#trebol

Trebol also has a shit ton of luck. Because Rosinante literally just left — which only reinforces the idea that he never really understood Doffy. His purpose. His dream.

So yeah. Doflamingo can’t fully trust Rosinante yet. Trebol still has way too much influence on him. The Marines suddenly stopped raiding the Donquixote Pirates — which is suspicious as hell.

By the end of those six months, Doflamingo is fully prepared to kill his own brother.

But ohohoho, it’s going to be sooo soooo different from canon.

Because Rosinante isn’t that good here — not like in canon. He was never a Marine in this AU. He learned a lot from the family, sure, but he’s really not that skilled.

Yes, yes, he steals the Ope Ope no Mi. He gets shot. But after he gives the fruit to Law, they don’t get time to wait for help from the Marines or anything like that. The whole island is full of enemies — from the start until…

Until they hear some Marines talking about the Donquixote Family arriving. And Law and Rosinante — despite everything — snicker like little kids, because hell yes, that means an easy way out of this hell-spat island.

But Rosinante is still Rosinante. He is clumsy — painfully, tragically clumsy — especially in the most important moments of his life.

So he curses under his breath when, while trying to sneak away with Law, he trips like a complete idiot, completely exposing the two of them. He yanks Law to his feet and immediately bursts into a sprint. Yeah, he’s clumsy — but he’s far from stupid.

But that’s still not enough when the people you’re running from are holding rifles.

With a muffled groan he hits the ground, bullets having found their mark. His whole body screams, but he forces himself to look back — and he already knows he has no chance. Not this time.

So with shaking fingers, he fumbles with Law’s hat, straightening his clothes, making him look strong — making him brave. And he tells him to run. To run like he never has before. If he can, to find his brother and leave. There’s still a chance. There’s still hope.

And ohhh Law is one tiny breath away from totally breaking, because he doesn’t want to lose Cora-san too. Yes, he likes the Donquixote Family — but Cora is… more. It’s not just the past six months on the sea, not just that Cora wanted him to live. They understand each other on so many levels that no one else could ever imagine.

So Law runs — because Cora asked him to. Because Cora believes in him. And Law has only one goal: find Doffy and ask him to save Cora.

He really starts to cry when he hears the dull thuds and Cora’s painful grunts. From a distance he can still see the marines kicking Cora while he’s lying on the ground. He wants to go back, so, so badly. But he’s small and sick — he wouldn’t stand a chance.

A gunshot breaks the silence — and snaps Law out of his paralysis. He’s terrified. Did Cora die already? He shouldn’t have stopped to look, he should have kept going, he should have—!

But one of the marines is already on the ground, bleeding, and Cora is holding a smoking gun. The gun Doffy gave him. Good.

Law doesn’t look back anymore. He just starts running again, because they still have a chance.

When he finally sees the crew on the horizon, he’s so happy, so relieved, he doesn’t even notice the tension in the air. He’s crying again and screaming for Doffy — and thank god, someone notices him!! Law is coughing hard, he hasn’t run like this for ages. He clings to Doffy’s pants with an iron grip, pulling at the fabric while sobbing, trying to drag him back the way he came. Because Doffy has to come, he has to help Cora — he’ll die, the marines, Cora, please, please, hurry!

And Doffy’s face is so neutral. So emotionless. Trebol could dance and clap in pure joy — because the Young Master is angry. Everything is happening exactly the way Trebol wanted.

So the family follows Law.

And oooh, Doffy is confused when they reach Rosinante’s location. Because Rosinante is fighting. Barely — if you had to judge — but still. He’s fighting like a lunatic, like a wild animal caught in a trap, the kind that would chew off its own leg just to escape.

Rosinante is screaming in rage as he grabs a man from behind, throws him to the ground and starts stabbing him — once, twice… a lot of times.

He staggers when he tries to stand, and Doflamingo has never seen Cora move that fast as the moment he hears them approaching. Cora’s arm snaps up instantly — the gun already raised, pointed straight at Doffy. His face, twisted in an ugly snarl seconds ago, starts to melt into something else, the tension in his shoulders loosening.

Doffy doesn’t have time to understand any of it — what he should think, what he should feel. One moment Cora is smiling at him — and is he missing a tooth? what the fuck happened here? — and the very next moment Doflamingo can barely process what he’s seeing:

some filthy low–rank marine slams into his little brother at full speed and knocks him right off the cliff.

For a second, everything just… stops. No one knows what comes next.

They came here to take answers from Cora, right? He is — reasonably — very likely a spy and a traitor… but he killed, what, how many marines lying dead on the ground?! And now someone just shoved him off the rocks?!

Law’s painful scream snaps everyone out of the trance.

Doflamingo is already running — he’s already there, to the place he last saw his little brother. His little brother — who he can’t see anymore because there’s nothing but the fucking sea below.

The marine who pushed Cora off is still there — body caught on the sharp rocks, already lifeless. But Corazon is nowhere. Nothing but the raging, dark sea.

Doflamingo’s mind is blank like it has never been before. All he can hear is the rush of his own blood and the ragged, uneven sound of his breath — as if he has just run across the whole damn island a hundred times without stopping.

Without thinking, he summons his strings and reaches into the water — but the moment they touch the sea, they dissolve. He tries again, and the same thing happens. What?

Somewhere deep inside him, something stirs — something he can barely recognize anymore, because he was a child the last time he felt it.

Desperation. Fear.

He whips around, ready to bark orders, to tell them how to save Corazon, but… everyone is frozen. No one — no one in his fucking family can help, because everyone in his fucking family has a fucking Devil Fruit.

He knew that. Of course he knew that.

They start trying to snap Doflamingo out of it, telling him they need to leave — the Navy is still here and they are not enough to fight them — but Doflamingo can’t hear shit. He just stares at the fucking water crashing against the rocks.

He tries again with his strings. Nothing. Fucking hell.

He tries again. And again.

Frustration keeps growing, burning, choking him — because this is not… this cannot be something he cannot fix. He is Donquixote fucking Doflamingo.

So he tries again — and this time the strings don’t dissolve immediately. His breath stops for a moment — because he truly thought he couldn’t do it — but… there’s a chance.

He tries again with renewed ferocity. And now he can feel it — the seawater is weakening him so much faster than it should. Still… he refuses to stop. Because now he knows he can do this.

He can’t register anything from the outside world anymore. Not his family starting to fight the marines. Not Law right beside him, searching the water with tear–filled eyes, sniffling.

He sees nothing — hears nothing — except the waves and the possibility that he might be able to pull his brother back from the sea.

He can focus on only one thing:

Saving his maybe fucking traitor of a brother.

He hears screaming — and it takes a while to realize it’s coming from him. He’s on his knees, blood pouring from his nose, even from his mouth. It feels like his brain is going to explode from the concentration, from pure will. From the desperate need to make this happen.

His world narrows — hyper-focused — and then, suddenly, he feels the connection.

Thousands and thousands of strings in the water, and finally — finally — he grabs onto his brother’s body and yanks.

There’s a second of dizziness — a blackout — someone screaming his name—

And then snow is falling on his face.

There’s still chaos somewhere nearby. But slowly, he turns his head and sees his brother’s soaked, blood-covered face. His eyes are closed, and he… he’s so still it looks like he isn’t alive.

Doflamingo doesn’t think — he just crawls closer, brushes the hair from his brother’s face, tries to find a pulse — but there is nothing.

Law is screaming that he has to hurry, to do CPR, to stop wasting time — DO SOMETHING.

And he does.

And it’s not just Law who lets out a relieved, tear-choked laugh when Rosinante starts coughing and vomiting water.

But there is no real relief. Because he doesn’t even have the strength to stay awake. His breathing is still wet, shaky even — Doflamingo has heard a bullet-torn lung a hundred times, and this sounds just the same.

After that, he doesn’t remember how they left the island, how the hell he still had the clarity to lead his crew.

There is a raw urge inside him to find a place — a doctor — anything. Law has already passed out from his fever… and if he weren’t that sick, he’d probably be too emotionally compromised to save Cora’s life anyway.

With Buffalo’s help, they quickly find a nearby island where they can regroup, get medical care for Cora, and then go home.

It takes several extremely stressful days to make that happen.

Cora flatlined once — and that made everything so much worse… but he lived. And that is the most important thing.

For days, it’s still a life-or-death situation. His fever is off the charts, something that just won’t break, no matter what they do.

So when the Donquixote family is finally able to set sail again, everyone is physically and mentally drained.

Doflamingo — being Doflamingo — tries not to look stressed or weak… but deep down he knows he probably looks pathetic.

Because there is no logic in what he did. He saved Corazon — someone who might be a traitor. Basically… a deserter.

His thoughts are fighting day and night, because too many things just don’t add up. And fucking Trebol won’t stop getting under his skin, and he’s so fucking pissed he almost throws him into the sea.

Because no matter how hard he tries to rationalize things, he keeps ending up at Rosinante’s bedside, more than once a day. He wants to be the first person his brother sees and the first one he talks to when he wakes up.

So, after a week at sea — sailing back to their base in Spider Miles — Rosinante wakes up.

He is out of it. Everything hurts. His mouth tastes like something died in it and he… he can’t exactly piece together where he is or what happened.

After lying there for a while with his eyes closed, he tries to really wake up. He scans the room — and yeah, he recognizes the place. It’s his brother’s ship, the Numancia Flamingo. That means Doflamingo is here too.

And well… he doesn’t really need to look for him. Doflamingo is right there at his desk, reading through papers.

Rosinante wants to watch him for a little longer, but Doflamingo doesn’t have his reputation for nothing — nobody can observe him unnoticed for long. His intense gaze locks onto Rosinante immediately.

Rosinante wants to say something — something important, something meaningful. Because he left six months ago, and he was so angry, and he’s still angry about the slave trade… but he missed his big brother so, so much.

“Aniue…” His voice is raspy and quiet, but it lands with its full weight.

Doflamingo stands up instantly — not even a second of hesitation — and goes to sit beside his brother. --------------------

Aaaaaaahhh I still haven’t finished yet!