? '------ {. ' 'HEART ' '.} '------ '?

If told a year ago that he would be a father of four rambunctious sons, Donquixote Rosinante would have laughed in your face. He never intended in getting attached to Law, and he never intended to get saved by a seven-year-old with a pet Sea King, whom dragged him to the East Blue and said they were now family.

But, still, if you asked Rosinante, he would tell you he loved his boys with all his heart and that would never change, even if they were going to give him gray hairs before he turned thirty. They were planning on being pirates, and Rosinante didn 't see a problem with it.

Sure, he was a Marine. Well, retired Marine. But he didn 't see any problem other than them risking their lives. Rosinante became a Marine because he owed a debt and that was the only thing he could think of. He was a Celestial Dragon by birth, and he was ashamed of his heritage (of his brother), but he was so, so happy to be alive.

Because he met Law and Ace and Sabo and Luffy, and then Zoro, Bepo, Shachi, Penguin, and Sanji. Those two boys of his collected people like treasure did pirates and it was driving Rosinante crazy with worry, but he loved them no matter what.

Even when he needed to scold Law about removing his brothers ' body parts, or when he needed to have yet another talk with Ace about his blood not meaning a damn, or when Luffy got himself stuck between a literal rock and a hard place, or when Sabo knocked out yet another tooth and the bleeding wouldn 't stop (and no, he did not panic, thank you), they were his boys. Rosinante would do anything for his boys, and he would protect them with his life.

So when a literal Yonko and Dark King fucking Rayleigh wandered to the island, casually asking where Luffy was, he panicked.

Because that was his boy, even if he woke up screaming some nights, even if he ran head-first into danger without a thought, even though he got stuck between literal rocks and a hard place, and even if Rosinante was going to get gray hairs before he turned thirty, that was

his son

.

? '------ {. ' '? ' '.} '------ '?

'Oh, Corazon, ' Makino smiled pleasantly when Rosinante walked into her bar, carrying a basket full of things the brothers decided the girl just needed.

He 's pretty sure they shoved some gold in the basket, so he wasn 't going to leave it for Makino to carry back in case she got stopped by some bandits, as unlikely as it was (bandits were terrified of coming near them, Rosinante assumed it was because of his sons and their freakish strength). It wasn 't like he minded the walk anyways, it let him work his sore muscles, his sons decided he needed to join in on their workouts as well and his Haki hasn 't ever been this strong.

(When he asked Luffy where he learned Haki, Rosinante 's youngest had claimed that 'Ray-san ' had taught him for two years, which just raised more questions than answers, really.)

'I was about to head up the mountain, this certainly makes things easier! ' Makino said airily.

'Good morning, Makino. ' Rosinante said, eyeing the literal Emperor of the Sea that was casually sitting next to Dark King Rayleigh, his hackles raised but a pleasant smile on his lips. He was a spy; he could mask his panic with ease. 'The boys wanted to deliver this themselves, but they 're off somewhere doing Seas knows what. ' He sighed deeply, grey hairs, he 's telling you. He can only hope they didn 't set anything on fire today, Ace was known for having his own arson streak.

And hopefully Sabo didn 't rob a noble 's house again, and hopefully Luffy stayed out of trouble for one day, yesterday 's bees-nest incident was going to leave nightmares, and hopefully Zoro didn 't get lost and end up on another island like the other day, and maybe Law wouldn 't come home with a person 's torso like he had last night '

Well. You get the point.

Makino just giggled and took the basket, 'Those four will run you into the ground soon, Cora, you need a break. '

'In the form of wine, I hope. ' Rosinante joked, and Makino

beamed.

'I just got a new shipment of that wine you and Dadan like, I was going to bring it up! ' she turned on her heel, her finger moving along the bottles until it stopped on the ones she wanted.

'You 're a saint, ' Rosinante said, smiling as he accepted the bottles and kept them in the crook of his arm. He hoped he didn 't fall, he 's pretty sure he 'd cry if he broke these bottles.

Makino laughed, 'Corazon, this is Shanks! Shanks, this is Luffy 's father, Corazon. '

Rosinante flushed at the address, he still wasn 't used to being their dad officially even if they considered him their dad, but he couldn 't help but wonder why the hell a Yonko needed to know that.

It worried him a lot.

'Nice to meet you, Shanks, ' Rosinante said, smiling politely.

The Yonko looked surprised, eyes wide and mouth open, and he just stared. Rosinante shuffled nervously, sending Makino a questioning look.

'Ha, so you 're the boy 's dad? ' Rayleigh asked curiously, smiling widely as he finished his drink, 'I 've been wanting to see him. '

'And why 's that? ' Rosinante 's voice had a certain edge to it, sharp in a way it hasn 't been in a while.

He used to be a marine, and he was still damn strong. Not enough to fight two literal legends, but he could hold his own for a while depending on who exactly he was fighting. His devil fruit was meant for surprise and stealth, so it 's not like he could use it should he have to fight these two.

But Rosinante was strong enough without it. His Haki was one of the strongest (he 's had almost five years ' worth of being an undercover marine pretending to be a pirate, he needed to be strong to rise in the ranks of his brother 's piss poor excuse of a

family

. Not to mention being raised by Sengoku, which, damn, he hasn 't contacted his father in months.)

(With Ace and Luffy

and

Law under his care, Rosinante didn 't know if he should contact his father. His father had a 'distinct moral compass, and he wasn 't above killing a few kids if it was in the Marine 's interest. It 'll be best for him to believe that Rosinante had been killed.)

'Oh, no, Corazon! ' Makino shook her head, hands waving, 'Shanks and Luffy are friends! '

'Oh, ' Rosinante relaxed instantly, he had stood at his full height the moment he noticed the strong presences in the bar, and moved to his regular slouch at Makino 's words, 'I swear, that kid 's going to give me a heart attack one day. '

Makino gave his elbow a pat through the load of feathers. Honestly, she didn 't even reach his elbow, but the thought counted, 'I know the feeling. '

'Well, ' Rosinante sent the two pirates a grin, 'I can take you to him if you 'd like. '

'You have my thanks, ' Rayleigh said, standing. He nudged Shanks when Rosinante turned, leading the way, making the Yonko snap out of his daze.

? '------ {. ' '? ' '.} '------ '?

Shanks has never seen such a beautiful man before, like, ever. Corazon was tall, like really fucking tall, and his smile was just wow, and his smile was dazzling, and his eyes were so pretty. Did Shanks mention his height? He was so tall, like really fucking tall. Shanks was speechless.

He trailed after the most gorgeous man he 's ever laid eyes on, and he had a hard time to not stare so obviously. Judging by Rayleigh 's smirk, he wasn 't being all that secretive.

'So, the boy lives in the mountains? ' Rayleigh asked, looking around nonchalantly, 'There are many animals here, right? '

'Yes, ' Corazon nodded, eyes trained to the ground as he carefully stepped over a root, 'They can take care of themselves, but I still worry ' '

Shanks liked his voice. Wow. It was nice. Like really nice.

Ahem.

'I didn 't know Luffy 's father was even around, ' he asked casually.

'Ah, I wouldn 't know, ' Corazon smiled, it was fond and bright, 'Luffy 's not really mine, but he 's still my son. '

Ah, so Luffy found himself adopted. Shanks smiled, that was good for his Anchor, even if he was technically the Pirate King in a kid 's body. The man led them up a path, stopping at a hut and giving a near-sobbing woman the bottles in his hand before showing them towards a different part of the forest. The path wasn 't as used, discreet, and Corazon hummed under his breath as he dug around his large cloak for a moment before coming back with a cigarette box and a lighter.

'Oi! Luffy, no fair! ' the shout was muffled, but Shanks grinned because that meant his little Anchor was close.

'Shishishi! '

'Luffy, you have some visitors! ' Corazon called, breathing smoke out in the direction away from Shanks and Rayleigh.

'SHANKS! ' they all heard.

Shanks grinned widely when he saw the rubber boy hurtling towards him, laughing loudly. He had an armful of the D. a second later, and the boy just laughed loudly.

'Ray-san! ' He cheered, arms up as he grinned at Shanks ' former superior.

(Corazon choked on his cigarette and Shanks watched with rapt attention as he coughed, holding his cig away from his mouth.)

Rayleigh studied him with a smile, 'Monkey D. Luffy. ' He greeted in amusement.

'Oi! Cora-san! ' a teenager with a long sword barked as he came into view, 'What have I said about smoking!? '

Corazon yelped, and his coat caught on fire a second later. A boy in blue yelled that they needed water, and a boy with freckles tossed a cupful of water at the burning man.

'This is why you shouldn 't smoke, Cora-san. ' The teenager sighed.

'I can smoke if I want, Law, ' the man huffed, seemingly unaffected by how he had literally been on fire a second ago.

Shanks might 've drooled, just a bit.

? '------ {. ' 'DARK KING ' '.} '------ '?

'So, you became the Pirate King, ' Rayleigh said as he watched the young boy in front of him.

Luffy smiled at him, humming. 'Yeah, '

'And do you have any idea why you came back? ' Shanks asked, 'We still haven 't been able to come up with anything. '

Law sighed deeply, 'Before Luffy turned himself in, we swapped hearts. That 's the only thing we can think of. '

'You 'swapped hearts ' ' Shanks repeated slowly.

Luffy laughed happily when Law called up a Room and literally removed his heart.

'I see. ' Rayleigh watched the two.

'Wait, you 're from the future too? ' Shanks asked.

'Shishi! Torao 's a Yonko! ' Luffy said, smile dimming slightly for a moment before returning to it 's regular beam.

'A Yonko, hm? ' Rayleigh observed the bored-looking teen.

'Yeah, kicked Kaido 's ass, ' the boy said blandly, 'Took his spot before the war started. '

Shanks saw the grip on the long nodachi tighten, tan and spotted knuckles bleached white. Luffy placed his hand atop Law 's wrist, and smiled, and Law sighed before looking away.

'So, what was this about swapping hearts? ' Shanks wanted to tease them about how it was kind of romantic, in a morbid way, but refrained. 'Does that have anything to do with this? '

'I doubt that would cause us to travel through time, ' the former Yonko now teenager commented with another sigh. He adjusted his sword 's position, staring at the sea.

'Who cares! ' Luffy grinned, 'We can stop the war, and we can save Ace and our crews! '

'Yes, ' Law smiled slightly, 'But that will take time and effort. '

'Shishishishi! Who cares? ' Luffy repeated, 'It 's just another adventure! '

Law rolled his eyes, 'We need a plan, though. '

Luffy picked at his ear, 'Gross. '

'Mugiwara, ' Law sighed, 'I need you to stick to my plans this time. '

'Everything turned out fine last time. ' Luffy grimaced, 'Well, except for when you got shot, and then when you were caught by Mingo and chained, and then when

that

happened, but everything else before that was fine! I saved your ass, Torao! '

'Listen, ' Law addressed them, ignoring Luffy easily, 'We need to be on the lookout for a Devil Fruit named the Yami Yami no Mi. That fruit basically starts all the bad in the future. '

'Mostly, ' Luffy agreed.

'Why? ' Shanks asked, frowning thoughtfully, 'Why would this fruit cause this much trouble? '

'This fruit can cancel out any Devil Fruit powers, but it can also absorb a Devil Fruit. ' Law explained, 'Basically, whomever has this fruit can have at least two Devil Fruit powers at once without any drawbacks. The person who ate the fruit in our original timeline ended up taking Whitebeard 's after he died during the war of Marineford. '

Luffy 's eyes shadowed over as he dipped his head.

'Whitebeard? ' Rayleigh echoed, disbelief in his eyes.

'The war started because Blackbeard took one of his sons and turned him into the marines to become a Warlord, ' Law glanced at Luffy for a moment, continuing after observing the younger boy. 'That son ended up being the biological son of Gol D. Roger, so the execution was live. Of course, Whitebeard wouldn 't let his son die, so hence the war. '

'Captain had a son? ' Shanks hissed loudly, jaw on the floor.

'So Rouge 's son lived, ' Rayleigh said, relief in his tone.

'Wait, you knew? ' Shanks gaped at his former superior.

'Of course I did, brat! ' Rayleigh laughed, 'Where 's the boy at? '

'Ace hates his dad. ' Luffy said sternly, 'He won 't want anything to do with you guys. '

'The freckled kid that threatened me with a pipe? ' Shanks said in disbelief.

'Yeah, ' Law nodded.

Shanks and Rayleigh exchanged looks before they both burst out laughing, 'This calls for a party! '

? '------ {. ' 'REVALATIONS ' '.} '------ '?

'So, Shanks, ' Shanks looked over to the literal walking wet dream named Corazon and tilted his head to the side. The party had died down quite a bit, the boys all either passed out or almost there, and the Red-Hair pirates either drunk or asleep. Even Benn had let lose to the point where he was slurring his words and on the verge of unconsciousness.

Shanks could handle his alcohol better, though, so he wasn 't nearly as bad as his crew. It helped that he paused his drinking to share stories to the reluctant Ace and his brothers. Ace obviously didn 't like Roger, but he had seemed grudgingly impressed with the stories.

'Luffy told me a lot about you, of course I didn 't think he was talking about a Yonko, but, ' Corazon smiled at him, the dying embers of the bonfire giving his skin a shining quality, his smile sincere, 'Thank you for saving him. I 'd be dead without that kid. '

Shanks chuckled, 'Luffy 's Nakama, you don 't have to thank me. '

Corazon had a fond light in his eyes as he looked over to the sleeping brothers and their crews. 'I was prepared to die; I knew it was going to happen. ' Shanks chewed the boar leg in his hand, paying close attention, 'I just wanted Law to live. And he needed a Devil Fruit a very dangerous pirate was searching for, so I was prepared to stall him so Law could escape. But Luffy showed up out of nowhere, force-fed Law his Devil Fruit, and then dragged us into a Sea King 's mouth. '

Shanks snorted, 'That sounds like Anchor. ' he mused.

Corazon flinched back, 'Ah, sorry, I didn 't mean to rant at you! I just wanted to thank you! Luffy is very important to me, and, well, you get the point... '

Shanks smiled, 'There 's no need to apologize, I don 't mind. ' he pushed red strands out of his eyes, 'Luffy is special, he 's helped all of us one way or another. Thank you for watching over him, he needs it. '

Corazon nodded, 'He 's strong for his age. '

He had no idea. Executed at twenty because everyone else he loved was dead or close to death, and he decided he didn 't want to be alone.

'Ne, imagine how strong they 'll all be in ten years. ' Shanks said, 'You 'll need a lot of wine, then. '

Corazon laughed, eyes scrunched up and his smile wide and Shanks felt a teeny part of him wither up and die because he was so totally fucked.

? '------ {. ' 'OMAKE ' '.} '------ '?

Shanks groaned when he woke, hand moving to cover his eyes as the sunlight burned into his eyelids. He could hear his crew waking up around him and the sound of flickering fire, along with the sound of water. A hand pressed gently against Shanks ' arm, and the Yonko pulled his hand back, peeking his eyes open.

Corazon smiled at him, handing him a glass of water, which Shanks took eagerly. A second later, Law was shoving a small glass of a green sludge into his hand and said, 'Drink. ' He then moved over to Yasopp, kicked him awake quite literally and did the same.

Shanks ' nose wrinkled at the smell coming from the sludge. Luffy laughed, thankfully quieter than normal, 'Torao makes the best hangover cures. ' He said cheerfully.

Corazon rolled his eyes with a smile, but Shanks knew that Luffy was probably talking from experience and forced the sludge down his throat. The Yonko looked over to Corazon when he stood and asked Sabo to skin the crocodile he and Ace dragged over and felt himself flush.

Corazon was wearing a pink apron that was tied around his waist, the thing much tighter than his heart-patterned button up and showing his build where the ruffles didn 't cover. And he wasn 't wearing his huge feather jacket either, meaning Shanks had a great view of his ass.

'Shishishi, ' Luffy 's laughter came from next to his ear, and Shanks looked over to the Pirate King 's knowing eyes, 'You 're drooling, Shanks, '

Shanks wiped his mouth, damn Anchor for being so observant.

'I know the crocodile smells good, but you can 't eat it raw! '

Okay, so maybe Anchor didn 't know.

'Also, Cora-san likes guys, you should ask him out, shishi! '

Okay, maybe Anchor did know '