Chapter Text
24 years ago, Loguetown, East Blue
She stood in the middle of the crowd, yet another anonymous person who had come to witness the execution of the Pirate King. The sun was high in the sky, weighing down on everyone below and her only salvation was her large sun hat that hid her long strawberry blonde hair. The sound of bells echoed in the square and silence fell.
Gol D. Roger had just arrived at the summit.
He sat on the platform, contemplating the world at his feet and if she hadn't been alone, she would have gone to join him. She would have kissed him and inhaled his smell of sea spray which persisted even after months spent on land. Instead, she let his haki cover her ( a breath of sea air, a blanket draped over her shoulders, the view from the top )–searching for her own one last time. She knew immediately when he spotted her and she opened her eyes, meeting his obsidian gaze. They stared at each other for a second and time seemed to freeze around them.
Until someone shouted in the crowd.
“Hey, Pirate King! Where have you hidden your fortune? We know you found it, the legendary treasure! The one who brought them all together. One Piece!”
Roger laughed heartily, his eyes sparkling with gleeful excitement, and all hell broke loose. With just a few words, he galvanized crowds around the world, unleashing on Earth the Golden Age of Piracy.
Then the soldiers struck, plunging their spears into Roger's back. She knew it was better not to react–not to show that her heart had just been broken, that her soul had just been ripped from her. Roger collapsed, a trickle of blood flowing from his mouth, a D-shaped grin on his lips.
A cheer of excitement was heard from the crowd as marines came to recover Roger's body–civilians relieved to see the Devil neutralized and pirates already ready to replace him.
The King is dead, long live the King.
XXX
She had never visited Loguetown.
The reasonable thing to do would have been to return to Baterilla immediately but at the same time the most reasonable thing would have been to never come here in the first place. With the number of known pirates and criminals amassing in the city to witness the execution, the Navy had deployed a large portion of its armed forces.
(They had waited a long time for a crew that never came.)
She went to the docks, easily able to imagine a younger Roger coming to observe the sea and the boats, begging the sailors to let him come on board. The rain began to pour down and the wind rose, making the waves dance, but she stayed. The water that fell from the sky mixed with the tears that bathed her cheeks. And faced with the immensity of the ocean, she finally allowed herself to cry.
Roger was dead .
It was inevitable, the illness would have won in the end and Roger had wanted to choose his way of leaving. Facing the Sea, laughing at the chaos he had caused, his family and friends safe.
It didn't hurt any less.
She pulled her cloak tighter around herself, protecting her raw heart and the breath of life that was growing within her. She wouldn’t be able to sleep on her ship tonight, not while the Sea and the Winds mourned their lost child.
And she cried with them.
XXX
Not even the death of the Pirate King could keep Loguetown awake forever, and when the town's rumors died down, she headed toward the center. She just wanted to find shelter for the night before setting sail at first light.
Around the corners of the streets, as the rain continued to fall in torrents, the puddles took on a blood-red hue. But that's not what made her freeze in the middle of a deserted alley. It was the bloody straw hat that lay abandoned at her feet.
She picked it up, the tremor in her hands barely concealed as she desperately searched for its owner's haki signature. A little boy who had been so proud to hold his captain's treasure that he had slept with it for weeks. A child who would never give up his father's most precious memory. Especially not today.
She found him collapsed on the ground face down, his knuckles red from the blows, his shirt soiled with dust, tears and blood, his breath reeking of alcohol... and his eye ravaged by three parallel cuts.
“Red can you hear me?” she demanded, resting his head on her lap, Shanks' scarlet hair streaming onto her cloak now ruined by the dirt of the street she had just sat on. “What happened?”
“Teach,” Shanks croaked with difficulty, his voice visibly damaged.
She couldn't hold back the burst of haki that escaped from her, vengeful and murderous. How could Teach dare to fight with Shanks today? She suspected that Shanks must have been the one to pick a fight, but she thought that the Whitebeard pirate had enough respect not to fight with a grieving kid who was looking to punish himself. But that was neither the place nor the time. For now she had to take care of Red.
“Everything will be alright, I will take care of you,” she promised. “Can you get up?”
Shanks tried to stand up, grimacing, and she suspected the bruises on his arms must have extended to his ribs. She stopped him gently by placing her hand on his shoulder before taking him in her arms. Shanks protested, assuring her that he could walk while mumbling but ended up passing out, his head falling on her shoulder.
She entered the first open inn, the door crashing on its hinges as she entered. The whole room turned towards her and she silenced them with a look. She asked for a room from the owner who hurriedly complied, tripping over his own foot in his haste.
“Bring up all the medical supplies you have!” she ordered, rushing up the stairs.
The room was small, a single bed in one corner of the room, a candlelit desk in another just under the window. She laid Shanks down on the bed, gently pushing his red locks out of his eyes, his straw hat next to his head.
“I'm so sorry, you should never have been left alone, especially not today,” she apologized in a whisper, the storm thundering outside as her only witness.
“Excuse me,” a shy voice interjected, “here are the medical supplies you requested.” A little girl with two teeth missing stood in the doorway, her arms loaded with bandages, medicines, ointments and surgical instruments. She must have really scared the owner.
“Thank you, you can put them on the desk.” The little girl did so before running out of the room, silent as a mouse.
Immediately, she directed her attention to Shanks' eye, the only injury that really worried her. It didn't take long for him to realize that this was beyond her medical skills. Looks like she was going to have to track down a doctor and drag him here. Quickly .
“If you're not here to help, you have two seconds to leave before I make you regret coming up,” she threatened as she felt him coming up behind her.
“I saw Scarlet's eye when you got downstairs, I can help-yoi.”
“Perfect,” she said, her icy voice betraying her distrust and concern.
She let Marco approach Shanks, ready to pulverize him with the slightest wrong move in the sleeping boy's direction. He enveloped Shanks' eye with his blue and gold flames, granting Shanks some of his natural regeneration. After a few minutes of watching him, suspicious, she decided to trust him. She grabbed a small basin and headed to the adjacent bathroom to fill it with water before proceeding to wash the wounds on Shanks' arms. She applied ointment to each of Shanks' many bruises and disinfected all of his cuts.
The two work in tense silence, the rain on the windows the only sound in the room.
XXX
“I managed to preserve his eye. If he lets it sit and doesn't open it for at least a week, he should make a full recovery,” Marco explained sitting on the desk. She sat in the chair across from him, the both of them focusing on Shanks' heartbeat, ready to intervene if even one was missing.
“It will leave a scar, but knowing him, he will probably be proud of it,” Marco said with a half-laugh, not even believing what he was saying himself.
“Not this one,” she whispered, tracing the already bloody bandage with her gaze. There would be no pride in this scar, only a reminder of his helplessness in the face of his father's death, of his failure in the face of his grief, of his vulnerability on the seas.
“But thank you, I'll make it up to you one day,” she thanked Marco, less tense now that she knew Shanks was better–at least physically.
“No need-yoi,” he refused. "If unfortunately something happened to Pops and one of my siblings was in this state, I would like someone to help them. And Shanks is my friend...sort of.”
“He would be delighted to hear you say that,” she confessed. “And what does a Whitebeard pirate do at the execution of the Pirate King?”
“Pops couldn't come but Roger was also his friend... sort of. Some of us decided to come and honor Roger in his place.”
“Like Marshall D. Teach?” If he had come to Loguetown to pay homage to his captain's rival, fighting with Shanks and practically gouging out his eye was a strange way to do it to say the least.
“Teach is on the island?” he asked, sounding genuinely surprised. Good for Marco, she would have hated having to teach him not to mess with her boys.
“I hope for his sake he's gone, considering the state he left Red in. For your sake, I'm giving him until Shanks recovers to get out of my sight.” Normally, she would not have intervened. Skirmishes between pirates were common, but the violence Teach had shown the day Shanks had just lost his father did not please her at all. Marco's shoulders tensed at the thinly veiled threat to his brother.
Shanks twisted in his sleep, his forehead full of sweat, muttering incomprehensibly. One word was clear though, desperate and full of anguish.
Dad.
She had taken advantage of Shanks waking up briefly to give him antibiotics and painkillers. But his sleep, already plagued by nightmares, only became more restless as his body fought against infections.
“It's strange to see him like that, he looks fragile, almost... small,” Marco commented, looking away.
“He is.” In front of Marco's confused look, she clarified. “Small. He’s barely fourteen years old. He shouldn't feel such pain.”
Silence fell between them again, they had nothing to say to each other, nothing in common except their concern for Shanks. She looked at the boy sleeping in the bed and dreaded the moment he would have to wake up to face reality.
But she would be there for him.
“I'm going to have to leave-yoi,” Marco whispered almost regretfully. “Don't forget what I told you about his eye.”
“Thanks for everything kid,” she reiterated. “He probably would have lost his eye without you. Send him a get well card, it will make him happy.”
Marco seemed to hesitate for a few seconds. “He really admires you, you know. Don't leave him alone, he'll get killed otherwise.”
“I don't mean to,” she promised once again.
XXX
Running into Shanks had been a blessing in disguise that came in the form of a kid dear to her beaten bloody. It wasn't the disguise she would have preferred but the blessing was there nonetheless.
She no longer had to think of Roger every time she breathed just to remind herself that he couldn't anymore. She no longer had to think about how much she was going to miss his smiles–the ones that made his eyes sparkle and his dimples stand out. She no longer had to think about the empty and silent house on the edge of the cliff that awaited her.
(Roger was building a fish mobile for their future child when a coughing fit interrupted him, forcing him to stop. The mobile was still waiting on the workshop in the garage, unfinished.)
But now that the Phoenix was gone, only her and her many regrets remained in the room.
XXX
Shanks woke up at the same time as the sun, as if he knew that the worst day of his life was over and that he could now get up safely. She hadn't closed her eyes all night despite her exhaustion. Her muscles ached, her eyes were heavy, but she couldn't fall asleep–not when Shanks could wake up at any moment.
She was therefore in the front row to see Shanks become aware of his environment before viscerally panicking when he realized that he could no longer see out of one eye. He began clawing at his face in panic, trying to remove the bandage that was protecting his eye.
Gently, she grabbed his hand to prevent him from hurting himself further. It was only there that he noticed her, that he remembered her presence this morning in the room and yesterday evening in the alley.
“Are you really there?” Shanks choked, suppressing a sob.
He looked broken–small, Marco had said–and oh, how she hated the relief in his voice, the joy on his face, when she didn't deserve any of this.
“I’m sorry–”
She didn't have time to apologize–for letting his father die, for abandoning him–when Shanks took her in his arms with surprising strength for his age. She let him squeeze her, practically breaking her ribs in the process. And if her top and the sheet that still covered Shanks were stained with tears, neither mentioned it.
After a moment, slowly, they detached themselves from each other, her forehead coming to rest on Shanks'. She wasn't ready to let him go completely yet.
XXX
“How are you?” she asked after giving Shanks a glass of water for his dry throat and replacing the pillows she had collected by threatening the inn owner.
“Everything hurts,” Shanks croaked, wincing in pain as he tried to sit up. ''And I can't see anything."
“That’ll teach you to pick your battles, kid”, she chided. “What happened to you?”
Shanks remained silent, his head bowed and his hair covering his face. She placed her hand on his cheek and gently lifted his head, revealing his cheeks and ears red with shame. “Red, what happened?” she asked again, more gently this time.
“After… after the execution, I had an argument with Buggy. We both said things we shouldn't have said and we broke apart. When I realized my mistake, I looked all over the island for Bugs… he was already gone.”
That wouldn't do. Not at all . She was going to have to track down that stubborn Blue as soon as Shanks recovered. She couldn't leave Buggy alone on the seas, no matter how resourceful the kid was.
“After that, I was so angry that when I ran into Teach and he started taunting me, I didn't think twice.” She couldn't hold back her long sigh. Shanks tried to remove his bandage again and she slapped his hand. “Stop touching it, your eye needs rest. Doctor's order.”
“You're not a doctor,” Shanks grumbled, but kept his hands wisely on the sheet, away from his face.
“And neither does your little bird friend, but since he saved your eye, I would listen to his advice,” she retorted.
“Marco was there?!”
“He flew to your rescue,” she teased. Shanks buried his face in his hands with an embarrassed groan and lamented his reputation as a fearless pirate. She patted him on the back. “You'll get over it. But in the meantime, go take a shower, I'll redo your bandages afterwards.”
Shanks struggled to his feet and stumbled three times before reaching the bathroom door but stubbornly refused any help. She took the opportunity to change the sheets before collapsing into bed exhausted. Her eyes closed of their own accord and, defeated, she let herself fall into Morpheus' arms.
Only five minutes.
XXX
She woke up a few hours later, her arm stiff from the weight of a body. She half-opened her eyes and smiled at the sight of Shanks sleeping next to her. The setting sun reflecting in his hair told her that she had slept much longer than expected. Shanks had changed his bandages himself–too loose, but it would do for now. She hugged Shanks a little tighter and fell back to sleep, the pain in her chest easing a little.
XXX
“Stop moving,” she chided for–at least–the twelfth time.
“But it stings!” Shanks complained as she disinfected his wounds once again.
“I thought you were a fearless pirate.” Shanks blushed and stopped fidgeting, letting her finish her work in peace.
“Where are they going to bury him?” Shanks asked quietly, as if hoping she wouldn't hear him and answer him. She didn't want to answer him, didn't want to burden Shanks any more than he already was, didn't want to break her own heart more than it already was.
“They won't bury him, he has too much power, too much influence even after his death to give him an eternal resting place. His memory and legacy will live on for centuries. To give the world a place to honor him would be suicide. The Navy knows it.”
Shanks inhaled sharply, tears welling in his eyes, and she set the cotton ball in her hand aside. She understood, knowing that she could never pay her respects at the grave of her lover, could never take her unborn child to visit his father–it hurt.
“We will find a place to honor him. A place he loved more than anything. But in the meantime, he will be in every wave beating on the hull of your ship, in everyone of your laughter, in every moment of his children's lives,” she promised, a hand on Shanks' cheek, a hand caressing her belly.
“Are you going to have a baby?” Shanks asked in surprise, noticing her second hand.
She nodded. “You're going to be a big brother. If you want it.”
“You want me to stay with you?” Shanks asked practically in tears.
“Of course silly,” she assured. “You and Blue, as soon as we find him. I won't leave you all alone.”
Shanks lunged at her, flipping her backwards onto the bed, and hugged her, laughing. His not yet fully mastered haki burst into the room ( a child's laughter echoing in the wind, a pen carefully tracing constellations on her skin). “Hey, watch out for the fragile pregnant lady!”
“You are the least fragile pregnant woman ever!” Shanks protested, nevertheless moving aside to let her breathe.
“Bad luck for you, you're stuck with me and you'll be carrying my stuff for the next few months!” she laughed at Shanks' crestfallen look. “But in the meantime let's eat, I'm starving!”
Shanks was out of the room in seconds and she had to call him back to finish his bandage. They weren't doing well–far from it–but her future seemed brighter now that they were together. All that was missing was the second brat.
XXX
“Captain said it was wrong to steal. He always made us pay for what we bought when we visited an island,” Shanks repeated like a child repeating his lesson–which he was.
“Roger was an idiot. A great one, but an idiot nonetheless,” she retorted. “No way I'm paying for all that.” Dozens and dozens of empty plates were piled on the table and in the corner of the room, the waiters were staring at her with wide eyes. Shanks and her hadn't had a real meal in a few days and she was a D, she needed to feed!
“Now we have several options,” she explained as Shanks listened diligently. “Option one–my favorite–we dine-and-dash. As soon as the waiter returns to the kitchen, we jump out the window.” She had been very careful when she arrived to ask for a table next to the large window which overlooked the main street of Loguetown ( to admire your lovely city, you understand? ).
“Option 2, I fake food poisoning. It should work even better now that I'm pregnant. But I prefer not to, it would give this wonderful little restaurant a bad name. Or, last solution, I'll leave you here to do the dishes! Which one do you prefer?”
She gave Shanks a bright smile, waiting for his response. She had read that in one of the many parenting books that Roger had bought, giving your child several choices to let him form his own opinion.
“Dine-and-dash,” Shanks replied, whispering so as not to attract attention.
“Perfect,” she exclaimed, clapping her hands. “I knew you would learn quickly!”
XXX
It had all started so well, she had created a distraction by making a particularly unpleasant customer faint. When the room's attention had shifted to him, she and Shanks had jumped out of the window, landing a few meters below… on a marine. Having left her weapon in her boat, she knocked him out with a punch and they took off running, the rest of the unconscious marine's squad hot on their heels.
Out of habit, she had taken all her things with her when leaving the inn and they were able to leave directly for her boat to leave Loguetown. She already had no intention of staying on the island forever, just waiting for Shanks to recover enough to go to sea. Still feeling a little guilty for the poor owner of the inn she had already terrified, she stopped a passerby in the street. She placed a few berries in his hand, ordered him to go pay her bill and threatened to return to the island if he did not obey.
“I will know it!” she shouted as he took off running. “I know everything .”
Her little stop allowed a marine to get closer to her but a blow from Shanks made him drop her cloak with a cry of pain. (Roger and Rayleigh had raised the kid well.)
For the first time since Roger's execution, the sun broke through the clouds and their laughter echoed through the streets of Loguetown, the wind at their backs giving them wings.
XXX
She lay on the deck, the wood of the floor warm under her fingers and the breeze cool on her skin. Shanks was in the same position, his head resting on her stomach. From time to time, a wave stronger than the others splashed a few drops of salt water onto their skin. A News Coo had just brought them the newspaper and Roger's face on the execution platform was still visible as the paper turned to ashes carried by the wind.
“I stole that hat from Roger once you know,” she said as Shanks nervously played with the infamous straw hat.
“How ?!” Shanks exclaimed, suddenly standing up.
“Ouch, be careful, I'm still a fragile pregnant lady,” she groaned.
“Sorry,” Shanks apologized with a rueful smile, “it's just that Captain never let his hat out of his sight.”
“I'm just too good,” she boasted, laughing.
(And Roger had been too distracted to retrieve his hat, allowing her to win her bet with Rayleigh.)
Shanks' gaze became melancholy and he stared at the ocean, tears welling up in his eyes. She pushed herself up into a sitting position, gently took the hat from his hands and placed it on his head. “You're starting to grow into it,” she complimented him. “In a few years you’ll look like a real pirate.”
She put her arm over Shanks' shoulder and he let his head rest on her shoulder. The world had seemed silent to her since Roger's death, empty and dull. Even the clamor of thousands of people gathered in Loguetown and the presence of dozens of powerful haki users had not been enough to wake her from her torpor.
(Only her fear of losing Shanks as well had made her wake up.)
But now she could feel Shanks' every breath that made his shoulders rise in a steady rhythm, she could discern every shade of blue in the sea... and she could hear the Den Den Mushi ringing from her cabin. “This is probably news about Buggy's whereabouts.”
She had met an interesting character years ago, another D, who had just left the Navy and his father to embark on a quest for Freedom. Although in agreement with his values, she had not joined his cause and was content to wish him good luck in his colossal enterprise. However, she sometimes exchanged valuable information with him when the opportunity presented itself. Like the position of a runaway teenager.
“I found the guy you needed for your son's wedding, the best juggler in all of East. He is staying with friends of my father in the 54th.”
For someone who took so much pride in her control over her haki, she had a tendency to lose control of it these days. She heard Shanks stumble across the deck and hoped he hadn't passed out.
“Thanks, I’ll pay you back.”
The Navy didn't know what awaited them, they had already taken a loved one from her, they wouldn't have a second one.
She was Portgas D. Rouge and she was going to remind the world why the D's were so feared.