple eyes. All are said to be signature traits of her lineage… It's also mentioned that anyone with their blood will have a coming of age ceremony where they are permitted to eat a very rare Devil Fruit chosen specifically for them."

Sanji's gaze turned dreamy at that, imagining the woman in his mind with all those traits.

Usopp and Nami were not the same.

"Hey… doesn't that... sound kind of familiar?" Usopp suddenly asked, sweat dripping from his features.

Nami's jaw had already dropped the moment she heard the description and she had to slowly close it to muster up a proper response. "Yes it does, Usopp… In fact, it sounds very familiar. Like, in our crew familiar."

As the chef began to make an imaginary image, he quickly came to a very startling realization.

"No… No way. It can't be." Sanji's features turned into horror so quickly, they were surprised he didn't faint (or die) on the spot.

"What are you all talking about — oh," Dalton said, eyes bugging as he remembered the redhead who he could have sworn he'd seen before.

"They… they look the exact same," Vivi whispered. Hell, they even somewhat acted similar! Vivi had seen her long ago as a child and the queen had been cold and forward to any adult that spoke to her.

When speaking to children however, she was much warmer, if not awkward, seeming to stare through them instead of at them.

Was Rosan… Was Rosan her son…? Raisa had already been an adult, despite not looking very old at all, and the same could apply to Rosan so maybe they were siblings?

"How old is Rosan?" Vivi couldn't help but ask. He was clearly an adult but he didn't look much older than 20.

"24," Sanji replied immediately.

Raisa had given birth 24 years ago?! That was insane! The woman never indicated she was in a relationship, much less with a child in the process… What had happened?

"Wait… did you just say that little squirt is 24?" Dalton gaped in confusion.

They all sweatdropped. There was far too much going on right now.

---

Robin actually hadn't spent much one on one time (technically, since Rosan was asleep) with any of the other Straw Hats considering she was practically permanently around Rosan.

Nami was the closest in that regards because the woman frequently updated her but the Devil Child was normally focused on making sure her childhood friend didn't do something stupid.

How fitting that the first other person she actually spent one on one time with, was the captain and younger brother of Rosan, Monkey D. Luffy. Her partner at the moment was walking as he hummed an absolutely terrible tune with his older brother sleeping on his back.

The rubber boy was a carefree enigma, reminding her strongly of Rosan as a child without any ounce of his high intelligence.

Much to her annoyance (they got into one of their many brawls because of it) at a young age, Robin had quickly discovered that Rosan's intelligence matched her own and that he wasn't a complete idiot.

He just planned in a way that maximized the amount of fun he had.

Robin didn't think Luffy planned. He just did whatever sounded fun with no thought put into it. The child was incredibly easy going and it was dangerously adorable.

She dreaded the day a fully emotional Rosan and Luffy met, if the redhead was anything even remotely similar to his child counterpart, the Straw Hats were in for a number of headaches.

Robin had grown used to his antics, being with the redhead for four years but his crew members knew nothing yet.

But she digressed, the Devil Child quite liked Luffy already because it was like looking at a dumber, more goofy, version of Rosan (they still had plenty of differences!) and that was probably why the two brothers got along so well.

"Luffy, what do you think of Rosan?" Robin asked curiously. They had stopped at the memories of Meiko and hadn't been able to continue due to Rosan being sick but they'd start it again after he was healed.

She wanted Luffy's perspective on how things went with them before seeing it from Rosan's.

"I love Rosan," Luffy replied without hesitation, beaming brightly at the thought of the small redhead on his back. "He's one of my brothers and he's my first friend and he always protected me when I was weak until I managed to get strong!"

His brows furrowed a bit. "But… he doesn't really consider himself apart of the crew right now and it's because a piece of him is missing. I want to get that piece back so that I can make him the strongest like he wanted to be!" Luffy told the woman, who could only blink at how insightful he seemed to be.

Robin couldn't help but smile at how much Luffy looked up to his brother and she imagined that they had to have gone through a lot to get this close. To see this version of Rosan forming bonds with people around him… it made her happy that he was capable of doing so.

She idly grabbed the violent little rabbit that kept lunging for them with her Devil Fruit and launched it away.

It was getting rather annoying.

"I want to get that piece of him back too," Robin said to the rubber boy. "It's not right seeing him like this… I want to see his grin and his carefree nature and just everything that I grew to love about him."

Luffy nodded rapidly along with her, grinning determinedly. "Don't worry, Robin! You're apart of the crew now so we can do it together," he said bluntly, marching towards the castle with a purpose.

Monkey D. Luffy… what a strange boy. He was filled with a charisma that seemed childish at first, but was filled with unyielding conviction.

He… He really was a lot like Rosan. It was no wonder the two had ended up becoming crewmates. They were good for each other.

"I thought so too," Mod said softly. "I'm glad I convinced him to hang around Luffy… that was one of the best decisions I could have made."

"He's an idiot… but I still love the little rubber squirt," Ram admitted.

Robin couldn't help but agree with what they said.

She… she wouldn't mind observing Monkey D. Luffy some more. If Rosan could trust him, maybe she could too.

The two continued on their way, chatting about little things, but paused as a mass of footsteps began thrumming the ground beneath them.

"Oh?" Robin hummed, pausing as she took in the sight. Luffy followed suit and he stared at the giant white creatures blocking their way.

Each growled ferociously, murder very clearly on their mind as they took a threatening step forward.

"Woah, polar bears," he gaped, looking at the massive amount glaring them down.

"These must be the Lapins we were warned about," Robin said warily, glancing back at the injured Rosan out of the corner of her eyes. He was still sleeping and his breathing was no longer inaudible, picking up in intensity and noise as they traversed through the dreadfully cold Drum Island.

"Luffy, I don't think we should fight them. Rosan could be put in danger otherwise," the Devil Child said.

"Right, so we should run?" Luffy replied.

The two leapt back in unison, as one of the lapins crashed into their spot and the rest followed suit.

"Yes, that's a good idea. Dodge and run. I'll do what I can to keep them at bay while we look for another path to the castle," Robin said, turning and dashing away from the violent animals.

Were they being attacked because she launched away the aggressive little cub? Who knew the pack of Lapins would take such offense to that and began chasing them down with intention to kill!

Two pair of arms sprouted on a dozen of the Lapins and Robin brutally snapped their necks, not killing but rendering them incapable of moving. It did nothing to thin out the giant horde but it was a start.

"The snow isn't making things better for us… They are well adapted to it but we aren't but there must be something we can do," Mod said, worry on her features. The Lapins were quickly gaining on them and there was just too much for Robin to deal with alone, while trying to make sure Luffy, and by proxy Rosan, didn't get hit.

She could probably take them out eventually but it would take far too long and time was something they didn't have much of.

Robin wanted Rosan healed now.

"Up there!" Luffy called, jumping up a cliff and throwing out a stretched hand for Robin to grab. She held onto the appendage and soared away from the charging Lapin's, landing next to Luffy.

"Smart, let's keep going," Robin said and the two took off. She left a clone behind to watch out for them and distract if need be, giving them more room to run.

It was only this detail, that allowed Robin to immediately spot and figure out what the Lapin's were doing, making her go slightly pale in disbelief.

"Luffy, run faster!" The Devil Child ordered, picking up even more speed and frantically trying to make distance.

Bless Luffy's soul because he didn't even question her, just picking up speed and soon, the two were full on sprinting towards the mountain.

"What's the matter, Robin?" Mod asked in concern.

"Incoming avalanche because of the Lapins," Robin replied tersely, thankful that she didn't have to say it aloud.

The massive group of bunnies, were jumping up and down so that they could create their own avalanche to catch the duo running away. It was absolutely brilliant and not something she expected the violent animals to know.

Rosan would probably have stolen some if he were awake.

"W-What?! Oh no, if there's an avalanche then…" Mod trailed off, at the rumbling noise and the woman went white.

"W-WOAH!" Luffy screamed, looking back and seeing the massive amounts of snow descending onto them. "W-What are we gonna do, Robin?!"

Robin gnawed her lip in concentration. Due to her being able to tell what the Lapins were doing at a glance, it had bought them a good amount of time and distance from the mass of snow careening towards them but they couldn't outrun it.

"We need to get somewhere high enough but the avalanche is massive," Robin informed him.

Luffy's eyes sparked, he could just —

"Mmm?"

Robin and Luffy immediately glanced at the source and saw that it was the formerly sleeping red chibi.

Rosan let out a confused groan and blearily opened his eyes. "What's… What's wrong?" He asked them, before immediately picking up the sound of the avalanche.

"We're in a bit of a bind," Robin admitted, not stopping in her stride. "We angered a couple of carnivorous bunnies and they caused an avalanche."

Rosan coughed harshly, nodding his head at her explanation. "Not enough high places either and I don't have the energy to summon my wings to fly us out," he grunted. This was a bit of a problem...

"Even if you did, I wouldn't let you," she countered. Not while he was struggling to stay awake at least.

"Yeah! You need to be careful," Luffy chided.

"Mmm, but still…" Rosan mused, finding it difficult to concentrate. He wanted to close his eyes again but they needed him…

"Ah, I got it…" the redhead mumbled, struggling to stretch out his left hand but eventually doing so.

Despite the avalanche gaining on them, Robin's protective instincts still flared and she was about to reprimand the stubborn redhead.

"I know, I know," he coughed. "G-Grab my armband, Robin. When you do that, hold Luffy and jump, okay?" Rosan instructed, head lolling a bit and falling back on his brother's shoulder.

"Ah! That's genius and it doesn't waste energy! Why didn't we think of that sooner?!" Mod gasped.

Robin, hearing that Mod-chan green lighted it, hastily reached out for the redhead's arm and pulled the long sleeve of her coat back, revealing the black armband.

The moment she touched it, the accessory glowed and wrapped around the woman's body instead of Rosan's own. She gasped at the sensation of gaining new attire over her previous one (it's Rosan's default raid suit appearance), but didn't dwell on it too long.

Grabbing onto the still Luffy (it was incredible how much faith he had in the both of them) Robin hugged both him and Rosan close to her and jumped exactly like he ordered.

Imagine her surprise, when the red sneakers she was currently wearing, sent her flying, high above the avalanche and directly into the safety of the sky. Instead of falling, they kept her and the other two in charge floating and she marveled at that.

She wasn't aware Rosan had this.

"We survived!" Luffy sighed in relief, watching the avalanche with a curious gaze.

"Good," Rosan muttered. "That was my Raid Suit. It grants me... a numerous amount of benefits, including footwear that allow me to accelerate and float. Its main ability, is its adaptability which is why you were able to… wear it. Normally only I could..." he explained to Robin.

How incredibly useful.

"He, along with Maro, stole the Blueprint from Germa, the underground army that rules the North Blue," Mod explained, making Robin's eyes snap open in surprise.

When her and Rosan had entered the North Blue, Robin had quickly begun doing research on the strongest of the four seas so it was natural she knew who Germa was.

"You sure have a lot of fun, Rosan," Robin said idly, inspecting Rosan's outfit on her frame. It was a stylish, open black coat with red streaks, that stopped at her knees, and underneath the coat, was a form fitting red shirt that hugged her curvy frame well.

She wasn't used to wearing baggy black pants and sneakers but Rosan enjoyed them and it reflected in the bottom half of her attire.

"Rosan, if you had this the entire time, why not transform it into winter apparel instead of wearing my clothing?"

"I can barely concentrate right now... and I rarely use my raid suit outside of combat. It was not on my mind when I told you but I guess that's fine because now you're wearing it…"

She seemed to be wearing his clothing a lot. He never expected to see Robin dressed like this but it looked good on her.

"That's fair… I guess it worked out for the best. Besides, I can't be the only one benefiting from stealing clothes," Robin shrugged.

"You look hot in Father's clothing, Mother," Ram whistled. She was hot in general but watching her rock Father's clothes put a wild smile on her face.

"You do seem to wear his clothes a lot and they do look quite nice on you," Mod mused.

A small dust of red covered the woman's cheeks and she rolled her eyes at their teasing.

Damn them... She was back to square one with genuine compliments and they were already doing their best to get on her nerves.

"The avalanche is done!" Luffy exclaimed, prompting Robin to glance down and confirm that yes, the avalanche was in fact gone.

The woman, with some guidance from Rosan, floated down onto the snow again and made sure Rosan was secured tightly onto Luffy.

"Keep the raid suit on, you never know what may happen and I feel myself falling asleep again," Rosan said tiredly.

He could go days without sleeping but now he could barely stay awake…

The redhead began snoring again, unconscious in the middle of his thought process.

"With this Raid Suit, we should be able to easily climb the mountain," Robin mused, idly patting Rosan's soft red spikes. He was too sick to maintain it in a bun so it was free currently and she much preferred it like this. Suppressing his hair into a bun reminded her of how suppressed his personality currently was.

It also did a good job at hiding his ruby earrings when his hair was free… Looking at those earrings reminded her of Meiko and that wound was still fresh for Robin despite it happening so long ago.

"Great! We gotta get up there as quick as possible," Luffy nodded.

With that, the two began their trek back up the mountain. They warily glanced around and verified that they were no longer being chased by those Lapins.

Along the way, they heard the desperate growling of a Lapin cub and the duo saw the sad sight of the bunny trying to dig its mother out of the snow.

Only her paw was free and the little thing clawed away, heedless of the blood matting its fur.

The baby Lapin heard their footsteps and quickly turned to face them, snarling protectively despite its blatant fear.

Robin watched Luffy walk up to the cornered creature and, though it cowered in fear, the rubber boy ignored it and pulled the buried mother out of the snow.

Both Lapins could only watch in shock at the act of kindness and even Robin was a little surprised.

After all, these things had just been trying to kill them. Rosan's vengeful streak was a mile wide and knowing him, he'd probably wait until the Lapin suffocated to death.

He'd probably make a smart comment about how they couldn't handle something they started either... even before his personality shift.

Luffy… Luffy was a good person.

"Isn't he?" Mod smiled softly. Right now, Robin only really trusted Rosan but she wanted her daughter to trust all of the Straw Hats eventually.

Honestly, the amount of trust issues her and Rosan both had, could fill multiple novels.

"We're almost there," Luffy said, gazing at the mountain that was getting closer and closer.

It really was a good thing Rosan had given them his Raid Suit to use… Robin was sure there was a way up this mountain besides climbing it and she was gonna suggest looking for it but this cut down their time by a lot.

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" A voice roared at the two. "YOU THINK YOU COULD CAUSE AN AVALANCHE TO TRY AND KILL KING WAPOL?! HOW DARE YOU ATTEMPT TO DO THIS TO ME?!"

Robin was already crossing her arms, intent on snapping their necks and getting this over with so that Luffy didn't have to get involved but imagine her surprise, when an army of Lapins burst out and began attacking Wapol and his men, shooting nods of respect towards Luffy and Robin in the process.

The Devil Child blinked at the action before nodding back and continuing on their path.

"THE LAPINS ARE HELPING THEM? BUT WHY? THEY HATE HUMANS?!" Wapol gaped in confusion, hastily running away from the ferocious beasts that persisted on attacking them. He fearfully jumped back as one of them smashed into his position and said, "C-CHESS! KUROMARIMO!"

Chess and Kuromarimo both prepared themselves to protect the king and Robin let them to it, too focused on making sure Rosan healed.

Her and Luffy continued their quick pace to the mountain and finally, they arrived.

"It's huge! I can't even see the top!" Luffy awed.

"Well, with this Raid Suit, we can make the trip much easier. We'll use it and a combination of our Devil Fruits to climb up in record time."

Luffy grinned and flashed her a thumbs up. "You're super smart, Robin! Alright, let's do that," he beamed.

Ah, he was honestly adorable.

Robin grabbed the rubber boy around his midsection and stared determinedly up the mountain. She was sure there was another way up but she wanted Rosan safe now and didn't want to waste unknown time looking for it.

The woman tensed, activating the Raid Suit she still had donned on and jumped, clearing an amazing distance with Luffy and Rosan in tow.

---

"Thank you for saving me from the avalanche… but shouldn't you have saved Usopp too, Sanji?" Nami asked in concern, looking at the comatose sniper with a sweatdrop on her face.

Sanji, who had immediately jumped to the rescue of Nami and Vivi upon seeing the massive amounts of snow, glanced at the long nosed male and shrugged.

"He'll live. I had to save you two at all costs!" He swooned. The cook himself had actually gotten caught by the avalanche but he was none the worse for wear besides being more chilly.

"WAKE UP USOPP!" Vivi sobbed hysterically, shaking the unconscious liar back and forth in her panic.

"Ah, don't wake me up… I was dreaming of beautiful flowers and streams," Usopp muttered in his sleep, grinning dumbly.

"NO USOPP, DON'T GO BACK TO SLEEP!" Vivi cried, slapping him repeatedly so that he could wake up.

"Should we stop her?" Nami asked, watching as Usopp's face got progressively more swollen from the beating.

Sanji watched Usopp shoot up from the slaps and shook his head. "Nah, he's fine… Wait... is that Zoro?"

Zoro in question, burst out of the heaping amounts of snow with very little clothing on and began shivering uncontrollably.

"S-Someone give me their jacket. I was out training and I got lost," Zoro stammered, rubbing his arms against his body.

Seriously, it was so fucking cold.

"What is going on right now?" Nami sweatdropped. Why was everything so chaotic even without the two most chaotic members of their crew?!

Was this the effect of those two... Did they infect them?!

"Oh thank goodness, you saved me Vivi!" Usopp exclaimed, smiling thankfully. "But… doesn't my face feel a little swollen?"

Vivi laughed nervously and averted her gaze, marching in some direction with a purpose. "It's just frostbite! Y-Yeah, it's frostbite!"

Nami sweatdropped further, following after the wandering princess and prompting Sanji to do the same.

"Seriously… I need a jacket right now..." Zoro sneezed, following after the group and grumbling to himself.

Usopp scratched his face in confusion and winced in pain before following his crew in fear.

D-Did Frostbite really do this to a person?

---

Robin and Luffy had a rather ingenious plan to successfully climb the mountain and it was working wonders for them.

First, after utilizing the Raid Boots to jump a sizable distance, Robin would hover in place and summon two arms at the highest point that she could see. Then, Luffy would use his Devil Fruit to grasp the summoned arm, rocket themselves up with the momentum, Robin would utilize the hover mechanic of the boots again and they'd repeat.

The only downside was how bitingly cold it was and how tall the mountain was. Robin especially, due to her Devil Fruit had to deal with the freezing temperature of grasping the stone and the strain of pulling another (Rosan was incredibly light) person up constantly.

At least the Raid Suit had given her quite a crazy amount of strength...

Believe it or not, Rosan's unreal body heat was doing wonders for both her and Luffy right now and allowed them to brave the weather much better than they normally would.

"Are you alright?" Luffy asked in concern, looking back at the panting Robin. They had been doing this for around an hour now and the top was quickly becoming visible due to their combined efforts.

"I'm fine… it's just… I'm getting a little exhausted from the amount of energy I'm expending," Robin admitted quietly, not wanting to waste more energy talking. They were floating right now and the woman crossed her arms to continue.

"A little is an understatement. You've been doing this for an hour straight, Robin and you're holding someone else…" Mod said in concern.

"Y-Yeah, maybe just hover for a bit and gather your energy, Mother? I don't want you to get hurt too," Ram whispered in worry. She was barely holding it out right now and if both her mother and father got injured...

Luffy glanced at her with furrowed brows before quickly coming to a decision. She was planning on being stupid so he wouldn't let her.

The rubber boy suddenly clasped an arm around Robin's waist, much to her surprise, and began kicking his feet.

Robin watched with wide eyes, as Luffy began to ascend the mountain with a technique that she very quickly recognized.

"You know how to use Geppo?" She asked in genuine shock.

Luffy nodded. "Yeah! Rosan and I learned it from Gramps a while back!"

Gramps? How did their gramps know a Rokushiki technique?

"Wait... if you had this technique, why are you just now using it?" Robin couldn't help but ask. He could have used it to save them from the avalanche and climb up the mountain in a much less complicated manner...

Luffy simply laughed as they rocketed up the mountain. "You're super smart so I went along with your plan!"

Robin sweatdropped. It seems Luffy knew what areas he lacked in almost to a fault.

It was endearing though so she had no problems with it.

It took them around 20 more minutes to finally reach the top and Robin realized she was more tired then she thought...

At least they had the Raid Suit to help out earlier. It was exceedingly useful.

"I'll tell him how much you like it… I'm sure he'll attempt to get one created for you asap afterwards. Maro has one but Luffy and Ace refused his offer," Mod said, smiling gratefully at the visibly exhausted woman.

Eyes heavy, Robin allowed Luffy to pull them over and let out a sigh of relief at not needing to do that anymore. Her hands were freezing, she was tired and she couldn't go to sleep yet because she made a promise to Rosan.

She understood how traumatized he was due to the hands of another doctor and Robin would be damned if she allowed that to happen again after telling him to trust her.

"Rosan?" Robin prodded, shaking him gently as the trio moved over to the massive castle at the top.

"Mmm?" He groaned, cracking an eye open. "D-Did… we make it? Do you… need my help with any...thing?"

"No, no," She assured. "I'll let you go right back to sleep but I think you should transform back into an adult now before we meet the doctor."

"Kay," he said, closing his eyes and concentrating deeply.

"Modify Age: Default."

It took much longer than he expected but eventually, he had reverted back to his 24 year old form and he instantly fell back asleep, the energy drain from the technique being too much for him.

Luffy didn't even flinch at the added weight of his much taller brother and just shifted him slightly, marching towards the castle with a purpose, Robin lagging slightly behind him.

As they approached, they noticed something out of the corner of their eyes and the duo paused, at the sight of some giant… monster thing staring at them.

There was an odd silence that transpired, as the three stared at each other.

…

…

…

"WOAHHHHHH WHAT IS THAT?!" Luffy screamed at the same time as the monster.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!" The giant monster shrieked, hiding in the most peculiar manner. They tried hiding but managed to fail miserably, keeping their entire body exposed for them.

Robin simply raised a tired brow at the altercation. "You're hiding the wrong way," she told them, watching as the creature jumped and adjusted itself accordingly.

"W-What are you doing here, humans?! D-Did you guys climb up the mountain?!" The animal (?) asked in surprise.

Luffy's eyes transformed into stars.

"YOU CAN TALK?!" He gaped in awe.

The thing shrieked once more at that question.

Before the scared creature could bolt from Luffy's nature, Robin decided to take the reigns of the conversation and keep them on track.

"Please, can you lead us to the doctor here? My friend is very sick and we'd like treatment as soon as possible," she pleaded.

As interesting as the creature was, Robin could dwell on them when Rosan was being checked on. The redhead had managed to sleep through the entire trip up the mountain and had probably used up the last well of energy he had, transforming back into his adult form.

Mod and Ram being completely silent helped with that theory.

The creature looked shocked for some reason before finally directing its gaze towards the unconscious Rosan and gasping at the sight of steam rising from his body.

"Chopper! What's all that noise out there?!" A females voice called out.

"Doctor! It's a group of people who climbed up the mountain with a sick patient!" The one dubbed Chopper shouted back.

Dr. Kureha stepped through the door in curiosity, wondering who was stupid enough to climb the mountain. The woman gazed at the three newcomers, before instantly zeroing in on the man who was literally steaming.

She could question them later, this man needed to be attended to.

"Come on, we don't have all day!" Kureha ushered the group into the castle and racked her brain on all the things she'd need to tend to this person.

Chopper had already ran ahead to collect everything and she couldn't keep the proud smile off her face at how quick he was to react. She guided the three strangers to a room and quickly got things ready.

Robin watched Luffy place Rosan on the bed and Kureha summarily kicked him out, somehow sensing his chaotic nature.

The rubber boy didn't complain, deciding to fall asleep while they helped Rosan. He had put just as much effort into climbing the mountain and the biting cold did him no favors.

"You too, girl," Kureha ordered, turning towards Robin. "There's another room right next to this one. Go rest up some."

The woman looked exhausted right now. Many would have missed it, but Kureha had been alive for too long and had been a doctor for practically her whole life to miss something like that.

Robin shook her head in denial. "I can't leave this room until I'm sure he's alright," she informed the doctor bluntly.

When the doctor looked like she was going to protest, Robin simply interrupted her and said, "He… Rosan doesn't have a great experience with doctors. If he wakes up and doesn't see me, it won't bode well for anyone here."

The giant beast, Chopper, squeaked at that ominous warning and transformed into a small… raccoon?

So he was some type of zoan… She figured. He was actually quite adorable like this.

"That's Chopper, a blue-nosed reindeer who ate the Hito Hito No Mi. He can do anything a human can and I've taught him all my medical skills so you can trust him," Kureha explained calmly, getting a nod of understanding out of the neutral faced Robin.

Chopper jumped a bit at that and warily regarded the stoic woman, torn between running and tending to his patient.

Dr. Kureha stared at the woman for a moment, expression unreadable due to her shades and simply pulled a chair for Robin to sit on that would put her in Rosan's line of view if he woke up.

"Sit here and don't get in the way," Kureha instructed. Not a great experience with doctors eh? That didn't sound promising for her when he woke up.

"Thank you," Robin said, sitting up and directing her gaze towards Rosan.

"Chopper, hand me the antibiotics," she said.

"Yes, Doctor!"

Well, whatever. She'd still work on him; Kureha never saw anyone with his conditions so she was interested in how it would go.

With that, the doctor began running a diagnosis on the sickly redhead, Robin watching all the while.

---

"Do you think they managed to make it to the top?" Vivi asked in worry.

They had just been in an altercation with Wapol's goons in which Zoro and Sanji had defeated the king's soldiers and they were currently rescuing Dalton from the mountain of snow… but that didn't stop the fact that there had been an avalanche in the first place and it came from the direction Robin and Luffy went off at…

Not to mention, apparently Wapol was headed there too and it was likely they had possibly met each other.

"I don't know too much about Robin, but Luffy won't let them die. You can trust our captain to keep all of them safe," Nami assured the worried princess.

Vivi watched in awe at how absolute the Straw Hats faith in Luffy was and thought back to how Rosan had accepted the insane idea to climb the mountain without even a little bit of doubt.

That robotic man… he had just accepted it without fuss and fell asleep instantly on his brother's back, fully trusting in his plan along with Nico Robin herself.

Vivi had to wonder who Monkey D. Luffy was, to not only have someone like Rosan to call his brother… but to make the cold and distant Nico Robin trust him immediately to the point where she'd also go along with such a plan…

Maybe… Maybe he could help save her country?

---

"Incredible… I don't even know how he's alive right now but all we did was stabilize him and his body immediately handled the rest… Are you even human?"

"No, I'm a demon."

Kureha couldn't stop her brow from raising in surprise, as Rosan's eyes snapped open, glowing brightly with Modification and he effortlessly pushed himself up. His gaze bored into her own, piercing through her body and gauging the Doctor.

He idly activated his Devil Fruit and instantly regulated his own temperature.

"EEEEEK? A DEMON?!" A childish voice screeched.

Movement out of the corner of his eye, alerted Rosan to two other presences and his glowing eyes landed on a tiny blue nosed… raccoon? He was sure it was the source of noise because Robin was sleeping, head on the edge of his bed.

"I can't believe you're already awake," Kureha grunted with an impressed expression despite her complete befuddlement on this person's makeup.

His body temperature had been so high, any normal person would have long died...

But the moment she identified and applied the correct medicine, his body had begun immediately dealing with the disease until practically all traces of it were gone.

It made her wonder how he had even managed to catch the disease in the first place. This Rosan had the most impressive immune system she had ever seen… it was almost like it were alive and active, building itself into a stronger state off the virus that had wracked his body.

If that girl hadn't mentioned how he had a bad experience with doctors, she'd have wanted take a blood sample to inspect it...

The way the woman was looking at her had quickly dissuaded her of that idea though.

Another fascinating thing about the redhead was his actual body. It took her far too long to find a needle that could pierce his skin and right after she finished, the small wound inflicted closed up with dizzying speeds.

His body was one that doctors across the planet would envy and want to study which made her wonder if it was the reason he had such a bad experience with them.

"I'm inclined to actually believe that demon claim," Kureha snorted eventually, watching as the redhead hoisted up the sleeping woman and lay her next to him, stroking her hair in the process.

"She's a good one, you know? Didn't go to sleep until we finished working on you."

Rosan stared at Robin for a moment, eyes soft at that and he idly hugged her sleeping body a little closer. "She's the reason I accepted being worked on by a doctor in the first place… Told me to trust her so I did and I guess it worked out."

Kureha decided to get down business seeing as he was seemingly fine. "You somehow managed to contract an ancient disease that shouldn't actually exist right now. In recorded history, not a single person has ever survived it but there are ways to slow it down which was what I attempted to do for you... I didn't even cure you. Your body did after I injected you with some things."

She looked at the anomaly with an appraising eye.

"The fact that you managed to survive for so long and that it didn't even seem like you were going to die… It wouldn't have healed quickly but by the way your body was attacking it... it would have eventually healed in around… a month I predict? Possibly faster by how advanced your system is."

A deadly virus was nothing but a strong cold for this man… what an odd person.

"A month of that? No thanks," Rosan scoffed much to his amusement. It would have robbed him completely of his energy. He would have actually been bedridden that entire time and he couldn't go long without using Modification or else he'd get antsy.

She gestured towards his left arm. "That's where you got affected. Right on that pretty little rose tattoo of yours. I knew you were healing from it quickly, but you shouldn't have been awake for another day or two."

"So I got sick because I was being a gentleman," Rosan thought, mildly amused. The only reason his arms had been exposed, was when he had given Robin his cardigan so that she wasn't exposed back on Little Garden.

He had done it because he knew how hard it was for him to catch anything but his own Devil Fruit had decided to disprove that, willingly allowing such a dangerous virus to enter his body.

Seems it was the second time that happened.

"I'm so glad that you're healed up!" Mod beamed, not privy to his thoughts currently.

"F-Fatherrrrr I missed youuuu!" Ram sobbed happily, wanting to see him as soon as possible but holding her patience in. She furiously wiped at her eyes so that he didn't call her weak for crying.

"Mod-chan. Ram. I'll visit you two soon," Rosan promised, glancing down at his body. He didn't notice anything too obvious now that he was healed, but he added that up to not being fully recovered yet.

He'd probably be fully healed in a day or so. Better than a month at least.

"Thank you both for healing me. Despite my opinions on doctor's touching me, I still appreciate it," Rosan said softly, inclining his head towards Kureha and Raccoon.

Kureha simply waved him off but Raccoon had a much different reaction.

He blinked, before blushing and the little thing broke out into a dance.

"W-Who said you could thank me, you bastard?!" He gushed, not looking remotely upset despite his words.

"That is so adorable," Mod gushed, wanting to squeeze the little guy with all her might.

"Y-You're such a girl," Ram sniffed, even finding time to make fun of her Auntie through the tears.

"What exactly does that mean, young lady?"

"E-Exactly what I meant!"

Rosan ignored the two and was about to ask who the raccoon was, before Luffy burst into the room. He saw his, healthy, brother and immediately started whooping.

"ROSAN!" His captain screamed, immediately pouncing on his scout and hugging the redhead.

Robin's eyes snapped opened at that and she let out a surprised noise at being collateral from Luffy's excitement. He grabbed the two of them and squeezed, laughing cheerfully all the while.

Despite her tired confusion, she instinctively wrapped her arms around the rubber boy. far too used to this from days spent around Rosan.

"You're not burning anymore!" He beamed.

"D-Don't be so rough with the patient! He's still healing!" The little animal suddenly said, catching Luffy's attention.

"FOOD!"

"EH?!"

Chopper only had a moment to shriek and run, before Luffy began chasing him down the castle. The little guy began screaming in panic at the sight of the running human who had called him food and they vanished.

Robin watched them go with a slightly confused expression, before focusing on the redhead who was no longer boiling hot. She realized that he was holding her close and returned the hug with a relieved smile on her face.

"Rosan! You're better now," she sighed in relief, burying herself in his warm frame.

Yes. Warm. Not unnaturally hot like he had been for the last three days.

"It's thanks to you… I'm sorry for how much of a hassle I was," Rosan whispered, laying down with the woman and linking to her instinctively.

"It was more annoying then I'd like to admit," Robin teased, suppressing a yawn that the redhead didn't miss.

"You're still tired and you climbed a mountain for me. Get some more rest," he said. To go along with Luffy's utterly reckless plan without hesitation along with caring for him this whole time… She was something else.

He really did miss her.

"Speaking of which… that Raid Suit of yours is incredibly useful," she replied, eyes already closing at the familiar comfort of his warmth.

Rosan glanced at the woman wearing his combat outfit and hummed. "I'll have one created for you after we leave this island then. They all come with different abilities based on the user. Mine can transform its appearance and material instantaneously while keeping its original perks so I wonder what yours will do…"

Leave it to Rosan to just decide to get one created for her. At least she actually was interested in it.

"I look forward to it," she responded, growing more and more tired at his gentle touch. In combination with Rosan stroking her hair soothingly and the fact that she had woken up early due to Luffy, the Devil Child quickly fell asleep again in his grasp.

Rosan let her rest and regarded the doctor with a tilted head. "So Doctor…"

"Kureha," she introduced herself. This one was as polite as the woman and that made them both less annoying then the rubber boy.

"Kureha… you look like you have some questions for me," Rosan hummed. "As thanks, I'll answer some for you. Within reason of course."

"Cheeky brat," Kureha thought to herself. Nevermind, he was not as polite as he seemed.

But he was right. She did have questions for him.

"How are you alive? That disease has been affecting you for about three days and there's no record of anyone surviving it past day 1. It's almost certain death once you contract it."

"I shouldn't have contracted it in the first place," Rosan replied, unknowingly confirming some of her suspicions. "I'm sure you could already tell… but my body seems like it has a mind of its own, right?"

Kureha nodded because that's exactly what she had been thinking.

"Well, it is. I normally shouldn't be capable of catching any sort of sickness but due to how powerful this disease is, my immune system saw it as a potential way to make my body even stronger. It was confident that I would survive the ordeal which is why I got sick."

He talked about his own body like it were a completely different entity… Just who was this strange redhead?

"Barring the disease… you still managed to reach near unprecedented body temperature. 150°… no one should be able to survive that period," the doctor stressed, unable to keep the look of disbelief off her face.

Rosan glanced neutrally at her and tilted his head to the side. "Before I tell you… My captain is probably going to try and recruit that Raccoon. Do you have a problem if we successfully do so?"

"His name is Chopper and he's a Blue Nosed Reindeer who ate the Hito Hito no Mi," Kureha told him with a slight glare. "As for recruiting him… Take him, I don't care but do you think you can save Chopper?"

"?" Rosan tilted his head.

"That boy has a wound deep in his heart that not even a doctor can heal," Kureha said, explaining the reindeer's situation to him.

The redhead hummed. Rejected by your parents for having a blue nose, then eating a Devil Fruit and being exiled from the herd…

Not being discouraged yet, Chopper had transformed into a more human like form to try and mingle with other people but they had rejected him too, attempting to kill the young reindeer in the process after thinking he was a monster.

Someone who only wanted friendship, living two worlds and being rejected by both so harshly. He had been alone his whole life until he had met a quack doctor who would become his Father but met a tragic death.

Poisoned by his son, he drank a medicine that would blow him up so that Chopper wouldn't be the cause of his death all in front of that king, Wapol.

"How awful," Mod frowned sadly. Before meeting her, Rosan hadn't had any friends either and it tore the little boy apart. Despite that, he still had Rouge as companionship and that was enough for him until they met.

To live a life like that… She wanted nothing more than to tell the child it was going to be alright.

"I see. Then, there's nothing to worry about," Rosan replied softly, not deigning to comment on it.

A monster eh? He'd fit in just fine next to monsters like him and Luffy. His captain would successfully recruit him, he was sure of it.

Kureha raised a brow at his confidence but Rosan didn't give her a chance to speak.

"Tell me, what do you know about the Philosopher's Stone?" He asked suddenly.

The Doctor paused at that random question. "It's capable of turning metals into gold and granting rejuvenation or immortality. Heh, if a stone like that existed, a lot more people would be as youthful as I am," she snorted.

She wasn't understanding why he was mentioning that stone. As amazing as it was, it was a fairytale. It didn't exist and was not worth dwelling on —

"I created and ate one," Rosan interrupted her musing.

Her thought process grounded to a halt at that abrupt statement and her disbelief was palpable.

"I won't go into details about it and I won't try to convince you that I'm telling the truth but that is why. It was also the one responsible for doing an admirable job at keeping my sickness at bay…"

"Did you think I was exaggerating when I called myself a demon? I may not actually be one, but I certainly am not human anymore," Rosan finished softly.

Kureha found it hard to believe… but why would he lie about something like that? It was far too random and much too specific. The Philosopher's Stone was not a topic that the average person knew about.

"Are you immortal?" She couldn't help but ask. It would explain why that virus couldn't kill him.

"No. I didn't make mine with the intention of being immortal. I made it for the rejuvenation and transformation aspect. I primarily focus on rejuvenation… and my ring focuses on transformation," he explained, transforming Ram into a golden pistol to show.

That explained why he was in such incredible condition despite being sick just two hours ago.

Kureha had to wonder… who was this man? One does not just create a stone that didn't exist and be successful in it… then keep such information to themselves.

If he went public with that information, that he could create such a powerful stone, this boy could become one of the most important people on the planet. He wouldn't have needed to bother trying to explain to her that he consumed one because she'd be trying to get her hands on one.

But instead, he was a pirate with no bounty…

"Just who are these people, Chopper?" Kureha couldn't help but ask.

Rosan hummed and glanced back down at the resting Robin, pleased with how easily she could rest despite there being another person who she didn't know well. It spoke volumes of her trust in him and he would never let her down again.

"Well, if that's all. I appreciate you for helping me, Doctor," Rosan nodded. Once Robin got enough rest, he'd leave this place. He was only being so chatty because it helped him somewhat ignore all the medical supplies in the room.

Kureha raised a brow.

"What are you talking about? You aren't cleared to go yet," Kureha told him. "Bad experiences with doctors or not, I never let my patients leave until they are perfectly healed and you should be good to go in about a day or two. Until then, you're staying right there."

Rosan's gaze narrowed minutely. "Bad experiences is a nice way of putting it, Doctor. It's a miracle that we're even having a conversation right now. Don't push your luck, you aren't touching me again," he warned.

The two stared each other down and it was only broken by the shrieking of Luffy and Chopper.

"JOIN MY CREW, MONSTER!"

"WAHHHHH!"

Robin grumbled a bit in her sleep but was quickly assuaged by Rosan's warm hands rubbing the perfect spot in her hair.

Kureha snorted, realization making its way on her face. "Fine, if you don't want me to work on you, let Chopper do it. He's not human but I've taught him everything I know and he's the sweetest boy around. I'm sure he doesn't qualify as one of those Doctor's not allowed to touch you, right?"

"She may have a point… After all, he's not human and is palpably innocent," Mod jumped in, supporting the old woman's claims.

If he were to join the crew, Rosan would have to throw away his disdain for all Doctors barring his brother and work with Chopper. The little reindeer being not human and young would net him many favors with the redhead.

"Then he can check up on me after he joins the crew," Rosan decided. "I'll give you your money for helping me but if you think I can stand to stay here for longer than I have to…"

He didn't say anything else, letting the statement hang in the air.

He had to respect Kureha for not backing down for even a second.

"Just try it, brat!" She grunted, turning on her heel and marching out of the room.

Rosan watched her leave with a tilted head.

What an odd old woman.

"I like her… y-you should listen to her, Father! Haven't you moved around enough while sick?! W-What if you get sick again?" Ram tried to hide her worry but it was palpable.

If he got sick again, her heart wouldn't be able to handle it…

"You're worrying about nothing, Ram but I should get a bit more rest," Rosan hummed, lying down next to the still sleeping Robin.

He grasped her idly and brought the both of them to the mindscape with a simple thought.

---

Robin yawned a bit before realizing the tiredness was artificial and that she was currently located in the mindscape.

"Feels good to be back. Not entering my mindscape when I sleep feels wrong," Rosan muttered next to her, looking like he had never been sick in the first place.

The only difference, was that his hair was currently out of its bun. Robin wouldn't tell him to keep it free, knowing that it showed off his earrings when in a bun but she hoped one day, he'd be able to do it without regrets.

"I do miss the mindscape… it allowed me to hone my techniques and that was incredibly useful. After I get a raid suit, I'd like to really start up my training with you again," Robin said idly.

Rosan nodded at that. "If I had trained as hard as I did as a child, over the 10 years I was with Luffy, I'd have been much stronger but alas… there's no time for regrets and we can get up to par together. I train with Zoro as well and Luffy sometimes joins, if you ever want to join us," he informed her.

She was about to answer that, yes, she did want to join but a blur crashed into the man and woman, flooring the two.

"F-Father!" Ram sobbed happily, crying in his chest with a river of tears. She squeezed him and Robin tightly in relief and began blabbering.

"You got sick and I got scared a-and I thought it was getting really bad because I n-never saw you like that and I didn't want to think it but I couldn't help it and I just thought that i-if you died I would b-be so sad b-but Mother is so amazing and she managed to s-save you and — W-WAHHH!" she sobbed, clutching him with all her might.

"How are you feeling? I wanted to thank you for going out of your way to be Rosan's caretaker," Mod whispered to Robin, watching Rosan soothe his weapon with a calming tone. She exchanged a tender hug with the Devil Child and smiled softly at her.

"Just a little tired and please don't mention it. I know Rosan would do the exact same for me," Robin replied in amusement. There was a glimmer of mirth in her eyes at how hysterically Ram was acting and how awkwardly the redhead tried to sooth her.

She truly was Rosan's daughter, overreacting like only he could.

Robin and Mod let out surprised noises as Ram rushed over to them and bodily hoisted them both up.

"Thank you so much for taking care of stupid Father!" The ring cried. "Even after anyone would have thrown him overboard, you were still so patient and awesome! You're the best, Mother!"

Robin couldn't help but blink, at the earnest look in the silver haired woman's strange eyes before smiling gently and returning the hug.

"Of course, Ram. I'll always help Rosan if I can," she assured.

Ram may not have looked it, but she was quite young in nature. It was actually rather adorable to witness.

"Did you just call me stupid, Ram?"

"...!"

For the first time ever, Robin and Mod watched the ring go completely white. Her eyes were wide in terror and the expression on the woman's face was nothing the Devil Fruit had ever seen.

She slowly turned, fear present on her features and stared down the stone faced Rosan.

"I-It was in the heat of the moment, F-Father! I was just… I was worried for you!" Ram whimpered, inching slowly behind Robin and Mod for protection.

Mod's eyes were wide in shock at the complete 180 in Ram's personality.

Was Ram… was she afraid of Rosan?!

That was right… the little female menace had never gotten in trouble with her Father but Ram held him to the highest degree. It was only natural that she would be fearful if he ever directed some ire towards her.

If she knew this… she'd have just asked Rosan to discipline her instead.

Darn it...

Ram began shaking at the sight of her father tilting his head.

Ah, she had really gone and done it now… What if he stopped using her?! W-What if he threw her away?!

What if he destroyed her?!

Rosan blinked at the tears forming in his weapons eyes and sought to quickly assuage that. "I was just kidding, Ram. I was just surprised considering I've never heard you say a single negative thing about me. Of course I wouldn't have a problem with that, I was just teasing," he assured.

He should work on his jokes… Angel and Demon had reacted much the same way all those years ago…

Ram blinked at that before glaring at her father in disbelief. "I… Y-You…" She stammered in anger, not believing that he had managed to scare her so much.

"I didn't realize I scared you," Rosan shrugged. Everyone seemed to fear him to a degree and it seems even his faithful weapon was one of them.

The youngest one there began spluttering in disbelief. "I'm not…! You! M-MOTHER! Please tell Father off for me!" She pleaded, turning puppy dog eyes onto an amused Robin.

The Devil Child blinked and sighed at how this one knew to abuse their puppy dog eyes as well.

"Rosan, you shouldn't bully Ram like that. You know how much she looks up to you," Robin admonished calmly.

"…" Rosan tilted his head and snorted softly to himself. "And here I thought I was the only one whipped by Ram. It's no wonder she's become so independent, she now has two people to spoil her rotten," he taunted.

Ram stuck her tongue out rebelliously.

"I can't help it. She reminds me too much of you and how wild you were back then," Robin retorted teasingly.

"I'd appreciate it if you both didn't spoil her," Mod groaned in annoyance. "You can't just do that and then leave me to deal with it. I'm only one person!"

"Sorry, Mom," they replied in unison, making a tick form on her head.

"S-Stop that! Why must you both try to embarrass me by calling me mom?!" she demanded.

"You're just really good at raising people… Ram is like your fourth problem," Rosan smiled slightly.

Robin nodded in agreement. "Honestly, I would even go as far as to say you enjoy being so motherly to all of us!"

"Right?!" Ram nodded fervently. "I think so too! Auntie is such a mom!"

"I hate you all," Mod said flatly. She wasn't going to entertain this level of teasing when she didn't deserve it. All these years of raising these problem children and this was the thanks she got…

The three snorted at her deadpan expression before pausing.

"That makes me wonder... who was your favorite child to raise?" Rosan asked with a raised brow.

Mod didn't think even two seconds about it.

"Meiko, Robin and Demon. Those three are very mature and give me the least headaches," she replied without hesitation. "Ram and Rosan were my least... followed by Maro," she added shamelessly.

Robin smiled victoriously as Ram spluttered.

"H-Hey!" She protested.

"I didn't ask for who the least favorite was..." Rosan muttered quietly.

Mod rolled her eyes. "If you had emotions you'd be at the top of that list by yourself," she informed him.

The Devil Fruit squealed in surprise as she was hoisted up and she struggled heavily in the grasp of Rosan.

Robin and Ram watched as the redhead began messing her perfect hair up.

"P-Put me down!" Mod demanded, slamming her fists against the towering redhead's chest to no avail.

"What if I do this instead?" He asked.

"Do what?! Wait, Rosan! I swear to all that is—"

Robin and Ram backed away as Rosan clasped both of Mod's smaller arms in a single palm so that he could mercilessly tickle her.

The woman laughed helplessly as she thrashed in midair and tried to plant a kick right on his sternum so he could drop her.

Rosan snorted, and placed her on the ground instead so she'd fail to do even that.

"Kahaha! Stop Rosan I'm serious! I'll kill you!" She tried to threaten in the midst of her laughter.

"Are you going to help her?" Ram asked, a little fear on her features at the thought of being collateral if she attempted to help.

Robin thought about it for a moment before slowly shaking her head. "I'm not very ticklish so Rosan heightens my sensitivity and when that happens its even worse then being ticklish."

The silver haired girl nodded sagely. "I'm the same."

As they sympathetically watched the woman get tortured by her son, he suddenly paused what he was doing.

Mod let out a breathless laugh of relief as she was spared from his onslaught. Her face was flushed and she tried hard to glare at the redhead, failing miserably as it looked more like a pout.

"Hm? What's all that noise?" Rosan asked as he sat on Mod's belly. There was something going on in the real world currently and it was causing quite the stir.

"Let's see?" Robin questioned.

He nodded and waved a short goodbye to Mod and Ram. "We'll see you tonight, we still have to continue the memories," he said.

"I-I hate you," Mod gasped breathlessly. "I really really hate you..."

"My creation is coming up!" Ram beamed, pleased with herself. "Bye Mother, bye Father!"

"She said bye to you first… What did you do to get Ram to like you so much?" Rosan questioned, already vanishing from their sight.

"Maybe I'm just more likable than you," Robin shrugged smugly.

"Ah yes, my antisocial best friend is more likable than me. Do you honestly believe that?"

"With your personality being no better than the books I read? Absolutely."

"...Touche."

"Kami, they can't get together any faster? I'm losing my mind with all the tension!" Ram moaned miserably. Why did they have to be so dumb and unaware and stupid?!

"I'd say patience but you watched that demon tickle me," Mod growled, clutching her stomach as she glared at the ring.

"...Sorry?" Ram said sheepishly.

---

The first thing Robin did when waking, was summon an eye outside of the castle to see what exactly was happening.

Luffy and Chopper were having a face off against Wapol and his two soldiers. It seemed to be going well for them, considering Chopper had just taken out both the soldiers by himself using a variety of transformations.

"He can transform into more than just human, hybrid, animal?" Rosan asked curiously, tilting his head and humming. "That's… I've never seen Maro use more than those forms. I should bring it up with her and see if she can do something similar."

"Always thinking about ways to help Maro. I hope she appreciates all the effort you put into assisting her," Robin smiled. He really did always try and think of new ways to help out the queen.

Rosan hummed and stood up, prompting Robin to follow after. "Well, now that you're awake we can begin the process of leaving. That doctor really thinks she can restrain me… I respect her but there's no chance I'm staying here for any longer."

Robin knew it was hopeless to try and restrain a healthy Rosan and he really did seem fine enough. There was no way he was at 100% but it wouldn't take long for him to be.

They made their way out of the room and blinked at seeing Wapol on the first floor.

There was a silence as the three stared off, before Rosan broke it.

"Greetings, it's nice to meet you." The redhead waved politely.

"Nice to meet you too! Beautiful weather isn't it" Wapol waved.

"Beautiful?" Rosan repeated.

"Bit cold but other than that, yes! The weather in Drum is always beautiful," the king responded.

"I'm not a fan of the cold so I can't say I agree but I can see why you'd say that."

"During your stay you'll see!"

…

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" Wapol roared in realization. "ANOTHER STRAW HAT MEMBER?!"

"Ah, yes," Rosan nodded. "I'm the scout. Forgot to mention that."

He was just the scout?! This was perfect for him then! He was nothing like that monster of a rubber boy…

Wapol glared at the two and began marching towards the intruders with a menacing grin.

That grin turned into a splutter, at the leg lodged directly into his gut.

"Creep," Rosan muttered, lifting the large man up with one leg and keeping him there. He noticed movement out of the corner of his eye and saw his little brother show up.

"Oh, Luffy," he greeted.

"Rosan!" The rubber boy beamed.

"Let's play catch before we leave this place," he said, punting the screaming Wapol directly over to an eager Luffy.

The rubber boy laughed cheerfully and launched him upwards with a rubbery kick of his own.

Rosan quickly jumped over and kicked him back downwards with a vicious spike, only for the large man to get caught by yet another kick.

Robin watched in amusement as the two bullies played kickball with the poor king until Luffy decided to hit him with an upward kick.

The extended leg shoved the panicking king through the very top of the castle and Luffy pursued him with a cheery wave.

"Not gonna help him?" Robin asked curiously.

"Me and Luffy rarely need to team up for good reason," Rosan assured, making his way to the outside of the castle with the Devil Child.

"What are you doing out of bed?" Kureha asked in annoyance.

"You should soundproof your rooms, Doctor. I woke up due to all the noise and no one was there to tell me what it was so I came to check it myself," Rosan retorted calmly.

"Quite the sassy brat aren't you?" She snorted.

The redhead shrugged and glanced towards the extra presence there.

"Hm. You're Chopper, right?" Rosan asked, shifting his attention towards the bruised reindeer. "I'm Rosan and this is Robin," he introduced kindly, kneeling so that he was eye level with the tiny animal.

"It's nice to meet you, Chopper," Robin greeted gently, trying not to scare

Chopper fidgeted, not expecting the two crew members of Luffy to be so calm and gentle. He really liked the rubber boy but this was an unexpected and nice change.

"I'm Tony Tony Chopper!" He introduced himself tentatively.

Rosan tested the name on his lips and nodded. "I look forward to traveling with you. I don't normally trust doctors… but I'll make an exception for you," he said.

"W-What?! I-I'm not joining you guys!" Chopper exclaimed in disbelief, already set to bolt in case these guys were overbearing too.

"Why?" Rosan asked, tilting his head to the side. "You're clearly interested and you also want to come but something's stopping you."

"This dudes overbearing too!"

"Something?!" The reindeer asked in disbelief. "Isn't it obvious? I'm a monster! Look at me!"

Rosan thought he was pretty adorable but the little guy probably didn't want to hear that right now.

"So what? I'm a monster too," Rosan said softly, much to the reindeer's surprise. "I'm a monster, Robin's a monster, Luffy's a monster… Everyone's a monster in their own way and that's not a problem. Do you want to know why?"

"Rude," Robin added with a roll of her eyes.

"Shut up. Your ability can be creepy."

"Want a demonstration?"

"If you're that eager to lose then yes."

Chopper nodded hesitantly at Rosan's question, distracting the two from their impending brawl.

"It's because we have people who need that monster. Who love us despite being monsters. Even I, the biggest monster of them all, have people who love me despite that. Why do you think you don't deserve that same feeling?" Rosan asked the child softly.

The reindeer was stunned by his words.

"You… you think I do? Even though I'm a monster?" Chopper whispered, tears brimming his eyes.

Rosan pat him on the head. "Even monsters need companions and we want you to be our companion. You can become our monster and we won't think any less of you, Tony Tony Chopper. Even if everyone fears you, as long as we don't, it'll be okay."

Chopper sniffed and once the tears began falling, he broke.

"WAHHHHHHH!" The reindeer sobbed, crashing into Rosan's chest and letting his tears run free. The redhead simply wrapped one arm around him and hummed, letting him do whatever he needed to do.

"There's those speeches I missed so much," Robin sighed in admiration, watching as Rosan broke down all of Chopper's barriers with far too much ease (just like with her!).

It felt great to witness from another person's perspective, considering he used to solely use it on her.

"I just say whatever I think needs to be heard," Rosan replied.

Kureha said nothing, watching the exchange with an unreadable look. Then, she caught Rosan's eyes and a ghost of a smile formed its way on her face and she nodded imperceptibly.

He'd be just fine with them.

"WAIT, PLEASE! I DIDN'T EVEN GET TO ENTER THE WEAPON'S ROOM! YOU DIDN'T GIVE ME A CHANCE! THE FIGHT WOULD BE MUCH DIFFERENT!" They heard Wapol screech. His head had crashed through the roof and a familiar rubber boy followed soon after.

"No it wouldn't!" Luffy beamed, looking completely unscathed barring a burn mark on his coat.

He hadn't struggled whatsoever in his fight with Wapol, practically bullying him across the entire castle until finally deciding to finish it and planting his body through the roof of the building.

The only attack he had sustained, was when he had defended Chopper's pirate flag from the cannon fire.

"If you're not willing to put your life on the line, you shouldn't ever be touching the skull and crossbones," Luffy grinned menacingly, launching both arms back to deliver his final attack.

Wapol's eyes bugged in horror and he began struggling even more. "WAIT! I'LL GIVE YOU WHATEVER YOU WANT! TITLES! MEDALS! WOMEN! ANYTHING!"

"Gomu Gomu no…"

The arms stretched so far back, Wapol could no longer see where it ended and he wheezed as he realized that attack was going to plant itself into him.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! WAIT! WAIT! HOW ABOUT VICE KING?!" He tried.

"BAZOOKAAAA!"

The king's eyes rolled to the back of his head at the devastating blow and he was knocked unconscious. His body was freed from its entrapment and it flew away from the power behind the attack until none could see Wapol no more.

"And just like that, it's over," Rosan muttered, allowing Chopper to see the finale as well. "That's our captain, you know? Don't you think he's someone worth following?"

Chopper mulled it over. Luffy… he… he had called Chopper his friend without hesitation and had steadfastly tried to recruit him, heedless of the fact that he was a monster.

To see and hear that they were all monsters too… It made him…

"Yeah!" Chopper nodded furiously.

It made him feel like he belonged.

---

"Rosan you're okay!"

The redhead in question, effortlessly caught and returned the hug from their navigator.

"Look at you, all worried for your humble scout. I just knew you pretended to hate me," Rosan retorted.

To his slight surprise, Nami didn't get immediately angry and instead grinned coyly at him.

"Nothing you say can affect me after everything I saw and heard about when you were sick!" She beamed.

Rosan only let out a small noise to signify his annoyance.

Whatever, he'd see how long that would last. He'd consistently annoyed Aiko for 15 years now, silly little Nami had no clue what she had just brought upon herself.

After a slight altercation (Luffy had begun chasing Chopper again, unaware that Rosan had managed to successfully recruit him), Rosan had allowed Kureha to escort him back into the castle and his crewmates were now visiting him while he lay in bed.

"Fascinating, so you really are 24," Dalton muttered in awe, looking at the very not childish form of Rosan. He looked much better (and older) now compared to when he had been comatose and steaming.

He must have had some sort of Devil Fruit, but he wouldn't have been able to tell you at a glance.

"I only took that form so it would be easier to care for me," Rosan replied, glancing at the injured man with a dispassionate gaze.

"I'm glad you're alright, Rosan," Vivi sighed in relief, looking the redhead up and down.

Now that she had a face to relate him too, the princess could see just how much resemblances he shared with Raisa.

Rosan was absolutely related to her. They even had the same features fit for their royal lineage.

"Vivi…" the redhead began humming, as he stared at the girl. "I'd like to thank you for the things you did on my behalf despite how at odds we've been. You are a kind child and I apologize for the way I acted."

"Yes, I'd… I'd like to thank you for caring for Rosan's health more than he did. If not for you, I doubt we'd have been accepted," Robin joined.

Vivi regarded the two with a shocked expression on her face, not expecting to hear that from the duo who had been terrorizing her with their presence.

"I-It's nothing," she stammered, flushing at their sincerity. "I only did what was right! You were sick and desperately needed help and I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something happened to you while we rushed to Alabasta!"

The two shot her tiny smiles and she tentatively returned one back.

Had she been totally wrong about them? She hadn't expected the duo to actually thank her… weren't they antagonistic towards each other?

Maybe… Maybe it was one sided on her part and they weren't all that bad. Besides their first meeting, they hadn't gone out of their way to antagonize her and she started everything to be fair…

They really were content to just be in each other's presence and refused to jeopardize anyone getting in the way.

Nami smiled knowingly at the princess, content to let her come to her own realizations.

"Where's the key to the weapon's storeroom?" Kureha asked Dalton.

"The key? Wapol keeps it on his person so it went flying with him," he shrugged helplessly. If Wapol was gone then so was the key.

Kureha frowned at that. Dammit, there goes her plans.

The doctor went still as a smug aura washed over her and she glanced back at the redhead with that damned neutral expression.

"I could open it for you but alas I'm supposed to be confined to my bed," Rosan faux sighed, resting his head against the pillow as emphasis.

This cheeky brat… Kureha knew his game plan and he was dangling the bait over her with all the subtlety of his captain.

"If you really can open it, then we'll consider this your fee for getting healed by me but you'll be going right back into bed afterwards," Kureha decided finally.

"No," Rosan replied, much to her surprise.

The Doctor raised a brow at his confident refusal.

The Straw Hats watched the exchange with blatant interest, wondering how their scout would handle this.

"I have the fees to pay for my treatment. This offer only extends to freeing me or else that door stays closed for the foreseeable future," he finished, staring fearlessly at the crazy doctor.

The balls on this one… Kureha hated to admit it, but she liked this redhead. Despite how he acted, the boy was quite cunning in nature and she could respect it.

"You useless folk just standing around, come on. I need you for heavy lifting," Kureha said, pointing towards the citizens of Drum before turning towards the redhead again.

"Follow me. But if you're lying about being able to open that door… You're staying here for a year," she warned, marching off in the direction of the room.

"I don't lie," Rosan replied calmly, standing up and moving after her. "Robin?" He asked questioningly and the Devil Child rolled her eyes.

"Coming, coming," she chimed, following after the demanding redhead.

Honestly, age had done nothing to Rosan's clingy nature. It just masked it.

"Get ready to leave you all," Robin suggested. "I doubt Rosan wants to say here any longer."

"Oh, I'm coming too then!" Chopper stammered a bit, following after two of the three people he was comfortable with. He had been nervously hiding from his new crew due to Usopp freaking out at seeing him (to which Rosan floored him with a punch to the skull) but he needed to say his final farewell to Dr. Kureha.

"We finally have a doctor now," Nami sighed in relief. To get one so late in their journey… it was a good thing she was sailing with a bunch of monsters. Imagine if Rosan didn't get sick because Modification didn't deem it worthy enough.

They might have never gotten one otherwise!

---

"There. It's open. Now if that's all, it's time for me to get out of this place."

They key Rosan was holding, transformed back into a silver ring (it really was made from the philosopher's stone) and slotted itself perfectly on his finger.

Without even glancing into the room, Rosan turned on a dime and immediately left, tired of being anywhere remotely similar to a hospital.

Robin sighed at his brisk pace and smiled politely at her. "I'd like to thank you again for treating Rosan. Please forgive him for his haste… he just really doesn't like being around medical appliances."

Kureha waved her off. "He must have had a terrible experience so I won't prod. Now get outta here before I change my mind and chase him down."

With a small wave, Robin departed after the redhead.

Kureha began mulling over the large arsenal of weapons, pleased with the redhead for allowing her access until her attention was caught by the lone person there.

"Doctor I need to talk to you…" Chopper said.

"Oh, you're still here. I thought you replaced me with that redhead already," Kureha muttered, side eyeing her adoptive son before focusing on the weapon's being hoisted out of the room.

She'd have the citizens deal with this, a young lady like her shouldn't do such physical labor.

"R-Replace?! N-No way!" Chopper gaped in disbelief at her words. "I could never replace you! You taught me everything I knew and raised me into who I am today! I'll never forget anything you've done for me, Doctor!"

"So then stay here," Kureha replied bluntly, fully turning to face the Reindeer. "All these things I've done for you and you just plan on leaving me to become a dirty pirate?!"

A look of shock appeared on the reindeer's face at her words. "But I want to become a pirate and sail the world!"

"Pirates are worthless scum! You'll end up dead if you leave!"

"I DON'T CARE!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH! A REINDEER SAILING THE SEAS? DON'T BE RIDICULOUS!"

"I… I MIGHT BE A REINDEER! BUT I'M ALSO A MAN!"

Kureha's eyes widened at that declaration. Chopper had never stood up against her like that and it told her all she needed to know.

"Good for you… BUT I WON'T ALLOW IT!" She roared, launching one of her knives at the wall next to him.

Chopper's eyes went white in fear and he slowly turned his head towards the weapon that had been dangerously close to connecting.

"A CRYBABY LIKE YOU, A MAN? DON'T BE RIDICULOUS! IF YOU'RE GOING, IT'LL BE OVER MY DEAD BODY!" Kureha declared grabbing another knife and launching it.

Chopper tried to talk reason into her, but this knife somehow ended up even closer to hitting him and he screeched in fear.

"GWAAAAAAAAH!" The reindeer screamed, bolting with the doctor hot on his heels.

---

"GWAAAAAAAAH!"

The Straw Hats glanced up in unison at the terrified screaming going on inside the castle.

Their curiosity was soon answered, as a transformed Chopper burst into their vision carrying a sleigh.

The reason he was screaming made itself apparent as well, as Kureha appeared right behind with an assortment of weapons that she was launching with dangerous precision.

"EVERYONE GET ON THE SLEIGH! WE'LL GO DOWN THE MOUNTAIN!" The reindeer informed them, not stopping for even a second.

Rosan, Robin and Luffy were the quickest to react and immediately jumped on the sled without any hesitation.

The other Straw Hats needed a bit more motivation in the form of a spear nearly lodging itself into Usopp's body and with shrieks, they all clambered onto the small sled.

Chopper never stopped and soon, the pirate crew had vanished down the mountain and quickly retreated to the ship.

"Is that really how you wanted to say goodbye?" Dalton asked Kureha.

"...He's just a stray that got adopted, that's all. And besides… I don't like tearful farewells," a tear streaked Kureha smiled.

Dalton just smiled at that before hearing footsteps behind him and glancing at the panting citizen.

"Dalton! I'm sorry but I forgot to tell you something important!" He panted, before pulling out a bounty poster of Straw Hat Luffy.

Dalton raised a brow at seeing the price on his head. It was impressive but…

"Where did you get this?" He couldn't help but ask.

The citizen nodded at the question. "About a week ago, there was a traveler who visited and said he was pursuing the pirate named Blackbeard, the man who ravaged our country…"

Dalton's eyes narrowed at the mention of that name.

Blackbeard... that man filled him with something terrible.

"...After telling him Blackbeard was long gone, he asked us if we saw a boy wearing a straw hat, accompanied by a man with striking red hair. When we said we didn't, he gave me this bounty poster and told me to inform the two of them that he'll be in Alabasta for 10 days."

"His name?" Dalton asked. There was nothing to worry about. The pirates were already headed for Alabasta right now so that was a relief.

"Ace," he replied.

Ace… that sounded familiar…

"No use thinking about it now. They're already gone and headed there anyways," Dalton said. Princess Vivi… she had grown into a fine woman.

"We need to prepare for a flashy sendoff," Kureha grunted, turning in the direction of the men near the cannons. "ARE THOSE CANNONS READY, MEN?"

"YES DOCTOR!"

"THEN FIRE!"

---

Chopper knew Hiriluk's research was done. He knew the man had achieved his dream before dying.

There was always the possibility that he had lied to the reindeer again to not hurt his feelings but Chopper knew. It had to be complete… It just had to be!

"Nothing is impossible for those who fly the flag of the crossbones!" Hiriluk's words repeated in his mind.

30 years of research… It had to be completed! Chopper believed with all his heart that it was finished.

So, when he heard the sound of cannon fire and looked up in a panic at the sight, Chopper froze completely at what he saw.

The Straw Hats looked at it with varying degrees of awe.

"It's beautiful," Nami awed and the rest nodded in agreement.

Tears began to well up in Chopper's eyes as he beheld the sight and he began sniffing uncontrollably, unable to hold the burst of emotion in.

"D-Doctor… Dr. Kureha," he whimpered, staring unblinkingly at the beautiful sight before him.

The falling snow had turned pink, reminiscent of cherry blossoms and they descended down the mountain, giving it an appearance similar to that of a Sakura Tree.

Doctor's dream… it was… it was here! After 30 years… After 30 longs years, he had finally accomplished his dream and that fact was enough to push Chopper over the edge.

"WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" He sobbed happily, overwhelmed with emotion at being able to witness it finally come true.

He cried and cried and the Straw Hats watched him with relieved smiles.

Up on the mountain, a tearful Kureha looked at the sight with a grin.

"Go on, you foolish boy," the woman said to her son.

---

It was currently night and the Straw Hats had tired themselves out from all the partying they had done due to the recruitment of Chopper.

Robin and Rosan were the only ones left awake and they conversed quietly while the others slept. The Devil Child was currently informing him of what the other Baroque Members could do.

"Which ones are you thinking of recruiting?" Robin asked calmly, already knowing what he was planning.

"Mr. 1, Miss Doublefinger and Mr. 2," Rosan replied instantly, already deciding this while she spoke about them.

"I don't particularly care about what Mr. 4 and Miss Merry Christmas can do and honestly, besides Mr. 2 for his Devil Fruit, the ones I am recruiting don't seem that interesting. But, they are the highest ranked duo after you and Crocodile so they must be able to offer something."

"It's hard to be impressed by people when you have a Devil Fruit like Modification." Robin shrugged helplessly.

Rosan himself was hard to please if you weren't one of his loved ones and incredibly easy to if you were.

"That reminds me… what do you plan on doing with Crocodile? Recruit him as well?" She asked curiously

"Of course. He's their second most valuable member after all so it'd be a shame if I let him go free," Rosan replied easily.

Crocodile was the leader with a powerful Devil Fruit to boot. He would be a valuable tool.

It would be difficult, considering he had a Logia but they needed to defeat him anyways and Rosan didn't plan on dying here. Luffy may have had dibs, but if he had to, the redhead would interfere.

"Second most valuable…? Oh," Robin gasped slightly as realization hit her and a tiny blush appeared on her face.

The woman rolled her eyes and lightly slapped his shoulder. "Aren't you just a little flatterer," she stated.

"Oh? My Robin-nee can't handle a compliment?" Rosan teased, tilting his head questioningly at her. "Why? I thought my beautiful best friend would be getting compliments over the years but she can't handle some from humble me?" He prodded, grabbing a strand of her hair and wrapping it around his finger.

"The words of people who don't matter to me don't phase me but you're a different story," Robin replied like it was common sense.

"You're saying I'm the best looking person you've seen in 16 years, then? I suppose that's expected… every time I land on an island eyes seem to be on me," Rosan retorted, shrugging helplessly in a what can you do manner.

"You should go back to being sick. You were much better than you are now," she sighed.

Rosan was about to retort, but movement in the sky stopped him and he glanced up to see what it was, prompting Robin to do the same.

Mr. 13 and Miss Friday landed quietly next to the duo with nervous expressions that only seemed to amplify as they gazed at the terrifying redhead.

Rosan hadn't been sure if they'd actually go through with their final mission (and he would have dealt with them accordingly if they didn't) but it seems like he had nothing to worry about.

"It's done?" He asked softly.

They nodded in unison, fidgeting at the thought of betraying Crocodile.

"Well done, you two," he praised, stroking the both of them on their head in satisfaction. "I want you to standby in my base for me... I've prepared some food for you both as thanks and tomorrow I will show you both where you will both be staying," he instructed.

They saluted and soon, they both vanished from his sight.

"Why don't you bring them to Maro now?" Robin asked curiously.

"...It's not wise to teleport into Maro's castle at this time..." Rosan replied cryptically, pointing at the full moon in the sky. "Let's enter the mindscape so that we can continue viewing my memories."

Robin blinked. What was wrong with teleporting into her castle at this —

Oh.

"That's a good idea. I'll leave a clone out to take watch," Robin giggled.

It seems like something rather embarrassing had happened between Rosan and Maro a while ago and the thought nearly made her snort.

Tomorrow it was. Besides, she did want to continue viewing his memories.

---

"Master! Robin! You two are okay!"

The duo easily caught the worried Maro and allowed the strong princess to envelop the two in relief.

"Of course we're okay, why wouldn't we be?" Rosan asked curiously, stroking the whites of her hair.

"You… you got sick, right?" She asked, explaining her observations of when they last met.

Robin was surprised she also noticed that Rosan's save point was slower than normal.

It was a far cry from what Robin had seen from earlier memories of the two. The synergy they had acquired was incredible to witness.

"Yeah, Modification thought it would be a good idea to strengthen my body by allowing a deadly virus in," Rosan muttered, patting the distraught queen reassuringly. "I'm fine, look. Good as new and even better than before."

Maro sniffed worriedly but nodded in his chest, relief set on her features now that he was fine.

It had been chewing at the three rulers of Celadon for days now, knowing that Master was sick but he was okay now. Angel and Demon would be relieved to hear that once she told them.

"Adorable," Robin couldn't help but think, watching the two interact. Maro was like an overly concerned puppy when it came to Rosan and it was incredibly cute seeing how much their relationship had evolved.

"I won't stay for too long today, I wanted to go visit Aiko and Akemi as well… it's been a while since they last saw me and I know how much of a worrywart Aiko is," Rosan hummed.

Maro's eyes lit up at that. "Oh perfect! I didn't want to call you to do this since it would be a waste but since you're already going… Give something to her for me please?"

"Sure but first…"

Rosan waved his hand and Maro watched in interest, as an otter and vulture appeared from his Pocket Dimension. They made noises of surprise, before focusing on the surprised queen.

"These two are agents too?" Maro asked curiously. An otter and a vulture...

How did that work?

Rosan nodded his head in affirmation.

"Mr. 13 and Miss Friday. Useful messengers who are also well versed in execution," Robin chimed in.

The queen sweatdropped at the second part but let out a noise of delight at watching the otter perfectly draw her.

"AWESOME!" She squealed, jumping in excitement and getting closer to the two. "I was a little skeptical but they're so smart! Oh, you two can be my new messengers to Aiko and other allies in the future! Nice to meet you both!"

The animals blinked at her but found that she was much more acceptable then both Rosan and Mr. 0. Mr. 13 held out his hand, while Miss Friday brought out a wing and Maro eagerly shook both appendages.

"You two are just the cutest!" She gushed. Now she had four pets and they were all super unorthodox! Haha! This was awesome!

"Alright you guys can do whatever. I'm gonna go get that thing for Aiko," she beamed, dashing off to go retrieve it.

They glanced at Rosan, who just tilted his head. "Thank you for all you've done but you don't take orders from me anymore, don't worry. I'm done demanding things from you so feel free to do what she says."

The animals blinked at that, before saluting and waltzing off to go… explore.

"Things seem to be going well with all the agents so far," Robin commented.

"Maro is a genuinely good leader… and they can tell. It's good that they are adapting well but even if they weren't, they stand no chance against my student," Rosan stated confidently.

The Devil Child smiled at his faith in her and nodded in agreement.

"Master! You're okay!" A voice screamed, tackling the redhead, who didn't move an inch.

Rosan glanced down to see a worried Angel burying herself in his frame. Demon followed quickly after and soon, he was hugging his visibly worried siblings. Maro, who was holding an envelope watched it with a relieved smile on her face.

"Yeah, I was a little sick but I'm fine now," he assured the two.

"156° is not something I would consider "fine"." Robin snorted at the look Rosan shot her but it was too late.

"156?! Are you serious?!" All three of the rulers barked, glaring holes into their former leader.

"You can be so annoying," Rosan grunted to her, accepting all their sudden fussing without complaint. Demon was already pushing him to the medical room to run a checkup on him, while Angel and Maro berated him for not mentioning the fact that he had literally been steaming.

"Consider this payback for how you acted with me as a child," Robin smiled gently, following after the group with amusement set on her features.

"If you thought I was bad as a child, I'm about to show you I'm way worse," he shot back. "Consider your freedom privileges revoked."

Robin rolled her eyes. "As if I had those from the start."

---

"Aiko. Akemi. Maro sends her regards. Says she wants to party with you sometime next week and introduce you to her new soldiers."

Aiko shrieked, which caused Akemi to jump, and both the woman glanced up wildly from their paperwork.

Her furious glare turned into of confusion, as she beheld the unfamiliar woman before her.

She was tall (like really tall) towering over both her and Akemi (who were 5'7 and 5'3 respectively) and being only a little shorter then their stupid little brother himself.

The woman was also seriously hot. Like really, Aiko would have had no problem making a move on this tall, sexy girl if not for that small (and very life threatening) detail that she was probably her really stupid little brother's girlfriend.

Seeing as Rosan didn't care enough to introduce his numerous flings… it was only natural for Aiko to hazard a guess that this, rather beautiful, woman was a friend of his… or his girlfriend.

Judging by the gleam in her little sisters eye, she was naturally assuming the second.

Of course she was. The brat attracted all the cute girls. It made him a very good partner for Aiko to drag out into clubs because he almost always turned them down too.

"Rosan it's so nice to see you! Who's your friend?" Akemi beamed shamelessly, smiling politely at the woman who was standing very close to their surrogate little brother.

He pulled the two woman into a hug and said, "This is one of my closest friends, Nico Robin. We've known each other since I was four years old and she's the person I trust most with my life."

"I am?" Robin asked in slight shock, staring at the redhead with a startled gaze.

"Of course you are. I shouldn't even have to explain it to you," he countered.

She sent him an appreciative glance at that, glad that they both thought the same thing of one another.

The sister's eyes widened at that information before turning towards the woman in question.

"Nico Robin? You mean the one from the bounties…?" Aiko asked. The supposed Devil Child? She always wondered why Rosan never once expressed interest in going after her as Reap—

Wait a second…

"Rosan, were you the one that traveled with her through the North Blue all those years ago?" The leader of Fregate gaped in disbelief.

Nico Robin, from what she knew, was from the West Blue but apparently, very long ago, there were reports saying she was seen traveling through the South and the North with a mysterious companion…

"Oh? You heard about that?" Robin asked in surprise. "Aren't you a lucky one for not getting your identity revealed, Rosan. If they heard about you, it's a miracle the Marine's didn't find out your identity."

"Fortune favors the bold," Rosan replied calmly.

He was?!

Aiko held her head in her hands. That explained why Rosan liberated Fregate… he wasn't only just opportunistic... He was a fucking menace since the day he was born and was just naturally drawn to chaos.

No, nevermind. He wasn't drawn to chaos, Rosan created chaos.

"It's nice to meet you, Robin!" Akemi beamed, shaking the very tall woman's hand.

Seriously, she was only a little shorter than Rosan and that made her nearly an entire foot taller then Akemi!

"I'm Akemi and this is Aiko. We run this island together and we're some of Rosan's closest friends!"

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Akemi." Robin shook her hand politely. She knew these two well from Rosan's memories and was glad to see how good of a shape Akemi seemed to be in.

Her past trauma didn't seem to phase the dainty woman at all anymore and she was a far cry from how she used to act.

"You two are really close. You even have similar color pallets," Aiko snorted, shaking the tall woman's hand. "Purple and black? I'm vomiting at the cuteness. You just need to add red and you'll be the exact same."

"Rosan admires me a lot so I'm not surprised that he's adopted my colors," Robin smiled at the gray haired leader.

"Says the one who wears my clothes," Rosan countered, glancing at her with an unimpressed gaze.

"Weren't you wearing my coat just the other day, when you were all snuggled up on me and sleeping comfortably?" She smiled serenely, making Rosan scoff slightly.

"The lack of context you're "forgetting" to add is doing you plenty of favors."

The gleam in Akemi's eyes, watching the two interact, gave Aiko no illusions what her sister had planned.

"Oh, right. Speaking of clothes, I have some things to discuss with you," Rosan hummed, tossing her a blue envelope that she caught.

Aiko glanced down at it and her eye twitched at the, "From Maro ;)!"

Annoying brat.

"Whaddya need to talk about?" She asked, opening the envelope to inspect its contents and humming at the general gist of it.

It was just a standard letter from Maro, detailing what she had earned and if there was anything she needed... Oh? What was this at the bottom?

"I want to talk to Hiroshi so that we can make a full fledged Raid Suit for Robin," Rosan informed her, pointing at the Devil Child in question.

Aiko blinked at both the contents of the letter and his words, idly handing the piece of paper to Akemi so that she could regard her long time partner.

"Oh?" She asked, glancing at the collected woman.

They hadn't made a full fledged Raid Suit in a while. Besides Germa, Maro and Rosan were the only ones to have them. Resources needed to make them were pretty steep and they didn't want to attract the armies attention, so Fregate simply supplied Celadon and themselves a much more downgraded version of Germa's prized weapon.

It was quicker to make and allowed them to make bulks, lacking the special abilities that Rosan and Maro had, but being as durable. It was perfect for their needs and kept them safe from a majority of things in the North Blue.

Besides, a full fledged Raid Suit didn't grant normal users abilities. It only worked on Devil Fruit users or that Judge guys modified children. The abilities were derived from the person's DNA after all.

"Alright, that can be arranged. We can go now… just get out and lemme change into something more comfortable," Aiko grunted.

The two nodded and left the room to go discuss whatever it was they wanted to.

Once the door closed with barely a noise (Aiko asked Rosan to fix it for her one day and he made it perfect).

"…You read the letter, right?" Aiko asked.

Her sister was practically buzzing in excitement. "I'm so glad I'm not the only one who wants them together!" Akemi gushed, eyes gleaming bright.

"They're a really good looking duo," Aiko admitted and that was probably as good as Akemi was going to get for her support.

Honestly, her sister should be more open!

"You know, I always figured he and Maro would have gotten together, then she ended up marrying his sister and I figured he'd just be single," Aiko mused.

"I used to think the same before I caught her staring at your ass almost nonstop around puberty," Akemi nodded sagely.

She dearly wanted Rosan to find someone for him because he deserved it. He helped them all in some way, so it was only right that they help him. He shouldn't be asexual like Akemi currently was (she knew he wasn't considering the flings he had), he was still young!

Aiko spluttered at that. "W-What?! She used to stare at my ass?!"

That damn perverted Goblin... What was her deal?!

"I can't say I blame her," Akemi shrugged, smiling impishly. "You do have a very nice ass and your suits do you no favors."

Now that she thought about it... Angel also had a very nice bottom. Guess Maro knew exactly what she liked.

"A-AKEMI!" She barked, forcing a hand over her giggling sisters mouth. "Don't talk about my ass like that! I need to talk to that stupid goblin about where her eyes should be from now on," she grumbled.

She liked pants. There was no way she was ever going to wear a skirt or a dress.

"Still though, could the goblin idiot have been anymore obvious?" Aiko complained. "She should be thankful Rosan isn't so curious, else he'd have read this letter and figured out everything!"

Akemi giggled. No one said Maro was the smartest person around.

"We should go follow them, lest he gets suspicious. Unlike Maro, Rosan is smart," she hummed.

Aiko snorted in agreement and prepared to change.

---

"Hiroshi, it's been a while. You look well," Rosan greeted the scientist politely.

"Ah! Rosan-sama! Aiko-sama and Akemi-sama too!" The lead scientist smiled, shaking the tall man's hand. "Thank you for the compliments, what's the occasion?"

Rosan liked that. Hiroshi was a person who got straight to business.

The lab had expanded much over the years, becoming one of Fregate's most notable features and skyrocketing their value up even more than it had already been at.

These days, Fregate was the only island in the North Blue (and probably the rest of the four seas) whose prestige was near Celadon's and considering they were such prominent allies, it bolstered them up to near untouchable levels and made them all the more valuable to the World Government.

Hiroshi's laboratory had become an entire facility of different things and the amount of people working had nearly doubled, all with him at the charge.

His doubts, if he had any, had swiftly vanished in time and he was living a nice and comfortable life, with a wife and a newborn.

"All of this because you overhauled him?" Robin couldn't help but gasp in slight awe.

"That's right but besides securing his loyalty to me and Aiko, everything else is his own doing. It breeds less suspicion, when a person discovers these things on his own," Rosan informed her.

His understanding of a person's mind… it was impressive. Rosan had always been perceptive when it came to people and it seemed that it evolved enough where he could confidently apply Overhaul without making the person have any doubts.

Just look at what happened with Gem… He was actually utilizing his Devil Fruit how Rosan intended it to be used and, combined with the redhead's implanted creativity, he was quickly becoming a force in Maro's army and the queen was extremely pleased.

"I want you to make a full Raid Suit," he instructed, getting a surprised look out of the man.

"For this woman, I presume?" He asked, shaking Robin's hand as greeting.

Rosan nodded his head. "That's right. Is there anything you need me to collect?"

Hiroshi was already guiding them to his office to discuss further, greeting all his employees in the process (and chastising them for staring too hard at the duo). "That won't be necessary… making a full fledged Raid Suit is resource heavy but we have the means to do so."

Sitting the duo down in his lab, the scientist simply said, "I can actually finish it faster than I did with you and Maro-sama. I just need a large blood sample and for you to answer a few questions."

That sounded easy enough so Robin nodded curiously. This seemed rather straightforward and easy to get something as useful as Rosan and Maro's Raid Suit.

Hiroshi pulled out a clipboard and began jotting on it before glancing at her.

"Age?"

"28."

"Color preferences?"

"Black and Violet."

"Any specific theme you are interested in?"

"...I'm not sure. Flowers I suppose."

"Do you have a Devil Fruit?"

"I do. The Hana Hana no mi."

Hiroshi's eyes glinted a bit at that and he placed the clipboard down. "Perfect! Since it was a request from Rosan-sama, I'll be personally working on your Raid Suit and it will be my #1 priority!"

"Always so diligent," Aiko grinned, slapping the embarrassed scientist on the back. "With this guy on the job, your suit will be done in no time!"

Rosan nodded, satisfied, and stood up. "Thank you, Hiroshi."

"I appreciate it," Robin smiled in agreement.

"Think nothing of it! Rosan-sama gave me a much better life here so it's the least I could do!"

With a few farewells, and a hefty blood sample, the group of four departed almost as quickly as they came, deciding to head back to the castle to talk over some food.

"So, Robin-chan! How did you two meet?!" Akemi asked curiously.

"Around 20 years ago, I was sailing with a group of pirates before someone randomly showed up, attacked them, and stole their ship after throwing them overboard," Robin explained.

"I never expected to find you while getting in my first fight. I guess it's a good thing I was so chaotic," Rosan hummed.

Aiko and Akemi's expression shifted into shock at hearing what he had done.

"Are you fucking nuts?!" Aiko barked, unable to keep the worry out of her tone. "You fought a pirate crew when you were four?! Don't be so damn dumb, you dumbass!"

"I freed your island when I was nine," the redhead countered calmly, patting her on the head and not even flinching at seeing her bite his finger. "You are a rabid animal, Aiko."

"Fuck you," she snarled through his finger.

"What would your girlfriend have to say about that? You're already biting my finger. Is this the type of kink play your into?"

"I broke up with her! Too overbearing!" She bit back.

"...I'm surprised she didn't break up with you. You seem like a terrible relationship partner and you're especially rude too."

Aiko began to beat his back as he slung her over his shoulder. "I fucking hate you! Put me down, dickface!"

"Apologize."

"Over my dead body."

"Wrong answer."

"Wow you two have known each other for so long," Akemi awed, ignoring Aiko and Rosan completely even when the redhead began to mess up her perfectly done hair (that had Aiko howling in fury and she swiftly began biting any part of the redhead she could reach).

"We have, would you like to hear some stories about Rosan as a child? He was terribly chaotic," Robin asked, glancing in amusement as Rosan didn't even register the leader's bites.

"I'd love to!" Akemi beamed.

Aiko's eyes gleamed at the sigh Rosan let out and she stopped biting him unsuccessfully to regard the Devil Child.

Oh, she was gonna like Robin.

---

"You won't stay with Maro while we deal with Crocodile in Alabasta?" Rosan asked softly.

"Of course not," Robin replied, glancing unimpressed at the redhead. "I'm happy that you're worried for me, but I'll be fine."

"But you mentioned being pivotal to his plans. What does he want you for anyways? Is it Poneglyph related?"

"He suspects that the ancient warship, Pluton is in Alabasta and he wants me to give him the details of where it's located."

Rosan hummed at that. "Pluton? That's one of the three ancient weapons isn't it? From the Void Century you're so interested in?"

"Yes. Along with Uranus and Poseidon."

"Pluton?! That's why Crocodile wants to take over Alabasta?" Vivi gasped in shock. It… It all made sense now!

"That's right," Robin replied, much to her shock. "But even if I'm not there, that won't stop Crocodile from attempting to locate it. I suspect he already knew I wasn't going to divulge that information but kept me around just in case," she explained.

"I see. Fortunately, I'm here now. I doubt he would have taken your betrayal well and you might've died but that won't happen while I'm here," Rosan assured, getting Robin to roll her eyes.

"I'm in your care," she smiled. "All things considered though, Crocodile isn't as strong as I expected someone of his caliber to be… Over the years, I've noticed that despite his ambitions, he lacks quite a bit of willpower and it may have made him weaker as a result."

That lined up well with what Rosan and Mod thought. It was a good thing Meiko's words had given him that much willpower. She was the reason he was still alive.

"Don't underestimate him though. He has the Suna Suna no mi and it makes him impervious to most forms of attack, besides liquids," Robin informed them all.

"Too much Logias… I still need a consistent way to hit them," Rosan grunted in annoyance. So being wet would allow them to touch Crocodile.

That was easy.

"Are you listening Luffy? You won't be able to hit him unless you're wet," Rosan instructed. "And don't underestimate him either… Imagine what Maro would say if she heard we had to double team someone."

Luffy made a disgusted face at that. Maro wouldn't let them live it down if she learned about it and then she'd tell Ace and then Ace wouldn't let them live it down either.

"That reminds me…" Nami mused. "Rosan, sorry if this is a bit personal… but do you know who your mother is?"

The redhead raised a brow but answered regardless.

"Portgas D. Rouge," Rosan replied instantly, not minding the question. He pulled the pendant out of his shirt and expanded it, showing his crew the picture that lie inside. "This is her."

It was a beautiful woman with freckles and strawberry blonde hair and she was cheek to cheek with an adorable little boy who had the largest grin on his face.

"He looks exactly like he did when he was sick," everyone thought as they gazed at the adorable child.

The Straw Hats never expected to see Rosan with such a big grin on his face but it was really endearing.

Vivi furrowed her brows at that. Perhaps she had been mistaken…? Rosan looked nothing like his mother Rouge... but Raisa could have always had siblings and the redhead took after his father.

"Though, I suspect you guys aren't talking about Mom based on the looks of confusion. If you are talking about my birth mother, Raisa, then barring her status and appearance, I don't know much about her."

There was a short silence before everyone collapsed at that statement.

"S-SO YOU TWO ARE RELATED?!" Vivi screeched.

"You know your birth mother?" Robin asked curiously. He never mentioned that to her.

"I never mentioned her because I don't care about her," Rosan explained softly. "We don't know anything about each other and it's been that way for all my 24 years of living."

Robin nodded at that. Rosan truly didn't care about you if you weren't in his circle and he had always been like that, even before his shift.

He either loved you with his whole heart, hated you, or didn't deign to even think about you.

"Did she… abandon you?" Vivi asked, unsure of herself. She didn't know much about Raisa but that didn't seem like something the woman would do.

Vivi just remembered her being very nice to the child and very no nonsense with the adults. The woman was a pillar of confidence and showed no fear for anyone or anything.

"Yeah, the same day I was born," Rosan replied calmly. "I'm assuming you've met her before if you were able to make the connection that she's my mother."

"I think anyone with a brain could make the connection, to be fair," Vivi muttered. "You two look really similar to each other… But I didn't think she abandoned you, I'm sorry for bringing that up."

"No worries. I take no offense to any mention of Raisa," Rosan dismissed.

"Look similar you say…" Robin mused and Rosan's danger senses went off at her tone.

Before he could even think of excusing himself, the Devil Child grabbed him tight and smiled gently at him.

"Rosan, you have something to show me," she said softly. The grip on his arm was tight and though Rosan could break out of it, something told him that was a bad idea.

"Putting me on the spot right here is rather underhanded, Robin," Rosan muttered. Did she really want him to do it right here and now?

Robin simply smiled at him, knowing he'd do it regardless.

She was so lucky that before his loss in emotions, she was the only one besides Meiko and Mod-chan who could successfully boss him around with little to no complaints.

She could also order him with no resistance because of his lingering regrets at leaving her behind but he wouldn't tell her that.

If he did, she'd stop making demands immediately.

Robin deserve to have a little fun. He truly didn't mind.

"Fine," he sighed in defeat.

The Straw Hats watched in confusion as the duo spoke. What was going on? What did Robin want from Rosan that he didn't feel like showing all of them?

Watching his hesitance, only made them more curious!

"Uh, what are you two talking about?" Usopp spoke up in confusion.

Rosan ignored him and took a step back, eyes glowing brightly to signify his use of Modification.

Modification? What was he planning on doin —

"Modification: Swap."

"Oh," Robin couldn't hide the surprise from her face as she slightly gawked at the figure before her. Seriously? She was right to be relieved that he was born a man because this was unreasonable.

Let it be known that Rosan as a man was not any uglier then his female form... it's just he didn't have such noticeable... accessories.

None could keep the shock out of their eyes, as Rosan's proportions flared out. His height reduced, his body changed and his spiky hair grew longer, forcing itself out of its bun, and stopping at his lower back…

Well, not his but her.

Poor Sanji let out the most confused noise known to man, as his jaw dropped from the sight of Rosan as a female.

W-WHAT COULD HE EVEN SAY?!

"Hm? She wasn't done growing?" Rosan said to herself. It looked like his female form had grown another three inches, standing at 6'2 now.

He'd have to ask Angel if she wanted the added height but she'd most likely say no. The woman liked being taller then Maro, but not by much.

They couldn't help but shudder at that deep and feminine voice. Similarly to Rosan as a male, the softness did nothing to hide how commanding and back straightening their voice was.

He truly had a voice fit for royalty no matter the gender.

"Are you some type of genetic monster?" Robin couldn't help but ask. No matter how she looked at it, Rosan had clearly won the genetic lottery and he was showing it over and over again.

"Every time I look at her, I thank the stars he was born a man," Mod sighed. Attention was still bad but it was nothing compared to how many creeps would have targeted him if he were a female.

Robin agreed. The differences between his male and female were even more apparent now that time had passed and Rosan was no longer a child.

They looked remarkably similar but no one was going to confuse them. Whereas Rosan looked pretty androgynous as a child, his male form now was unmistakably handsome, while his female form was utterly beautiful

"Are these natural? Are you sure you aren't showing off your abilities?" She idly poked one of the female's large breasts and got it slapped away as a result.

Rosan's unamused expression nearly made her laugh aloud and the transformed redhead replied, "Do I look like I enjoy performing this technique enough to amplify it past its base appearance?"

"So you're just naturally this blessed?" Robin teased, reaching for the woman's chest again and squeezing it curiously.

The Straw Hats gawked at Robin's actions, blushing at the interactions and spluttering.

What was she doing?! H-How shameless!

"Could you not?" Rosan grunted in annoyance, swatting her grabby hands. "Since when are you such a pervert? Groping me like this is not something you'd normally do."

Robin shrugged. This was her best friend, she was free to act differently with him. "I can't help it. They are just asking me to."

Since when was Mod-chan radio silent at treatment like this? Wasn't she supposed to be protecting his chastity?

"It's Robin. She's free to do what she wants," Mod shrugged.

Robin smiled victoriously at that and the redhead let out a tired sigh as she cupped both this time with a curious gaze.

"This is sexual harassment," Rosan informed her.

"Who are you going to report me to? Mod-chan already gave me the green light," Robin smiled in return.

"Um… What the hell's going on?" Nami asked, tired of being confused and embarrassed... and confused. "Why's Rosan a chick? Why's she so hot? Why is Robin groping her with no shame?! Start explaining, please!"

Rosan, who was still be fondled by the very annoying Robin, glanced over at them and they regarded the ice queen (how could she look so composed even despite the situation?!) with wide eyes.

"This is exactly how I would look if I was born a woman. If you want to see how you'd look as the opposite gender, I can always perform the technique on you. Luffy was already subjected to this because of a prank he pulled long ago... he's actually quite adorable as either gender," Rosan explained to the crew.

This was exactly how he would look as the opposite gender?!

That didn't seem very fair... what the hell was this?

The crew balked at hearing he could do the same to them and Usopp fearfully took a step back at that fact.

"Vivi, you've seen her, correct? How comparable am I to Raisa?" Rosan asked suddenly.

The princess was beet red and squeaked as she looked up, face turning even redder at seeing Robin continue so she took far too long to process the question.

"U-Um, well truth be told, the resemblance is uncanny," she admitted reluctantly. "Though, you look like a much wilder version of her… Raisa-san is a very natural and neat beauty while you're a very natural and… wild beauty…"

Vivi's face was visibly embarrassed at her admittance and the poor girl looked like she wanted to burn up on the spot.

"Hm. I see," that smooth voice stated, humming softly. Much like Rosan's male form, she had a pleasant voice that made it very apparent she could sing.

"I hope you're satisfied," Rosan said, eyeing Robin with a raised brow as the woman finally stopped feeling him up. "If you were anyone else… except for Meiko, I'd have buried your head underground by now. I don't like to be touched in this form."

Meiko? Who was that? Another of Rosan's friends?

"I'm honored to have such special privileges," Robin teased with a small smile, despite how genuinely happy she was to hear that.

To be up there with Meiko… it was truly an honor for her.

Ram grinned so largely, Mod had to stifle a laugh that desperately tried to make its way out.

"I'm satisfied. I've embarrassed you enough and seeing this form is always a treat so you can transform back," Robin said in satisfaction.

Rosan nodded and with a wave of her hand, he was back in his default state. He stretched a bit (and patted his chest) and regarded his crew with a tilted head.

"I was never intending on showing you guys that but someone has become exceptionally annoying... and perverted over the years."

Robin raised a brow. "Me? Annoying? Coming from you, I genuinely feel insulted, Rosan," she retorted, amused expression gone.

"You have no business being insulted by the truth. You didn't even try to defend yourself on the pervert claim," he assured, patting the woman on the head and getting her to glower at him.

"You and I both know that claim is false!"

"Right..."

They continued to bicker with each other, but the argument was broken up by the sound of Sanji collapsing on the floor, unconscious.

"Hm?" Rosan asked in confusion. "Is he alright?"

"I think you broke the idiot cook," Zoro grunted. Why was Rosan so damn tall as a man and a woman?

"For once, I don't blame Sanji," Nami muttered. Poor Vivi was still flushed at the entire thing and the navigator couldn't really blame her.

Never did she expect to see their scout as a woman and never did she expect him to look so sexy while being one.

Some people were just born with it all.

"Me? Was the shock of becoming a woman too much for him?" Rosan asked. While it always shocked whoever saw it for the first time (and the second... and the third), this was the most extreme reaction he'd gotten yet... besides Maro of course.

That goblin was something else. How did she always end up behind Rosan's female form to stare at her bottom?

Everyone nodded sagely at his question, not willing to explain it to him.

---

Robin watched curiously, as Rosan pulled out a ringing Den Den Mushi from, presumably(?), his Pocket Dimension and picked it up.

How did he even know it was ringing?

"Greetings. I trust the call is being blocked?" Rosan began immediately.

"It is," the voice on the other line replied. "It's been a while, Rosan. I take it you're in the Grand Line now?"

"That's right, Dragon," the redhead replied calmly.

Robin went still at that. Surely he wasn't talking about…

"This is Monkey D. Dragon. The leader of the revolutionaries and Luffy's father," Rosan informed her.

Ah, so he was...

Could she even say she was surprised that Rosan knew the most wanted man on the planet?

Although…

"He's Luffy's father?" She repeated in surprise. The world worked in funny ways… Rosan and Ace were the sons of the most dangerous pirate to exist (not to mention Rosan's biological mother was a queen), while Luffy was the son of the most wanted man alive.

How fitting that they were all brothers. Next, they were going to reveal that Rosan's biological father was someone incredible too!

"A meeting in the Grand Line would be slightly more difficult on your part… what island are you headed to?"

"Alabasta. Another island that your revolutionaries should have been helping with but here we are."

"Alabasta? The desert kingdom? They are in the midst of a rebellion, yes?"

"That's right and it's all being orchestrated by the Warlord, Crocodile," he informed the leader.

"…"

There was silence on the other line for a moment before Dragon simply said, "We don't watch over government sanctioned countries but this works. I'll send Sabo to Alabasta then."

"Alright… and thank you, Dragon. I don't know what your reasons are for abandoning Luffy and I don't care to ask, but at least you raised one of my brothers so I'm grateful."

"I hope you can help Sabo remember his brothers. You three must have missed him dearly."

Rosan hummed and hung up the call, watching the Den Den Mushi go back to sleep with a neutral expression.

"Sabo… the brother that supposedly died," Robin mused. She had yet to see him in Rosan's memories, but he had told him about all of his siblings including him.

To not only be alive, but suffering massive amnesia as well…

"I hope you can help him remember," she finished.

Rosan nodded at that.

He'd been hoping to find Ace and tell his younger brother that Sabo was still alive because that had been his best friend and he deserved to know.

Ah, well maybe it was for best… Ace wouldn't wait to hear Sabo had amnesia, he'd almost certainly attack him.

Luffy would probably cry… a lot. Since Sabo was coming to Alabasta, he'd be cruel to not reveal his fate. He just didn't reveal it immediately until he could truly verify.

"The second in command of the revolutionaries and he's also your brother… you have so much connections in high places."

Sabo… Rosan hoped he was doing alright.

---

Smoker took a puff of his cigarette, hanging up his call with headquarters.

He had just finished calling in backup for his trip to Alabasta… He wouldn't have done so but he had a gut feeling he'd need more assistance.

They'd only be able to send him one more ship due to having a Warlord there (that being Crocodile) and while he didn't really trust pirates, he was at least getting Marine backup.

It was someone he was familiar with too, being Hina, due to the Alabasta Kingdom being the area she patrolled.

It was a gut feeling… but something crazy could be going on at Alabasta and Smoker wasn't arrogant enough to go in alone, especially after hearing of how easily Baroque Works disposed of the Straw Hats.

But what especially made him decide to call for backup, was hearing of a potential outside force, that being the group who had taken one of the agents known as "Miss All Sunday".

Part of him wanted to go with just his ship, considering it had been his job to capture Straw Hat and this group had taken them out seemingly with no effort. But, he couldn't go in solo and expect things to go well for him.

That's what fools did and he was no fool.

Based on the agent they had been interrogating, and his reaction at hearing she was captured, Miss All Sunday wasn't just some other agent. No, she was the right hand of the unknown leader himself so her going missing was very alarming.

There was potentially an unknown force at hand and Smoker wasn't keen on finding out what it was alone.

---

"Alabasta? Yeah, I can go there… You want me to meet up with this… Rosan while observing the rebellion?"

"Yes. Rosan and his captain, are tied to your past that you forgot. Ask them questions while you're there. That's all from me."

Sabo's brows furrowed at that, staring at the sleeping snail in contemplation.

Something connected to his past… All he remembered was an overwhelming desire to stay away from the place Dragon had called his home.

Despite that, the name Rosan invoked a strange feeling inside of him. It felt like… determination?

What was he determined about? Getting away from him? If that were the case, why did Dragon insist on having them meet…?

If he remembered correctly, when Dragon had first found him, he mentioned two other names… What were they again…?

"So what will you do? It's obvious you won't remain here. Where do you plan on escaping?"

The scarred blonde grabbed his head and shook it rapidly.

Right, Ace and Luffy. Both those names, coincidentally, belonged to pirates and the first one especially spelled big trouble. He imagined that this Luffy was Rosan's captain but surely the Ace that Dragon mentioned wasn't the same Ace that was apart of the Whitebeard Pirates, right?

Whatever the case, there were more pressing matters to worry about, such as the fact that Alabastas civil war was being orchestrated by Sir Crocodile.

He wasn't surprised to hear that. Crocodile was a pirate after all who could practically do whatever he wanted, so long as he worked for the Marines.

If it came down to it and no one else could, Sabo would get rid of him and free the country despite the revolutionaries not typically caring for a country like the desert kingdom.

Grabbing his top hat, the blonde placed it on his head and reached out for his metal pipe, securing it to his back.

"I think you're the best of the three with that metal pipe."

Sabo grunted and pocketed his Den Den Mushi. He had just finished reporting his mission details to Dragon before getting this sprung on him but that was fine.

He never liked staying in one place for too long and sailing the seas always felt wonderful.

As the Chief of Staff began departing to Alabasta, he could only think to himself,

"How am I supposed to know who and where this Rosan is anyways?"

---

Memory Viewing with Robin and Rosan - 1

Ram and Maro Pt. 1!

---

The group of four were situated back in the theater like room to continue from where they left off.

Once more, Robin sat in the middle of Rosan and Ram, while Mod chose to sit atop the Devil Child this time.

Robin idly raked a hand through Mod's purple hair as the memory of Ram's creation began.

"Ah! My creation!" Ram beamed, shaking excitedly in her seat.

"You're thorough... to think this entire time you were already accumulating all the knowledge you needed to make the stone," Robin muttered, gazing at the genius redhead on the screen with impressed eyes.

It was still jarring to see how suddenly his personality shifted and the thought that the redhead was even more emotionless somehow, was uncomfortable to witness.

"I wanted to be 100% confident in my ability to create it and before... it was just a nice little side job. Once my scythe broke too many times, I decided to pour all my attention into it and thankfully, I had just about finished amassing my knowledge," Rosan explained, watching as the younger version of him read through the perfectly remembered notes one last time before shutting them.

After verifying everything, he went to visit Aiko and Akemi so that they could collect part of the materials he needed.

"It's nice to have so many reliable people," Robin commented, a little pain filling her as the sisters realized Meiko's fate.

Rosan clasped her hand in his warm ones (they were so soft for someone who fought so much!) and nodded. "It's everything I was hoping for and more allying with those two... Without Fregate, even Celadon wouldn't be as prestigious as it was."

Aiko and Akemi very valuable to him. Not only were they resourceful allies with all the info they supplanted him... they were his older sister figures and he learned many human things from them.

After getting that out the way, the little redhead sought out his next course of action, which was learning how to Blacksmith.

"You don't actually spend much alone time with Angel and Demon," Robin pointed out as they watched little Rosan and Angel embark on their journey.

"I would never have minded but they were too afraid of me," he reasoned.

Robin raised a brow in curiosity at the way Angel was acting around Rosan.

"It looks like Angel is somewhat trying to take Meiko's place for you in hopes of trying to get your emotions back," Robin pointed out.

Whether it was intentional or not, Angel's overly affectionate attitude towards Rosan was probably her way of trying to help with his emotions. Perhaps she thought by emulating a bit of Meiko, it would help.

"Is that so?" Rosan muttered at her observation. "Then I am glad I found Maro. I would rather not see where that would have led her."

He never thought about it but it was true. He wondered how bad it would have gotten if he never got his student for Angel to focus her attention on.

Robin hummed at that. The triplings and Mod were all handling their grief in a rather toxic way truth be told.

Rosan and Demon had become workaholics, while Mod and Angel tried to keep the rope from slipping further, all while having their own issues to deal with that they ignored.

Robin sighed... they really were all related. It was very clear that without Meiko there, no one was really capable of telling them to just stop for a second.

"Don't worry Meiko... Maro will handle Angel and Demon, I will handle Mod and Rosan," she assured with a sigh of exasperation.

The Devil Child watched as Rosan and Angel bonded over the blacksmith's (who had been overhauled... what a terrifying technique) teaching and couldn't help but let out an annoyed noise at seeing how quickly they exhausted his teachings.

"It only took you a month! A month!" Robin complained, glaring at the redhead.

"Shouldn't you be happy for me?" Rosan replied with a raised brow, holding a placating hand up.

"No!" She denied, crossing her arms.

"...But Robin... you're smarter then me."

The woman opened her mouth and then shut it as a pleased feeling washed over her. "I'm proud of you for learning that skill so quickly," Robin eventually said.

Mod and Ram sweatdropped. "That was way too easy."

Robin was still smiling, even after she lamented how quick of a learner Rosan was.

With his lessons finished, Rosan now had everything at his disposal to begin the process of creating the Philosopher's Stone.

Robin watched the entire thing with undisguised interest. After all, this wasn't something anyone else had ever seen. Right now, she was witnessing the very first creation of something and that filled her with a joy only someone who sought knowledge would understand.

So she payed undivided attention as Rosan cut himself deep to pour a nauseating amount of blood inside of a cauldron he created. Even despite her concern at seeing just how much blood he was using, didn't interfere with her mind greedily absorbing the info.

It was abundantly clear that this wouldn't be possible without Modification or some matter manipulation ability but even then, it would be highly difficult.

But Rosan did it...

He summoned a cube of energy (the same cube used to create Angel and Demon) filled with his essence and dropped it into the cauldron, before fully beginning the process.

"Fascinating," Robin muttered as Rosan's eyes transformed into familiar slits and he summoned the unnaturally colored fire. "Do you think the order of the stones dropped matter?"

Rosan hummed as he contemplated that question. "Yes but I don't think it's because of the stones themselves... but because of the temperature I was using. I believe the creation of Ram, was truly how well I could broil everything. The stones are important... but the order of them just helps me keep a baseline of the strength of my fires."

She nodded in understanding, eyes impressed as she gazed at the intelligent redhead before focusing back on the screen.

"And did you think it was smart to immediately do such a taxing task seconds after depleting that much blood?" Robin glared at the redhead, watching as Rosan superheated the first stone for hours.

He glanced away. "I thought I could handle it and who knows if me stalling would have messed up the process? What if my blood needed to be absolutely pure and time diluted it?"

"Then you could have put it in stasis! Don't think I don't know your abilities either, Rosan," Robin declared, frowning deeply at him.

He was always so reckless! Couldn't he stop raising their collective blood pressures for one moment?!

"...I'm still alive," Rosan said lamely.

Robin's eyes narrowed. "You're lucky I'm so interested in seeing this process... it's not every day you get to see something new get created."

"I'll remind you to tear into him later," Mod chimed, while Ram nodded enthusiastically.

Rosan sighed in annoyance and simply focused back on the screen.

Little Rosan painstakingly went through each stone, adjusting the temperature accordingly and getting more and more exhausted as the hours dragged on.

Not only did he have to use the right temperature, he needed to maintain it, a task that would be impossible without Modifications computer qualities to monitor his output.

The process went on for what felt like forever and it was visible on the expressionless Rosan's face. The boy was panting, his flames faltered for half a second, he began leaking blood from his mouth that immediately evaporated...

Robin didn't realize she had such a death grip on Rosan's hand due to her intense focus but the worry on her face because of how stupid her best friend was...

At least he was finally done. The exhausted redhead had finished and in the cauldron lie a pulsing stone and the glowing ring that he had thrown in at the final minute.

Normally, that would ease her mind.

Unfortunately, her best friend was Portgas D. Rosan.

Robin watched in horror, as a distorted voice (that sounded nothing like the current Ram) told Rosan to consume the stone.

Without any hesitation (seriously Mod had barely just said wait!), the smaller redhead immediately swallowed the Philosopher's Stone.

What happened next, truthfully belonged in some horror film.

Robin's eyes widened as blood began to leak from Rosan from all angles. There was so much blood as the redhead convulsed and collapsed, eyes going white as a puddle of his own blood began forming startlingly quick.

The memory abruptly cut and the Devil Child rounded on Rosan with a wild stare.

"What was that?" She hissed, noticing how guilty Ram looked.

Rosan immediately put both hands on her to try and calm her down (he failed) so that he could at least explain himself. "My body destroyed and rebuilt itself the moment I ate that stone... because I lost so much blood, it tried to refill me but because I was also rebuilding, that happened... the memory ended abruptly because I blacked out and Mod-chan was too busy stabilizing me to see what happened."

"Don't worry, I made sure he realized how reckless he was too," Mod assured.

Robin stared hard at Rosan before nodding. "Think about these things first, Rosan. Who knows what could have happened! Stones aren't meant to be consumed like that!"

"I'll try my best," he replied, holding out a hand to continue the stream.

The Devil Child scrutinized him for a bit more, before nodding in satisfaction. She finally gazed back at the screen and watched as true to her word, Mod reprimanded Rosan for being so reckless and placed him on punishment.

She then brought the boy to the mindscape and Robin couldn't help the small gasp at just seeing how similar Ram and Meiko looked.

Despite having the same face, Ram was still physically 24 years old. But in this memory, she truly did look like an alternate version of Meiko and it was heartbreaking.

"Ram looks like Meiko because she was the longest holder of that ring, right?" Robin asked softly.

Ram's name was based on the initials of the ring, Rosan and Meiko...

Rosan nodded slowly. "That's what I think. I only had the ring for a few months... Meiko had it for a year and some."

"I-I'm sorry, Father... I know I sometimes give you bad memories," Ram said quietly, looking at her lap with a disappointed expression.

"You didn't choose how you look, Ram and I'd be a fool to only see Meiko in you. You are just as much me as you are her," Rosan assured.

The ring hesitantly looked back up and felt her heart swell at seeing the three faces all sending reassuring glances her way.

"R-Right! I'm not Mother or Father! I-I'm my own person!" She nodded furiously, smiling brightly at them.

They all smiled at the youngest one there and continued to watch the memories.

If Robin remembered, Rosan should be meeting Maro soon... He did mention that it was soon after he created Ram and Aiko was currently giving him the letter so she wondered how the meeting went—

The Devil Child couldn't help but blink, as a little tiny figure darted through Reaper, snatched his fruit and quickly vanished around a corner.

"Was that...?" Robin asked.

"Yes," they all answered in unison.

So Rosan wasn't kidding... Maro really did steal from the Angel of Death of all people.

The poor girl... or perhaps fortunate considering the state she was in now.

It didn't take Rosan long at all to find her and when he finally got a good look at her, Robin couldn't hold back her awe.

"Maro used... to look like this?" She couldn't help but ask.

The little girl she was looking at, didn't look anything at all like the Queen of Celadon.

She was small and dreadfully skinny, contrasting Maro's lithe and strong curves and her azure hair was matted with so much dirt, it may as well have been black.

Unlike the simple but intricate kimonos that hugged Maro's blessed frame, little Maro wore loose rags that did nothing to hide her modesty.

The only thing the two shared, were those unique orange irises that never wavered.

"Surprising, isn't it?" Rosan asked, gazing at his younger student with an impressed gaze.

"I... I didn't realize her conditions were so terrible," Robin said, sadness filling her at the sorry state that Maro was in. No one deserved to live like this, where they had to worry about when their next meal would be...

But even then, in a move that further surprised her, she watched Maro steel herself and try to mow through Rosan. She failed spectacularly but just the fact that this homeless little girl, who was so weak a gust could blow her over, tried to run through the Angel of Death...

Well it was no wonder Rosan took an interest in her.

"You live here, day by day, fighting for your life constantly. You live in horrible conditions; you are starving, you haven't had a proper bath and you haven't had a proper meal in who knows how long. You have nothing. Not even a name to claim as your own."

The words of Reaper were harsh and biting, bringing tears to Maro's eyes and making Robin frown slightly.

"Yet, you continue to fight, simply to reject the people surrounding you. Your purpose for existing is to deny those who want you to disappear. Such a petty, vindictive, reason to exist, I find that admirable."

Robin stood up straight at that. Even without emotions... that charisma of his... the one that made you believe everything he was going to say, was still out in force.

Evidently, it wasn't just Robin who was victim to that overwhelming charisma of Rosan... Maro looked positively entranced. The orphan was gazing up at Rosan like he were a God willing to give her a taste of what he lived.

"You, who have nothing, I will give you something."

Reaper held out a gloved hand for her to grab and Robin found herself clutching the hand she was holding, just as captivated by his words.

"You have no name you say... Well then, as of today, you are Maro."

With that, the memory ended and Robin let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding.

"Rosan... you have the disposition of a king," Robin said bluntly. "You're words can inspire anyone... you could honestly make someone die for you. The world should be glad that you have so little interest in being a captain."

Rosan snorted at that.

Disposition of a king eh? How ironic. Shouldn't he technically be a king right now?

"I just let Maro know what I thought of her. Such an interesting person didn't deserve to die on an island like that so I took her under my wing."

Robin smiled. "Look how that turned out! She must have exceeded your expectations!"

"Tenfold," Rosan replied immediately. "But it wasn't all sunshine... let's continue so you can see how little synergy we had at the beginning."

Robin laughed slightly at that. "After a quick late night snack... I'm hungry."

"What do you want to eat?" Rosan asked, standing up so they could leave.

"Sandwiches," she replied immediately.

The redhead nodded and grabbed onto her. "We'll be back to continue."

With a short wave, the duo vanished.

"Auntie, if I asked them to kiss would they do it?" Ram asked randomly.

"Probably... those two are very compliant... but please don't," Mod said eventually with a sweatdrop.

She needed to heavily monitor Ram, the girl would send her own plans crashing if given the chance.

She truly was Rosan's daughter.

---

Ahhh! I'm sorry, I missed my self appointed deadline but don't worry, as apology, I will be uploading another chapter sometime this week or next week (most likely this week unless something comes up)!

This was a fun chapter to write. I kind of miss writing about kid Rosan honestly. What a fun little guy and I hope I showed a glimpse of his chaotic energy while sick! We're all wrapped up with Drum Island so that means Alabasta is next!

The next two chapters will wrap up this arc and a lot of things are going to happen... most obvious is that Sabo is now headed to Alabasta!

You know what that means! Here's the next title of the chapter!

Chapter 32: Brothers