I got my book cover for The Wardens of Strar. I'll hopefully have it up on my fantasy book's facebook page this time next week. If you're interested in how it looks please keep an eye out :D

Chapter 5

The piece of trash was scurrying back, whimpering. Dadan, the bandit, was frozen in terror, her eyes full of fear. Fear of Rouge, but also for Ace. Which was slowly draining away.

Portgas D. Rouge almost smiled at that. Instead she turned, kneeling down to pull Ace into her arms. Ace let out a choked, startled noise, all while Rouge hugged him tight.

"Hello, Ace."

"W-What? I-It can't be!" the trash cried. "Sh-She disappeared!"

Ace stared at her, wide eyed, but he clung to her. "You're... but why... You look like the photo Gramps gave me-"

Rouge smoothed his hair back. "My name is Portgas D. Rouge. I'm your mother, Ace."

To finally say those words, after years of silence. It was a balm to Rouge's soul. Ace stilled. Before trembling softly, much to her distress.

"I'm so sorry!" Ace cried, tears streaming down his face. "I killed you!"

Rouge shook her head. "No! It was the World Government and their Marines. They killed me. Not you. But you're so young, and we witches always protect our own, so that's why I still linger in this world."

Ace was wavering in her arms, eyes heavy. Luffy had already been taken away at Dadan's orders, not that it mattered. Only Ace mattered right now, and he was drained from his magic being used up by her.

She shouldn't have been able to properly materialise yet.

"I'm glad we've finally gotten to see each other like this," Rouge admitted, pressing a kiss to Ace's forehead. "But you're exhausted. So get some rest."

Ace slumped against her, eyes blinking heavily. Carefully she handed him over to Dadan, who startled.

"We both know I don't like half the things you've said about Ace," Rouge said, ignoring Dadan's whimper. "Be thankful that you've kept my son alive all these years. It earned you the right to live. Now take him and go."

She turned her back as Dadan hurried off.

Rouge took her time approaching her newest prey. He was whimpering, cowering from her. The sight made her smile hungrily. Good, he knew to be afraid. Bluejam had committed multiple crimes, not that Rouge cared about half of them, but upsetting Ace?

That was a crime worthy of death.

"So, Bluejam, was it?" Rouge tilted her head. "I've never heard of you. But such is the trash that litters the street. Aw, but you want to be a noble. What an adorable idea." Rouge laughed softly. "Do you want to know how many nobles I've killed? How many Celestial Dragon ships I've sunk?"

Bluejam went white as a sheet.

"You don't touch a head witch." Rouge latched out, grabbing his head, crushing it slowly. He began screaming, writhing in her grasp. "You don't cause them harm, you don't try to kill them, and you almost certainly don't threaten their well-being. Otherwise? Their ancestors come to drag you down into the deepest pits in Hell."

"I-I-"

"You, you," Rouge drawled, ignoring the pirate's cries, and the blood pooling beneath her fingers. "The Nico family taught me quite a bit of their special Death magic. Of course, it belongs to the Nico family, while the elements belong to mine. But, I suppose I can bring the ghosts of Hell upon you."

He fired his gun, and the bullet went right through her. Rouge laughed, and tossed him roughly into the dirt. Rouge tapped into the last of Ace's magic. It would leave her son completely exhausted, but he'd sleep it off and recover, just as all witches did.

The ghosts of hell began clawing their way out of the ground, sinking their nails deep into Bluejam. Bluejam screamed, firing his gun, but Rouge ignored the bullets. They went through her body, passing by harmlessly.

"I'm a ghost of the Portgas family," Rouge laughed. "You can't kill me. I'm already dead."

He was dragged through the mud screaming.

"Rest in peace," Rouge mocked.

She turned around, walking away, and with a flick of her hand, Rouge returned back to the afterlife of her ancestors.

.::.

The boys were fast asleep. Luffy's wounds had been treated, all while Ace just needed to sleep off the lack of magical energy that his mother had used up. Rouge hadn't disappeared, or faded back into a shadow. She was still here, drinking Dadan's alcohol supply.

"S-So you're still here?" Dadan asked meekly.

"Mmhm." Rouge nodded, gulping down the bottle of rum.

Dadan whimpered. "And you're that angry with me that you want to kill me?"

Because Dadan was a dead woman if that was the case. She wouldn't be able to do anything to fight off Hibiscus Rouge. Rouge quietly sat the bottle down, staring at the wall thoughtfully.

"No. But the amount of times you've hurt Ace makes me want to break your neck."

"THAT'S THE SAME AS KILLING ME!" Dadan screeched. "AND I NEVER LAID A HAND ON HIM!"

Rouge frowned. "No. Otherwise I would have killed you years ago. But you've said many things out of frustration. Things you never thought he'd overhear. He's the devil's son. I'm giving up on Ace too. He's a bastard. Nobody likes him. Do any of those remind you of anyone? Because it reminds me of your drunken ass."

Dadan flinched. "He heard all those things?"

"Yes," Rouge spat. "What do you think hearing those things from your own foster mother does to you? You've raised him since he was a baby. You could have abandoned him and left. Got you and your bandits out of here before Garp came back. But you didn't. You took responsibility, and you kept him alive. But you and Garp fucked him up emotionally. Kids should not want to die. Kids should not think the worst of themselves, and they should certainly not seek a ghost out for some bloody affection!"

Dadan grimaced. "I-"

"You, you, you, you, and fucking Garp too. You two need to get your act together. If I hadn't been here, I don't know if Ace would still be alive today. He could have flung himself off a bloody cliff, and that terrifies me!"

Dadan choked, and clamped a hand over her mouth. She could picture it. Ace falling, the seas claiming him, dragging him under with no one around.

Bile clawed it's way up her throat, but she forced it down and shook her head. "He wouldn't-"

"Don't bury your head in the ground!" Rouge growled. "Or you'll lose any respect I have for you, and that is a dangerous thing, bandit. I kill people I have no respect for, and I don't bat an eye doing it."

"So what do you want me to do exactly?"

"Use your damn emotions properly, and that's coming from me, the lone pirate," Rouge said. "You'd already do whatever it takes to save his life. Sabo's parents certainly wouldn't run into a flaming wasteland to go save him. So just stop drunkenly ranting about him. If you're pissed off, go cool down. Don't be a bitch, especially not to a child who you raised. You didn't nip this in the bud when you had a chance, so you brought all his issues on to your own plate."

"Easy for you to say. You weren't even alive-"

Rouge face blank, and she tilted her head. Dadan shuddered, cowering away.

"I would have torn apart the world to have been with that child. I would kill every single one of you right now if it would bring me back to life, even if it was only for a day."

Dadan trembled. There was a pressure in the air. She could hear the boom of thunder echoing across the sky outside.

"And I wouldn't bat an eye doing it," Rouge said, voice blank.

That scared her more than Rouge's anger. The fact that her face and voice were empty just made this conversation a hundred times worse.

"But I can't. So all I could do was linger around as a ghost, and be known as 'the shadow lady'," Rouge said, drinking from the rum again. "So don't ever say that lightly again. I died to protect Ace from my enemies, and don't you forget it."

.::.

Ace didn't have the strength to get up. He felt so tired, so he curled up further beneath the blanket. Luffy slept across from him, wrapped heavily in bandages.

"I'm sorry, Luffy..." Ace whispered hoarsely. "I should have been with you to help fight Bluejam. You and Sabo..."

"It wouldn't have worked."

Ace startled, then looked up. Mum sat down at his side, smiling sadly.

"Nobles," Mum scoffed. "They think they have all the power in the world because they can buy so many guards. Sabo's father would have been surrounded by them before he stepped foot in the Gray Terminal. There was nothing you could do."

"You..." Ace hesitated. "You really don't hate me?"

He killed her. He was the child of the devil. But she still didn't hate him? How was that even possible?

Mum smiled, but her eyes were watery. "How could I ever hate someone who makes me feel so alive? I don't like people Ace, I'm a loner for a reason. But you? You make me feel happy and loved. I would fight every day of my life to stay by your side."

Ace bit his lips as his sight blurred. Immediately a pair of arms were around him. He was in his mum's lap, and she hugged him close. Ace clung back to her, burying his head into the crook of her neck.

"I love you, Mum!" Ace breathed out.

"I love you even more."

Ace melted in her arms, like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. She laid down beside him, and Ace couldn't help but relax.

.::.

Rouge held Ace close, even as Ace's breathing slowly even out as he drifted off to sleep. The room was silent, and Rouge stared up at the ceiling, frowning.

She missed Roger.

The idea made her want to laugh. Rouge had Ace in her arms, and was finally solid once more, instead of just a 'shadow lady', but yet she still missed her loveable idiot. Roger's smile, Roger's laugh, his arms around her, his anger, his joy, his wicked streak.

Heh, pirate thief indeed. She wanted everything, despite already having plenty.

If he had been in Baterilla, the Marines wouldn't have stood a chance. They wouldn't have even dared lay a finger on her people, because they would have been cut down. She wouldn't have died, and if Roger had been with them he would have gotten to hold Ace.

Rouge's frown deepened into a scowl, but she sighed.

If it hadn't worked out the way it had, then maybe Ace would never have met Sabo and Luffy. She wasn't sure what was better for him, a life with a happy family, with two parents who would never have allowed anyone to hurt him, or with his brothers, the three little terrors who got into trouble everyday but loved each other so fiercely that it probably hurt.

Rouge brushed Ace's hair back, staring down at his sleeping face. The scowl melted into a warm smile, and she softened against him.

Shyarly had been right. Ace was the best treasure in the world, and despite everything, she wouldn't trade him for the world.

.::.

Rouge sat the bowl of crisps in front of Ace, taking a few for herself to munch. Ace leaned heavily against the base of the tree, still exhausted and drained, but recovering slowly.

"Okay, so what to tell you about Head Witches..." Rouge mused.

"Is there a lot to know?" Ace asked, tilting his head.

"It's difficult to say," Rouge admitted. "Us witches are more involved with feelings and senses, rather than facts. I can't tell you, this is that, and that is this. Witches don't work like that. It's magic. It's different for each of us. But one key feature is that we can always feel when the other is suffering. You've felt this before."

Ace deflated. "Yeah... It's horrible..."

Rouge brushed his hair with her hand. "Yeah, it's horrid, especially if you can't help them. But since we're wanted alive hopefully it helps protect most of us. Another key feature is that we are drawn to something."

"We are?" Ace startled. "To what?"

"I'm not sure. But it's something in Mariejois, where the Marines want to take us," Rouge mused. "Which is worrying."

"So they want to take us to this thing we are drawn to? But we don't know what it is?"

"Yeah." Rouge nodded. "For all we know it could be dangerous, but..."

Ace tilted his head. "But?"

"I don't know..." Rouge admitted, grimacing. "It's hard to place. I want to go there, but if I do, I feel like I'll lose something. And in my heart I know I'll lose my freedom."

Ace shivered. "I don't want to lose that. Luffy, Sabo, I'd lose them, wouldn't I?"

"Yeah, you would." Rouge bit her nail. "So we just have to make sure we're never caught."

Ace grinned. "I'll train and become the strongest man in the world. So that way I'll never lose a fight. I'll win and I'll keep winning, and that means nobody I'm trying to protect will get hurt."

Rouge shook her head. "That's not just it, Ace. As a Captain you are responsible for your crew's safety, but you're also to work together. You don't abandon each other, they can't just abandon you to a fight. That's not how a loyal crew works."

"But if the fight is too much for them-"

"If you can handle it, sure. They can go. But if you're losing, they can't leave you behind. You run together, or you don't run at all." Rouge shook her head. "Not that it matters right now. You're only ten."

"When did you start sailing?" Ace asked.

Rouge tilted her head. " I was twenty-six or twenty-seven? Not sure, it was quite a while ago."

"But Sabo said he wants to leave at seventeen!" Ace gasped. "You were about ten years older before you left!"

Rouge choked. "Seventeen? He's a fucking kid at seventeen!"

"He says eighteen is the age the rich guys are officially nobles."

"Ace, seventeen years old is a horrible age to go out to sea. You're still a teenager, and while teenagers are older, they are still children."

"You can't change my mind. When Sabo goes, I'm going too."

Rouge groaned. "You certainly inherited my stubbornness. That's for sure. You have to be strong, insanely strong, so that you'll never be captured. I'll train you, Ace. But first I need to see what I can do about Sabo."

"Are you bringing him back?" Ace gasped. "What happens if he likes it better over there?"

"Then I'll tell him to write you a note," Rouge huffed. "But chances are he'll beg me to get him out of there. He didn't like it before after all, remember?"

"True," Ace admitted. "When will you go?"

Rouge hummed. "There's supposed to be a big event tomorrow. I'll sneak over then and see him."

Ace smiled. "Thanks, Mum."

Rouge beamed.

Mum. She was his mum.

That was a title she would cherish forever, and it finally hear it from Ace warmed her heart.