dear_mun | Happy Mama's Day to a very special mama. :3

....Mom?

[Rouge says nothing, and simply pulls Ace closer to give him a tight hug.]

... [ he's so stiff during this, and then just leans in a bit more and gives a choked laugh. ] ...Happy Mother's Day.

[She smiles, gently rubbing his back.] Thank you, Ace.

... I'm dreaming right? [ he's finally wrapping his arms around her, and burrowing his head into her shoulder, hugging tightly.

Fuck, how long has he wanted to do this.

He's gonna make a stuttered laugh-- choked off through a few tears. ]

This better not be a dream.

[Shaking her head, she moves to hold his face in her hands.] It's not a dream, Ace. I promise. I'm here right now.

Mom... [ okay, now he's gonna just hug her so much more. ] Thank you. Thank you for saving me, thank you for keeping me alive and thank you for giving my the chance to meet my brothers. I owe so much to you and I shouldn't have squandered it when I had the chance to actually live. Though I don't know you -- I want you to know that I love you for everything you've done for me.

[She's a bit surprised at first, but puts a hand on his head to hold it close, the other on his back.] Oh, Ace. As long as you lived your life the way you wanted to, that's more than enough for me. I should apologise for not being there for you, for not being a mother. [She holds him a little tighter.] Ace, you're my son. I'd love you no matter what. It doesn't matter if we don't know each other. I love you, anyway.

[ he's going to just manage a smile through the tears and hold onto her a bit more. ] Thank you for loving me unconditionally through everything. Even though I didn't always want it-- though I didn't always thought I deserved it. It means a lot. It wasn't until I met Luffy and Sabo that I knew that there was more for me out there. Thank you so much.

[She closes her eyes, and shakes her head.] I'll always be here for you, Ace. If you ever get lost, scared, or confused, I'll be here to help you. [She gently kisses the top of his head.]

I'm glad you met so many kind people.

[ just clings to her. Man he feels like a kid, even though he towers over her and everything. This is what peace should feel like, right? Safe, warm, happy.

this is the best feeling he's had since he told Pops he was his son. ]

Thank you, Mom. Thank you so, so much.

[She'll just let you stay there for as long as you damn well please. Don't bother moving.

No seriously, don't, she doesn't want you to leave again.] Anything for you, Ace. Anything at all.

[ maybe he'll just stay here and never move, k? k. too happy to just. cling. and stay there. ]

Anything? [ he makes a choked off laugh and WANTS to make a crack about ditching rogers for pops, but that's too soon, right? ]

[Her voice flattens a little, but she's still happy.] I'm not giving you one million beri, though.

H-hi there. My mun tells me you're Ace's mom? Wow, you're so pretty...

[Have a smiling (and maybe blushing a bit) dirty little boy handing you a flower, Rouge.] Uh, here. Happy mother's day! Thanks for letting me meet Ace. I couldn't have asked for greater brothers than him and Luffy.

Yes, that's right... ah! You must be Sabo! My mun's told me about you.

[She's smiles sweetly, also blushing a bit because awwwww he's so sweet. She takes the flower, and crouches down a bit to meet him at eye level.] Thank you, this was sweet of you. And I'm glad he was able to meet wonderful people such as you and Luffy.

Yep, that's me. Though I'm not really as cute as your mun keeps saying I am. Nice to meet you, Rouge-san!

[Totally beaming at the praise.] I'm glad you liked it! I would've gotten you more if I could. Ah, and yeah, I guess we got lucky the three of us met. It's lonely being alone after all.

[Rouge just laughs at that.] Well, the gesture was very kind of you. Nice to meet you, too, Sabo.

[She shakes her head.] This is plenty, it's all right. [Raising her hand, Rouge gently rubs the top of Sabo's head.] Being lonely is rather sad. I'm glad all of you are together.

[Sorry, Ace, he's gonna borrow your mom for a while and bask in her motherly kindness. So he's gonna stand there and take that rubbing like a man (a happily smiling and blushing tiny man). But even he can sense Rouge's sadness, and he can understand why, somehow. He could glimpse that same sadness in Ace sometimes.

Sabo looks up at her.] I'm really sorry you and Ace couldn't be together. You both could've been so happy...

[You have no idea how much Rouge adores this. It's like having Ace around as a child, and not all grown up. Not that she doesn't mind that, but she still wants a kid.

She smiles down at him sadly.] It's all right. This way, he was able to meet you and Luffy and so many other wonderful people. I should be thanking you for looking after him in my stead. [Because like hell she trusts Garp and Dadan to look after him. Anyway, pulling you into a hug now.]

[Steal him away from his horrible mom? She doesn't want him anyway... ;;

Oh, ooooh. Hugs... The only hugs he ever really got were the rubber-tight ones from Luffy, and very, very rarely, some rough ones from Ace. So this? This is new. So new, Sabo couldn't help the tears from gathering in his eyes. Don't mind the shaky voice when he finally answers, ok?]

W-well, he saved my ass as often as I saved his, so you shouldn't be thanking me. I-I mean, we looked out for each other as much as we could. But I... [Wow this is really hard to say.] I couldn't even do that now.

[Well, that's her shitty loss then.

When she hears the shaky voice, Rouge simply gives him a tender smile. The kind a real mother would give to her son. She just pulls him closer, and honestly doesn't mind the swearing. She was dating the Pirate King, okay? That guy's got to have a mouth.] Even so, it brings relief to a mother to know her son was being looked after.

[When his tone changes, however, her eyes widen a bit.] What do you mean?

[He will not cry. He won't, he won't. He's dealt with this before so it shouldn't be a big deal anymore. He's a man, and men shouldn't cry this much over dying.

So with bravado in place, Sabo tries to grin.] Ah, I died. Ace and Luffy... they've already lived ten years without me.

[Still there's a few tears that streaked down his cheeks before he hastily wipes them off.]

[Rouge just stares at him with wide eyes. Is he... trying to be strong while confessing to his own death? That's... something she can't bear to see. Rouge just full on picks him up to hold him in her arms.]

I'm so, so sorry, Sabo... death is never easy to come to terms with. Don't try to pretend it's all right. That only hurts others.

[Okay jsyk, when you hug people so tenderly like that, don't expect them to maintain their dignity. Sabo's bravado just cracks and he clings to Rouge with tears and snot running down his face.

After a few moments, Sabo pulls away a bit, still sniffling but now with a much lighter heart. He doesn't even have to fake a smile now.] It's okay, Rouge-san. I'm over it. [He wipes his face with his sleeves.] E-eh, well, sometimes this still happens, but I'm really okay with it now.

[Rouge is fine with it. She just rubs his back to calm him down, but still lets him cry. Sometimes it just needs to be let out. When he faces her, she gives him a small smile.]

It's all right to cry every now and then. It's not a sign of weakness. I'm not sure if anyone can ever be okay with their death.

Even I'm not.

[Sabo looks down.] I guess... It's not dying that hurts. Not really. It's that I wasn't able to fight for my life. I died because I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and that's just lame. [Wait, what the hell is he doing? He's whining about his own pathetic death, when Ace's mom gave her life to save her son.

Ok, pulling himself together. He returns the smile.] You shouldn't worry, Rouge-san. Ace grew up to be a pretty great guy with great friends. Luffy too! That's a big comfort for me.

[Well, it's not like she had a choice. It was either be killed by the marines and lose the baby, or at least fight to let him live.] I wish you could have lived, Sabo. A boy like you deserves it.

[Aw, now him trying to comfort her from worrying about her son is just sweet.] I'm glad to know that, Sabo, thank you. It puts me at rest to know he was a nice person.

Happy Mama's Day to a very special mama. :3

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject