Doflamingo knew everything that went on in Dressrosa, nothing was ever unexpected, everything always under his control. However, Diamante frantically running to him in the middle of the night screaming about some kid wasn't something he was expecting. The look of concern grew when he saw the pale white face of his executive, as if he had seen a ghost.

"You need," he struggled to tell Doflamingo the urgent news over his heavy breathing. "To see-"

"Doffy!" Trebol wasn't far beyond, that same horrified expression on his face. "This kid stole something of yours!" A deep frown crossed his face as he followed the two out of the castle into the quiet night streets or Dressrosa.

There was a kid running at full speed, frantically looking for somewhere to hide. In seconds he had him caught and was rushing to see what had his two executives so horrified.

A yelp of pain left the kid, and when Doflamingo turned them to look at him he saw a boy who almost mirrored him in looks. It was haunting for a moment as he took a step away from the boy to steady himself. When he regained his focus he noticed the moon shining off of something hanging around the boy's neck. He moved swiftly, ripping it off within seconds, the boy screamed in protest as he struggled against his string restraints.

"Give that back! You can't have it-" Doflamingo snapped his fingers and Diamante clamped his hand over the boy's mouth in order to forcibly shush him. As he held the item up to the light his eyes widened upon recognition of the necklace. He whipped around so fast the boy visibly jumped, clearly frightened by the sudden movement of the large man.

"Where did you get this? Who did you take this from?" He could barely contain the anger in his voice. He grabbed the kid by the neck and shook him, his patience such a thin line now that he held the familiar necklace in his other hand.

"I-I didn't take it from anyone! It's m-mine!" There was a struggle for air and the next few words came out as ragged breaths until Doflamingo heard, "-gave it to me!"

Silence followed as Doflamingo simply motioned for the two executives to follow him. Diamante threw the boy over his shoulder and ignored his protests as he followed the young master back to the castle.

__________

Doflamingo sat across from him, the boy tied to a large armchair, and stared down at the necklace in his hand.

"Y-you can't have that! It's important to me! S-so give it back!" Even while shaking with fear he still yelled at Doflamingo. The large man let out a deep chuckle as he stood to approach the boy.

"I don't remember giving you this, boy. As far as I know you stole it, and the punishment for stealing

this

would be death." He watched with amusement as the color drained completely from the kid's face. "

But

if you tell me where you got this then I might be able to spare you."

"M-My hometown ' I-I told you who gave it to me already." When the boy turned his head away Doflamingo grabbed his chin and forced him to look at him.

"Where is

she?

" He spat the words out and immediately the boy began to sob. His fear overwhelming him, he was unable to give Doflamingo the answers he wanted. Doflamingo slapped him across the face and the shock alone startled the boy into silence. "I won't ask again."

"Mom!" He called out in anguish. Doflamingo slapped him again, but this time it only encouraged his wailing. He couldn't get the kid to answer how he wanted and he was quickly growing frustrated. The necklace fell onto the floor as Doflamingo went to force the answer from the kid.

"Doffy."

He turned to look behind him, his heart pounding at what he thought to be a familiar voice calling to him. When he saw that it was still just him and the boy in the room he took a deep breath to calm himself.

"Tell me your name, boy."

"M-my name?"

"I don't have a lot of patience at the moment."

"R-Rosinante."

Upon hearing the name Doflamingo was in the kid's face again in a matter of seconds.

"How

dare you

say that name in front of me." When the boy started crying again Doflamingo started to doubt his current course of action. This kid seemed genuinely frightened, and it looked like there was something deeply upsetting him beyond the current situation.

When Doflamingo released the boy from his strong confines he could see the instant relief on his face. He spoke your name to get a reaction, and when the boy froze he knew he was going in the right direction.

"Is that your mother?" He asked, his tone drastically different than moments ago. The boy nodded slowly.

Doflamingo was an incredibly smart man, but it didn't take a genius to make the next connection. It really only took a pair of eyes.

"Did your mother happen to mention the name of your father?"

The boy nodded once again.

"T-That's why I came here. I-I came looking for my dad."

A feeling of absolute dread sunk into the pit of Doflamingo's stomach, one he hadn't felt in thirteen years. What a first impression he had made to this kid as his father. Given he already knew his name, it wasn't a reach to assume he already knew what Doflamingo looked like as well. He sighed heavily as he sat back down in his chair across the room.

"I'm sorry, had I known you were my son I-" the look on the boy's face was enough to shut him up right there. The look of horror, fear, genuine terror was something he never wanted to see from his family let alone his own son.

He stood again, the flinch from the boy caused his heart to twist in a painful way. He took slow steps, not wanting to startle him again. When he was finally standing above him he placed a gentle hand on the boy's head and ruffled his blonde hair into a mess. There was a split second before Doflamingo had him in his arms, squeezing him to the point he was afraid he might break the fragile kid in half.

"Doflamingo?" The name seemed wrong coming from his own son's mouth. A frown settled onto his features, but he would address it later. He figured there would need to be some time to heal after that first interaction.

When he remained silent his son called out to him again.

"D-does this mean I can stay here?" A stabbing at his heart had Doflamingo shooting backwards to look his son in the eyes. That pained expression was hidden deep under the fear of being rejected, but he could still see something troubling the boy.

"Did you want to stay here?" There was a soft nod as confirmation and the large man felt his heart swell for a brief moment. "Of course." He slid his hand down his son's face as he took in every single feature, committing them all to memory.

"How old are you now?" Doflamingo's sudden change in subject caught his son off guard.

"Um t-thirteen now."

"And you traveled here by yourself?" The question seemed harmless enough, but Doflamingo hid a loaded bullet in it. However, it went unanswered as the two sat in silence instead. He didn't want to push the issue, especially after what had already happened.

Something caught his son's attention and he followed his line of sight to a framed picture sitting on the table next to his bed.

"Mom," a choked sob drew his attention back to the boy, and without wasting another moment he drew him back into a tight embrace. A moment passed before he could hear the choked sobs the other tried to hide by biting into his hand.

Doflamingo glanced over at the picture again before placing a kiss on top of his son's head.

"Doffy."

He inhaled a deep breath as he steeled his emotions away. His son needed him right now.

"Hey, Doffy."

His son needed him right now.

"You know I love you, right?"

His son needed him.

"I love you, Doffy.'

But he needed you.

"Doffy."

His shoulders shook and he bit into his lip until it bled. He couldn't cry in front of his son, not now. Not ever.

The cries of anguish grew louder and Doflamingo felt his heart wrench at the sound. He was unable to do anything but hold his son, unsure of what the problem even was, he couldn't fix this one with a snap of his fingers.

"Why did you leave us?" The question caught him off guard and his whole body tensed in response.

"I didn't- I- it's complicated. But I promise I'm here now. I'm here now."

Doflamingo sent every family member away whenever they came in to check on the situation. A look or a hand motion had them all out of there in seconds. His son finally giving into exhaustion fell asleep clinging onto the front of his shirt.

Doflamingo tucked him into his large bed and sat up next to him as his own emotions fought against his composure.

"Doffy. Hey, Doffy. You know I love you, right?"

"Where's this coming from all of a sudden?" The wide smile on your face stopped his heart for a split second. The twenty-eight year old man would forget to breathe everytime he looked at you.

"I love you, Doffy." You said the words so casually, your soft voice causing his head to spin wildly at the words every time he heard them. No matter how many times he heard them, they always felt like the first, his heart could barely handle it.

"Come here." He motioned you over with his hand and you happily skipped over to him.

"You won't say it back? How mean of you, old man." You puffed your cheeks out in a rather childish pout.

He pulled you close to his side and placed a gentle kiss to your lips.

"I'll say it as many times as you want. I'll love you forever. I promise you'll get tired of hearing me say it." You giggled at his response, a soft blush painting your already rosey skin.

"How could I ever get tired of hearing that?"

When his son stirred next to him Doflamingo shot around to make sure everything was okay. He let out a sigh of relief when he noticed he only turned onto his side in his sleep. He wasn't sure how he would handle things again now that he was so emotional himself.

He grabbed the picture from his bedside table and ran a finger over the glass. His other hand clutched the frame a little too tightly and he only set it down after realizing he bent the frame itself. Another heavy sigh left his body as he glanced back at his son again. His sleeping face reminded Doflamingo so much of you that it hurt. It hurt to be reminded of you. No, that wasn't it.

It hurt because he let this happen.

"Doflamingo?" His son's voice startled him and he looked down to see him rubbing his eyes tiredly. "What are you doing?"

"You passed out there for a little bit. I laid you down here to rest."

"You're not tired?"

A soft chuckle came from the large man in response.

"Mom would do that too. She stayed awake for hours whenever I was upset, sometimes all night just to make sure I was okay." This time when Doflamingo went to ruffle his hair he didn't flinch away.

"I love your mom, more than anything." Doflamingo surprised himself with his own confession. It wasn't untrue, just something he never spoke aloud to anyone else.

You were the only person he ever felt such love for in the entire world. When you left he spent years trying to replace you with countless women, he tried everything to force you out of his heart and mind. Hundreds of women, an entire harem, and not a single one ever came close to you.

"But I did something that I guess she just couldn't forgive. I could have stopped her, forced her to stay with me."

"Why didn't you?" There was a long silence as Doflamingo struggled with confronting the past so openly.

Horror. Anger. Betrayal.

Hurt.

Doflamingo shook his head, forcing the images out.

"I suppose it was my own actions that drove her away.

"Doffy!"

"Of course, at that time I knew she was already pregnant. She hadn't told me herself, but ' I knew. I waited for her to tell me. I waited so long for her to tell me how happy she was to start our family. She practiced saying it

so many

times with my brother."

"Doffy, how-"

"But instead of the words I wanted to hear more than anything else-"

"

How could you?"

"I was left heartbroken. She decided that what I did wasn't something she wanted," Doflamingo turned away unable to meet his son's eyes, "for you."

The sun always looked so radiant on you. When you flipped your hair back over your shoulder he swore he would drop dead right there. His heart hurt with how much love he held for you, only you. All he could ever want was right in front of him. He ached to always be with you.

Then when you smiled at him, and called his name like that, he couldn't see anything but air-

-and you.

"I could have changed."

His jealousy was always kept in check, even when he wanted to act out he couldn't. You had a soft spot for his brother, and even softer one for Law, but just one look at you and he knew that you felt the same as him.

"Law! Corazon! Come here! Let's take a picture together for Doffy!"

"Why would I want to do something as pointless as that?" Law would always pout, throw a fit, but when it came to you he always gave in just like everyone else.

"So he can always have his family with him, even if he's far away."

"But I didn't."

"You killed your own brother! Why would I ever want to start a family with you!?"

Betrayal. He couldn't tolerate it. It turned out you couldn't either.

"Love isn't always enough, Doffy." You bit your lip so hard that it bled. He reached out for you, but you slapped his hand away. Your eyes stung, tears falling as you refused to look at him.

He wanted to reach out again. Force you to stay by his side. He didn't know how to live without you now.

"And before I knew it. She was gone."

But when you turned away for once in his life he couldn't find the courage to do what he needed.

"And you were gone."

Doflamingo's shoulders shook. Tears falling, his glasses did little to hide the pained expression on his face.

"Dad?" The title took him by surprise, and when he looked back he saw in his son's eyes the emotion he had tried to hide all night long. Even though the anguish sobs he had hidden everything, but looking at him now Doflamingo knew. That look in his eyes was loss, something Doflamingo was all too familiar with, and the realization of what his son was grieving hit him harder than anything had before.

"When did it happen?" His son looked down at the bed, now unable to meet Doflmaingo's eyes.

"A few months ago. Some men raided the city looking for me, I guess they were trying to kidnap me for revenge against you. But mom ' she ' she-" his face scrunched up as he struggled to hold back tears. Doflamingo pulled him right against his body again. The urge to comfort his son over taking his own grief.

"I promise I'll find whoever took her from us, and I'll make them pay."

"But it won't bring her back." The broken sob that left his son broke Doflamingo's heart in half. "Nothing can bring her back." And with that he wailed again, calling for a woman the pair would never be able to see again.

"Hey, Doffy. Promise me something."

"Rosinante," saying the name after so many years felt strange to Doflamingo. The pain of what happened with his brother was a sharp reminder as he called out to his son, but maybe that was the point. You never would let him forget anything important. "I know your mother loved you. More than anything, more than me, I'm sure."

His son wailed against his chest as he spoke softly to him. The family most likely hovering around the door outside, concerned from all the yelling and crying they were hearing.

"Your mother only ever wanted the best for you. She expected the best of me, but I failed her."

"That even if we're apart-"

"I should have never let either of you go."

"You'll always remember how much I love you."

"I'll never let you go again." He clutched to his son desperately, emotions hidden for years finally forcing their way to the surface. The pain of knowing you could be here now if he hadn't been so stubborn was a suffocating realization.

He looked over at the picture on his bedside table. A daily reminder of everything he loved, of everything that he lost.

You. Corazon. Law.

None of them were here anymore, and his son was all he had left of you.

Nothing else remained.

You were gone.

And all he could do was cling desperately to your son.

The sun was setting over a field of flowers, the orange glow beaming off of your warm skin. You turned to him with a smile full of love. Your hands rested over your stomach, eager to tell him your long awaited news.

The sun was setting as you whispered to him one last time.

"I love you, Doflamingo."

All he could do was remember.