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.

48. Chapter 48: Rosan

Descent

Chapter 48: Rosan

Rosan blearily opened his eyes, though it was hard for him to tell because of how dark it was.

An endless expanse of black greeted him and the redhead looked ahead, gaze unfocused as his head throbbed.

Suddenly, the area around turned bright and a wave of dizziness hit him. Rosan nearly collapsed at the mounting pressure on his body, if not for the set of soft hands holding him up.

...Hands?

"...Huh?" he said tiredly, glancing at the source of the hands.

His eyes shot open at that, shock replacing exhaustion.

"It's been so long... to see how much you've grown..."

Rosan's eyes widened in horror and disbelief.

What? What was... what the hell was happening?!

Rouge smiled gently at him, tears pricking his mother's face, as she placed a gentle palm against his cheek.

"...My little Rose."

"..." Rosan said nothing, staring at his mother with wide eyes.

Then, he sighed and his expression melted. "Another nightmare," he muttered to himself, removing Rouge's hand from his cheeks.

"Can we just get this over with? Transform into a monster and scorn me for all the decisions I made in my life," he said, shutting his eyes and taking a breath.

He had no idea what was going no right now and he couldn't wake up from this nightmare so he had nothing to do but wait it out.

These nightmares were so frequent that they barely even phased him anymore. There was nothing to do but wait it out—

Those soft hands grabbed him once more and Rosan grunted as he was suddenly pulled into a tight hug.

"My little Rose... you must be so tired," Rouge said, sorrow in her voice. "I'm so sorry for what I've put you through... I'm the worst mother in the world."

Rosan completely froze at that, eyes widening in confusion.

What...? A dream where his mother wasn't berating him...? When was the last time he had such a thing? When was the last time Rosan dreamed positively of his mother?

He opened his eyes and hesitantly glanced down, seeing his short mother glancing up at him with tears pricking her eyes.

"What?" Rosan murmured in confusion.

"All these years, I wanted to tell you that nothing was ever your fault, Rosan. I've never once blamed you... I blame myself. I blame myself for not having enough time to nurture you, I blame myself for placing such expectations on you... and I blame myself for lying so cruelly to you!" Rouge sobbed, hugging her oldest son with fervor.

Rosan looked utterly stunned, mouth flapping as he gazed at the person with his mother's face.

No... that wasn't right...

"Mom?" Rosan whispered, feeling her tears hit his body.

"And despite how terrible of a mother I was... despite how I could not even hope to match up to Mod-chan, you still held me to such high standards," Rouge cried, squeezing him with all her might. "I don't know what I did to gain such an amazing son, but I don't deserve you at all! From the bottom of my heart, thank you Rosan."

"..." Rosan said nothing and stared at her.

So this was his mother huh...

Well then.

"To be honest... I do hate you mom," he finally said.

Rouge stopped at that, gazing at the redhead with a hurt but expectant expression.

"It's not a big part of me... but that part does blames all of this on you," Rosan frowned, staring at her with a tilted head.

"All you had to do was tell me the truth. That's it. You just needed to be more honest with me," he said bluntly.

Rouge looked guilty at that. "I understand and... and I know you told me to rely on you but—"

"But what?" Rosan asked, staring at her. "Instead of dealing with the hard part with me, you decided to let me deal with it on my own?"

The redhead sighed and shook his head.

"If I had known you wouldn't survive, maybe I could have used Modification to really help you. If I had known you wouldn't survive, I wouldn't have thought up a half assed plan that separated me from my brother for 10 years. If I knew you wouldn't have survived, I wouldn't have harbored such resentment for you all these years."

The redhead's frown was severe, just gazing at his tear streaked mother with those all knowing eyes.

"My spiraling descent started with you not being honest, Mom. You knew you were going to die but you lied... how do you think my life would have changed if I was just prepared for this?" Rosan asked softly.

Rouge held her head at the truth of his words, tears surging at the disappointment in his gaze.

"I'm sorry my little Rose... I couldn't bare to see the look on your face when you realized I wouldn't last longer... but if I knew you would have seen my passing with your own eyes, I swear that I would have said something!" she pleaded, gazing desperately at her son.

Rosan stared back at her. "My mother is a liar. Someone who was too afraid to face her worried son and left him all alone with a heap of expectations that he just couldn't fulfill," he said quietly.

Rouge bowed her head at that, giving up on trying to speak to him because he was right.

She was a coward who had abandoned her son in the same way that he had been initially abandoned. It wasn't fair to him at all... Rouge had loved her son so much but she had done something unforgivable to him.

As Rouge's tears fell, she gasped in shock as strong arms wrapped warmly around her.

"But my mom saw an infant all alone and decided to raise him as her own. My mom is a kind soul who was shoved into an unfavorable position... and my mom was someone who just wanted the best for her kids, despite marrying the dumbest person on the planet," Rosan said warmly, frosty expression vanishing.

"I don't hate you, mom. I just really wish Roger's stupidity didn't infect you," he murmured against her.

Rouge let out a sniff, before a sob left her and she hugged her baby boy.

"I'm sorry Mom. I just needed to get that off my chest... I have a lot of baggage that I've been dealing with," Rosan murmured warmly, squeezing her into him.

"I-It's okay my little Rose!" she assured. "I understand... Your parents haven't done the best job so I know where your anger comes from!"

Rouge stared lovingly at her son. "Despite everything you've gone through... despite all you did, I've never once condemned you my little Rose. I'm so proud of you for finding the family you were looking for..."

Rosan smiled at that.

"Which is why you can't be here," she finished.

Rosan's smile turned into a look of confusion.

"You said that I want the best for my children and you're right, my little Rose... it's not yet your time," Rouge said softly.

The redhead frowned at that. "Not... my time?"

What was she talking about?

Rouge nodded. "Don't be content with the life you've built so far, Rosan. There's still so much for you to experience... and so many people are counting on you. Now go," she said encouragingly.

Rosan, despite his confusion, felt fired up by her words and nodded. "I don't know what's going on... but you're right. People do rely on me and I can't let them down now."

"That's my little Rose. You've bloomed into such a strong and beautiful flower!" Rouge smiled, wiping the tears out of her eyes.

Rosan smiled softly, watching as she stood on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek.

"And you've gotten so tall too! Seems like all your boasts came true!" Rouge praised happily, squeezing him one last time.

Rosan returned the hug too, taking in his mother for all that she was. "Of course. My mother raised me to tell the truth after all," he smiled.

Rouge laughed a watery laugh and released him. "Thank you for following the words of your foolish mother for so long. I truly don't know what I did to deserve such a precious son... who'd go so far to save my other son."

"Of course. He's my little brother after all," Rosan smiled softly.

Rouge shook her head at that. "That doesn't mean I want something bad to happen to you, Rosan. I know you've been tormenting yourself over the years because of your decision to leave Ace... but you are my son too, my little Rose. I love Ace with all my heart but I raised you for 4 years. Don't you ever think blood will make him more important than you. You are both mama's children," Rouge said firmly.

He reeled at that, eyes going wide. "I... Yeah we are aren't we?" he said softly.

"Without a doubt... Rosan, how could I ever condemn you for leaving Ace behind, when the one who took him was apart of the organization that caused my passing? I'm happy that you were able to avoid the mental torture because your health matters too," she said soothingly.

Ah... Rosan needed to hear that. He didn't know how she knew, but his mother said everything she needed to say to him, to banish the rest of his doubts.

Rosan laughed and planted a gentle kiss on his mother's cheek. "Thank you mom."

Rouge understood all he meant by that immediately. "Of course, my little Rose. I'm glad I got to see you so matured. I knew I was going to have to beat people away with a stick," she sighed.

The redhead blushed slightly at that and scratched the top of his head. "I've found someone who makes me happy... and I want to protect what we have."

"You will. You and Robin have a true love for each other... so please cherish that. Don't take her for granted, Rosan," she advised.

"I won't. I never will," he said, eyes glowing.

Rouge smiled one last time. "Good. Then that means you have to go, Rosan."

With that she pushed him away.

"Goodbye my little Rose. Never forget, that mama is always proud of you," Rouge said, grinning brilliantly at her beloved son.

Rosan grinned back, wiping the tears from his eyes at that. "Thank you mom. Watch me. I won't let you down."

And then he vanished.

---

"You have to wake up!"

Rosan's eyes jolted open as he heard that and the redhead grunted, pushing himself up slowly.

"Ugh," he groaned weakly, shutting his eyes as a wave of nausea hit him.

What… what happened?

He felt weak. So weak. What was going on?

The redhead clutched his midsection and a spike of pain shot through his body, causing him to shut his eyes.

The last thing he remembered, was the war. He had been run ragged and at the final stretch, Ace had nearly gotten killed... so Rosan took the blow for him.

His Stone had attempted to heal him but it merely fully exhausted itself in the process... He couldn't even feel the flames of it.

It wasn't gone. It simply couldn't disappear anymore but it was muted beyond what he could naturally deal with right now.

Which mean he truly had been close to death... but he wasn't dead?

"You're awake!"

Rosan groaned and peered at the voice, eyes going wide as a tiny set of hands wrapped around his neck and squeezed him as tight as possible.

"Meiko…?" he muttered in confusion, gazing at the panicked girl with a confused expression as he instinctively wrapped a single arm around the tiny girl.

Was he wrong? Was he actually dead? The young face of his deceased lover stared back at him and Rosan rasped in confusion.

"Now's not the time! You have to go help!" Meiko urged, fear on her features that made his blood roar.

"Help… Who needs my help?" Rosan muttered, eyes narrowing in confusion as he tried to blink away the daze.

That confusion swiftly vanished, in favor of pure hot rage, as he saw Mod-chan getting ganged up on by that fucking stupid insect Pestilence.

She was panting and bloodied, one eye almost shutting from the bruise on it and the sight made Rosan snarl loudly.

They would dare?! They thought they could ATTACK HIS MOTHER?! HIS MOD-CHAN?!

Rosan surged up, tired aura completely gone, as red entered his vision and a familiar violent aura shrouding him.

"I don't know what's going on but I'm alive for at least now," he muttered, testing his strength and grunting.

He was exhausted. He wanted to sleep for a month straight. His body hurt. He could barely focus...

But he couldn't rest.

Not yet. The job wasn't done yet. The job wasn't finished until everyone was safe and accounted for.

"Thank you for waking me up… Meiko?!" Rosan blinked in confusion, taking her appearance in.

"Go!" she urged in embarrassment, turning away from him with a deep blush. "Stop looking at me. I did this for you!"

He opened his mouth and then closed it, rushing off to go save Mod-chan.

---

"Are you okay?" Pestilence murmured, placing a palm on Famine's cheek as they took note of the state the man was in.

That damned Goblin...

Famine grunted, surrounded by his army of constructs. "I'm fine. Be careful," he murmured, even as his serpentine dragon curled around his body.

The virus smiled confidently, pulling him into a short kiss.

"So my other half is dating the virus?" Rosan thought, disgust clear on his features. "Weird. Mom was always a pretty woman but that's still my mom. You're a sick person, Pestilence."

Pestilence sneered. "I'm not the one who initiated anything, bastard. Famine wanted me because I was all he had but I certainly did enjoy the benefits to it."

Rosan grunted. "Whatever you say, creep," he scowled.

The redhead grunted as a set of hands grabbed his cheeks and he looked down at his mother.

"You're tired," Mod said worriedly, gazing at the exhausted Rosan with concern in her eyes.

"So are you," Rosan said gruffly, grabbing her and revealing his tired eyes momentarily.

She nodded and leaned into him. The two let out twin sighs as they found their resolve with each other.

"They look tired too," Rosan noted.

"I can claim the damage done to Pestilence... but Maro was the one who damaged Famine," Mod explained softly.

The redhead smiled fondly. "Thank you, Maro. My precious student to the end," he murmured.

That was good. Maro had done her part, now it was time for Rosan to do his.

"This will be hard," he mentioned, beginning to stretch. The pain only made him more alert and focused so he'd use it to fuel him.

"Yes but, we've gone through every hurdle… we just have one more. Afterwards, I promise you'll get some rest. You must be so exhausted," Mod replied, gazing at him with raw determination.

Rosan smiled and pulled her into a crushing hug. "You've been trying your hardest to save me. I really do feel stupid for doubting you," he murmured, planting a tender kiss on her forehead.

Mod teared up at that. "No it's my fault that you rightfully doubted. You've always fully trusted me with all your heart and I couldn't extend the same level to you. I promise when we win this, it'll all be better."

Rosan grinned violently. "That means we just have to win."

Pestilence laughed, despite their less than stellar state as well. "You're gonna stop us? Like this?! Both of you look like you can barely move!" they cackled.

Rosan's laughter caught the virus off guard. The wild and unhinged nature behind it, shook them to their core.

"You should know by now, Pestilence. This is nothing. All this does is fuel me," he cackled.

Famine stared, eyes never leaving Rosan as his anger washed over the entire mindscape.

Rosan raised a brow and faced his counterpart. "That's a lot of anger you're directing towards me," he greeted, gazing at all the ice constructs with an appraising eye.

So this was what his other half used the ice for? His level of mastery over ice, seemed to match Rosan's proficiency in fire. All around, perfectly sculpted creatures stared at them.

Famine's eyes narrowed. "You think I'll let you put your hands on them? Locking me away in that castle wasn't enough was it? How much more do you plan on taking from me?" he snarled.

The dragon looped around him, growled in unison as it shot a puff of ice out.

The redhead blinked in confusion. "I didn't even know you existed until literally just now. If it were up to me, I wouldn't have ever split up in the first place. Our life clearly wasn't easy because while I was on the outside getting tortured, you were in that castle stuck with Pestilence," Rosan frowned.

Famine faltered a bit at that and Pestilence let out a vicious snarl, fury quickly replacing their features.

"The nerve of you. Who the fuck do you think you are?!" the virus growled hatefully. "Don't you ever imply that what I feel for Famine, is anything but love! I'll fucking kill you if you do that again!"

Rosan huffed in amusement. "Did you love him before or after you corrupted him thoroughly? I'm hard pressed to call this my good half now that you've sunk your claws into him."

Pestilence roared and lunged forward, murder in their gaze as black claws formed on their hands.

Rosan grunted, taking a step back, before retaliating with a lunging fist.

Pestilence squealed in pain as they were launched back, eyes wide at the power behind the blow. They hissed as blood began dripping from their nose and glared at Rosan.

"Still so strong?! How is that possible?!" they thought.

"Don't think you can stand up to me, Pestilence," Rosan sneered. "You're the weakest one here. Without your boy toy, you don't stand a chance"

Famine's eyes glowed in fury and he immediately shot himself forward, meeting with Rosan immediately.

Rosan parried a fist with his forearm, grunting at the force behind it before Famine was launched back by a furious gale of wind.

The redhead looked back to see Mod smirking cockily, elements surging around her as their enemies pulled themselves up.

"You're cute when you're cocky," Rosan pointed out with a fond smile.

Mod blushed harshly at that. "S-Stop trying to embarrass me in a life or death situation!"

"I'm just taking note of it for the future! We can't have you flashing that to just anyone! Imagine how many people will fold to such a smile!" Rosan snorted, lunging forward with a manic gleam.

"You're so ridiculous! Thinking of my dating life at a time like this?! I really will go find someone!" she threatened, taking flight as she summoned a thunderstorm.

"I'll torture them until they can't even look at you," Rosan chimed, eyes glowing brilliantly as he summoned a torrent of red flames.

"YOU'RE INSANE!" Mod roared, purple lightning flashing all around her.

Famine's eyes narrowed and pointed, white icy creatures roaring in unison at the action.

Pestilence snarled, black miasma roiling off them.

The duos stared at each other, before all hell broke loose.

---

Rosan outstretched his hands, firing off a massive wave of flames in the air that devoured the hawks flying towards him.

He performed a standing backflip, landing on the back of a bear that lunged at him.

A black claw attempted to cut through him but purple lightning smashed into him, Pestilence and the bear at once.

Pestilence's eyes widened as the purple lightning suddenly turned red and the rebounded towards the stunned virus.

Before it could connect, a trunk wrapped around their waist and dragged them out of the way, allowing the Elephant to weather the attack.

It trumpeted in agony and Pestilence scrambled to get away from it, propelling themself backwards and snarling as a lightning bolt crashed against them.

Rosan made to pursue but was interrupted by a pack of wolves snarling at him. He narrowed his eyes as they lunged and immediately ignited himself, reaching out with a hand and clasping it firmly around one of the wolves.

Without any hesitation, he set it on fire and used it as a weapon, bashing away at the animals surrounding him with a wild fury.

His senses went haywire and Rosan stamped the ground once, summoning a wall that blocked a lunging hyena. It crashed with brutal force and slid off, shaking its head as if it were dazed.

Rosan didn't stare too long because a blur materialized to his right, left hand raised to cut deep into the redhead.

Famine stared at the ignited Rosan and slashed down with his blade of ice, scowling in fury as Rosan blocked with the wolf he had been using earlier.

The wolf let out a pitiful whine as it was cut in half and Famine stared at it in sorrow.

"Monster... how can you do the things that you do so proudly?" he asked softly.

"I've never been proud of any of the actions I took. I just did what needed to be done for us to keep moving forward," Rosan replied, launching a right hook at his floating counterpart.

Famine didn't even bother to dodge. The easter dragon that was permanently wrapped around him, lunged forward to meet Rosan head on. It took the punch to its skull, roaring in pain that turned into fury.

Rosan opened his mouth at the same time as the creature and the two fired out point blank beams of fire and ice respectively, explosion forming that swiftly turned into steam.

The redhead barely had time to react as his fellow redhead, with black streaks, soared through the smoke. His sword was at the ready and Rosan transformed his hands into the claws of Ragnarok, wings and tails forming as well.

Sparks flew as sharp nails clashed with the sword. Rosan and Famine repeatedly swung at each other, styles completely matching.

Rosan's wild swings clashed with Famine's calm blows and what would have been an even matchup, was made almost impossible with the interference of all the creatures on Famine's side.

Famine overextended with a swing for his head that Rosan ducked under, poised to lunge and sink his claws into the man's chest, only to get swatted by the eastern dragon once more.

As he skidded back, a Gorilla slammed its shoulder into him and sent the redhead flying backwards... or he would have been if he hadn't stabbed his tail into the ground.

Rosan's eyes widened furiously and he snarled, before he fired a gargantuan wave of flames.

Famine grunted in surprise, ice encasing him as the wave washed over everything in the vicinity without mercy.

As Rosan huffed slightly, he watched as Famine lunged forward, minor burns dotting his body, with ruthless eyes. He cut into Rosan effortlessly but was unable to truly injure his counterpart due to purple lightning crashing into his back.

Famine twitched, only to let out a grunt of pain as many more bolts smashed into both him and the dragon.

Mod floated above the battlefield like a goddess, dress flowing as the weather bent to her will. Many flying creatures had tried their hand at dealing with her and she made sure they regret every single decision, watching the battle with a critical eye.

She poured bolt after bolt onto Famine, forcing the man to his knee and giving Rosan enough time to smash a foot into the crouched man's stomach.

Rosan lifted Famine up with the force of the kick and punched him on the cheek with his left. As his head turned, Rosan smashed his right fist into the man's gut then smashed the man with his head, before delivering a spinning heel kick to the man's head.

Blood spurted as Famine was sent flying away and Rosan sneered, poised to pursue.

As he lunged forward, A giant claw prevented him from doing so and he barely avoided getting ran through by Pestilence, skidding to a halt and getting grazed for his efforts.

He hissed at the poisonous miasma that was Pestilence's aura and lashed out with his tail, attempting to backhand them with it and getting it guarded for his efforts.

Pestilence scowled as they were batted aside and the virus lunged forward, miasma solidifying around them in the form of armor.

The virus exploded, painting all the creatures around them black and their eyes pulsed violently, surging with renewed ferocity.

At once, they rushed Rosan who tiredly glared at them.

Without Ram, he had lost enough power to be problematic. He wasn't helpless without her but Ram had gotten significantly stronger on this journey. Her growth was just as explosive as his, unlocking an entire new set of arsenal.

He grunted and slammed the ground, uprooting it and breaking off a piece.

With a quick application of Modification, Rosan transformed the material from stone to iron, before glowing red.

He exploded in electricity, encasing his weapon in it. There was so much lighting spitting out of the redhead, that the weapon looked more elemental than steel, growing far past the size it was meant to be.

Mod stared down at the battle taking place and was about to smite the creatures once more, before being forced to dodge a beam of white ice.

Famine stared at her and huffed, before his dragon opened its mouth once more and fired a long continuous beam.

Mod soared away, black wings carrying her across the sky as the Dragon tracked her. It continued to fire the beam of ice at her and she grit her teeth as Famine raised a hand into the air.

"All hail," he said softly.

At once, the lightning storm was accompanied by heavy ice and Mod watched in worry as Famine's creatures seemed to get even further amplified.

Mod locked onto Famine and outstretched her hand.

"Obliterate," she hissed, fangs sharpening.

The beam of ice clashed with a beam of fire and Mod snarled as they vied for supremacy.

Rosan felt the battle taking place in the skies but he was in his own predicament, getting completely swarmed by the army.

Lighting and hail struck him, and though the lightning didn't hurt, the blunt force of the hail was not doing any favors.

He took a deep breath and emptied his mind.

The redhead sidestepped a lunging wolf and decapitated it in a single blow. Mid sidestep, he instantly pivoted and parried a giant ape, catching the fist with his electrified blade.

Rosan was nonplussed and he pushed downward, effortlessly cutting through the creation's body.

There wasn't a moment to rest. Rosan grunted as a bird crashed onto his back, pecking at his body relentlessly.

He hissed and reached up with his tail, grabbing the bird and squeezing.

The insistent pecking stopped.

Rosan jumped upwards, avoiding the swiping of the bear and he landed on its back, grabbing his blade and stabbing it through the animals midsection.

The giant blade of electricity cut through completely and Rosan hissed, tensed his muscles and ripped the blade upward.

Not only did it completely bisect the lower half of the bear, as Rosan removed the weapon, the veritable energy blade surged forward and cut through the hoard of monsters ahead of him.

Foxes, hyenas, monkeys... they shrieked as they were caught and Rosan huffed, not done yet.

He gripped his weapon and began to spin.

Black goo began flying everywhere as Rosan's spin carved through the surrounding enemies like they were made of butter.

The redhead stopped his spin and took a deep breath as he was given slight reprieve. The redhead's gaze darted as he was suddenly forced to dodge a flurry of snowflake shaped shurikens rushed towards his location.

He jumped backwards to avoid the sharp objects, hail pestering him the entire time and Rosan continued backing away, up until a two hooves crashed against his back.

"!" Rosan hissed and he let out a pained howl as a sword cut him across his back.

Then, a giant black fist crashed into his body.

Rosan was sent tumbling across the floor, rasping as he was pelted by the hail continuously.

The sound of hooves trotting across the floor filled the cacophony of noise that was the battlefield and Rosan blearily opened his eyes to the sight of 4 figures, all atop horses.

"Four Horseman," Pestilence crooned, repeating the name of Famine's technique as they sat atop the wispy horse. "Beautiful isn't it? Famine's combination of ice and Modification, allows him to make all the soldiers in the world."

Rosan spat out some blood. "His art is lifeless. The four horseman should be different colors," he bit out snarkily.

Pestilence rolled their eyes. "After Famine and I finish celebrating our victory all night... I'll considering bringing it up to him," they said, sneering at the redhead.

"Disgusting creature," Rosan sneered, leaping backwards to avoid the charging horseman.

War, Death, Famine and Pestilence... certainly fit the bill alright. Despite the fact that all of them were black, Rosan could easily identify them.

Rosan leapt away from War, the biggest of the horses with a flaming head and opened his mouth, firing forth a wave of flames that the horse countered, by firing its own flames.

The flames clashed but Rosan grunted in dissatisfaction as a wave of ice joined the flames, pushing his own back.

They canceled each other out and Rosan huffed.

He wasn't given any respite, as the skeletal horse of death swung at him with a long scythe, clashing with Rosan's sword.

The redhead grunted as ice began spreading across his body from the connection. With a quick application of Shinigami, he converted the ice into his own and had it stab outwards towards the unnerving horse that could only be Famine.

The jagged ice was dodged by the too skinny horse and it neighed, shooting a white wave at the redhead.

As Rosan soared away, he noticed the ground where he had been at eroding, but was unable to glean further as the breath was knocked out of him.

A clawed hand carried him through the field and he gasped as he was dragged across the floor.

A horse, this one with a plague doctors mask ran across the battlefield, as Pestilence kept a firm grip on him.

Blood flew out of Rosan's mouth at the action and Pestilence tensed, before leaping off the horse and into the air, redhead in tow the entire time.

They released Rosan, who remained midair, before clutching both their claws.

Blood flew through the air, as Rosan was struck with a double hammer fist.

The floor quaked as Rosan was buried into it and Pestilence shuddered in bliss.

"Oh I've been waiting a long time to do that," they sighed, landing right next to Rosan. "Do you feel it, home wrecker? Feel yourself getting quickly overwhelmed?"

Rosan rasped as Pestilence sat directly atop him, peering down at him with a demented smile.

"There's too much and poor you are just so tired," Pestilence sighed softly. "Why don't you rest? Let us take over. You and Mod, all alone together just like Famine and I were. You already stole her from me... so you can just have her."

Rosan stared tiredly up at them, huffing in exhaustion as the horses surrounded him.

The redhead smirked sardonically and exploded in a burst of electricity.

Pestilence shrieked as they were tagged, seizing up and shuddering as it coursed through them.

They grit their teeth in rage and smashed a fist against Rosan.

"Underhanded WRETCH!" they snarled violently, expecting that to put him out of commission.

But to their complete surprise, it just seemed to energize him.

"You're damn right," Rosan hissed, spitting a wad of blood directly in their face.

Pestilence yelped as they were blinded and Rosan lunged, headbutting the virus brutally.

"Agh!" Pestilence shouted, gasping in agony.

Rosan gripped them by their dress and headbutt them again, causing blood to spray everywhere. He hoisted the virus up and smashed a foot against their side, before using the momentum to lift his entire body up into a spinning flip, slamming his other foot against Pestilence's head.

The virus saw stars at that, sent flying back.

They were caught by their wispy horse and Rosan was about to take a step forward, before he was tackled from behind by one of the horses.

Pestilence panted, eyes wide in terror momentarily as they stared at the anomaly that was Rosan. Black blood was leaking from their skull and they twitched in pain.

"What are you?" they whispered to themselves, gazing at the utterly relentless Rosan.

He struggled but let out a howl of pain as War lifted both his hind legs and crashed them onto his back.

"Ugh!" he rasped.

Mod and Famine exchanged furious long ranged attacks against Famine, both accumulating a steady amount of injuries against each other as they vied for control of the skies.

Fire, lightning, ice, wind... all elements were thrown through the air as they bombarded each other.

Famine tried to close the distance but Mod was merciless, summoning whirlwinds to slow him down and darting away in the process.

He repeatedly fired fire while his dragon filled the air with its dreadful ice.

But Mod was patient, she weathered it all with calm proficiency, merely countering with her own attacks...

"Ugh!"

...Up until she heard her son's yells of pain.

Mod's eyes darted immediately over to Rosan and they widened in horror at seeing him completely surrounded.

"ROSAN!" she shouted in concern, only to freeze as a figure immediately appeared in front of her.

"You're distracted," Famine whispered. "You truly are our mother... your biggest weakness, is your son."

With that he slashed and cut Mod effortlessly, drawing blood that instantly froze.

"!" Mod wailed in pain as the attack connected, before she was sent plummeting towards the floor with a heavy blow from the red and black haired man.

Rosan's eyes turned animalistic at that wail and the redhead roared in fury, before he erupted.

The redhead began to mimic the star, as a dome of fire engulfed the battlefield. His rage fueled the flames and they grew more and more.

Pestilence had their horse run off at full speed, intent on avoiding the explosion of flames.

Rosan huffed as his attack died down and he manipulated the ground and brought Mod to his position, clutching the whimpering woman with a soft expression.

He glanced up to see Famine and Pestilence walking up to them and huffed, eyes drooping as he hugged Mod close.

Mod clutched him tightly, panting as her wound flared up.

Rosan's exhaustion was too deep. He had literally gotten a hole blasted in his stomach and had been thrust into yet another battle. Mindscape or not, he didn't have the sufficient energy to keep this up.

Not to mention, all the creatures had steadily sapped his energy. He was already going in at a disadvantage...

The redhead sighed.

"Looks like you two were all talk after all," Pestilence sneered, panting themselves as their fear for Rosan settled down.

Famine said nothing for a while, standing over Rosan with a sad frown.

"You've done well, my darker half. You were born because we were too weak for this world… but then you locked me away... and then you threatened to kill Pestilence. You won't take them from me. I won't let you."

Pestilence flushed at that, gazing at Famine with nothing but love.

Rosan coughed. "I locked you away? I've been spending 12 years trying to unlock that castle. If I knew you were in there, I'd have tried even harder. I didn't decide to make that castle exist. I wasn't aware of its creation," he grunted, pulling himself up.

Famine's brows furrowed at that and his frown turned severe. "Liar," he bit out.

Rosan shook his head and sighed. "You believe what you want to believe… but you're me. You should know what I'm thinking. Light and dark half doesn't change what we think of, it just changes how we get what we want," he panted, clutching Mod to his frame.

The pure redhead shook his head. "Pestilence may speak all these things to you but at the end of the day, we're terrified of being alone," he exposed, eyes glowing with a knowing tint.

Famine flinched and his expression tightened. "Don't act like you know me," he said defensively, summoning another icy blade.

Rosan snorted tiredly. "That sentence really doesn't work here. I've done enough self loathing and deep diving to know a lot about myself," the redhead sighed.

"Shut up," Famine whispered in quiet rage. "Shut up! You don't understand. I didn't even have enough power to stay awake. I didn't know where I was. I was so alone… and then I had Pe-chan. I was satisfied with them…"

Famine glared hatefully at him. "But even that wasn't enough for you. You took the only thing I had that made me me… you took my emotions. You took everything from me and even that wasn't enough... because now you want to take the only person who cares for me away."

Rosan tilted his head and finally glared at his other half, catching Famine off guard. "We're the same person, but you're pinning all the blame on me. Why are you suddenly so innocent?" he asked incredulously.

Famine took a step back in surprise. "W...What?" he mumbled in confusion, taken aback.

"I wasn't the one who didn't want the castle open. It was whatever was inside it that didn't. Don't blame me for being too afraid to face the world like you forced me to! You're the one who refused to come out!" he scowled.

"What did you say…?" Famine asked quietly.

"You heard me," Rosan snarled, fury surging as he was reminded of the life he had been forced to live. "I'm the one who had no emotions. I'm the one who was suffering! I'm the one who experienced this terrible world in full, ever since you abandoned me at Daybreak. I had to learn how to love again, how to be happy. I watched it all get taken away from me… but I never ran away and hid like you did!" the redhead shouted angrily.

"Shut up," Famine whispered, taking a step back.

"We watched Mom die… we felt the stinging sensation of what we thought was betrayal…"

Rosan took a deep breath, pain crossing his features before the anger came roaring back.

"...But you didn't hold Meiko while she breathed her last breath because of a mistake that you made. You didn't raise a little girl who you wanted to care for but you couldn't. You didn't live 12 years without your emotions while your family beat at a wall that refused to be broken," Rosan hissed, clutching his chest.

"Shut up," Famine said louder, taking another step back.

"Now I have those emotions back and it tears me to pieces knowing what I put them through... Even after gaining these, I still have all these problems to deal with and you're still running away."

Rosan glared hatefully at him.

"You blame me for stealing everything from you. Well I blame you for being too big of a coward to show yourself again. You practically forced my hand in taking my emotions back by so that's what I did. I had to learn everything you kept to yourself all over again and I still need help," the redhead panted.

"SHUT UP!" Famine finally shouted, tears falling down his eyes. "Do you think I knew what to do? I still don't know what I'm doing! I don't know anything. Since I was born, I've been dealing with all of this nonsense without any say in how I want. I didn't want this castle either! I don't know. I don't KNOW!"

"Famine!" Pestilence said in concern, turning towards him with palpable worry. "Calm down baby, I'm here for you. It's okay!"

Famine took a deep breath and nodded shakily.

Rosan gazed at him piercingly and then, he closed his eyes. "That's not my fault and you know it. I never knew any of this either. I didn't know about the Virus and I didn't know about you. If I did, things would be different…"

His eyes glowed brilliantly as they opened again, red and purple burning with passion as Mod panted against him. "But what I do know is that you're trying to upend everything I've fought so hard to keep safe… and I can't have that, Famine," Rosan said softly.

"I won't. I can't accept that. Everyone's faces… when they realize I'm gone. It haunts me and I already messed up once by getting a fist punched through me… I can't let you have your way."

Rosan stared at them in resolve and bowed his head. "Sorry. I'm going to win this battle now. You're strong... but not strong enough."

Before Famine could respond, both him and Pestilence froze in shock, before hesitantly glancing down to see a blade protruding through both their bellies.

"W-What?" Pestilence stammered in disbelief, watching as black and red blood spilled from the weapon.

"Surprise bitches!" a squeaky voice shouted victoriously.

Mod's eyes widened at that and she flinched at the very familiar sounding voice. "M-Meiko?! Is that you?!"

A growl of frustration, made the injured woman blink.

"Father said the same damn thing! I'm not fucking Meiko damnit!" the childish voice growled.

Bright eyes, mixed with red and purple, glared at all there and Ram sneered victoriously…

But that wasn't the surprising thing.

The surprising thing, was the fact that Ram looked significantly smaller.

"Still think I'm the weakest weapon here?" she snarled with an unhinged gleam, adorable features stretched into a fierce expression.

"H-How are you here…?" Pestilence muttered in disbelief, clutching their belly as blood pooled.

Ram smiled viciously. "I can never be too far from my Father. I'm a daddy's girl after all so I resisted and resisted the pull until I felt you two stop moving and that's when I went. It hurt like a bitch but it was worth it," she beamed.

Rosan grunted at that. "Ram is the one who saved my life. She's the reason I was able to get to you in time…"

Ram looked down in clear dissatisfaction. "I did what I could and transferred as much energy as I could into him... but I sacrificed some stuff in exchange for that. As you can see, my physical appearance changed," the weapon explained, high pitched voice changed into something much squeakier.

Mod resisted the urge to squeal horribly loud because of how serious the situation was and the fact that her stomach was bleeding right now.

It was just really hard... Ram looked about 8 right now and that was just the cutest thing she had ever seen. The ring was certainly her parents children alright.

Well, Ram technically still had the mentality of a child! This was totally fitting for her!

"Other Father… I'm sorry but I'm just doing what's best for you," Ram said softly.

Famine stared at Ram and then Pestilence with a stunned gaze… right before a leg smashed into his gut.

The force behind it folded Famine and he rasped in shock, as he was sent flying.

"I'll be back!" Rosan grunted, tensing his legs.

The redhead launched himself forward at incredible speeds, ignoring his injuries and pursuing after his other half.

"FAMINE!" Pestilence shouted in worry, poised to chase after the two.

A surging wall prevented them from doing so and the virus whirled around, staring at the bloodied Mod with a wild glint in their eyes.

"There's no need to interfere with their battle, Pestilence," Mod said firmly, eyes glaring at the virus with genuine fury. "It's time for us to resolve our issues."

"STAY OUT OF MY WAY YOU BITCH!" Pestilence roared, black miasma lashing out in time with their anger.

They lunged at Mod and began swiping indiscriminately, howling as the woman floated through her attacks.

Mod leaned to the right, leaned to the left, floated high, ducked low. She was weaving through every attack with minimal movement, careful to not aggravate her injury.

Pestilence snarled and exploded in a black gooey substance, catching Mod by surprise and watching as the acid like material landed all over the woman.

"A-Ah!" Mod hissed in pain. The acid began eating away at her dress and Pestilence hissed in genuine rage, eyes darting to where Famine was launched.

The Devil Fruit's eyes gained a feral glint, reminiscent of Rosan and summoned a wall, blocking Pestilence off.

Then, she began glowing purple and held out a hand, shooting out a surging wave of continuous electricity.

Pestilence squealed as they were forced against the wall by the lightning, seizing up in pain at the attack shocking them.

The virus howled, but this time in rage and powered through the electricity slowly but surely, coating themself in the black miasma and slowly walking forward.

Mod never let up in her attack, eyes narrowed ruthlessly as she zapped her former partner over and over again.

But still Pestilence persisted. With a burst of energy, they lunged forward and slammed a fist against Mod, eyes unhinged.

"You have things you'll fight for... and I do too," Pestilence hissed violently. "You don't matter to me anymore. Famine is all I fucking need so fuck off."

Mod howled as the attack connected to her already injured midsection and rolled away from the blow. She panted heavily, spitting up blood as her body screamed at the exertion.

Pestilence snarled, fist poised to crush her against the floor and Mod weakly rolled away, avoiding it.

The virus was unrelenting, lunging forward once more and letting out a roar of frustration as the Devil Fruit forced the ground forward to block their charge.

Mod panted, watching as Pestilence began smashing through.

"I have to win. Rosan trusted me..." she said quietly, eyes glowing brighter and brighter.

"I caused this mess so I have to fix it. I will fix this," Mod chanted even as Pestilence began charging them.

She took a deep breath and pushed herself up, cool expression washing over her as she began glowing purple once more.

"Modify: Form," she said calmly, transforming her nails into diamond and lengthening them.

Then, they began sparking with purple lightnings, making them even sharper.

Pestilence roared and lunged at her, eyes feral with finality.

Mod stared with a chilly expression...

"Kneel, Pestilence. There is a reason you are just a part of me."

...And then she moved through Pestilence, appearing behind the virus with her claws outstretched.

There was a tense silence that washed over the battlefield.

Pestilence was completely still, eyes wide in confusion, before black blood spurted everywhere and they fell to their knees.

"I've been so afraid of change because Rosan has been unable to change over the years... but I must be willing to change myself too. My son has grown up so it's time for his mother to do the same," Mod said softly, swiping the blood off her nails.

She turned towards the defeated Pestilence and as her nails began transforming back to normal, she flicked her hair in a haughty manner.

"Just because I don't want to fight up close doesn't mean I can't. Even a queen must get dirty sometimes," she finished, glaring at her opponent with a cocky look of superiority.

Ram cheered excitedly. Auntie was so badass!

Pestilence huffed in disbelief, clutching their midsection as they willed themself to move.

But they couldn't move. W-Why couldn't they move?!

Mod watched the virus try to move and shook her head, merely wrapping Pestilence in a prison of stone.

"The only reason I'm going to keep you alive is for Rosan to decide your fate," Mod said coldly, red eyes boring a hole into her defeated former partner.

It was strange, but Pestilence truly showed care for that other half of Rosan. Not only that, they had made good on their promise and had saved Rosan's life.

Mod would refrain from doing anything just yet, but Pestilence's fate would be decided here.

---

Famine caught himself, landing on the ice and glaring furiously at the collected Rosan.

"All alone with just your biggest nightmare," Rosan said coolly, blowing a breath of cold air as snow began falling around them. "I hate the cold you know? So gloomy. Makes me sad all the time."

"The cold is all I've known," Famine retorted, eyes shifting rapidly towards a direction.

"What's wrong?" Rosan asked gently, looking far too calm for the state he was in. "Worried for Pestilence?"

Famine snarled at that and lunged forward.

Rosan shook his head, easily sidestepping the attack and batting the man away.. "Sloppy. You say I stole all your emotions, but that doesn't seem to be true. Your mind isn't focused at all."

Famine would not be deterred, he pushed himself into a handstand and delivered a vicious kick that Rosan leaned back slightly from.

The redhead grabbed the outstretched leg and hoisted Famine up, slamming him on his back.

"Is the creeping loneliness getting to you? Are you not used to being alone?" Rosan asked knowingly.

"Why won't you just stop talking?!" Famine barked, flipping himself off his back and away from Rosan.

The area grew colder as Famine summoned a blizzard, launching it towards the Rosan who simply outstretched a hand and match it with a great bout of flames.

"Just give me my life back!" Famine shouted, desperately throwing flurry after flurry towards his dark half.

Rosan grunted, effortlessly summoning a wall that blocked the snow flaked shurikens. The redhead tapped the wall and punched it, applying Modification at the moment of contact.

Famine hissed as spikes began flying out of it, soaring away from the attack.

"Black Snow!"

White dots began forming at his shout, all coalescing until it formed into a sharp and pointed snowflake. The giant piece of ice gleamed over the battlefield, looking more akin to a star and the corrupted redhead snarled.

"Black Star!"

The giant white star careened towards Rosan with dreadful speeds, slicing through the air as it reached closer and closer to the redhead.

Rosan stared up and took a deep breath and tensed up, red flames licking his body. The redhead took a deep breath and held his hands out, sweat dripping down his body from overexertion.

But despite that he continued to draw more and more power. It didn't matter the cost, he couldn't lose here. He had to win...

By any means necessary.

Scales covered Rosan's skin as his features turned draconic and the redhead snarled violently, a surge of sparks accompanying the fire and melding with it...

But that wasn't all. Rosan grit his teeth as his elements suddenly clashed with each other and he nearly got overwhelmed, before realizing he couldn't control the attack anymore.

The redhead watched with wide eyes as his attack surged through the air, hairs on his body standing straight as his strange attack melted the falling snowflake, continuing its course towards a wide eyed Famine.

He only had a moment to summon a giant shield of ice with the surrounding snow before it crashed into him.

Famine shrieked as the attack struck, blasting through his shield with no effort. He seized up and shuddered, eyes rolling to the back of his head as he fell towards the ground.

The black streaked redhead crashed into the ground, gasping in agony as his body spasmed at the strange technique that attacked him.

How... how was this possible...? How was it that even at his weakest, Famine could not beat Rosan?

No... no no no. He couldn't. He couldn't fail Pe-chan. He was the only one stopping Rosan from getting his hands on them.

Famine heard the impossibly quiet footsteps like they were a death sentence and pushed his burned body up, staring at his counterpart with wide eyes.

"I won't... I can't let you win," he said, eyes taking a desperate glint.

"I won't. I won't. I won't let you hurt Pe-chan!" Famine chanted, ice covering his body. He hissed in agony at the reaction it caused but ignored it.

Rosan stopped as he watched Famine actively hurt himself by icing over his burned skin, gazing at the action with inscrutable eyes.

"I won't let you!" he shouted, ignoring his pain and dashing forward.

Rosan hummed and leaned back, dodging the wild swing with a cold expression.

"Too afraid to bear the weight of the world… so you hid yourself away. Nothing anyone tried, ever got through to you. I am living proof of that. Your stubbornness plunged you into your greatest fear…being alone," Rosan said softly, ignoring the frantic swings as he weaved through them like a dancer.

Famine's breath hitched and he froze his swings.

"But you weren't truly alone. You had Pestilence. Pestilence has been a constant presence to you since you were born and now you love them comparably to how much I love Mod or Robin."

The corrupted redhead began shaking, body spiking in pain.

Rosan took a step. "But now that you don't have them, you've been reduced to the state you always truly were. A sad and afraid little boy who doesn't know what to do."

Famine began backing away from Rosan with wide eyes, the most expression on his face since this entire thing began.

Rosan was not bothered, he continued mercilessly approaching his other half, eyes boiling with unhinged mania even as his counterpart continued to back away from him.

"I see through you. Through the corrosive corruption, the anger, the sadness… you're just afraid," Rosan said truthfully.

"How… H-How do you know that?!" Famine whispered, stepping further and further back as Rosan closed the distance.

"How?" Rosan asked, stopping directly in front of the man. "That's easy."

Rosan reached out his hand and Famine flinched back, unable to do nothing in the face of his stronger and more ruthless half.

"I know because you're me, idiot."

Famine only had a moment to let out a surprised noise, before he was pulled into a strong hug.

"W-What?" Famine said, eyes wide in confusion as he was engulfed in such warmth. He felt his breath hitch as the pain in his body vanished, gazing at Rosan with wide eyes.

"All that love you feel for someone... to the point where you'd hurt yourself to keep them safe. The terror in your eyes when you realize something could happen to them and you can't do anything. The despair of loss... I feel those same things," Rosan murmured, eyes soft as he modified the pain away from Famine's body.

"Terrified of being alone so you surround yourself with an army of constructs that fight with you... I also have coping mechanism techniques that I learned because of my trauma," Rosan said softly.

"...You do?" Famine asked quietly.

Rosan nodded. "Save Point so I can never get separated from my loved ones again... Overhaul so I can never be betrayed like I thought I was, Auto Mode so I can't get ganged up on again... and creating Angel and Demon so I don't have to be alone," he said softly.

Famine froze completely at that, a torrent of emotions overwhelming him as Rosan spoke in a way that resonated completely with him.

"I know all those feelings you're experiencing. Of course I know. We're the same person after all. At the end of the day, Rosan is a coward who's terrified of being alone. Isn't that right, Rosan?"

Famine let loose a shaky breath at hearing the earnest way he was finally called Rosan.

H-He was being called Rosan by someone who actually believed it... No one had done that yet... nobody. Whoever called him Rosan didn't actually believe it was him... but once they learned he was also called Famine they stuck with that completely.

It hurt. It hurt being viewed as an impostor... but Rosan didn't view him as an impostor at all. He viewed him... as Rosan too?

"We split up because our heart was just too big for this world. You left the task up to me to protect us and I failed completely. I just made things worse and despite that, you suffered for it," the redhead sighed.

Famine began shaking. "You..." he trailed off, stunned quiet.

"When I felt myself dying, I apologized to a lot of people… but I forgot one person," Rosan said genuinely, eyes shutting at his mistake.

"I'm sorry, Famine. Sorry that I failed to properly protect us from this world until it was too late. I'm sorry for not making sure it was completely safe so that you could experience all that I experienced…" he whispered truthfully.

"But we can't be afraid anymore. This fear… it's chaining us down from the one thing we want more than anything and that's…"

"...To be loved by a caring family," Famine replied back, tears forming in his eyes.

Rosan smiled gently. "Aren't you tired of all this? I know I am. I'm so tired of hating myself. I know you're tired of it too. We're not alone anymore Famine. We're loved and for so long I couldn't find the reason... But as I look at you, as I see how you act, I realize exactly why. You managed to turn a creature who hated us, into your most loyal supporter and I think that's pretty damn awesome," he admitted.

Pestilence made it abundantly clear that they hated him. The virus despised Rosan with every fiber in their being... but that same virus gained a new reason for hating him and it was because of how much they loved this boy right here.

And as Rosan watched Famine's desperation peak, helplessness and terror in his eyes at the knowledge he'd fail his only friend, Rosan began to see exactly what everyone else saw.

It just took a long look in a more realistic mirror. Corruption, lacking most emotions, deprived of a life... and yet Famine still fought with his all to protect the one thing he had.

That was incredible. Rosan's jealousy that such a human being could exist vanished, when he realized he was that human being.

Famine couldn't believe what he was hearing. After all these years of preparing to usurp his counterpart... failure had dipped him into reckless desperation.

And now... now at the cusp of victory, Rosan wasn't trying to kill him? But... but why? Wasn't he the dark half? Why was he hugging someone who planned on taking everything from him?!

"I'm so tired of hating myself."

Is that what Famine was doing? Hating and rejecting a part of himself?

Did Rosan... did Rosan not hate him?

"The things you said, is that… is that why you're hugging me?" Famine asked quietly.

"We love hugs so I knew exactly how to calm you down," Rosan added with a tiny laugh.

Famine shuddered strongly. "So that means you…"

"Yeah, of course I love you," Rosan finished his sentence. "I love who we are. I love what we can be. If everyone can love "Rosan" then, I think we can afford to love ourselves a bit," he said genuinely.

"R-Really?" Famine stammered. "You don't… you don't hate me for shoving you into the world alone? For abandoning you? We could have dealt with it together b-but I ran away like I always do."

Rosan laughed softly and pat his counterparts head. "No I don't hate you because that was a decision we made together. We're two halves who were born out of the desire of the original… No one is to blame for that."

The redhead placed both hands on Famine's shoulder, flashing a brilliant grin towards him.

It was like... looking at the sun. Famine was blinded by the brightness that was his counterpart.

So this... this was why it was him who braved the world. His dark half... he wasn't dark at all.

Even with all the darkness surrounding him, Rosan still shone like a star.

"I think we've become strong enough. There's no need for this anymore. Let's both experience the world as we should. You don't deserve to be locked away anymore. That's not right. We're both Rosan," Rosan finished.

Famine said nothing. "But what if the world crushes us again?" he suddenly asked, deep voice vanishing in favor of something far squeakier…

Something far younger.

Rosan smiled gently and ran a hand through his hair. "Then our family will lift that weight off us. They are strong… and we're stronger than we think. We'll protect them and they'll protect us."

"…"

A flash of white engulfed Famine and he shrunk tremendously, features turning far younger as he clutched Rosan's midsection.

Rosan stared into the eyes of his 9 year old counterpart, those large, glistening, purple eyes that shone with such naivety and innocence.

Such innocence... Rosan wanted nothing more than to protect this tiny child. This child who hadn't been allowed to find the light before the darkness.

Of course he'd have to guide him back to the light. Rosan had been horribly misguided too before everyone helped him.

The sun. That's what Robin used to say he was, so Rosan would be a shining star for his counterpart.

"P-Promise?" Famine stammered, tears beginning to spill from his eyes.

Rosan crouched onto one knee, regarding the small redhead with a kind and fond grin as he placed a large palm on the child's head of hair. "I know we don't have a good history of it... but trust me this one time. I promise. We're safe, Rosan."

The child's lips wobbled at that and he let loose a sharp wail as he crashed into Rosan's outstretched arms.

"O-Okay!" he stammered, whimpering as Rosan engulfed him completely. "I'm sorry for being so afraid! I-I kept running away and you had to struggle just like me b-but we don't have to struggle if we're together!"

"That's right," Rosan said, tucking him in assuredly. "I'll shield you. I'll protect us... and you'll shower our family in the love they deserve."

His apology... it sounded a lot like Raisa's.

"Okay! I'm ready! We can do it!" he sobbed happily, clutching Rosan like a lifeline.

Rosan smiled in return, tears falling from his eyes. "Of course we can. We're Rosan after all."

Famine let out a watery laugh. "Yeah! We can do anything!"

"Except swim," Rosan laughed with him.

"Except swim!" Famine laughed too, wrapping his tiny arms around Rosan's neck.

The two engulfed and remained there, hugging each other as thousands of emotions and thoughts passed at once. The two laid themselves bare for the other, exchanging everything yet nothing at the same time.

The cold area around them melted away, grass growing livelier as the sun shone over them, a steady downpour pleasantly tapping their skin. Trees grew, flowers bloomed… and the vestiges of the castle fully melted away, snowflakes melting in the wind.

Finally, Rosan stood from his crouched position, eyes watery as a grin made its way to his face.

"This feeling..." he said eventually, basking in the weather with large and wondrous eyes. The red and purple of his eyes glowed brightly, as the black sclera melted away with the ice.

He held out a hand and felt his excitement grow at feeling the water touching his hand. He gazed at said hand with wide eyes, before summoning a mirror and taking in his complete appearance.

Rosan took a deep breath, before he threw his head back and began laughing.

"Kahahahaha!" he laughed in joy, unable to resist as euphoria filled him. Black and white wings, perfectly intermingled with each other sprouted behind him and the redhead flew around the sky, taking in the air with a giddy expression as he shared his joy with the mindscape.

He just laughed and laughed, red hair with black tips matting to his head completely as he spun in place, performing backflips in midair.

"It's been so long. 14 long years but finally…" Rosan breathed, landing on the spot.

"Took me long enough… We finally did it huh, Rosan?" he asked, staring at the two spots where he had just been.

His grin widened, as he felt a burst of warmth fill his body… at just hearing his name.

Mama, Meiko, Mod-chan, Robin, Ram, Maro, Ace, Sabo, Luffy…

Even as the tears continued spilling from Rosan's eyes, he laughed and laughed.

"They really were right! Maybe I really am stupid!" he beamed.

"Kahahahahaha!"

---

"So are you stuck like this?" Mod asked Ram in a hushed whisper, never taking her eyes off Pestilence.

She nursed her wounds and glanced gratefully at Ram, watching as the weapon tightened her dress from behind.

Ram grumbled, kicking her shorter legs out as she held a pistol that looked far too large for her. "I think so. I gave father a lot of power so that he was able to move about."

Mod nodded thoughtfully at that, taking in Ram's appearance with a thoughtful expression.

She was downright adorable, pudgy cheeks puffed out in indignation as she tugged at her fitted double breasted coat. Her hair didn't actually seem to have reduced in length so it spilled even past her legs, pooling on the floor if not for the fact she had twintails.

It was just too much. Mod nearly keeled over at the weapon holding a weapon that was too big for her.

"You did fantastic Ram. I'm so proud of you… you got us out of a tough situation," Mod said quietly, tearing her gaze off of her niece and focusing once more on Pestilence.

Ram blushed and rubbed a tiny hand against her silver hair. "I had to do it for Father. I knew something was wrong when I saw… them out and about," she spat venomously.

The trapped Pestilence snarled at her, looking more akin to a wild animal. They looked fully unraveled, eyes pulsing madly and practically foaming at the mouth.

Mod averted her gaze at that, not wanting to see someone break down so completely.

"Well done Ram. I'm so so proud of you," Mod said, pulling the tiny girl into a hug. "And now, you look your actual age! I can finally tell you to watch your language and there's nothing you can do about it!"

Ram groaned in annoyance but returned the hug anyways. "I hate this."

Mod smiled softly, clutching her to calm her nerves.

She was exhausted and bleeding and her dress was torn in all sorts of places and she hated that she was so exposed…

But she needed to be prepared… for anything. Whatever happened, Mod would have to react accordingly.

She would be ready for whatever happened. Even if it broke her heart to do so.

Footsteps halted her train of thought but it increased the tension dramatically.

At once, everyone hesitantly looked at the direction and saw a familiar figure approaching at a moderate pace.

All 3 lit up at the sight of a familiar redhead.

"Rosan!" Mod shouted in joy.

"Father!" Ram squealed happily.

"Famine!" Pestilence grinned, utterly pleased.

Mod's delighted expression vanished at the same time as Pestilence's and they gazed at each other in confusion.

"What are you talking about, dumbass?" Pestilence snarled incredulously. "That's Famine. Your little boy toy lost!"

"No, that's Rosan!" Mod shouted in fury, fangs bared. "And I told you not to refer to my son as that!"

Pestilence grit their teeth in rage. "Oh yeah? Famine, free me!" they demanded.

The redhead gazed at them all with a tilted head, before waving his hand and undoing the ground wrapped around Pestilence.

Pestilence beamed victoriously and weakly leapt onto Famine, shooting a smug grin towards the crestfallen Mod and Ram as he steadied their utterly exhausted body.

Mod looked on in distraught and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and coming to terms with what she needed to do.

"Told you so!" Pestilence cackled.

The virus immediately dove for his lips but a finger stopped them from advancing and Pestilence regarded the man with confused eyes as he simply kissed their head instead.

"Famine?" they wondered in trepidation.

There was an apologetic glint in his eyes. "That's not right, Pe-chan. I love you but we can't do that."

Pestilence looked as if they had been struck by that statement. The virus weakly stepped back and regarded their partner with wide eyes.

"W-What?" they repeated.

Rosan sighed softly and shook his head.

"You three should stop arguing," he said eventually, turning towards the confused Mod and Ram. "There's no need for us to be enemies anymore."

"No need...? What the hell are you talking about Famine?!" Pestilence barked in confusion. "Don't you remember what they did to you?!"

"It was a decision I played a part in," he replied softly, staring at the confused virus with an assured expression.

"There's nothing to be upset about anymore. I feel better than I ever have," Rosan smiled confidently.

Pestilence looked utterly stumped, gazing at the redhead with a dumbfounded expression.

"R-Rosan?" Mod said, not looking too sure as she gazed at the black tips in his hair.

Rosan laughed and tugged at his spikes. "This? After effects of taking Pe-chan's energy for all these years. I think this is permanent," he explained.

"I don't… understand," Pestilence and Mod said at the same time.

Rosan smiled fondly and scooped up a yelping Ram. He squeezed her and held her in the air with a delighted gleam, watching as she fruitlessly struggled in his grasp.

"Look at how adorable my daughter has become. I can hold you so easily," he awed, spinning the girl around.

Ram squealed, face burning an epic shade of red as he held her in such a... such a demeaning position! "P-Put me the fuck down Father! This is embarrassing! S-Stop, I'm serious!"

Rosan shook his head, grinning wildly as he pulled the tiny girl into a deep hug. "Nope. How could I? I'm so proud of you right now."

Ram tried to struggle but his hands were too damn big and she was too damn tiny! It didn't take long at all for her to give up and the ring just wrapped her tiny arms around his neck. "You're the worst, Father," she mumbled, ducking her face into his neck.

"I know. Get some rest, you're tired," Rosan said soothingly, tucking her into his frame easily.

"You are too," Ram murmured, enjoying the warmth. "You're barely alive right now..." she trailed off.

"I'll get rest as soon as possible. Alright?" he whispered, feeling the way the tears spilled onto his body.

The ring was exhausted after the massive jump needed to make it to Rosan's position.

"I-I'm glad you're alive, dad!" Ram sobbed, clutching him tightly as a wail left her. She held him like he'd disappear any moment and Rosan's expression softened dramatically.

"I wouldn't be without you. Thank you, Ram," he said, squeezing her tightly even as she fell asleep.

"What's… going on?" Mod asked in confusion, watching the touching scene and noticing how at ease Ram was around who she thought was Famine... but felt like Rosan?

Rosan turned towards her with a small smile, ensuring the sleeping Ram was comfortable the entire time.

"I took a long look in the mirror. I know I'm stubborn but I can at least be a little reasonable, and I realized that… I'm not all that bad y'know?" he said softly, pulling Mod into a tight hug.

Mod gasped at that, defenses melting effortlessly in a way that only Rosan could achieve. "Wait, did you...?"

"Yeah. My two halves came to an understanding and they decided that I'm ready to face the world," Rosan finished with a small smile.

Mod teared up at that and let out a happy sob as she squeezed Rosan with all her might.

"Yes. Yes! After all this time... I'm so happy!" she exclaimed, crushing the man with tears of joy.

Rosan laughed and wrapped a single arm around her, taking in everything about her with a pleased gaze.

Pestilence watched with an expressionless face, closing their eyes and letting out a sigh.

So that's what happened. Their partner didn't take over. War and Famine had reached unity and truly became Rosan once more.

So this was what it felt like to get your heart broken, eh? It was no wonder Rosan broke in the first place. This was probably the worst feeling Pestilence had ever been through.

It was taking them everything in their power to not scream in frustration, not willing to crack until they were truly alone... or dead by this redhead's hands.

"Pe-chan."

Pestilence opened their eyes and looked at Rosan with a neutral expression.

"You know I'm still me, right?" he asked curiously. "I'm still the boy that you hugged for basically my whole life. I'm still the boy who you managed to make smile with your terrible singing… I'm still the boy who loves you… you know that right?"

Pestilence stared at him and scoffed, shaking their head. "Just leave me alone," they muttered.

With that, the virus stomped off deeper into the forest.

Rosan watched them go with a frown, sighing slightly as his mood dampened.

"Should we really let them go free?" Mod asked in concern. "I understand now that Pestilence is too great of a threat so maybe we should just be rid of them?"

He immediately shook his head, much to her surprise. "No. I don't wanna hurt, Pe-chan. I can speak to them eventually but for now, just leave them alone."

The redhead hummed and tucked the two a little tighter into his frame. "You guys need to rest up. I've got a lot of talking to do," he said tiredly.

"I'll stay awake with you… I'm just so relieved that..." Mod shivered, remembering the despair she felt at thinking Rosan was…

Think that he was dea—

Rosan clutched her tightly, running a hand through the shaking woman's hair and she broke out into weak sobs, body wracking in pain.

"I know... I'm sorry Mod-chan…" Rosan murmured gently, kissing her on the head as she cried against him.

"Please don't leave me, Rosan," Mod whimpered, clutching his torn outfit desperately.

Rosan's expression softened drastically.

"I'm still here, Mod-chan," he whispered to her, eyes turning misty at how hard she was shaking.

She nodded shakily and the redhead allowed her to desperately take in his features, allowing his mother to smother his cheeks in her bloodied kisses.

"C'mon we need to get you changed. I can see too much of your boobs. It's turning me homicidal."

Mod sniffed and glared up at him with teary eyes. "N-No one's even here to see me like this! You need to stop being so lewd!"

"You almost seem like a different person too, Mod-chan," he praised. "More cocky, less demure."

Mod blinked before an outraged expression crossed her features. "Stop talking about my attire! I understand that a lot of my skin is exposed! How do you think I feel about this?!"

"That is not what I meant," Rosan said with an amused smile.

Mod rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, turning away from him. "I came to some of my own realizations. I shouldn't be afraid to change myself."

"I'm proud of you," Rosan said truthfully, getting his mother to turn beet red.

"S-Shut up! I'm the mother here!" she protested in embarrassment.

Rosan smiled slightly, glad for the temporary peace.

It was going to get hectic very quickly after all.

He hoisted his mother up and tossed the startled woman over his shoulder.

"Hey look, I can see your ass," Rosan pointed out with an amused smile.

Mod's struggles increased tenfold. "R-ROSAN! I'LL KILL YOU! PUT ME DOWN! THIS IS REALLY EMBARRASSING!'"

Rosan patted the spot mercilessly, getting a squeal of rage and embarrassment out of his mother.

"I-I'M TELLING ROBIN YOU SLAPPED MY BUTT!" she stewed.

He froze at that and then shrugged. "I'll just let her slap yours next... She'll probably accept it."

"YOU'RE SERIOUSLY UNBELIEVABLE!"

---

"Hey."

Pestilence said nothing to the figure behind them. "Leave me alone," they said bitterly.

"I'm not gonna do that," Rosan muttered, pulling them into a hug and repairing their dress in the same movement.

Pestilence sneered and attempted to shove him off, failing miserably due to their injuries.

"Stop with the bullshit," they said venomously, struggling fruitlessly.

"Get the fuck outta here! I don't want you here. I don't need you anymore so just let me be alone in peace or kill me! I don't give a damn!"

Rosan sighed at the prickly tone. "Pe-chan—"

"Don't call me that!" Pestilence snarled, rounding on him with fury.

The redhead frowned, seeing the pain behind all the anger.

"You think I'm really that easy?!" Pestilence barked. "Stop fucking messing with me you stupid bastard. You think I don't know what'll happen?!"

Rosan remained silent, even as Pestilence poked a finger against his chest.

"You'll make it back to your precious little family and they'll accept you with open arms. You'll get everything you wanted with them and they'll fulfill you the way you've been wanting to be this entire time. You —"

"I'm not going to forget you, Pe-chan," Rosan said abruptly, seeing through them so effortlessly, it shut them up completely. "I'm still me you know?"

"I remember everything. How you helped train me up, how you pointed me to the realization that I could use ice, how you looked completely dumbstruck when I made a sculpture of you..." he trailed off.

Pestilence nearly went soft at that, before their anger came roaring back.

"You aren't Famine!" Pestilence hissed, glaring at him heatedly.

The virus scowled ferociously at the thought.

"You've become one with someone who tried to kill me! To someone who's jailed you! But just like everyone else you were just another whore for his words! You picked him over me!" they shrieked furiously.

"I thought you'd be happy that you saved me," he frowned.

"Happy?! You think I'm happy about this?! Happy seeing you hug and kiss that fucking traitor Mod right in front of me? Happy that you strayed this far from the plan?!" they asked incredulously.

The redhead closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Pe-chan... Mod-chan and I aren't like that. There's love out there that doesn't have to be adulterous. There is pure love too."

Pestilence laughed disbelievingly. "So that's why you stopped my kiss."

"..." Rosan was expecting that.

"I don't see you like that," he said truthfully.

"The past few years would beg to differ," they scowled. "I wasn't the one chomping at the bits the moment they turned 18."

"The circumstances weren't normal at all, Pe-chan," Rosan countered.

"You used me," they replied, shaking their head in amusement.

Rosan sighed. "You're not being very fair at all, Pe-chan. You're still the one who caused me to split up in the first place," he said neutrally.

Pestilence went stiff at that, eyes turning into pinpricks as Rosan stared at them with a frown.

"The castle was created because of your actions in assisting Doc to break me. You hated me long before I even knew you existed and the existence of Famine and War were proof of that..."

Pestilence shuddered at his accusing words, averting their gaze at the truth of it. "So what? I already apologized for that. I didn't expect you to shatter like that," they said bitterly.

"Exactly... you apologized because you felt bad. Despite hating me, we still managed to talk and become best friends you know? That part of me hasn't left. Yes, I have some grievances with you now that I'm complete... but we can talk this through."

Pestilence scowled. "I don't want to talk to you anymore. Are you going to kill me and get it over with?"

"No. Why would I want to kill you? That's the last thing I want to do to you. You're afraid of dying," Rosan replied, looking affronted by such a thing.

The virus scoffed. "How thoughtful."

The redhead frowned at that, running a hand through his black tipped red hair.

"What are you going to do now?" he asked finally.

Pestilence let out a barking laugh. "Afraid that I'm still gonna try to fuck with you all? No. I'm good. Despite everything, Famine got what he wanted so I'm going to just stay here."

"...I don't hate you, Pe-chan," Rosan said eventually, crossing his arms as a tint of frustration crossed his features. "Why do you keep acting like I hate you?"

Pestilence twitched violently and their expression cracked slightly. "Isn't it obvious that you do?" they asked bitterly.

"Don't be so fucking stupid!" Rosan scowled finally, making them take a step back. The warning glow in his eyes were fierce, red and purple pulsing madly.

"Do you think I'd come out here to address you first if that were the case? Pe-chan, stop trying to force yourself to be alone. You hate that."

The virus turned livid at that. Seeing someone with Rosan's face and attitude, pretending like they knew what the virus wanted, irritated them beyond belief. "Stop acting like you know me! I don't want your sympathy, I don't want your warmth, I don't want any of it. FUCK OFF!" Pestilence roared, shoving him away.

Rosan's eyes flashed and he immediately grabbed their arm, hoisting them up in the air effortlessly.

"Why are you being so difficult?!" he snarled.

Pestilence gasped, body not even close to being healed. They thrashed at the pain and gazed at Rosan with fear in their eyes.

The redhead saw it and his eyes went wide, before he hastily dropped the virus.

"Sorry, I can't control my emotions so —"

"I won't ally myself with you. I never will. Leave me alone, Rosan," Pestilence said with a tone of finality.

Rosan said nothing, then inclined his head.

He palmed the floor and created a simple yet beautiful house for them.

Pestilence regarded it in confusion.

"I remember how you used to complain about how stuffy and big the castle was... and how you'd prefer to live in something a lot smaller," Rosan said quietly, dusting himself off.

"If you really want me to leave you alone, that's what I'll do. I won't imprison or restrain you in anyway so feel free to do what you want... but I think we both know what will happen if you do something negative so please don't. Bye Pe-chan."

Pestilence withered at seeing he had given up and instinctively put out a hand to stop him, before catching themselves and forcefully dropping it.

They scoffed and turned away from Rosan, scowling in fury at it all as they glared darkly at the black and white house.

"Stupid asshole," they snarled, entering the house to tend to their wounds.

---

"It didn't go well?" Mod asked knowingly.

Rosan frowned as he woke up. "Not at all. They're upset. I'll give them time before trying again."

"Leave them be, Mod-chan. You don't have to keep an eye on them anymore."

"Are you sure?" Mod asked in concern.

"I'm sure. Pe-chan is not my enemy."

Mod frowned at that but nodded. "If you're sure... but if things go south..."

"I think we all know what the outcome of that will be."

He could feel Pe-chan still listening in, they weren't trying to be detected but Rosan knew all their tricks. They had been each others partners for years now.

Mod couldn't believe the tables had turned so much. Right as she gained the resolve to eliminate Pestilence, Rosan now wanted to integrate them into their family.

It was surreal. He no longer seemed to have any animosity towards the virus...

Rosan tugged his hair slightly and stared at it. "The black tips are permanent now?" he mused curiously.

"I believe so… but we can always modify them," Mod said, just so thankful to be having a normal conversation with her son.

"I like it. I had black streaks running through my hair before anyways," Rosan muttered, thinking back to his time as Famine. "I'll ask Robin what she thinks. I need to visit her asap."

The redhead stood up and immediately grunted as a wave of agony washed over his body.

"Ugh," he groaned, reaching for his abdomen and clutching the barely healed spot.

He fell to his knees and groaned tiredly, eyes fluttering and blinking in brightness as his body began whining.

Every fight at Marineford, Aokiji, getting punched through his stomach by a magma man and then fighting his student who had delivered heavy blow onto his body.

Not to mention the deep mental exhaustion seeping into his very bones at the war he had just had in his mindscape.

He huffed tiredly, glancing blearily at the ring resting on his chest and idly put Ram on, securing her tightly and pushing himself up.

"You need to sleep soon, Rosan. We've been… ran completely ragged. You've put up an outstanding performance that deserves the longest rest you could want," Mod said tiredly, worry on her features as Rosan painfully pulled himself up.

He had been the star of the show. No one alive could deny that, enemy or ally. That great war had revolved around her son in every way.

Rosan deserved some rest... Mod didn't like seeing how much pain he was in.

"I know but people need to see me right now. I can't leave them in the state they're in."

"I understand. Just… don't push yourself, okay?" Mod murmured, tucking the tiny Ram against her repaired dress.

The ring continued to snore away and Mod cooed, pinching her pudgy cheeks and getting an annoyed grumble out of her

"My Raid Suits destroyed?" he mused, ignoring the jolt of pain.

...Not completely, but it had taken so much damage during the war that it may as well have been.

Rosan hummed and tested the transform feature, watching as it molded over his body and covered him back up.

That would do for now.

He peered inside his body, testing to see if the Philosopher's Stone was doing okay and the redhead let out a sigh of relief at feeling the tiny embers.

Now, he had people to visit. They should know that he was alright now.

---

Robin was curled into herself, feeling completely inconsolable despite Koala's best efforts.

Everything just felt so hopeless… she didn't know what was going on right now. Rosan but not Rosan had said some harsh things to her and despite how she saw right through his efforts, it still didn't change the things he said.

But none of that mattered because Robin didn't even know where her Rosan was. Would Famine be here forever?

What did that mean? Where would Rosan go now?

Was Mod-chan alright...?

Robin didn't know the answer to any of these questions and it killed her on the inside knowing she couldn't do anything about it.

The Devil Child jolted, as a presence suddenly appeared before her. An incredible warmth washed over her and she was going to look up, but a gentle hand gripped her cheek and did it for her.

Her heart stopped as eyes full of sorrow stared down at her. There was a reassuring smile on the person's face and Robin shuddered at that, eyes fogging up.

"Don't be sad," Rosan said softly. "If you're this sad, you'll make me sad and you know if I get sad I'll start crying and then you'll start crying too and then Mod-chan will start crying and it'll wake Ram up and then we'll all be crying."

Robin felt her breath get forcefully taken away, as those bright eyes stared down at her.

"Rosan…is it you?" Robin murmured, placing both hands on his cheeks.

"It's me, Robin," Rosan said softly, eyes glowing in visible worry as he saw the tears.

"You selfish boy," Robin scowled, tears falling as she glared at him.

Rosan paused, eyes wide at her sudden anger and he felt her grip on his cheeks tighten.

"I asked one thing of you... Rosan. All I asked was for you to not die... and you couldn't even listen to that," Robin said, shutting her eyes as memory of Rosan with a gaping hole in his stomach appeared in her mind.

The horrific sight brought a sob out of her and Rosan felt guilt wracking him at what he had done.

"You died, Rosan... and there was nothing I could do about it but watch. How could you do that to me?" Robin asked quietly.

Rosan went cold.

"I won't forgive you if you die."

Ah... shit.

Mod's eyes widened in horror.

"Wait Robin," Rosan said frantically, tiredness melting away in favor of horror.

He opened his mouth to explain himself and then shut it, as a look of realization crossed his features.

Then, he closed his eyes in acceptance. "Shit. I really am the worst boyfriend in the world. Nevermind anything I'm about to say... I made a decision without consulting you at all. I'm sorry for worrying you, I wasn't thinking…"

He let out a noise of surprise as Robin lunged forward, tackling him underneath her. His eyes widened as she furiously kissed him.

Robin pulled back and let out a happy sob, looking him in his eyes with a smile that made his heart flutter.

"I know I said I won't forgive you... but I lied just this once. You look tired, Rosan," she said with a happy grin.

Rosan opened his mouth to respond, but shut it instead and grabbed Robin close.

"Thank you so much," he breathed, squeezing her to his body as the melded into each other.

"I can't leave you, Rosan. We just have to talk about all the things you said to me," Robin murmured.

"I was just trying to make you hate me. I didn't mean any of it," he replied.

"I know. You keep trying to make me hate you. Why don't you understand that's impossible?"

"Because I'm pretty damn stupid."

They both grinned happily as they shared a moment and Koala would have reminded the couple that she was here…

But they deserved a little alone time so she departed from the room as quietly as possible, letting out a sigh of relief as she closed the door..

She was so glad Rosan was alive. The redhead had grown on her tremendously despite all his teasing and he had a charisma about him that you had to admire.

Rosan was one of the only people who could tell Sabo what to do without complaint. It was clear he loved his oldest brother fiercely.

Not to mention, Koala didn't like seeing Robin like that. She was glad her friend was smiling again…

Koala needed to see Sabo. Her partner took Rosan's temporary death so hard…

She hoped they were doing okay.

---

Robin shuddered against Rosan's frame, even as he tenderly held her.

"I'm sorry for spilling my tears on you," she said quietly. "And I'm sorry for holding you here. I know you're probably so exhausted and you want to see everyone else but it's just…"

"Robin," Rosan interjected gently, tucking her into his frame. "You're my girlfriend. You don't have to apologize for hogging my time. I'll always give you the attention you deserve," he murmured.

"Yes… I know but it's just…" Robin trailed off, clutching him tightly. "I feel awful, Rosan. The thoughts I were thinking, the feelings I felt…"

Rosan gained a look of understanding because Robin was filled with a staggering amount of guilt.

The circumstances of his… death were controversial and his family was intelligent. It was easy for them all to pinpoint the cause of why he got attacked.

After all, he sacrificed himself because of Ace's… admittedly stupid decision.

"Hey," Rosan muttered, sitting up with her so that they could look each other in the eyes. "I understand. I'm not mad at you and you have a right to feel exactly how you wanna feel. You know I don't judge."

Robin felt her throat lock up at that and she hid her face into his chest, shuddering as he ran a hand against her back.

"I… I hated him so much," she admitted quietly. "When I saw what happened… I truly felt nothing but rage at Ace's actions because he… he got you killed and… I was mad at you for paying for his mistakes."

Robin expected Rosan to feel disappointed in her words. After all, she just admitted to having hated his little brother. Disappointment was the natural thing to feel but instead, there was nothing but understanding in his stance.

"I'm sorry that I put you through that," Rosan said softly, roiling with guilt.

"I'm sorry for being the reason you had to put me through it. Truly Rosan, I'm so sorry about what I put you through at Water 7," Robin murmured.

"It's okay," he soothed. "Not all problems can be solved in the blink of an eye. We're still learning," he assured.

She nodded.

They said nothing else. They didn't need to. Difficult conversations were necessary, but difficult conversations with no clear answer to it?

Best to not delve into that. They both understood the others side regardless.

"I'll be better," Rosan said truthfully.

"I'll get stronger," Robin replied. "I'll become a monster just like you. I can't… I can't live with the fact that I would have been a liability to you. I never want to be a liability."

"...I wasn't strong enough either," Rosan said tiredly. "None of us were. We're too weak."

Robin's silence was the only reply he got.

To hear Rosan of all people deny his strength... it was humbling to know that even he realized the limits of his strength weren't enough. Despite wavering in many things, his strength was not one of them. Rosan always believed that if things got difficult, he'd be able to get them out of it.

"I need to go visit more people," Rosan said finally, eyes threatening to flutter shut.

As much as he wanted to hug and fall asleep in her grasp, there was too much to do.

"Will you explain everything with us all?" Robin asked, helping the exhausted redhead up. She looked at his injuries with a concerned glance and nearly used her privileges to get him to sleep... but she couldn't be selfish for so long.

It didn't take a genius to see that something had changed with Rosan. After all, he now had black tips and he was practically crushing Robin under a waterfall with his emotions.

He nodded. "Yeah I'll explain everything… What do you think about my hair?" he asked randomly, gesturing towards the black ingrained into it.

Robin looked at it and smiled despite herself.

She was glad he valued her opinion so much that even simple things like this were asked.

The Devil Child grasped one of his spikes and inspected it curiously.

While still predominantly red, each of Rosan's downward spikes looked as if they had been dipped in black ink slightly, before being pulled out, leaving the tips of each red spike black.

"...I like it," she said eventually, smiling at the redhead. "It looks like you idolized me to the point where you added black to your hair. It's like my red strand but way more fanatical."

Rosan's look of delight, vanished in favor of annoyance and he tiredly swatted her hand away, much to her amusement.

"C'mon let's go," he grunted, dragging her off the bed.

"Yes boss," she complied easily, feeling incredibly light.

She was just so thankful that Rosan was alive and here. She couldn't put it into words so she wouldn't but…

Rosan glanced back at her in concern. "You alright? Do you need a minute?"

Robin shook her head slowly, feeling a wave of exhaustion hitting her. "No. I'll be fine, Rosan."

He nodded and just pulled her close, understanding what she wanted just from taking a glance.

Robin sighed fondly. He was a reckless idiot, but he was her reckless idiot.

"Are you guys heading out?" Koala asked, peeking her head through the door after verifying that there wasn't anything inappropriate going on.

"Yeah, too many people are worried about me and I have to make sure they know I'm alright," Rosan said softly.

"Can I come with?" Koala asked worriedly.

"...You want to see Sabo, right?" Rosan asked knowingly, turning towards her with tired eyes.

Koala nodded, taking in his exhausted stance with a frown of concern.

Should he really be moving like this?

"I wanna see him too," he sighed, remembering all his brother's faces clearly.

The despair was heart wrenching but he needed to see someone else first. His brothers were currently unconscious and they likely wouldn't be waking up anytime soon.

"We'll go see them soon. I need to check up on my little rulers first…"

His fight with Maro was still fresh on his mind. She must have been crushed still and he was crushed after what he had done to her.

Rosan delicately took Robin's necklace off and placed it down so that they could have a Save Point to bring Koala and Sabo back home.

"Kami, I can't watch you guys do anything," Koala blushed, looking away from the two.

"You're just a stiff," Rosan grunted. "Make sure to kiss Sabo when you see him. He'll appreciate it alot and it'll make you feel better."

Koala opened her mouth to shout at him and then shut it, burying her face against Robin to hide her blush. "You're the worst."

"I know," he said, grabbing her as his tired eyes flashed.

The three vanished without any prompting.

---

A brooding and bandaged Maro jolted at the sight of a figure appearing in front of her and her eyes narrowed.

The Queen's face shifted into a snarl as she immediately locked eyes with Rosan, ignoring the two people with him and pushing herself up.

She may have lost once, but that wouldn't stop her from trying to save her master.

As green spread across Maro's body, Daisy made its way to her hand and she lunged at the redhead, hellbent on crashing it against his face despite her injuries.

Rosan's eyes widened and he dodged the frantic and heavy swings.

"Hey wait Maro! I'm not here to fight!" he exclaimed, grunting as the most recent swing caused the ground around her to shake.

It was a good thing her special garden was so reinforced because Maro was trying to cave his body in.

"Shut the fuck up!" she snarled violently. "Just because you won doesn't mean you can come back and do whatever you want! I won't let you!"

Ah, she still thought he was misguided. He should rectify that quickly because he was seriously in no state to fight right now.

"Maro!" Robin shouted in concern, summoning a flurry of arms to slow the woman down and watching in shock as she effortlessly steamrolled through them with brute strength alone.

It wasn't often she faced up against Maro so the woman's sheer strength always caught her by surprise.

Maro attacked like a woman possessed, not even realizing that it was Robin who had tried to slow her down. She glared venomously at Rosan and lunged, orange overtaking all of her eye.

Rosan grunted and sidestepped a swing that was definitely aimed to break his leg, before leaning into Maro's guard with a final surge of adrenaline. He gripped her slender and strong arm, forcing it up so that she couldn't destroy the area anymore and pulled her into a deep hug.

Maro's breath hitched at the action and she froze.

"You know…" Rosan murmured in her ear. "I always expected your fantasies about me to be lewder. This is surprising... though I guess it's still pretty lewd."

Maro shuddered at the voice. "M-Master…?" she whispered.

"It's me, Maro," he replied gently, squeezing her in reassurance. "I'm back. Trust me."

"He's right, Maro," Robin replied with a small smile, watching as the green melted off her skin. "Rosan is… better than ever I think."

Rosan smiled and tucked his precious student into his frame after noting how hard she was trembling. "You have no idea how much you played a part in saving me Maro. Until the end, you fought and it helped me so much. Thanks for knocking my head silly when we fought... and I'm sorry for hurting you so badly."

Maro sniffed repeatedly and Rosan's expression turned concerned.

"Maro?" he mumbled, running a hand against her back soothingly.

"You're right," she eventually whispered.

"...I'm right?" he repeated in confusion.

"My fantasies of you are way lewder. Y-You have no idea b-but they need you to be alive…" she replied, before breaking out in a gut wrenching sob.

"MASTERRR!" she wailed, tackling him to the floor with heavy tears.

"I thought you were g-gone! I didn't know what I was going to do without you! I f-felt... I felt so looost!" Maro continued crying, practically suffocating him with her figure.

Rosan laughed lightly at that, shaking his head at her words before wrapping her into a crushing hug. "I'm here. I'm here. Thank you Maro. When you told me you were going to show me how much you mattered, I never imagined it'd be like this," he soothed.

"From the bottom of my heart, thank you."

Maro just continued sobbing, cries filling her garden as it traveled throughout the castle.

Rosan just continued to sooth her, running a hand through her hair and humming softly.

The door to where she had been isolating herself, opened up and Rosan stopped humming.

Angel and Demon's red rimmed eyes widened in shock, at the sight of Maro crying against Rosan's chest. They heard her cries loud and clear and rushed over to mourn together but they never expected to see the sight.

As he craned his head to gaze at them, the twins met the brightly glowing red and purple eyes of Rosan, lacking a black sclera.

At the sight of their older brother smiling at them, they felt a fresh batch of tears forming.

"I'm tired but I always got room for two more," Rosan said holding his arms, as Maro hogged his midsection. She was still crying, spilling her tears all over him.

"Mghm," Angel and Demon both sniffed, before they let out piercing wails.

"MASTER!" they shouted in unison, rushing him with no hesitation.

"Oof," Rosan grunted, flattened to the floor as his three little geniuses squeezed him. "I'm sorry guys. I didn't mean to worry you all. I'm seriously sorry."

Angel sobbed on his left. "Y-You better be! W-We thought we… we thought we lost you, big bro! Don't scare us like that again!" she wailed, tucked into his neck.

"I… I couldn't b-believe it," Demon whimpered quietly. "I felt everything shutting down b-but my body was still fine. That's when I realized it was just how I was feeling a-and I hate that feeling. It's terrible."

Rosan's eyes softened and he felt his heart pang at the shuddering figures of his former crew.

He held them all close and sighed sadly. "I… when I realized you guys shut down when something bad happened to me… I made countermeasures. You guys are… practically completely separated from me now," he revealed.

Angel and Demon were stunned silent by that.

"W-Why would you do that?" Angel stammered in confusion.

Rosan tilted his head. "Because your lives aren't tied to me anymore. A mistake on my end should not be the end of all three of us. That wouldn't be fair to you and especially to Maro," he said.

"You two are no longer my underlings. You two have an all new set of responsibilities that have nothing to do with me and things would get thrown into chaos if something happened to you two as well. I'm not the only one who matters to you guys anymore."

Angel's tears renewed and she sobbed against his shoulder, muffling the noise.

"You're always thinking about us," Demon whispered.

"I-It's so sweet! Even with these little things that we don't even think about… Thank you Master," Angel said quietly.

"You're seriously the best big brother we could have asked for," Demon mumbled, hiding his face.

Rosan chuckled tiredly. "It's my job to take care of all my little siblings. I think of the hard stuff so that you guys can live easier."

"And we appreciate that b-because we can be really dumb sometimes!" Maro sniffed.

"Just like how I can be dumb," Rosan said softly, squeezing them all affectionately.

"You work too hard... we're older now too so please slow down. You don't have to do everything alone," Demon begged.

Rosan's soft gaze turned down to them and he nodded. "Yeah you're right. I don't... I'll do better."

They continued to cry against him, joy and relief filling the room, until finally they seemed to be all petered out.

Rosan smiled at them and they all stood up, right as the door was pushed open again.

The redhead turned and met the stunned and red rimmed gaze of Aiko and Akemi.

Rosan's heart panged again at that and he waved slightly. "Hey you two—"

The redhead let out a grunt of surprise as he was tackled by… not Akemi but Aiko of all people.

"You fucking dumbass!" Aiko sobbed, clutching him desperately as Akemi appeared one step behind her and crashed into him with a loud sob.

Rosan was taken aback by the raw emotion in Aiko. She was always aloof or pissed but he rarely saw sadness from her.

The last time he saw her cry so freely... was when she got reunited with her sister.

Huh... so that's how much he mattered to her?

"What do you think you're doing?! Who said you could try and get yourself killed?! Then you came over here causing more issues?!" Aiko barked furiously, pawing his outfit before clutching it tightly.

At the sight of the tough and stern Aiko crying freely, Rosan's eyes narrowed in guilt.

He didn't make fun of her, he just wrapped his arms around his surrogate older sister with a surprising amount of tenderness.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking at all," Rosan confessed, thinking back to what happened.

He always had a bug watching Luffy... so he saw the moment his brother lost all the power in his body. He saw Ace lose his battle against Admiral Akainu... and he saw Akainu charge after Luffy to deliver a killing blow.

Rosan had felt a strong sense of dread and simply moved, not thinking of any other way to save his brothers.

"No thought went into it... my body moves before I even registered what was happening. I just felt the terror of an older brother and reacted. I can't let anything bad happen to you guys."

He opened his arm and scooped up the sobbing Akemi as well.

He squeezed the both of his older sisters and let out a rattling sigh. "I'm not strong enough to ease you guy's worries," Rosan confessed with a deep frown.

At that war... most of his opponents had utterly outclassed him. He didn't have to be stronger than all of them... but if he had been stronger than some, then he'd maybe have saved enough healing to survive that blow from Akainu.

...

"Ever since Water 7 I realized that my strength was failing me and this opened my eyes…"

"I'm weak," Rosan finished, closing his eyes.

For someone who desired to be the strongest… realizing that you were weak was demoralizing and crushing.

But it was up to you to transform those feelings into fuel to get stronger and Rosan knew what he needed to do to get stronger.

"You'll get stronger... you have to," Akemi mumbled fearfully. "I refuse to let you do anything if something like this will happen again!"

Everyone nodded in unison, holding the injured redhead tightly.

Rosan nodded at that, shutting his eyes as his resolve settled.

"Thank you Aiko for tearing into me after my fight with Maro. You said everything I needed to hear," Rosan said thankfully.

"You… no one's ever made me cry since I've become ruler of Fregate," Aiko whispered, feeling vulnerable in a way that she never had.

"Well, it's always been up to me to make you act outta character," Rosan said weakly.

Aiko couldn't even glare at him, too afraid to remove her head from his body. She was just so tired and relieved.

"I-I'm so glad," Akemi whimpered, tears combining with all the others that had long soaked his outfit.

Rosan sighed fondly. "I need to go visit the rest. Will you guys be okay? After verifying that they're alright, I'll explain everything that happened on my end, alright?"

Aiko and Akemi's grip tightened and Rosan felt Angel, Demon and Maro clutching him from behind as well.

"I'm serious guys. No more fighting. I'd be asleep right now if I didn't have to make sure you guys knew I was okay," Rosan confessed.

They flinched at that, noticing just how deep his exhaustion seemed to run.

"I think I'll be out for a few days… I've been moving nonstop. I fought too many strong people too."

The tightening on his body was a reminder that they were well aware of who he fought.

"I'm not going anywhere for long guys. We can even do a group sleep like the old times and I'll drag all the reluctant ones into it too, like Aiko," he murmured to them.

"I honestly don't want you outta my sight so I'll join," Aiko muttered.

Akemi nodded hastily.

Rosan blinked slowly. Man they were really messed up right now.

"Alright, I'll be fast. C'mon Robin and Koala," Rosan said, accepting a kiss on his cheeks from Maro, Angel and Demon... and Aiko and Akemi.

"Come back fast," Angel demanded.

"I will," Rosan promised, grabbing the two and vanishing.

The moment he did so, the group let out relieved sobs and collapsed.

"I'm so tired," Maro mumbled, sniffing as she curled into Angel. The two held each other tightly, tears combining from relief and sadness.

"We all are," Aiko muttered, wiping her eyes. "You fuckers aren't supposed to see me cry like this. This sucks."

"Mhm," Akemi nodded, pulling them all into a group hug. "B-But it's better than the alternative. A-At least these are tears of relief."

Everyone nodded, far preferring these over the other tears.

"You all need to get a bit of rest," Zala said, crossing her arms in concern. "We'll handle affairs for now. Celadon won't collapse if you all take a bit of a break."

"She's right," Kaori nodded in agreement. "Please rest and recuperate… this was a taxing event to you all. I'll call and notify Fregate as well. Trust us."

"We'll deal with it," Gem saluted.

Maro sniffed and gazed at her soldiers with teary eyes.

"Master really always is right. I love my soldiers so much!" she sobbed, nodding in agreement. "Okay! I trust you guys! I'll leave the island in your hands for now! Thank you so much!"

"Of course, my Queen!" they saluted.

The soldiers were relieved that Rosan was alive. They may have had their personal issues with him but none of it even came close to how much they adored Queen Maro, Angel and Demon.

They were their precious leaders after all. So if they would be ruined off of Rosan's death, then they too wanted him to remain alive.

Besides, Rosan truly wasn't all that terrible. The war showed them that if he wanted to, he could have done far far worse to them so they were thankful he found another use for them.

That decision to hand them over to the Queen... it was truly a good decision in hindsight and they were glad he had the eye for it.

---

Rosan's Save Point brought him to Amazon Island and when he arrived, it was to the company of many different people.

They jumped in shock at his arrival, turning towards him with wide eyes and feeling their jaws drop at the redhead.

"Rosan?" Jinbe asked warily, noting the black tipped hair.

The redhead looked at the assortment of people there with a tilted head.

"Trafalgar Law? You're still here?" Rosan mused, gazing at his fellow pirate.

Law glanced warily at him. "I saved your brothers," he informed him immediately.

No point trying to incite the redhead's fury with assumptions.

The redhead gained a look of concern at that, ignoring Law's wariness. "How are they?"

"Alive," the surgeon replied after a moment. "The blonde one is in shock and Fire Fist has some serious injuries but he'll recover… Straw Hat on the other hand, was on the brink of death."

Rosan frowned deeply at that. "That bad?"

"If I didn't immediately operate on him, he would have died. He could still die," Law said truthfully. "Your… death, put him in shock and combined with how injured his insides were, it was almost impossible to save him."

"I take blame... he took a blow to the chest from Akainu and I wasn't able to block it completely," Jinbe apologized.

"That one is going to scar over but other than that... he's somewhat stabilized," Law explained.

"…" Rosan said nothing at that, frowning deeply.

"It's my fault Red-boy," Iva apologized regretfully. "I should not have given him another hormone shot. If I allowed him to be taken away, maybe everything could have been avoided. I saw your concern for him and disregarded it because…"

"You got swept in by his charisma," Rosan finished understandingly, shaking his head.

If and buts were meaningless. Yes, Rosan had said he would take Luffy out of the battle when he was out of energy but Luffy had still played a key part in freeing Ace.

"Don't worry about it. I don't blame you… Luffy was able to convince me of all people to work under him. No one alive can resist him," he said matter of factly.

"Don't you have too much ego too?" everyone who heard him say that thought at the same time.

"Trafalgar Law," Rosan said, turning towards his fellow pirate with a tired gaze.

Law glanced warily at him, hand resting laxly at his side but poised for action at any time.

"Thank you," Rosan said earnestly.

Law blinked at that.

The Red Devil was thanking him?

"I don't know your reasoning and I won't question it, but you saved my brothers. If it was a favor you wanted from me, you earned it. If not, I won't forget this so in the future I won't obliterate you and your crew if we cross paths," he said truthfully.

Law gazed at him curiously. "That favor sounds like a good thing to have… so I'll hold onto it for the future. No point using it now."

"Smart. One of the smartest things a person who has met me has said," Rosan grinned wryly, peering at the pirate with amused eyes. "Alright, I won't forget that then."

"Rosan, stop flirting with someone in front of me," Robin admonished with a shake of her head.

Rosan didn't even bat an eye. "He doesn't have your boobs. Or your face. Or your a—"

"Rosan," Robin interrupted with a tired sigh.

"Absolutely amazing personality," Rosan continued with a winning smile.

"Have you become even more perverted?" Robin asked curiously.

"I missed you a lot," Rosan replied, turning towards her.

"It's been almost an entire day since I saw you... and I'm really tired so I'm speaking my mind without using a filter much."

Robin quirked a brow. "You're telling me you're capable of using a filter? Truly? Am I supposed to believe that?"

The redhead gazed at her with half lidded eyes and Robin balked as it began trailing.

"Never mind. Forget I asked," she said, not willing to test him. His eyes looked a little… bedroomy in a dangerous way.

Rosan opened his mouth, but whatever he was about to say was cut off by a choking noise instead because a blur of a figure tackled him to the floor.

His eyes widened, as a terribly loud sob pierced the skies.

"C-COUSIN!" Hancock wailed, soaking his already ruined outfit even further. "You're okay! I'm so glad!" she cracked.

"H-Hancock, you're squeezing me too hard. And put more clothes on, Robin might kill me," Rosan strained, wrapping an arm around her.

"I won't," Robin smiled.

Obviously, Hancock did not hear him. The woman continued to cry against him, squeezing him like he were about to disappear at any moment and effectively crushing the weakened redhead with her absurd strength.

"Lucky," the people of Law's crew thought enviously, watching as the most beautiful woman in the world threw her whole body onto the Red Devil and squeezed him with it.

Lucky bastard. Couldn't he be satisfied with Nico Robin?!

"Hey look. See? I'm totally fine. Don't worry about me," Rosan assured, running a hand against her back with an exasperated smile.

He would admit that Hancock had wormed a way into his heart incredibly fast. She was almost childishly adorable in her mannerisms and Rosan didn't forget how she risked everything she had, to sneak them into Impel Down.

Rosan liked Hancock because she truly did love him unconditionally. She was a person that more than earned his trust so he'd treat her accordingly.

Hancock sniffed and buried her head into the crook of his neck. Considering at least 5 different people had done the exact same move, he was well accustomed to it.

"When I saw your body collapsed onto the f-floor, I couldn't even contain my cries! Then they only got worse because the air became so thick and heavy with negativity!" Hancock sobbed.

Jinbe nodded. "Such insidious feelings... I found myself moved to tears just by the charged air alone," he explained.

Rosan frowned at that. "Sorry. My emotions, particularly the negative ones, are really overwhelming."

"You felt so sad..." Hancock murmured in despair. "Beneath all those terrible emotions... there was such traumatizing sadness!"

She sniffed sadly and hugged him.

" I was so glad to see that you got up b-but then you started screaming in such a horrific manner a-and then I began worrying for you even more and Luffy was unconscious and I just didn't know what was happening!" she blubbered.

Rosan sighed and just soothed his older cousin. "I know. A lot happened really quickly. I was very close to dying so I needed to use something... unsettling to survive. That's why I attacked that Marine. If I didn't, I'd have died."

Those there to witness his assault shuddered, remembering the black encased creature well.

"You seemed more like a wild animal than a human," Bon Clay shuddered, feeling a fear at just remembering that monster.

"I'm not a human anyways. That's why I was able to survive," he replied, patting Hancock on the head.

"I'm sorry for worrying and scaring you," he muttered to his cousin.

"Don't be!" Hancock suddenly exclaimed, shaking her head harshly. "Don't be sorry! I'm not mad at you… I'm just glad you're alive, cousin!"

Rosan let loose a fond sigh and stood up with his cousin…

Only to be brought right back down to the floor again, as two much larger figures tackled him to the floor.

"Cousin!" Sandersonia and Marigold cried in unison.

"Did you all agree to tackle me to the floor?" Rosan grunted tiredly, completely smothered by his giant cousins.

"We heard what happened," Sandersonia said in worry, hastily helping him up with the help of her sister.

"Are you alright?" Marigold finished, patting him down.

Rosan huffed at them. "I could be better. I did just get a hole punched in my stomach so my insides are in a very precarious situation... some sleep should do me good," he explained.

Everyone shuddered at how casually he mentioned getting killed.

"You must get some rest. You've done so much! Oh I know! You can sleep in my room! " Hancock exclaimed eagerly.

"I HATE YOU SO MUCH!" Law's crew, barring their captain, thought to the redhead.

"Thanks for the offer but I still have to go talk to my family… and then they'll drag me into their group sleep probably," he explained tiredly, leaning against Marigold as he threatened to collapse.

"Your family?" Hancock asked curiously. "You have more? We have more?!" she asked excitedly.

"My little, but also same age, twin brother and sister, my student… my surrogate older sisters," he explained with a sigh. "They've been very affected by this whole thing as well."

Law perked up at that. "Are you talking about —"

"Yes. The one you met was my adorable idiot little student. Like I said, I'd like if you never mentioned anything about her and I's relationship. It'd be very bad for you," Rosan finished with a sigh of exasperation

Law raised a single brow at that. "You said you wouldn't kill me," he mentioned.

"Trust me. I can do many more things worse than killing someone," Rosan assured softly.

How reassuring.

Law smiled in amusement. "Our meeting was amicable. I won't rat her out. She's your student?"

"And she's banging my sister," Rosan added, nothing the truth in his words.

His nose suddenly picked up the scent of blood and he grunted in confusion at seeing a few unconscious members of Law's crew.

"Rosan," Robin sighed, exchanging a deep hug with Hancock. "You really need to go to sleep."

"I know," Rosan said forlornly. "Hancock… do you mind if I bring them over to explain everything that happened on my end? I don't think I can make many more trips."

"Of course not!" Hancock sounded offended.

She probably actually was. Hancock was shamelessly whipped and he was pretty sure she'd nod eagerly if he pointed it out.

"If they are your family then they are mine! I'd like to meet my other little cousins!" Hancock beamed, wiping her tears.

Rosan snorted. "Alright. I have a lot to explain to you all…"

The redhead peered at the ones not in his family and shrugged. "I guess you guys can listen in. The World Government finally knows my Devil Fruit so I guess I don't really have to keep it secret anymore."

Ah that was fun. The eyes that would be on him now were going to be annoying...

"Not to mention they know you're Reaper too," Robin pointed out. "I can't imagine what that will do."

"…" Rosan sighed tiredly.

"So you truly are Reaper?" Jinbe mused in shock, gazing at his ally of the war with wide eyes.

"Yeah. I was Reaper from nine years old to fourteen," Rosan explained, allowing Robin to hold him straight.

"Nine to Fourteen?! What?!"

Everyone stared at the redhead with wide eyes at his admittance. Reaper was far too notorious for the culprit to be a child!

"I'd summon my wings but I'm tired so you'll just have to believe my word," Rosan murmured.

"Believing your word isn't the problem, you were way too young!" everyone barked at him.

The redhead blinked blearily. "Yeah I guess I was."

"Your Devil Fruit also seems to be quite desired by the Fleet Admiral. Not to mention you seemed to be taking extra steps to keep it secret," Iva pointed out.

Rosan sighed and nodded. "I've been keeping my Devil Fruit secret for 20 years. It's called the Mod Mod no mi. I'm a computer human that can modify whatever I touch."

"S-So you've modified yourself to achieve the form of a Dragon…?" Iva asked in disbelief.

"Not to mention your complete mastery of elements," Jinbe pointed out in disbelief.

"All that stems from the ability to Modify?" Law raised a brow. "I'm a Free Modification Human. I can't do any of what I saw you do."

"You're a doctor's fruit and I'm a scientist's. My reach is naturally farther in terms of what I can do," Rosan replied easily. "I'm also real creative. I bet there's a lot of things you could do but you look like you walk around with a stick up your ass."

Law twitched minutely at that. The Red Devil was very annoying.

"Rosan," Robin said in exasperation.

"How did you get a bounty of 500 million?" Iva asked curiously.

Rosan blinked slowly. "I killed a Celestial Dragon. He decided that I would look better as his slave. I decided he would look better dead after he clearly forfeited his life," he murmured.

…

"H-Huh?" Everyone said dumbly.

...

"HUH?!" they screamed.

"Good job cousin! He deserved it!" Hancock praised, clapping happily for him.

"I know right?" Rosan agreed, resting his head on Robin.

"Imagine wanting to enslave me. How else could I freely shove my ton—"

"Rosan!" Robin interrupted him immediately, glaring at the redhead and putting a hand over his mouth.

"Okay okay. Going to get them now," Rosan muffled tiredly, making the woman withdraw her hand.

He stood up slowly, stumbling around as his eyes drooped even further.

"I haven't felt this exhausted in forever. It's rare that I can't even think at all," he mumbled, allowing Robin to steady him. "Be right back."

He sent a lazy two fingered salute and vanished with Robin in tow.

"Instantaneous teleportation too?" Law mused.

The Red Devil was incredibly dangerous…

Law saw his performance at the war. The Red Devil had been the eye of the storm that entire time... single-handedly turning the tides at unfavorable points.

Perhaps it was smart to not make enemies of the Straw Hats. That favor sounded like it could be a good thing.

Law would remember it.

---

Hancock put a hand to her mouth, at the sight of Rosan standing next to two other Rosan's.

Angel, Demon and Maro were practically glued to the redhead and it allowed the world's most beautiful woman to stare at all three of them.

"Triplets?!" Hancock whispered in shock.

"Sometimes Master calls us triplets, since we're the same age... but he enjoys calling us his little twins instead because he gets to lord being the oldest sibling out of it," Demon explained.

"It's annoying," Angel scowled, looking Hancock up and down. "We're all 24! Sure we're younger than him but we look the same and have the same age!"

Rosan yawned. "If you want to be technical, you two are only three years older than Ram, who's 12 years old."

The twins opened their mouths at that and shut it.

"Your fun facts are disturbing," Angel said flatly. She was not 15 years old.

"Little twins it is," Demon agreed with a shake of his head.

Rosan chuckled softly. "Calling us triplets is easier. I'm basically the only one who calls them my little twins..."

Angel and Demon watched with wide eyes as their taller cousin appeared directly in front of them, pulling the two into a tight hug.

"My little triplet cousins! I had no idea I had more! I am Boa Hancock, your older cousin!" she gushed.

Oh she just couldn't wait to dote on her little triplet cousins.

Demon recovered quickly, returning the hug easily. "It's nice to meet you Hancock. We've been watching you and Master's adventures... and we just wanted to thank you for helping so much," he smiled.

Hancock beamed at the purple haired Rosan, who looked quite beautiful, and puffed up proudly. "I will always help my cousins to the best of my abilities! That includes you two as well!"

Angel smiled at her. "You're good in my books! We gladly accept you into the family!"

"Angel doing that means you really are in. She's insanely stubborn," Demon nodded sagely.

Angel felt a tick form at that and glared at Demon. "That reminds me..."

She turned a heavy gaze towards Hancock, watching as the woman went stiff.

"What are your intentions with my babiest brother?" she asked warningly.

Hancock blinked. "Luffy? I'm going to marry him," she said bluntly.

Everyone who didn't know, felt their jaws dropping at Hancock's straight to the point answer.

Angel blinked at the blunt answer and took a long look at her, quite frankly, insane cousin.

"Hm. I'll be the judge of that!" she declared. "No one is allowed to get married in my family without express approval from ME!"

"You're a psycho," Demon and Rosan sighed tiredly.

Maro clapped supportively, despite wholeheartedly disagreeing with her wife.

Sometimes it was best to just go along. Angel was unhinged on the best of days.

Hancock nodded, somehow not seeing anything wrong with the psychotic statement that left Angel's mouth. "Very well. I will earn your approval if it's the last thing I do!"

"That's the spirit!" Angel cheered, pulling her cousin into a hug. "I like you, Hancock! Welcome to the family!"

Hancock beamed. "These are my sisters, Sandersonia and Marigold!"

"This is my wife, Maro! Look how beautiful she is! You two can talk about back pains!"

"I don't have back pain, Angel. I have a strong body."

"What?"

"Ow, my back."

Everyone sweatdropped as Angel began to give Maro a massage immediately after the queen's painfully fake exclamation.

As Maro sighed in bliss, her eyes widened dramatically.

"No way! If it isn't the Surgeon of Death!" she cheered, bolting over to Law's position.

Law was filled with amusement as the Queen excitedly closed the distance, unmindful of the bandages covering her body.

Seems she truly was a warrior.

"Queen-ya," he greeted. "It's been a while."

"Yeah it has! Last time we saw each other, you weren't a bigshot pirate!" Maro beamed, shaking his hand eagerly. "Did you save my brothers?!"

The pirate nodded. "I did. There was no particular reason behind it so don't ask."

Maro awed at that. "Wow, you're a good guy! I knew I was right to not kill you on the spot!"

"You certainly are the Red Devil's student. You two say the same things," Law mused, unbothered by her statement.

She beamed and launched herself at Bepo, squeezing the bear happily.

"Bepooo you're still so fluffy!" she gushed happily.

Bepo was about to respond, before he felt a deathly aura wash over him.

The bear fearfully made eye contact with a redheaded woman who was staring at him with the eyes of death itself.

"I'm sorry," he apologized immediately.

"Apologize after I finish killing you," Angel said ruthlessly, marching forward to do just that.

"W-What?! Angel you can't kill him! Look how fluffy he is!" Maro exclaimed, jumping in front of her wife.

"I'll peel all his fur off then. You won't be gushing over his fluffiness again."

"NO! DON'T PEEL HIM!" Maro squealed.

"I-I'm sorry," Bepo apologized meekly, hiding behind the amused Law.

"Let's all settle down. Master can't stay up for much longer," Demon interjected firmly, a hint of authority entering his voice.

Everyone stiffened and nodded, watching as Rosan lolled about, head tipping over until Robin caught him.

"Nice," Rosan purred in content, nestling in.

"You're such a pervert. We need to get you to sleep immediately," she sighed.

"Tell me about it... speaking of, when Ram wakes up I need to show you her," Rosan mumbled.

Everyone perked up at that.

"Something happened to Ram?" Robin asked in concern.

"Is she okay? She better be okay," Angel frowned.

"She's fine... though her confidence might have taken a blow," Rosan explained in amusement. "Her and Mod-chan are sleeping right now. We've been through a bit of a trial."

Robin frowned at that. "It's about time you tell us everything that happened. Then, you sleep."

Rosan nodded tiredly. "Alright."

---

"So you've basically been split into two this whole time? That person I fought really was you?" Maro asked softly.

Rosan couldn't even muster up the energy to nod. His head was already lying peacefully atop the exasperated Robin's lap and she merely ran a hand through his hair.

"Yeah. I was too emotional for the world so I unknowingly split my emotions from myself and shoved them in the castle. The only one I kept when I was younger was my anger… but then I sealed all of it away when you know what happened."

Maro wilted in guilt. "I'm sorry Master, I didn't know that it was actually still you. I wouldn't have said such harsh things."

"Don't apologize. I was just angry and afraid. I thought I had no choice but to take the path I was taking... but I was shown that there's another route that I can take," he said, glancing at his hand with a soft expression.

The redhead smiled. "With how large the shadow I casted was, it's only natural that the light would be just as bright..."

"Because love and hate are two sides of the same coin..." Robin gasped in realization.

Rosan's love and hate... they signified both the sides of the redhead. That quote was literal when it came to her redheaded boyfriend.

His light and dark... so that's why...

"That's why you had anger issues," Angel muttered in realization.

"I never realized your emotions were crippled for so long," Demon said sadly.

"That makes so much sense," Robin pondered. "I made a realization that you always seemed to err on the negative side of things. It felt like you were divided on how you wished to be treated… I had no idea how true that was."

"My genius," Rosan praised, getting her to roll her eyes.

He was a trip alright.

"You hit it right on. The version of me that you guys got to know, was my negative half. He was my defense mechanism to shield me... so I was stripped of everything unnecessary to that until I was safe. I like to call him War... or Death since I acted so much like Reaper."

Rosan sighed. "And then there's the version of me trapped in the castle... Famine. He initially had all my emotions but as War met his family... he began to lose more. War managed to talk Famine down and now the Rosan you all know and love is here," he explained eyes fluttering.

"Fascinating," Law muttered. The Red Devil was speaking of his body in ways that would make any doctor, newbie or experienced, fascinated.

It was truly interesting the way he spoke of himself. As a doctor, it made him all the more intrigued about this redhead.

"What about the virus?" Maro frowned slightly, remembering the vitriolic creature.

"Pestilence," Rosan corrected softly.

Robin quirked a brow. "You don't… dislike them?" she asked tentatively, not wanting to use the word hate.

Rosan shook his head. "No. I don't... it's complicated," he said shortly.

They sensed the slight frustration in his voice and mercifully dropped it.

Clearly that was the Famine half of Rosan who was struggling with Pestilence.

"Now if that's everything…" Rosan said tiredly. "I need to sleep for a couple of days… or weeks," he said.

"You can sleep in my castle! I insist! I can make sure you sleep soundly!" Hancock said immediately, a protective look in her eyes.

"What?! No way! I want Master!" Angel interrupted matter of factly, leaping onto and possessively grabbing her brother. "He's sleeping with us!"

Maro and Demon both nodded in agreement at that.

"Kids," Aiko sighed. "I'll sleep in the same room. I'm not sharing a bed with you late night monsters though."

"I will!" Akemi beamed. "I know how you guys get so I'll just sleep next to Demon! He's the best bed partner!"

Demon sighed. "Please don't say it like that Akemi. If they think that I somehow did something with you, I truly will never escape the allegations."

Akemi smiled teasingly.

"I'm not a toy and none of you guys are not apart of my harem. Can't I just sleep with Robin?" Rosan asked in exhaustion.

"No."

He sighed tiredly.

Hancock mulled over the dilemma. "My bed is large enough! We may all share it then. Cousin is too tired to find a new area to rest regardless," she said eventually.

Angel mulled it over, glancing at her cousin up and down before nodding in agreement. "Okay! But there are some ground rules to be understood. Master's right arm is mine."

"His left is mine!" Maro beamed.

"Stop speaking about me like I'm some piece of object," Rosan grunted.

He was ignored.

"Robin say something. They're talking about your boyfriend like he's rentable," Rosan complained.

"Rosan's chest is mine," Robin told them.

"Of course!" They agreed and that was that.

As the three debated about which part of his body to rent, the redhead simply sighed in defeat and shut his eyes.

"G'night," was all he said, going unconscious immediately.

Everyone let out a sigh of relief at the same time, at actually seeing him fall asleep. The mood sombered over quickly and they gazed at his body

"We kept him up for too long," Maro frowned sadly.

"I feel bad," Angel said truthfully.

"We should bring him to bed immediately," Hancock suggested.

"That would be ideal," Robin said worriedly, letting her brave expression fully melt into blatant concern as she stared at Rosan's still body.

Maro immediately hoisted the redhead up and planted him on her back. "Lead the way, cousin!"

Hancock nodded and they immediately left for her castle.

"I want to run a quick checkup on the others if possible, then I'll help Master," Demon said, smiling politely at Law.

"I'll remain here to escort you to the castle," Marigold offered with a kind smile.

"Be my guest. I've stabilized them to the best of my abilities," Law told him as they walked onto the submarine.

Demon nodded. "Thank you again for helping them. As a doctor I understand how difficult caring for one person, much less three, can be."

Law shook his head. "My fruit makes it easier. It wasn't that terrible."

"The Op Op no mi, right?" Demon mused in clear interest. "I'm jealous. That's quite the Devil Fruit for a doctor to have. I have parts of Masters fruit"

Law smirked and nodded in agreement. "I hope this isn't an attempt of flirting by you."

The purple haired man blinked in slight confusion. "Flirting? Why would I do that?" he asked curiously.

While certainly attractive, Demon was already dealing with his own confused feelings right now. Adding a third person to the mix, would make the doctor actually believe what Rosan and Angel were saying about his love life.

Law's smirk widened, amused further by the fact that Maro didn't even bother telling Demon what she had been up to. "Because your sister in law tried to set us up."

Demon blinked even harder before letting out an audible groan, placing a hand against his head. "I'm sorry about Maro... she's a bit of a dumbass. Rest assured, I did not set her up for anything like that."

"I believe you," Law snorted. "Queen-ya is a unique case."

"They all are. Save yourself while you have the chance… though I think it's too late already. Master definitely has eyes on you and I've never seen anyone get away from him," Demon sighed.

"That doesn't sound like a good thing," Law said warily.

"It's terrible if you're his enemy… but it's not the worst if you're neutral or an ally. Master is very sweet. If you can somehow get on his good side, you'll find yourself with the most valuable ally alive," Demon offered.

"…" Law sighed.

At least they were entertaining.

---

Robin stared at Rosan's unconscious body, wrapped up in bandages, with a soft expression.

After double checking his body, Demon had immediately began working on his brother, noting that his body was the weakest it had ever been.

It was a disaster. Rosan hadn't even been running on fumes. The redhead's body had shown the effects of being the centerpiece of a war.

He and Mod were effectively out of commission for the foreseeable future.

It was nerve wracking, watching the redhead sleep through the day without so much as a twitch. His face looked peaceful, only showing discomfort when she moved away from him.

But whenever she moved away, Rosan normally woke right up. Even when he had been horribly sick the lack of her presence would snap him right awake.

Now? His expression would just shift uncomfortably but he would stay firmly asleep. It was a testament that the incredibly light sleeper wasn't woken by anything.

Not the group sleeps, not her washing his body... nothing. He hadn't even eaten yet. His body was practically shutdown and to be honest, he remained so still that she feared he wasn't breathing sometimes.

Despite all his rambunctious behavior, Rosan was quite the peaceful sleeper all the time. It was only when he was struggling from a nightmare that it was bad.

Robin wished he were a little bit of a more active sleeper. He was just so still.

The Devil Child sighed, before her attention was grabbed by the ring on the table next to Rosan shaking heavily.

Robin's eyes widened and she felt excitement at that.

Rosan and Mod were completely inactive but was Ram perhaps fine?

"Ram?" Robin asked carefully, watching as the ring shook some more, before it transformed into her daughter in all her glory...

Well... half her glory.

Robin watched with a stunned expression as Ram landed on the floor, three feet shorter than she used to be.

"R-Ram?!" Robin nearly shouted, eyes wide as she looked at the much younger looking ring.

"Mother!" Ram squealed, rushing the woman with a happy grin.

Robin watched the ring rush her, looking decades younger, and instinctively scooped her up.

"W-Why are you so tall?!" Ram complained.

"W-Why are you so short?" Robin countered in disbelief.

The ring blinked, before a flash of disgust crossed her features.

"Oh Kami I forgot," she whined in despair. "I used power to make sure Father was useful and ended up like this!"

Right... Rosan said without Ram, he wouldn't have been able to help them.

He just didn't explain that his daughter had turned years younger in the process.

...She was so adorable!

Robin squeezed Ram with a happy smile. "You're so cute, Ram!"

"Stop! Don't call me cute goddamnit! I don't want to be cute!" she snarled cutely, struggling fruitlessly in Robin's grasp.

"Stop this! Father refused to let me go too!"

"I can see why!" Robin gushed, squeezing the girl. Without any hesitation, she carried the panicking Ram.

"Mother! Where are you taking me?!" she shouted in distress.

"Oh Ram, you don't have to be so shy! I'm going to show everyone that you're awake!" she exclaimed, rubbing Ram's pudgy cheek against her own.

Ram's eyes widened in horror. "E-Everyone? What do you mean everyone?! Where are we?!"

"Amazon Island. Maro, Angel, Demon, Aiko and Akemi are here as well," Robin explained.

Ram felt her horror deepen and she struggled harshly.

"LEMME GO! I DON'T WANNA SEE THEM!" she hissed.

Why was this little body so damn weak?!

"Are you going to transform back to your regular appearance?" Robin asked curiously, utterly unfazed by her struggles.

"...N-No. I was unconsciously using my abilities to remain the same age as father... now I don't have the power to sustain that," Ram revealed glumly.

"Oh wow, I had no idea," Robin murmured truthfully, stroking the silver hair of the girl and getting her to relax.

Of course, that relaxation immediately flew out the window the moment she heard a familiar voice scream "RAM?!"

"I hate you so much," Ram hissed violently, hiding her face in Robin's neck.

"You can't just expect them to never find out, Ram," Robin soothed quietly.

"Who the hell says I can't?!" she snarled, only to yelp as she was summarily grabbed out of Robin's arms.

Angel was gawking at the ring with wide eyes. "R-RAM?! What happened to you?!" she squeaked.

Ram scowled as she was propped into the air by her aunt.

"YOU'RE SO CUTE!" Angel squealed, spinning with the girl.

The ring let out a feral and strangled noise as she was snatched by Hancock next and the two unhinged cousins began gushing over the utterly adorable ring.

Maro let out a cry of pain and collapsed on the floor.

"No way, what happened to Ram?!" she cried, staring at her best friend with wide eyes.

"F-Finally! Someone as upset as me about this!" Ram wheezed.

Maro held her head in depression. "Your ass was one of my favorites to look at. Now I can't do it anymore," she sighed.

"WHY CAN'T YOU JUST DIE ALREADY?!" Ram roared at the stupid pervert.

The ring huffed and held out her hands, watching as Robin grabbed and held her.

"I'm still tired. Bring me to Father," she muttered, burying her head into Robin's neck.

Robin cooed and nodded. "Come then. You're a growing girl after all."

Ram gained a tick at that. She hated this so much.

"We'll have to update your wardrobe in the meantime!" Angel gushed.

"Update her wardrobe?" Hancock asked curiously.

Angel nodded eagerly. "We'll go shopping and buy her new clothes!"

"I've never gone shopping for my clothes... is it enjoyable?" Hancock asked curiously.

Angel gasped in horror. "Enjoyable?! It's amazing! Oh you have to join us when we go shopping for Ram as well! We'll get you a new wardrobe too! You could rock so many different outfits!"

Hancock nodded excitedly and the two utterly unhinged cousins began discussing with each other.

"I think Auntie Angel finally found a best friend," Ram muttered fearfully, shuddering at the thought of getting a new wardrobe.

"I actually understand why you fear such a thing," Robin replied, running a soft hand through her hair and getting the ring to doze off.

She entered the room, where Rosan remained rooted to his spot, eyes shut tight as he didn't move an inch.

Robin felt an irrational terror form at seeing his prone body not move at all and she rushed him, shuddering in relief as she felt inaudible breaths leave him.

The woman let out a rattled breath and shut her eyes, tentatively placing Ram atop the redhead and watching as the tiny girl latched her tiny arms on Rosan.

She stared at him and let out a tired sigh, before yelping in shock as a hand grabbed and pulled her down.

"Rosan?" she whispered cautiously.

Nothing, the redhead was sound asleep but he just had an arm wrapped around her, tucking her to his side.

"I'm here." Is what he seemed to convey.

"Even asleep you're still so considerate," she smiled, calming her nerves slightly.

She was feeling a little tired... maybe she should sleep the stress off.

---

"He's still sleeping?" Hancock asked in concern, gnawing on her lips in some concern.

Robin placed her book to the side worriedly and raked a hand against the Rosan burrowed into her.

Ram was off with Angel, being kidnapped by the woman for the time being while Rosan and Mod continued to sleep.

"We should have at least let him eat something. He probably hasn't had a meal in so long," Robin frowned.

Hancock nodded in agreement. "He was already running so low on energy… it's been 3 days now and he's shown no sign of waking."

Saying Robin was worried, was a vast understatement. She still couldn't get the memories out of her head of Rosan's performance and it only amplified her anxiety when she looked at his unconscious form.

It was truly stellar. He dismantled the enemy forces left and right, destroying key parts, taking out strong forces...

He even managed to defeat Aokiji! The man who plagued her nightmares the most! Rosan had defeated him with ingenious strategy, managing to make it out against certain doom.

He did everything so well… and he still took a fatal attack that nearly killed him.

Rosan was fine now but what if he wasn't…? The redhead was peacefully sleeping next to her but w-what if he had really die—

Robin jolted as a hand rested on her shoulder and she let out a deep breath.

Losing any of the Straw Hats was one of Robin's greatest fears but losing Rosan would destroy her because she already thought she lost him. It just couldn't... she couldn't deal with that.

"I'm terrified as well," Hancock said sympathetically. "I'm sure you know, but Rosan and Luffy both saved me when I was at a low and afraid... and I was unable to do anything when they truly needed help… I wanted nothing more than to assist them to the best of my abilities..."

"But Rosan refused it," Robin guessed gently.

She nodded. "He didn't want me to so blatantly risk my island. Even though I was so willing to do just that... he just chopped me on the head and chastised me for being stupid," she explained softly.

"He's a paradox like that. I always find it surprising how caring he can be," Robin sighed.

"And it feels almost impossible to repay him. I still don't know how I can help," Hancock replied.

"It's terrible. This whole thing is a complete disaster," Robin nodded in agreement.

Her captain was severely injured and in shock, her boyfriend was practically in a coma to the world… her future brother in laws were still unconscious as well...

And she didn't know where any other of her crew members were.

It was honestly a mess and now that the high emotions were falling, it made way for the aftermath.

Thankfully, Maro and Aiko had left the reins of their islands in capable hands because Rosan was in no condition to bring them back.

They had been integrating themselves with the people of Amazon Island and Robin was fairly sure that relations were going to be strong between the three islands.

She wouldn't be surprised if they set up an alliance with Rosan in the middle to transport things. Angel and Hancock especially had formed an intense bond that stemmed from how mentally unstable the both of them clearly were.

They got along insanely well. Every completely unreasonable thing Angel said, Hancock had no issue with and the beautiful duo had taken to hanging out with each other as often as possible.

It also helped that they both had such strong and arrogant personalities.

It was nice. Angel didn't really have any close friends that she got on her own but clearly Hancock could handle her and similarly, Angel could handle her cousin.

"Guys!" the subject of her thoughts suddenly shouted, opening the door. "Sabo's awake! It's really bad!"

The two jolted at the panic in Angel's voice and immediately rushed out the room.

Robin made sure Rosan was comfortable by summoning her clones to keep him company.

"Just... don't kill him in the middle of your arguments," Robin ordered, kissing him once on the head before departing out of the room to make it to Sabo's location.

"We're just as worried you know," Canary sighed, staring at the redhead.

Crow had tears running down her eyes and she clutched the redhead. "W-When is he going to wake up? It's been 3 days!" she wailed.

"Relax damnit!" Raven scowled, masking her concern behind anger as she clutched one of his arms. "He'll wake up! He's not dead. You're just filling all of us with anxiety!"

Crow sniffed even as a hand patted her on the head.

"It's okay, Crow. He'll wake up," Canary assured. "Now go cuddle him. He looks very uncomfortable."

The shyest Robin squeaked at that, before Raven pushed her into the man.

She turned scarlet as Rosan immediately wrapped an arm and tucked her in.

"You two are annoying," she mumbled, watching as they followed suit.

"Yeah yeah," Raven rolled her eyes.

"It's our job to encourage our younger sister to be more bold," Canary smiled confidently.

"S-Since when am I the youngest?!" Crow asked in concern.

"Let's not joke ourselves," Raven rolled her eyes.

"I have to agree with the brute here."

"The what?!"

Crow sighed and dug deeper into Rosan.

They were such idiots. Crow was convinced she was the oldest.

---

Sabo awoke abruptly, eyes wide in horror as a great surge of electricity answered his distress.

"Sabo!" Koala shouted in relief.

He did not hear her. The revolutionary let out a scream of anguish and clutched his head.

"I was more worried about you guys then I was myself… I didn't actually think it was going to happen. I'm really sorry."

"I'm sorry! I made you guys waste so much time on me and when you finally achieved your goals… I went and did this."

"Thank you all so much for breathing life back into me… thank you for making me see the value in my life… thank you for loving me…"

"Thank you for being my family. I'm so proud of you all."

"ROSAN!" Sabo howled in agony, tears spilling from his eyes before the blonde abruptly vanished in a spark of lightning.

"Wait, Sabo!" Koala called out in concern. "Hold on! Rosan's not—"

She cut herself off as he vanished and bit her lip, never once seeing her best friend react like that to anything. The agony in his screams...

Sabo was one of the most confident people she knew. Utterly fearless and incredibly skilled. He had joined the Revolutionary Army before her and she had made it a goal to try and surpass the talented boy who was a year younger than her...

To no success at all. Sabo's rate of growth was absurd and she couldn't even be mad about it because the blonde was such a bright personality, even despite his amnesia...

But now he didn't have amnesia and one of the reasons he had such a strong and caring nature... was presumed to be dead.

Except he wasn't dead but Sabo didn't know that.

Koala reached out with her observation but it was a moot point, considering the surge of electricity that suddenly appeared a ways away from her.

"Oh Sabo," she mumbled in concern, taking off after him. As she ran, she encountered a concerned Maro and she stopped to explain the situation to the friend she made over the 3 days.

"Sabo's awake," was all she said.

"Oh. Oh," Maro gnawed her lips in concern. "He still thinks Master is…"

"Yeah… what should we do?" Koala murmured in concern.

"Master is still unconscious… but we can at least tell Sabo he's fine," Maro nodded in determination.

That determination wavered completely as they saw the size of the lightning storm blocking them from reaching Sabo.

Maro reached out and immediately hissed, backing away as the lightning licked her.

Even with her immunity on one side, the other side wouldn't be spared from such a thing and the lightning wasn't weak at all, heightened by Sabo's distress.

Telling him was looking like an impossible task. The cage of electricity was just too large and it effectively blocked anyone from entering.

The roar of thunder was so loud, they could barely hear their own thoughts. It lashed out indiscriminately, perfectly imitating Sabo's turmoil and anguish.

They backed away from it and frowned.

"Is Sabo okay?" Robin asked in concern, approaching their location with Hancock and Angel in tow.

She stopped immediately, looking at the cage of bright blue electricity with wide eyes.

"No, we weren't able to tell him Rosan was fine before he vanished and started this," Koala explained, pained by the entire ordeal.

Hancock frowned. "An understandable reaction… but we must stop this before my people get concerned."

They mulled over the possibilities and frowned as they realized they were coming up blank.

"I can go in," Hancock offered, gazing fearlessly at the lightning. "I will simply coat myself and snap him out of this."

That seemed like the best option. Angel should have some resistance to electricity but there was so much that...

Yawning cut them off and Robin turned to find an exhausted Rosan rubbing his eyes.

"Rosan!" they all shouted in joy, resisting the urge to swamp the redhead.

The redhead was surrounded by Robin's clones, expression half lidded as he leaned onto Raven.

"My little sibling senses went off," Rosan murmured tiredly, gazing at the storm with a barely open gaze. "I'll deal with it."

"But Rosan," Robin tried worriedly, placing a hand on him to stop him from moving forward.

"I know. I'm still really tired," he admitted, sagging slightly.

He looked like he could barely stand straight. The redhead's body was still in the process of healing and for someone who healed so fast, it was jarring to see that even after 3 days he was still not close to being fully healed.

"I wanna go back to sleep. I've never felt so drained before in my life…" he sighed.

Everyone stood straight as his eyes sharpened suddenly and gained a resolve.

"...But my little brother needs me," he said firmly. "I can't let him suffer like this when I'm the reason it's happening."

"...I understand," Robin said with a small smile. "Can you absorb the electricity?"

"I'm fully empty so yea," Rosan replied. "But there's a lot so I might be filled quick."

"That doesn't reassure me at all!" Robin exclaimed, clutching him tightly. "Just… be fast. You can't sustain anymore injuries. You need to completely rest."

"I understand boss," he saluted.

She scowled, ignoring the pleasant tingle at being called boss.

"Be careful," she called out, watching him sigh tiredly and enter the lightning storm.

"I see why Master made us settle down," Angel murmured in concern, clutching Maro protectively. "I can only imagine how it feels watching the person you love charge into dangerous situations all the time."

"It's stressful," Robin admitted truthfully. "I've never felt more afraid than watching Rosan storm Enies Lobby... or Impel Down or Marineford."

Rosan just filled her with stress didn't he? No wonder he had looked so terrified when he thought she was going to break up with him.

"Sometimes I want to tell him to just take a break for a long while and rest… but there's always something to be done," Robin murmured.

"I agree with you wholeheartedly," Angel shuddered.

---

Sabo didn't know what to do. It didn't make sense. Nothing made sense.

It hadn't even been a week since he got his memories back… and he was forced to watch his oldest brother die.

The brother who he was supposed to be keeping watch over.

"Please watch Rosan, Sabo. I'm putting all my faith in you... he's very reckless and he'll do anything to save Ace... please just make sure whatever he does doesn't risk his life."

Robin had requested that. She had looked at him with trust, terror and worry... and Sabo had smiled at her and lied to her face because Rosan had done just that.

He had done just that because Sabo hadn't been good enough to help him.

And now... now his older brother was dead.

Sabo screamed in agony at the memory, curling into himself as his lightning began beating even harsher. He had sustained the least injuries, only truly taking significant damage against Admiral Kizaru but despite that, he couldn't have helped his brother more.

He was an idiot. He made Rosan do so many things. So many little things that added up to this outcome.

Sabo should have helped more. He should have helped him fight Magellan. Should have let him rest more. Shouldn't have made him use Modification for so many little things... should have helped him hijack those ships.

Anything. Anything that would have led to a different outcome.

It had been up to him and he failed.

Tears fell down Sabo's face as he slumped in defeat.

A failure. That's what he was. It was no wonder he had lost his memories. He had failed his brothers once 10 years ago and he failed them again now.

Forget his brothers for 10 years… then force one to work to death without assisting him at all. Sabo could have helped him against Aokiji... Sabo could have done so many things differently.

But he didn't.

Sabo didn't deserve to be integrated back into their family again. Not when he had failed so much at his dutie—

He went stiff as he was abruptly pulled into a firm hug.

But that hug did nothing for him at all.

"Leave me alone," Sabo hissed, trying to push the person away.

He didn't want to be hugged. Sabo didn't need reassurance right now.

He didn't deserve any of that.

Why should he be allowed to feel better? He was the one in charge of protecting his brothers and he failed utterly and completely—

"Could you kill the lightning? There's only so much of it I can absorb. I'm already pretty injured," a heartbreakingly familiar voice said, dragging him back into the hug.

Sabo sucked in a deep breath at that, eyes going wide as he completely froze.

"R-Rosan?" he asked quietly.

"It's me," his brother replied softly. "I'm not dead yet. I'm still here to help you better control your electricity."

Sabo hesitantly raised a hand and placed it onto Rosan, not believing what he was hearing or seeing.

He took a good long look at his brother, from his exhausted gaze, to his glowing eyes, to the brilliant red hair that was dipped in black.

"I'm serious Sabo. It's me," Rosan said softly, watching as his blonde brother began shuddering in his grasp.

Sabo shook, disbelief turning into sadness and sadness turning into relief, before the blond burst into tears.

"I'm sorry, Rosan!" Sabo sobbed, squeezing his brother with all his might. "I should have had your back more! I shouldn't have made you do so much! You were relying on me and I wasn't doing anything while you warded off threat after threat!"

Rosan pat his brother soothingly. "Hey it's okay. You did your part perfectly. Don't beat yourself up about it Sabo, you'll make me sad," he admitted.

"But you…" Sabo trailed off, feeling like he were 10 again.

"I know. I wasn't strong enough… There were a lot of tough opponents out there but we'll match them in due time," he assured.

Sabo shuddered at the deep and soothing voice of his older brother.

"You're really good?" Sabo asked quietly.

"Yeah, I'm good. I just need to sleep," he mumbled.

Sabo said nothing for a long while… and then the lightning around them began dying down until it dissipated into nothing.

"I'm so glad you're alive, Rosan," he mumbled, squeezing his brother tightly.

"I'm sorry for worrying you," Rosan replied, holding him with a soft smile.

"Don't apologize. Don't apologize for anything," Sabo said strongly, shaking his head at the thought that Rosan would try to take blame.

"You did nothing wrong. You did everything right."

Rosan smiled tiredly at that and ran a hand through his messy blonde hair. "I could say the same to you," he retorted.

Sabo felt nothing but relief at seeing and feeling his brother.

The two remained there for a while, Rosan letting his little brother get his emotions in place, before the sound of rapid footsteps approached.

As Sabo glanced up in confusion, Rosan stepped back in time for Koala to tackle the blond to the floor.

"Sabo! You're okay!" Koala exclaimed.

"...Koala?" Sabo muttered in confusion. "What are you doing here— mghm?!"

Whatever Sabo was about to say was cut off, due to Koala planting an insanely unexpected kiss directly onto his lips.

"Huh, she actually did it," Rosan snorted in amusement, sagging into Robin's arms as she held him up.

"Maybe she got tired of your teasing," Robin said. "Do you want to go back to sleep?" she asked.

"Mhm," he nodded. "Let's give the lovebirds some privacy."

"Do you want some food, cousin?" Hancock asked in concern.

"He's already asleep," Robin smiled fondly, clutching him softly. "I really do think he woke up on pure instinct."

Hancock sighed. "Let us bring him back to bed then. He's recovering well."

Robin nodded in agreement.

---

"AHHHGH!"

"Straw Hat, wait!"

Luffy didn't hear them. Luffy couldn't hear anything.

The rubber boy screamed and ran, disappearing into the jungle that was Amazon Island.

He panted, body riddled with injuries that weren't even close to healed. He was wrapped head to toe in bloodied bandages but he did not notice in his distress.

"Where am I? Maybe it was a dream," Luffy huffed, staring into the sky as he lost the energy to run.

He began breathing heavily, just staring into the sky as the memories resurfaced into his head.

"I'm sorry, Lu. I'm just a big liar."

Luffy gripped his head and screamed in anguish.

"Whether you have me or not… you'll always be a fantastic captain. That's why I chose to follow you… you're the only person alive that I 100% accept as my captain."

Memories of holding his bloodied brother filled his head and Luffy howled, as he was forced to watch the light leave his eyes over and over and over again.

"GET OFF! GET OFF ME!" he screeched.

Without any hesitation, Luffy slammed his already injured body around. He grasped his head and crashed it onto a rock, heedless of the stress it was putting his body in.

He continued overexerting himself, screaming in agony as his already weakened body gave out and he collapsed.

"Thank you for being my family. I'm so proud of you all."

"AGHHHH!" Luffy howled in agony as he bashed his head onto the ground, watching as blood spilled everywhere.

So much blood. Rosan had been bleeding so much.

"You're done for Luffy. You won't be useful like this."

"Ugh," Luffy sobbed weakly.

Rosan died... because of him... because Luffy wasn't...

"Me... become King of the Pirates?" Luffy weeped, holding his head as true despair washed over him.

"You're not strong enough!"

"I'M SO WEAK!" he wailed.

"Oh Luffy..."

Robin made eye contact with her captain and crouched in front of him, pulling the injured boy into a hug.

Luffy sniffed. "R-Robin?" he asked quietly.

Then, his expression dipped further into despair.

"R-Robin..." he sobbed weakly. "I'm sorry... I was too weak."

Robin's eyes narrowed in concern and she grasped Luffy gently.

Luffy, much like Rosan, was someone who was absolutely confident in their strength. For him to admit to being weak... it was no different than getting his spirit completely shattered.

For Luffy to say he couldn't become King of Pirates... it was no different than a death sentence.

That wasn't good at all.

"I couldn't protect anybody... Because of me, you lost a-and Rosan..."

Robin couldn't dare to let Luffy think these thoughts any longer.

"Yes Luffy... you're too weak. We're all too weak," Robin said softly, holding the rubber boy. "That stubborn and headstrong attitude of yours finally met a wall that it couldn't overcome... and now we've been forced to face the ugly truth."

Luffy sniffed, only to freeze as someone placed a hat atop his head.

"We need to get stronger, Lu," a terribly familiar voice, one that made Luffy's heart stop, said to him.

Luffy shakily looked up, meeting the soft gaze of his oldest brother.

Rosan looked like he had seen better days but Luffy looked as if he had been through a warzone.

"R-Rosan...?" Luffy stammered in confusion, wiping his eyes to get a better look at the person talking.

"I still think you can become Pirate King without me... but I'll help you reach it faster. I'm the Captain's Shadow after all," Rosan said softly, watching as the tears resurged.

Luffy's lips wobbled and he let out a sharp sob, tackling Rosan to the floor.

"ROSAN!" Luffy cried, squeezing his brother like he'd disappear at any moment.

"Oh Luffy," Mod whimpered with foggy eyes, watching as he wailed against Rosan's chest.

"I'm sorry! I should have listened to you! I shouldn't have asked Iva for another shot. I-If I didn't, you wouldn't have had to take that attack!" Luffy blubbered.

Rosan wrapped his baby brother in a gentle hug and let out a soft hum.

"It's okay," he soothed, shooting Jinbe, who had been watching over Luffy, a grateful look. "You know I won't blame you for things like that... beyond saying I told you so," he smiled.

"Mhm!" Luffy nodded on his chest, shuddering against his older brother with the vulnerability of his 7 year old counterpart.

Rosan sighed. "We're weak Luffy. Our strength can't take us any further," he said bitterly.

"He's right," Jinbe interjected. "I was asked by Ace to watch over you two if something happens... and I only agreed to do so after you earned my respect. You two have done just that so from someone who wants the best for you all, think of what you stand to lose if you continue your journey."

"...Our crew," Luffy realized. "If we... continue right now. We'll lose someone just like how I almost lost Rosan."

The rubber boy gripped his chest.

"I don't... I don't want to lose anyone!" he exclaimed. "We can't lose anyone!"

"I agree," Rosan and Robin agreed.

"But what do we do?" Robin asked with a frown.

"I have a suggestion, but it's up to you whether you'd like to listen or not."

Everyone perked up at that voice and turned.

"Old man Rayleigh!" Luffy exclaimed.

"You," Rosan said with a frown. "What are you doing here and what do you want?"

Rayleigh smiled at them all. "I swam over here from Sabaody. Shakky was worried after reading the news. Resurrected from the ashes... you've caused quite the stir Rosan," he explained.

Rosan said nothing, frowning at that.

Maybe he had more people to pay visits to.

"You already realize you aren't strong enough... but you don't know what to do about it. You need to all train. Kuma didn't send you all away because you're enemies. He did it to help. That's what he told me," Rayleigh explained.

As they listened to Rayleigh's explanation, Rosan's frown deepened.

Kuma had been helping... he sent Robin to the Revolutionaries who had been interested in her and he sent Luffy to Amazon Island... for whatever reason.

Was he really helping? What the hell would Luffy gain from coming to Amazon Island?

If Rosan knew where the others had been sent, he'd be able to verify if Kuma really was trying to help...

But Kuma did send Rosan to his mother's island...

The redhead sighed. "It's a good idea but, I really hate having to do that..."

"But I don't think we have much of a choice," Robin muttered, just as putout by the idea.

That sounded... absurd, leaving and training for two years? Was this what Kuma planned by separating all of them? Were he and Rayleigh both helping them by putting them on ideal islands?

Dragon had already accepted the idea to train her so if she went back... she'd be receiving training from the world's most wanted man.

Not to mention, hadn't Rosan been sent to his mother's island? Her boyfriend mentioned that she was stronger than him and she certainly could help him train too.

Perhaps it was for good reason... the New World sounded treacherous and maybe they really weren't ready for it.

Judging by his frown, Luffy realized it too.

"How do we tell them?" Luffy asked.

Rayleigh smiled.

---

Marineford was in complete shambles after the war.

Whitebeard and Rosan had stamped their statements into the very island itself. Marineford Town had been completely obliterated by the redhead, Marineford itself had practically split in half from the deceased world's strongest man...

They were trying to salvage as much as they could of the stronghold, forces spread everywhere, but it looked dire.

In the two weeks since the world, much of the place had already been thrown into complete disarray. Blackbeard and Cutter had already made their statements by immediately entering the New World and annihilating the rest of the Whitebeard Pirates in an epic battle that the Blackbeard Pirates won decisively.

It seemed like they had finished the job the Marines had begun... but taking their place, was not what they had intended.

Alas there was not much to be done—

Everyone froze in shock, as four figures burst onto the scene abruptly with a thunderous boom...

And the reason for that boom, was due to the giant dragon landing on the ground.

The very familiar looking dragon.

Rosan felt the wave of terror washing over them, as they gazed at his form and he huffed.

Destroying them all would be easy. There were no Admirals here.

But, Rosan wasn't here for that. He was here to relay a message to his crew.

The redhead rested his head on his claws, watching as Luffy, Jinbe and Rayleigh rushed forward.

Despite his heavy injuries, Luffy effortlessly evaded the panicking Marines.

The redhead transformed back to normal and floated idly towards the bell, watching as Luffy rang it 16 times.

"16?!" the Marine's shouted in shock

Then, Luffy put removed his Straw Hat and placed it on his heart.

At the same time Rosan placed a palm over his own heart and the two shut their eyes, sharing a moment of silence.

Finally, after a long while the two stopped what they were doing.

Luffy grasped Rosan's hand and the redhead grunted, spreading his wings and taking off.

"You think they understand?" Luffy asked curiously.

"The only ones who wouldn't are you and Zoro," Rosan replied, landing on the ship waiting for them. He huffed at the unexpected drain from such small actions but he was still rebuilding his strength.

"Are you sure you'll be fine with just that old man?" he asked his littlest brother.

He had brought all the rulers back to their islands and he had brought Sabo and Koala back to the revolutionaries...

And Robin would join them soon.

Two years.

Robin made sure to let him know that he was still expected to visit her but Luffy on the other hand didn't want to see anyone until the two years were over.

It was a self inflicted punishment for being too weak. This was something Rosan would do, not Luffy... which was why it caught him by such surprise.

"I'll be fine, Rosan! Just visit me if Ace wakes up okay?" Luffy requested, leaning up and hugging his oldest brother.

Rosan frowned.

From what Law had told him, his injuries had fully healed, he hadn't taken anything severe to the head and besides some gruesome scars, he was perfectly fine.

But he was still unconscious... almost completely unresponsive.

The redhead sighed. Right now, Ace was on Celadon for the time being.

Hopefully he'd wake up soon. Rosan knew his brother was in a coma because he took the full blame for practically killing his older brother due to his stupidity.

If even Robin could feel hatred for him at such an action, Rosan could only imagine what his little brother felt about himself.

"Take care of my little brother, Rayleigh," Rosan said softly, turning towards the man with a narrowed gaze.

"I'll train him to the best of my ability," Rayleigh smiled reassuringly. "You can trust me... but could you visit Shakky? She's worried about you."

Rosan nodded. "I'll pay her a visit. I've got a lot of visits to pay anyways..."

The redhead grunted as he was pulled into a tight hug.

"I-I know you won't visit Luffy... but could you still visit me?" Hancock pleaded, eyes set into puppy dogs.

Rosan sighed and nodded. "Of course, cousin. That's the least I can do for you, alright? I can even bring you around to Celadon for family visits."

Hancock beamed and nodded, squeezing him tightly. "Okay! Thank you!"

"No need to thank me. That's what family is for."

Something about his statement seemed to short circuit Hancock's brain and the woman fainted in his grasp, a dumb smile on her face.

Rosan smiled at her and carried her, placing her on the bed right next to Luffy.

"There, now she can faint twice," he said in amusement.

"Make sure to train with Hancock too, Luffy. She's really strong," he encouraged, leaning over his cousin and engulfing his little brother again.

"Alright, Rosan! I'll see you in two years!" Luffy exclaimed.

Rosan smiled thinly.

He didn't want to not see his little brother for 2 years... but he didn't have much choice.

Besides, he understood Luffy's resolve. He wouldn't spit on his brother just because he missed him.

"Rosan, you're squeezing me hard," Luffy told him, watching his brother's impossible grip tighten.

Rosan blinked and released his brother reluctantly.

"Alright. I'm going now," he muttered, vanishing before he could waver in his resolve.

Luffy watched him go with an equally depressed expression.

"You two aren't used to being separated, are you?" Rayleigh asked knowingly.

"No. Rosan's mine," Luffy sighed forlornly.

The Dark King chuckled. "You two truly are brothers I'll say."

---

Rosan sighed tiredly, dipping into his Pocket Dimension and inside his castle.

To his surprise, he didn't get immediately attacked.

"I was wondering when you'd eventually show up..."

Aokiji removed Rosan's sleeping mask (he didn't even use it), from his face and regarded the redhead with a curious expression.

"...This is a nice place you've got. I sensed you entering and exiting recently but you moved too quick."

Rosan grunted. "Didn't wanna get killed while transferring people. It'd be inconvenient if they got trapped in here."

Aokiji raised a brow at that. "So you approached me alone, on the chance that I'd kill you? You're noble, Red Devil."

Rosan peered at him. "Been helping yourself to my food and stuff huh?" he asked conversationally.

"I've been enjoying my vacation," Aokiji shrugged. "Though, I figured you were going to leave me in here to starve to death eventually."

The redhead scoffed and shook his head. "Not at all. I wasn't satisfied with our fight... and I don't need you dying in here. I don't even know how long that would take but I want you out."

Aokiji looked surprised at that. "You don't plan on finding some way to kill me? I'm trapped here. No way out at all. The world's in an uproar with an Admiral missing I imagine."

"..." Rosan said nothing. "I died you know," he said suddenly.

The Admiral froze at that.

"What?" Kuzan scratched his head. "If anything, you feel the most alive I've ever felt since meeting you."

Sure his hair was a little different but died?

"The one who did it was Admiral Akainu," Rosan explained, ignoring him and crossing his arms with a frown. "I remember our meeting at Water 7. You mentioned that my absolute hatred reminds you of a terrible person... that's him right?" he asked curiously.

"..." Aokiji let out a cool breath, never moving from his spot even as he stared in the knowing eyes of the redhead.

If possible, it seemed like the redhead had gained a new level of wisdom to himself. One that was visible far more.

"That's right," Aokiji said. "I've seen what absolutes do. Sakazuki was the one who eliminated every citizen of Ohara. He blew up their ship on the off chance that even a single scholar could have escaped onto it."

"..."

"That's... terrible," Mod said quietly.

Rosan took a deep breath. "Perhaps... a past version of me would have done the same if a Marine I hated tried to hide themselves."

The redhead shook his head.

"I've learned a few things about myself and while I considered leaving you in here until you starved to death... you spared my life two times when you didn't have to. Considering you contributed greatly to me dying during the war, I'll consider this favor #2 and now we're even," Rosan said idly.

He sighed and took a deep breath.

"And besides, better for a coward to become a leader than an absolute asshole," he grunted.

Aokiji stared at the redhead in genuine surprise. "Alright. I'll accept your temporary peace offering... reluctantly. I was enjoying sleeping in here."

Rosan scoffed. "You sure made yourself at home. Now I have to burn and change my sheets... and restock on supplies."

"You sure do have a way with your words, Red Devil," Aokiji sighed, standing up.

Rosan craned his neck to stare at the admiral and shrugged. "This doesn't make us friends. You've beaten me twice now so the next time we battle, I'll take my victory. I still have to get justice for Robin."

The Admiral lazily rubbed a hand against his head. "You have a big heart. It's just a shame that the world poisoned it. You'd have been a good ally."

"Don't put that idea in my head or you'll end up in the middle of nowhere," Rosan said gruffly. "Get ready to go. I want you out of my sight quick."

Aokiji sighed tiredly before he thought of something.

"Red Devil... who is that little girl?"

Rosan stiffened at that.

"...Someone very dear to my heart," he replied eventually. "If she were still here, perhaps you'd have seen the version of me you're convinced exists somewhere."

"..." Aokiji said nothing at that.

"Ah, so that's why you've ended up like that," he said in realization.

The Admiral nodded. "I understand."

Rosan said nothing, barely flinching as Aokiji placed a hand on him. "Just my luck to put the only decent Admiral in here," he sighed.

If Akainu had been the one, the world would have never seen him again.

Bummer.

His eyes glowed and they vanished.

Sunlight suddenly bombarded Aokiji and even despite the fact the Admiral had been practically trapped in an all consuming darkness, he barely flinched.

Rosan said nothing, merely spreading his wings and flying at intense speeds, merely trusting that Aokiji wouldn't turn on him.

Well, even if he did, Rosan still had Shinigami activated.

"There," Rosan said gruffly, landing atop the giant trees of a familiar archipelago. "We're at Sabaody. You should be able to handle the rest."

"I'm surprised you actually freed me. Killing me would be a heavy blow to the World Government," Aokiji pointed out.

"I'm trying to be better. Killing someone who spared my life, would leave a bad taste in my mouth," Rosan grunted, wings spreading as he flew off the tree.

The redhead soared away without hesitation. "See ya Admiral Aokiji. Don't make me regret doing this."

With that, the redhead vanished.

Aokiji watched him go and sighed.

"Troublesome redhead leaving me on the tallest tree here."

---

As Zoro stared at the newspaper, wrapping bandages around his body with the help of his little bird friend, he grunted.

"What does this mean?" he asked the bird that Rosan had gifted him.

He couldn't wrap his head around anything that was happening... but he knew one thing for sure.

Something had happened to Rosan. The newspaper wouldn't have been speaking about him like he had died otherwise.

At seeing that his crewmate had supposedly resurrected from certain death, along with the image of his captain in clear distress, Zoro had made the decision to leave the island at the earliest convenience.

Unfortunately, the monkeys on this island thought otherwise. He had been fighting them all day and night, body aching at having faced them all.

Now he was licking his wounds in a castle that he now knew belonged to Hawkeye.

How did he know?

Well because Hawkeye was here now.

The bird chirped in his ear and Zoro glanced at it.

"It's a message?" he murmured, watching as the bird nodded in a pleased manner.

A message... for the crew?

"So that's what you want?" he frowned.

He had no idea what had happened to the oldest members of the crew.

"Ambitionless was struck with a fatal blow," Mihawk explained, reading the newspaper with a neutral expression.

Zoro jolted at that. "So... it's true?!"

"That's correct. Due to the foolish actions of Fire Fist, he was forced to intervene and weather the blow for him."

Mihawk looked interested, shutting his newspaper as he regarded Zoro.

"I felt it. I'm sure everyone felt it. The Red Devil died from his wounds and Straw Hat entered shock... yet he utilized a strange technique that allowed him to survive, becoming a new person altogether. Tell me, what did he do?"

Zoro scowled at the question.

He didn't know what Rosan did. Zoro couldn't tell Mihawk because he himself wasn't sure... but it sounded like something involving his Devil Fruit.

But what Zoro did know is that he was too weak. Luffy and Rosan had fought in a war that resulted in their strongest member nearly dying.

They raided Impel Down... fought in Marineford...

All while Zoro had been trapped here because he had been too weak to do anything...

Hawkeye watched with a curious expression, as Zoro got on all fours and bowed his head to the floor.

"Teach me what you know," Zoro requested.

He wasn't strong enough... and not only that, Luffy and Rosan had made their decision.

Forgoing meeting up in three days... to instead meet up in two years. They weren't ready for the New World, so they needed to stay put and build up their strength.

And the best way for Zoro to do that, was by asking Hawkeye for assistance, even if it meant throwing away his pride.

"You would throw away your pride in order to ask me for help? I am your enemy, Roronoa. You disappoint me."

Mihawk's expression was grave, as he glared at the kneeling swordsman.

Zoro said nothing, head bowed low.

"Trashed by the monkeys and unable to head out to sea... get out of my sight."

"I already beat the monkeys," Zoro interrupted. "They weren't a challenge for me... the only opponent I have left is you... but I can't beat you yet."

Mihawk's expression turned slightly confused. "I don't understand. Why would you humiliate yourself and bow to an enemy?"

"To surpass you," Zoro said, full of conviction.

Mihawk's eyes widened at that, before the man unexpectedly burst into laughter.

"Very well. Tend to your wounds. Once you've done so, I will instruct you."

To throw away your pride... a man of such caliber, would only do that for the sake of another.

Mihawk looked on in amusement, as the bird traveling with Zoro pecked him in annoyance at the sight of him digging at his bandages.

This would certainly be interesting.

Zoro grinned.

Two years... they had two years to get as strong as possible.

Once those two years arrived, they'd meet up again at Sabaody.

Until then, Zoro would become the strongest he could. Strong enough to protect the entire crew.

---

"So that's what they want?" Nami sighed, gazing at the newspaper with furrowed brows.

The speed at which she tried to leave this place, after hearing that Rosan had died of all things, left Nami reeling now that she had received this second newspaper.

How selfish could they be? Nami wanted nothing more than to make sure her crewmates were doing better but now she had to wait two years to verify...

Nami sighed and turned back to the island she had been blasted to.

"Hey... I'm sorry for beating you all up?" she smiled her most winningest smile.

The old men on the fascinating island groaned.

"You're the Devil," one of them rasped.

"That's not me. That's my crewmate who I'm really worried about but I'm not allowed to see him and it's REALLY annoying," Nami scowled.

"For once, I agree with you. Being unable to truly verify the state of Master Rosan."

"Tell me about it. I can't just read news that he died and resurrected after we finally helped him..." Nami sighed, turmoil destroying her on the inside.

Luffy and Rosan's message was loud and clear.

Stay put and train for two years, then meet back up in Sabaody.

"But isn't it strange that we've landed on some island that truly seems perfect for us?" Clima asked curiously.

Nami nodded in agreement.

Weatheria was what it was called and their technology fascinated Nami something fierce...

She thought back to the newspaper... back to how it had a picture of a Rosan with a glassy look in his eyes as he smiled... and how he was surrounded by so many people who had clear despair on their face.

Somehow, Rosan had survived... Nami didn't know how but he had and it seemed that it taught him they weren't ready for the world yet.

Nami hated that she couldn't disagree.

They had been relying too much on Rosan. It was time for them to start pulling their own weight.

Two years...

"Two years is enough for us to become much stronger, Clima."

"Such motivation! Yes, let us take this island for the blessing it is and turn that knowledge into our own."

Nami wiped her tears and nodded in raw determination.

She'd get stronger in these two years. Next time they saw her, they wouldn't even recognize who she was.

---

"Two years...? I'm supposed to survive for two years without them?" Usopp, who had gained an obscene amount of weight, gasped in concern.

Here Usopp was, trying his damndest to get off this strange island at the knowledge that his scariest crewmate had somehow died and now he was being told by that same person and his captain that they should stay where they are...

The coward was sat a ways away from his ally Heracles, contemplating what to do now.

"I gained so much weight," he frowned to himself.

That hellish workout Rosan had put him through, had caused Usopp's physical strength to begin increasing rapidly. He had Rosan lift that weight restriction off the hammer and was amazed to see how much faster he was able to swing it.

That had been the surest proof that Usopp was improving. Such a thought had filled the coward with a lot more confidence.

Luckily, it seemed like his physical strength hadn't completely dwindled...

So why the hell was the hammer so heavy?!

Usopp gasped, quickly put out of breath at the herculean attempt to lift up his trusty hammer. Even before when Rosan added weight to it, the liar had been capable of at least lifting it up slightly off the ground.

Now? He couldn't even make it budge!

Did Rosan... did he increase how much it weighed? How did Usopp never notice?!

...So even now Rosan was trying to help him in his own way. If Usopp gained the power to lift this hammer, would he have the right to confidently stand side by side with his crew?

The sniper flinched as he thought of the newspaper. The one that detailed that Rosan had died and come back to life...

The same picture that had their scout gazing up with a glassy look, all while Luffy, Ram, Sabo and Ace cried over him.

Usopp stared at the hammer, tears forming.

Rosan had been through a lot and still, he was standing tall. Losing some weight and gaining some strength was nothing in comparison.

Stay put and train for two years...

Usopp would do that. He'd train for two years and by the end of it, he'd at least be able to lift this hammer up to take off the island.

---

"You're telling me Rosan really did die?" Sanji asked in disbelief, gazing at the tall okama with unbelieving eyes.

"I saw it with my own eyes," Iva explained with a frown. "He took an attack meant for Fire Fist... it blew a hole right through his abdomen. I was reduced to tears at seeing such a hard working young man meet his end but then... he suddenly came back."

Sanji took a step back, feeling a wave of vertigo hit him as he stared at the newspaper telling them to stay where they were for two years.

Did they really expect their crew to be able to listen to such a request, after they learned one of their members had died?!

The reasoning sounded completely believable too. Dying because of Ace? Every Straw Hat had seen Rosan's memories... they knew exactly how reckless Ace was.

The entire family was reckless and as the most reckless, Rosan was completely aware of that, taking steps to make sure they didn't suffer from their actions.

It wasn't the first time he had tried to fix Ace's mistakes... but Sanji never expected Rosan to pay a price so great for it.

The chef fell at that, holding his head.

"Seriously...? And you said he suddenly came back?" Sanji asked.

Iva nodded, noting the chef's reaction and frowning. "It was nothing I've ever seen. I felt my despair amplify... and I watched as the Red Devil became a true demon," he explained.

Sanji froze at that. "Was it an all black creature? One that didn't look natural at all? Terrifying screech with unnerving sockets for eyes?" he asked.

Iva's eyes were wide at that. "An exact match! You truly are a Straw Hat! He later summoned a woman with white hair with the scariest abilities!" he exclaimed.

Shit... Rosan had used the virus. How would the virus interact with his body if he died?

Was it even still Rosan there?

Sanji looked at the newspaper again.

No, whatever had happened to Rosan, he dealt with. That's why he was next to Luffy...

Had Rosan solved the virus issue? It sure looked like it.

And now they wanted the rest of the crew to remain where they were, honing their skills and getting stronger.

Rosan and Luffy were incredibly confident. Those two weren't the type to doubt their strength, which meant that whatever they had experienced at the war, had humbled them enough to acknowledge that they weren't ready for the New World...

If those two didn't think they were ready, then they weren't ready. It was as simple as that.

Sanji didn't know what happened with Rosan but at the very least, the redhead was alive now.

He could still make him... no he could make the crew the best meal now.

Sanji took a deep breath and nodded to himself.

Two years... alright, he could do that. He could go two years without seeing Nami or Robin...

He could go two years only seeing these... okama.

Yeah. Yeah...

---

"Two years?!" Chopper shouted in shock.

But... two years?! How could Chopper go two years without at least checking on Rosan.

It didn't matter if he looked fine in the picture. The news had said he died!

Just the thought reduced the reindeer to tears.

Rosan had sustained a fatal blow without Chopper there to check on him?

What was he even the ship's doctor for if he couldn't be there for his crewmate?!

Rosan and Luffy both participating in a war that resulted in Rosan nearly dying and Luffy with heavy injuries...

And Chopper couldn't check on them.

How could he trust those two to stay alive for two years?! I-It hadn't even been that long since they separated and the moment they did, they both gained these heavy injuries!

But... maybe that was why they were asking them to wait two years.

Rosan and Luffy... they were both incredibly strong but it was clear they weren't invincible.

They both had really big hearts and they wanted to protect them all, so maybe they realized they weren't strong enough to do that just yet.

...Why was Chopper relying on them so much to stay safe? He was the doctor! It was his job to make sure they were safe!

Chopper knew Rosan now. He knew how self destructive the redhead innately was.

Self destruction combined with a heart that was too big... Rosan wasn't the type to die so easy. Not unless he was protecting someone.

They... they really made him do too much.

In order to curb Rosan's desire to protect so strongly, Chopper needed to become strong enough to curb his worry.

"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 would become a monster to his enemies... and then he could show his crew the side that would never think less of him.

Because even despite being a monster, Rosan still had people who could cry freely if something happened to him.

Chopper was living proof of that... and even Meiko, the sweetest girl that Chopper looked up to, was capable of loving him unconditionally.

Rosan had been speaking from experience when he spoke to Chopper. It was okay to be a monster... as long as he still had people who saw past that monster.

As long as his crew knew he was Chopper, he could spend these two years becoming the monster everyone else thought he was.

---

Franky, who's front half had gotten blown up, was scouring through the blueprints of Vegapunk's second lab... the one that had survived the explosion.

"They want us to get stronger in two years eh?" He muttered to himself, glancing at the Newspaper for a long while.

To be honest, Franky was finding it hard to believe that Red was struck with a fatal blow... but the picture had been there loud and clear.

Any doubt Franky had, was dashed away at the second newspaper.

The one that had Luffy and Rosan praying.

Both brothers came to the agreement that they needed to hold off on meeting for two years so that they could get stronger.

That was serious. Rosan alone was stubborn enough that it was almost impossible to get him to concede to things. If you combined that with Luffy?

The two brothers were utterly unyielding so for them to both put that audacious confidence of theirs to the side to acknowledge that they weren't strong enough...

Who was Franky to go against what they said? If they weren't strong enough, that meant none of them were. They would all need to get stronger if they wanted to brave the New World.

Sunny was doing their part, it would be shameful if the Straw Hats weren't enough to protect the ship.

"Alright, I super heard you loud and clear," Franky nodded, soaking up all the information he could.

Two years with Blueprints from Vegapunk... Franky would be able to make the best weapons around!

"SUPER!" Franky shouted eagerly, before lowering his voice at the sounds of Marines.

---

Brook read the newspaper in his cage, expression undecipherable as he absorbed the information.

"Yohoho! If that's what you want... but I must compose a truly magnificent song for our reunion," he said softly.

Despite not having spoken to Rosan much, Brook actually felt closest to the redhead out of his new crew, by virtue of seeing his memories.

In fact, since being resurrected by his Devil Fruit, Rosan was the one new person who Brook truly felt like he got to know. His isolation in the Florian Triangle meant that he truly had not had any allies for those lonely years.

The redhead held a special spot in his bony heart due to that. It was as if Brook had a true friend.

So he was understandably crushed when he saw news that Rosan had been struck with a fatal blow. It was a relief to read that he had not been truly killed... but the government wouldn't say such a thing for no reason. They had no reason to lie in such a way.

Rosan had truly been struck with a blow that was supposed to kill him, but he had survived somehow...

And Brook didn't think Rosan had a copy of his Devil Fruit. The redhead showed interest in extracting Devil Fruits but he hadn't succeeded in such a thing yet.

Which meant it was likely the virus had something to do with it and that was a scary thought.

Brook saw what the virus was capable of when he witnessed the memories of Water 7. He saw what happened to the one agent that participated in the kidnap of Robin... and he saw the sheer vitriol Rosan and the Virus had with one another.

The skeleton sighed.

Well, his worries about what had happened had been mostly dashed when he saw the second newspaper. Rosan looked mostly fine and while Luffy was injured, the two had managed to both assuage the crews worry and relay a message at the same time.

Two years to get stronger. Brook had barely been apart of the crew and such a lofty thing was expected of him...

But he would train as hard as he could. This utterly helpless feeling was one he had felt for 50 years but now he could work to actually do something towards it.

Two years was nothing in comparison! Yohohoho!

---

"Perhaps you should reconsider, Rosan?"

Rosan sighed. "I understand Mod-chan. I get why you would be hesitant, but there aren't many people who can help me."

Mod grumbled in disappointment. "Why not just go with Robin? I'm sure Dragon would be fantastic and Sabo is there too!"

Rosan sighed. "Robin and I are too dependent on each other. We need to have our own lives," he explained slowly.

Robin looked up at that. "I hope you don't think that means you can go the entire two years without seeing me. That is absolutely not acceptable," she said firmly.

2 years was quite a long time and she'd be damned if she went that long without seeing him.

Luffy wanted to be left alone for the 2 years but… Robin couldn't go that long without seeing Rosan and she was sure he was the same.

So they'd be seeing each other of course.

Rosan let out an audible sigh of relief. "Thank Kami. I don't think I'd last a week."

"You give yourself too much credit. You wouldn't last a full day."

"5 hours if we're being honest," Ram chirped happily.

"If I remember correctly, on the girls trip, you two couldn't even go a few hours without missing my presence," Rosan retorted, stretching idly.

"S-Shut up! I was just worried that you'd be lonely without us!" Mod scowled.

Rosan rolled his eyes. "You've become such a brute lately Mod-chan. How unladylike of you. You sure have gotten an ego."

Mod spluttered. "I've decided I need to change myself as well. Do not call me a brute! I'm willing to fight you about it now!" she warned.

Rosan laughed at that, before it turned into a slight cough. He grabbed his midsection and huffed.

To his annoyance, the Philosopher's Stone was still rather dormant. It was reigniting but it was a slow process.

Dying did that. Pe-chan had forcefully combined themself with the stone and basically made it go into overdrive, all while pumping the viruses energy through his veins.

The forceful transformation had given him enough time to drain the lifeforce of two people. He was full of vitality, more than the average person and the stone amplified that tenfold.

He imagined it'd be back to full power in another month or two but until then, he'd have to recover normally like a human.

Bummer.

"I'm coming with you. There are things I want to say anyways," Robin said decisively.

Rosan nodded in agreement. "Of course. I imagine if things go to plan you'll be seeing them a lot these 2 years."

"Seriously, can't you just—"

"No, Mod-chan," Rosan interrupted gently.

"I hate you."

"I know," he said soothingly.

The redhead took a deep breath, raking a hand through his hair.

"We'll be flying mostly," he informed her. "I'll teleport close to Celadon and it'll maybe take an hour or two to get there."

She nodded in acceptance. "Okay. It's been a while since it's just been us."

"Do you want me to take you out on more dates?" Rosan asked, raising a brow as they vanished to near Celadon.

The Devil Child rolled her eyes. "Yes, that would be nice. We have two years so I expect a lot. Maro loves when Angel takes her out."

They both laughed and Rosan transformed into a dragon to better carry her.

He'd visit Aiko but she was currently in full mother hen mode so she wouldn't let him leave if he did drop by.

Well, that was everyone. Even Sabo had been reluctant to let him go... but he understood that one.

Ace was still in a coma after all. Rosan didn't know when his brother was going to wake up.

He sighed to himself.

"It's okay, Rosan," Robin soothed, patting his scales. "He'll wake up eventually."

"I'm sure he will. Ace is as self destructive as me... but he's also just as whipped by our family as I am," Rosan replied. "He won't let us down."

Robin smiled at his conviction. "I still can't believe we won't be meeting up officially as a crew until two years from now... I'm so glad you created Save Point."

"I created Save Point because of my obsessive desire to never be separated from the people I love... so it was a technique you inspired," Rosan explained with a smile, maw curling up at the thought.

Robin felt her heart swell at his admittance. She already knew that but hearing it from him was always nice.

"And you have the audacity to say I don't inspire other things from you. The loudest and sweetest boy wearing muted colors like black... sure Rosan," she mocked.

"You might be one of his biggest inspirations. You saw the memories. Rosan absolutely adored you."

The dragon twitched, stopping momentarily.

"I'd be careful if I were you two," Rosan warned lowly, continuing his flight.

Robin giggled. "You show shamelessly admitted to staring at me when we bathed but you won't admit that you look up to me? Isn't your thinking a little backwards?" she pressed with an amused smile.

"There's no shame in admitting I stared at you. I know you stared at me too. The reason I won't admit such a nonsensical thing, is because you yourself refuse to admit that you look up to me."

The Devil Child scowled slightly at him. "Why would I look up to a narcissistic, selfish, egoistical redhead?" she asked.

"You're saying that about a person who you basically asked out by the way," he pointed out. "What does that say about you?"

"...I showed the man who wouldn't stop staring at me, some pity," she replied eventually.

Rosan burst into laughter. In his dragon form it was a loud and terrifying thing.

"And I'm the narcissist. We boosted your confidence by too much. You're lucky I think it's cute."

"Gross."

"Get a room."

Robin and Rosan rolled their eyes.

"We haven't even done anything," Robin pointed out.

"Yeah you guys are stiffs. It's especially crazy that Ram can read erotic books but draws the line at light flirting," Rosan rolled his eyes. "...Also I'm confiscating all your books."

"WHAT?!" Ram howled, mortified.

"Absolutely not," Rosan said. "Read less inappropriate stuff. I'd feel like a terrible father if I caught you reading that."

"I-I don't read it for that! They just have the most interesting romance plots! Please Father don't do this to me!"

"...We'll have to discuss it more," Rosan said eventually.

"Rosan..." Robin sighed.

"Fine, I'll allow Robin to pick them out with you. Nothing too bad," Rosan instructed.

"You can trust me Ram, I'll find good books that Rosan approves," Robin smiled.

"I trust you mother... you've already picked out some good ones."

She laughed at the sigh of relief from Ram.

They continued to fly and conversed with each other about various things, until a dot appeared in the distance.

"Is that it?" Robin asked curiously, watching as the dot got larger and larger. She glanced down and saw the turbulent waters protecting the island.

It was no wonder not many people knew of this island. The waters seemed rather counterproductive to sailing. Navigating to this island seemed difficult.

"This should be it... that's where my doll is at least."

As the island became more clear to them, they were able to make out flowers of all colors. They approached the stunning island with appreciative glance.

It was huge, the island stretched far and wide. It seemed to be a forest island, one that was adorned with flowers of all kinds. On the center of the island, there was a town, tall buildings everywhere made of a smooth stone.

From this distance, Robin counted countless different cities. The Kingdom of Wisteria was quite massive, even larger than the island of their cousins.

The island looked rather advanced too... It had shades of Amazon Lily to it. Robin could see Empress Allium's work as clear as day.

Rosan transformed back to normal, way out of sight of anyone, and held onto Robin in a bridal carry as they descended onto the outskirts of the largest city.

"Beautiful," Robin said idly, inspecting the island with an interested gaze. "So this is Wisteria."

"Yeah," Rosan grunted, hair turning jet black as the tips spread over the entirety of his head.

He grabbed a strand of Robin's hair and turned the entirety purple, before they walked into what looked like the capital city of the island.

"Can you imagine that I was supposed to rule this place? It's huge. I wouldn't want to govern this place at all."

Robin giggled at his genine disgust. "It's rather funny to think about. I'm in a relationship with a prince. By blood and all... you are genuinely royalty," she joked, leaning into him with a happy smile.

He glared at her but wrapped an arm around her. "Yeah yeah. C'mon. I wonder if anyone's gonna stop us."

They walked through the island without a care in a world, though many people did a double take at seeing Robin and Rosan even with their disguises.

Both he and Robin were tall figures after all.

Also helped that they were hot.

"Thank you, Rosan." Robin rolled her eyes.

Rosan smiled, eyes shifting slightly before he abruptly pivoted to a different direction. He would have expected Raisa to be in that giant castle looming over the entire city, but no... her presence was actually in those flower riddled forests.

Interesting. What was she up to?

He and Robin continued to converse with each other, strolling to the edge of the cities once more until they reached a large set of trees.

"U-Um excuse me?"

Rosan stopped before he could take a step and gazed at the short woman who was straining her neck to look up at him.

She was cute in a bland sort of way, with a head of brown hair. The girl was wrapped up in a blouse and there was a blush on her cheeks that darkened as both he and Robin stared her down.

"Um by any chance, Are you… the Red Devil? O-Or perhaps the Morning Star?" she whispered, noting the disturbing similarities between him and her queen despite his black hair.

The tall man gazed at her with a neutral expression and mulled her question over.

"No. I'm Rosan," he said eventually.

The woman and Robin both sweatdropped at his response.

He was such an idiot sometimes.

"Wait… who's Morning Star?" he asked curiously. "Oh and I'm going to find Raisa if that's what you were wondering."

"U-Um Queen Raisa is currently occupied. If you'd like to schedule a m-meeting I'm sure we can work something out," the lady stammered, fishing out a bounty poster from her outfit.

She was gazing at it and then him, paling slightly in horror as she met his intimidating gaze.

"I'm not gonna do that. Waiting isn't really my thing. I like being answered immediately so I'm gonna go talk to her now," Rosan denied, taking the paper out of her hand as he continued walking.

Robin smiled apologetically at the spluttering girl. "I'm sorry about him. Rosan is very headstrong and if things don't go his way, he throws tantrums. I fear he's going to go see Raisa now," she answered, leaning into him to get a closer look at the bounty poster.

At once, both their mouths opened in shock.

"Oh shit," he said slowly, scratching his head. "Well, still not as high as I expected it to be."

"But that's still quite high," Robin explained, mouth opening in disbelief.

The lady looked nervously at the two pirates, body shuddering in horror.

"What's your name by the way? What is your relation to Raisa?" Rosan asked, handing her the bounty poster back.

"U-Um… Jen? I'm Queen Raisa's personal secretary... I handle her affairs. I'm 22," she muttered, not really understanding why she was answering his questions.

The Red Devil wasn't as scary as she expected him to be... in the first place, Jen was pretty sure she was the only one who knew that this was him.

But despite that, he seemed very relaxed. Jen would even say he seemed friendly. His expression didn't reflect that dangerous expression on his face that his bounty poster had.

"Nice to meetcha Jen. We're probably gonna see each other a lot so let's get along," he said, smiling slightly at her.

Jen blushed deeply and averted her eyes from the tall and handsome man. "U-Um is that a threat? You're a pirate after all…"

Robin's eyes narrowed slightly and the woman let out a yelp as Rosan summarily pushed her in front of him.

"Down, girl," he chastised.

"I am not some rabid creature like you are," she bit out, allowing him to push her forward.

"I know," he mocked soothingly.

"W-What do you want from Queen Raisa? I can't let you speak to her if you have less than savory intentions," Jen said a bit more firmly.

The woman squeaked in terror as he gazed at her, tilting his head questioningly.

She didn't question him again. He was as scary as their Queen.

Rosan said nothing and the group eventually made it to an isolated part of the island where only a giant house resided.

Jen didn't even realize they had walked all the way to Raisa's private abode.

"I'm going to die. I'm really going to die," she thought in despair.

If not by the Red Devil then definitely her Queen because she just allowed someone to walk to her private home without any resistance.

Would she be understanding to the fact that Jen was literally dealing with a wanted pirate that could break her in half?

Probably not.

"This is some advanced stuff," Rosan mused, inspecting the building and nodding in appreciation.

Raisa was clearly a person who exported from the Grand Line. She must have had good connections there.

He tapped the door with a finger and modified a hole large enough for them to walk through, taking a step inside the building.

"Couldn't you have knocked?" Robin asked.

"I'm impatient," Rosan replied, turning around and sealing it shut once more.

"W-What did you just do?" Jen stammered, watching in shock as he created and repaired a the door.

"C'mon I can feel her this way," he grunted, taking purposeful steps.

They approached a door and Jen gnawed on her lips as Rosan knocked on it without any hesitation.

There was no reply.

Rosan knocked again.

Nothing.

Robin sighed in exasperation as Rosan knocked even harder this time and finally there was a response.

"What the fuck do you want."

The voice was raspy and tired, no emotion conveyed in it at all.

Jen flinched horribly at that. It was rare to hear her Queen curse but when such a thing happened, nothing good followed it.

Rosan said nothing at the question that didn't sound like a question at all.

"He's so petty all the time," Robin sighed in exasperation.

A tense silence took over and Jen felt like she could die on the spot. The tension was too much. What was going to happen to her—

The door swung open with almost enough force to tear it off its hinges. It creaked loudly as a figure stepped into view, aura positively murderous.

"Do you have any last words before I fucking tear you to pieces —"

Raisa instantly froze in her spot, anger melting off her face as she gazed straight into the eyes of Rosan.

Jen immediately drank in the sight of her queen donned in something that was not her battle dress and felt her mouth go dry.

So… much… leg. It was no wonder Raisa wore a dress all the time. She was sparing her citizens from blood loss.

A finger poked her and she noticed that it was Rosan standing next to her. He didn't look her way but it was probably for her to realize that her mouth had been left agape.

"He's not evil at all," Jen thought. If he were evil, he'd let Raisa kill her for shamelessly ogling her.

"Raisa is a blessed woman," Robin noted idly, gazing at the woman's long legs.

Goodness, it was no wonder Rosan was so attractive. Raisa was the spitting image of his male and female form.

Clearly Rosan's youth stemmed from his family as well. Robin wouldn't be able to tell that Raisa was 42.

"You look like shit," Rosan said bluntly, looking at his birth mother with a tilted head. "When was the last time you left this room?"

Raisa said nothing, just gazing at her son with disbelieving eyes.

"R-Rosan...?" she whispered hopefully, reaching out with her arm and grasping the redhead.

"Raisa," Rosan greeted. "Hey sorry. I know I said I'd visit but things were a bit hectic."

"You can still leave. I feel hives forming just looking at her."

"Mod-chan, how about you take a small break. I'll come give you a massage later."

"...Fine. I want one for two hours."

"You're so fucking spoiled these days."

Raisa began shuddering at that deep voice, as tears surged and the woman let out a sharp wail of anguish.

Jen's jaw dropped in disbelief, as she watched Raisa leap into Rosan's arm without any hesitation.

Rosan caught her and the Queen let out a heart wrenching sob, crushing the man against her.

"W-W-W-What?" Jen spluttered in shock.

Queen Raisa was... crying? And hugging? What was this?! What was going on?!

"Rosan!" Raisa sobbed. "I thought you were gone!"

Rosan blinked, before his eyes widened in realization.

After all this time, Raisa still thought he was dead? Rosan just thought she really missed him... he had no idea she didn't know.

"That's... terrible," Robin frowned. Despite her issues with the woman, thinking someone was dead for so long was terrible to your mental health

"You haven't seen the news?" Rosan asked quietly, allowing her to sob against his frame. He rubbed a hand against her back and watched as she shuddered horribly against him, letting out shaky sobs as she grasped his cheeks and began kissing him all over.

"Yuck," he sighed, accepting her affections.

Jen watched with progressively wider eyes, watching as Raisa displayed a side of herself she quite literally never saw.

"I… was in a coma until a week ago," she replied eventually, sniffing weakly as she finally stopped marking his face. "When I saw what happened to you, I fell unconscious… I don't know what happened in the aftermath. When I woke up I just came here and wallowed… I had no idea you were still fine."

Rosan frowned and sighed, wrapping an arm around her and tucking her into his frame. The simple action made her break out into new sobs and she practically glued herself to him.

"Goodness, you truly did tame her completely," Robin thought in shock.

Whipped didn't even seem to properly describe what Raisa looked to be in terms of Rosan.

"I had no idea you were affected bad enough to be put into a coma. It hasn't hit me how much you care for me," Rosan admitted.

Raisa whimpered at his tight hold. "I care for you so much, Rosan. I-I just want to make things right with us and I can't do that if something bad happens to you."

His eyes softened slightly at that and he rubbed his hand against her back. "I appreciate that, Raisa. Sometimes all you can do is try."

"And I'll try my best, Rosan," she assured, squeezing him tightly. "I-I love you. I hope you know that. Y-You don't have to say it back."

Rosan froze at that, not having expected the sheer earnesty of her words. "...Raisa, I have a favor to ask," he said eventually.

Raisa sniffed and nodded against him. "Anything. No matter what you want. Does... does Mod want to hurt me?" she asked hesitantly.

"Not yet," Rosan assured.

She nodded in relief. "What is it that you need?" the queen asked curiously.

"I want you to train me for 2 years," Rosan said bluntly. "I'd be staying here in that time frame... but I realized I'm not strong enough and you're the best equipped to teach me."

Raisa felt the world freeze around her at his request. "You want me… to train you?" she asked hesitantly, staring at him with wide eyes.

Rosan nodded. "I felt it during our fight. You're stronger than me. A lot stronger. So I figure you could teach me —"

"Yes."

Rosan, Robin and Jen blinked owlishly.

"Yes?" Rosan repeated.

"Yes! I'd love to do that!" Raisa exclaimed.

Jen's jaw dropped at seeing an actual grin on Raisa's face. It was as beautiful as every other face the Queen made, sharp fangs flashing momentarily as she nearly broke into elated laughter.

"Two years? I get to have you for two years? Truly?" Raisa asked excitedly.

"Yeah... that sounds about right." Rosan nodded slowly and Raisa resisted the urge to squeal happily.

She squeezed Rosan with all her might and nearly lifted him off the floor.

"I'd be happy to! I've never had a student before and this also means I can spend more time with you too! This is perfect for me to make up for all my transgressions towards you! B-But that doesn't mean it'll suddenly get rid of what I've done. Even if you don't forgive me, I'll cherish every moment and continue to work hard to make you love me back!" Raisa said happily.

Raisa finally seemed to notice the other presences and she stared at Jen with a chilling gaze, smile wiped off her face in an instant.

"Don't tell anyone of what you're seeing right now. I will make your death slow if you do," she rumbled, smoke puffing out of her mouth.

Jen nodded fearfully, utterly confused by the entire thing. She let out a sigh of relief as Rosan easily stole her attention by patting her on the head.

Raisa immediately turned back to Rosan, an adoring look in her eyes and the redhead smiled at her.

"You owe me," his eyes seemed to tell her, flashing a smug smirk her way.

Jen nodded hesitantly, watching at just how easily Rosan was able to deal with Raisa.

Rosan sighed at how hard she was hugging and squeezed her. "Where are Dalia and Oren?" he asked.

Raisa's brows furrowed. "I'm… not sure. I think they need some time to themselves... but considering they haven't informed me you're alive, they might not know either."

Rosan nodded and Robin took the time to speak up.

"Iris D. Raisa," Robin greeted. "I've been wanting to talk to you. It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Nico Robin."

Raisa went stiff at that and gazed at the beautiful Nico Robin with wide eyes.

Robin noted how wary her expression turned and remembered that Mod had very violently slapped her across the cheek.

"Don't worry, it won't be nearly as bad as your conversation with Mod-chan, but I still have some of my own grievances with you," Robin assured.

Raisa bit her lip and nodded. "I did say I'd be willing to hear whatever anyone who had a problem with me had to say… and my daughter in law is no exception."

Robin blinked, before a slight blush crossed her face.

Rosan sighed.

He hoped this was a good idea.

---

"Thanks," Rosan said, accepting the tea from Jen. He took both cups out of her hand and passed one to Robin.

"I-It's no problem. Thank you for protecting me from Queen Raisa," she mumbled, bowing lowly.

"No problem," Rosan smirked, taking a sip.

Jen thought Rosan was actually quite nice. He just peacefully accepted all of Raisa's affections, while only throwing a few teasing remarks her way for her earlier staring.

"So... forgive me for asking but what exactly is the relation between you and Queen Raisa?" she asked quietly.

Rosan blinked. "I'm her son."

"Oh that makes sense... it's no wonder she never stopped looking at your bounty poster," Jen nodded at his response.

"She's obsessed with me. I guess I don't blame her for that. I'm me after all."

"You're such an egomaniac," Robin sighed.

...

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!" Jen screeched in disbelief, eyes bugging out of her head.

Queen Raisa had a child?! The Red Devil was Raisa's son? Those two were mother and son?!

Jen fell on her butt at the revelation, staring at the nonchalant Rosan with horrified eyes.

"I don't think I have to really say this, but don't mention this to anyone. I don't need people to know I'm here. It would jeopardize this island," Rosan explained calmly, eyes boring into her.

She shuddered at his measured gaze. There was no sign of intimidation anywhere but his presence was far too much for her.

"I won't... I've been loyal to Queen Raisa for years," Jen assured quietly.

The pressure on her shoulders vanished and Rosan smiled. "Good. You didn't tell a lie."

"So he can do that too... just great," Jen sighed tiredly.

"Why did Jen scream?" Raisa's deep voice asked, stepping out of the bathroom fully dressed. Her damp hair rested against her head and she immediately took the seat to Rosan's right (Robin was sitting on his left), leaning against the redhead with a soft sigh.

Rosan didn't even flinch at the damp hair, just placing a hand against her hair and instantly drying the redhead.

"Useful," she murmured in awe, touching her hair with an appreciative glance.

"I was telling your secretary that you were my mom," Rosan told her easily. "She's a nice girl. Very accomodating."

Raisa puffed up at that and Jen blushed.

"I'll take my leave now... I'm technically not on shift," Jen bowed deeply.

"Right... keep up the good work Jen," Raisa said, not used to saying such a thing.

Jen lit up at that and nodded vigorously.

It was official, she liked Rosan now.

As the secretary departed, Robin put her tea down and turned towards Raisa with a serious expression.

Raisa stiffened at that and straightened up.

"Rosan, could you let the two of us talk alone for a bit?" Robin asked. "I'd just like to speak to her one on one."

Rosan nodded easily and stood up. "I'll go check out my room then. Call me when you need me."

Robin nodded and they exchanged a quick kiss, before Rosan left the room.

Raisa watched the action with wide eyes and Robin turned towards her with a firm expression.

"Raisa... I understand that you understand the errors of your way, but you have to understand how much Rosan matters to all of us," Robin began slowly.

Raisa nodded, listening attentively.

While Mod was completely antagonistic towards her, Rosan was almost aloof in how nonchalantly he treated her.

Robin seemed to be the perfect middle ground. Raisa felt like she could make genuine progress if she talked to the Devil Child.

"Everyone knows you abandoned him in a forest and everyone has severe issues with you for such a thing," she explained.

"You are one of them aren't you?" Raisa asked.

Robin nodded. "I am but I am also the most rational in our family and Rosan tells me everything. I know you weren't in the right state of mind when you made that decision... and seeing how you reacted to seeing Rosan let me know that you're actually attempting to make an effort."

"So you don't hate me?" Raisa asked hopefully.

"Not at all," Robin shook her head. "My perspective is the same as Rosan's... If you had kept him, we would have never met and I'm glad that it didn't come to that."

Raisa sighed. "How can I... how can I connect with him?" she asked tentatively.

Robin smiled thinly. "You'll have to win Mod over to make the most progress. Those two really are one and the same and Rosan's keeping you at an arm's length because Mod-chan hates you so much, she can decide to cut contact with you at anytime. Rosan won't deny her, especially when he doesn't care all that much," she explained.

The queen nodded, pursing her lips at that. "I figured it would be that hard. I intended on doing that regardless. Mod-chan is his mother so I will do my best," she said, determination on her face.

Robin saw that determination and sighed fondly.

She really was like Rosan alright.

"I'm sure my treatment of you will play a good part. Despite everything, you went through tough times as well and I think you deserve some happiness," Robin explained gently.

Raisa blinked, before a flush appeared on her face.

"May I hug you?" she asked tentatively.

Robin giggled. "Rosan doesn't bother asking, so it's a little refreshing to see someone with his face actually ask... but you don't have to ask me."

Raisa smiled brightly and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Thank you, Nico Robin. I'm glad Rosan found you," Raisa muttered.

"Keep up the good work and I'm sure you won't regret it," Robin replied. "Take care of him for me please... he'll visit me a lot regardless but I still needlessly worry for him."

"I don't think it's needless... he's very reckless," Raisa sighed, shuddering as she remembered how he had been struck with a fatal blow.

Robin patted her and the two broke off, taking a seat.

"I suppose I should call Rosan back now," Robin hummed, drinking her tea once more.

"When will you two give me grandchildren? I've decided you are the perfect wife for Rosan so that means you two need to have kids," Raisa suddenly stated.

Robin nearly choked on her tea at the question. She lightly coughed and watched with wide eyes as Rosan materialized behind her and pat her back.

"You alright?" he asked in concern.

"I-I'm fine," Robin muttered, taking a deep breath and staring at the confused Raisa with wide eyes.

Robin had an inkling that this wasn't going to be the last time Raisa asked such a thing.

Two years of this... Robin suddenly wasn't so sure about this.

"What did she say?" Rosan tilted his head in confusion.

"Nothing Rosan... nothing at all. Come, take me back. I need to get situated myself."

Rosan tilted his head even further.

---

Bounty Poster

WANTED

DEAD OR ALIVE

'THE MORNING STAR' ROCKS D. ROSAN

1,044,000,000 Beris

-Marine

---

Hey there! Hope you enjoy! This was a long chapter to write so I hope it was enjoyable for you all.

Next chapter will be a relaxing chapter before we dive right back into it... probably.