Archive of Our Own ^beta

She had known what she needed to do as soon as the news that Roger had met his end dropped. Despite only being notified recently, she knew that he would do something like this. He would pull all of the attention of the world to him, go out with a bang, and make sure that everyone he loved was safe. 

The World Government wouldn’t stop until each and every part of the Pirate King was gone from this world. They had started with him and some of his crew members, she had seen the articles in the papers.

But she also knew that rumours had already been going around that he had a child somewhere, now with his death they would do anything possible to see if this was true. If it was, they wouldn’t rest until their justice prevailed, regardless of what needed to be done…

Pressing her hand to her stomach only ever in the privacy of her own home, she knew that the same thing would happen to the unborn child in her womb. People had seen Roger in the South Blue after all, she was certain that rumours would spread that there was a child out there sharing his blood.

She needed to protect them, even if it would cost her too much. This was one thing she hadn’t been able to let go. Not after already losing her lover, her child was someone she would fight tooth and nail for.

“I won’t let you down, Dearest, you are a part of me and him. The last part of the man I choose to love and I’ll protect that until my dying breath.”

A sad smile came over Rouge’s lips as she said that, pressing her hand to her stomach still as she used her haki to stop her child from growing until she deemed it time. She felt her will push down the normal cycle of pregnancy and place it into stasis. Even with the discomfort, she knew she needed to do this for her child to survive. She would prolong her pregnancy as much as possible, until no one suspected that the child was Roger’s, and protect the fruit of their love.

“Your time will come, Dearest, just not right now. It is too dangerous right now and I don’t want to see you leave me like your father did.”

Carrying on as normal, Rouge could feel the strain it had on her, mind, body and soul. It cost her so much energy to keep the flow of haki going, to put a stop to something so natural. It also weighed on her mind, knowing that the truth had come out in a way. To hear about the women and children who disappeared when all they had done was being seen near Roger. To know that all of these people suffered while she could keep her cover. But right now, the thing she wanted to protect the most was Roger’s legacy.

Moving along with life as if everything was normal, able to keep her stomach from growing so she wasn’t discovered. She could feel it though, her body and the baby trying to overpower her will. But she wouldn’t relent, not for this.

“Soon, Dearest. Soon.”

Pressing her hand to her stomach she could feel her little one trying to push back against her will. If anything it made her smile, knowing that her baby would be strong. They were already  so much like their father, it made her heart hurt.

“You’re so much like him, Dearest, he would have been overjoyed to meet you,” she told her still flat belly, gently petting it. “He had been overjoyed when I told him I was pregnant, but I also think it made him reckless in an effort to protect us, Precious. Your father was a wonderful one, and I hope no one ever manages to convince you otherwise.”

Sighing, Rouge was well aware that there would be a lot of people that had different opinions on Roger. They called him a demon, a scorch upon this world, but all she had seen was the lovable goof of a man willing to take on the world for his family.

She planned on waiting until a year had passed, so she could let her baby grow again. When she started to show it would be fifteen months since Roger’s death, no one would think anything of it then. Smiling sadly, she knew what she was sacrificing, the drain she felt was growing every day. 

Yet, she wouldn’t give it up for the world. 

“Soon, Darling, soon you can grow and be as marvellous as we all are. Just a little while longer.”

When the date came and went, Rouge allowed herself to pull her haki back, smiling when the baby inside of her womb answered with a small burst of their own. They would grow, she was certain of it.

Despite all she was giving up, she wouldn’t have it any other way. Their child deserved to live, that much was certain, to explore the world and be free.

“I love you, my little one, enough that I would give everything to keep you safe. Now grow, big and strong, as I cannot wait to meet you.”