(Modern! Reader X Onepiece) Superstars Unite

Everything Goes Up In Flames D'X

Chloe hummed in satisfaction, the twin's father called and told her how much better the two were doing, saying how he was so relieved that they were behaving normally (as normal as they can get) again.

Rocinante hugged her from behind as she got lost in her muddled thoughts on the two children, "I'm just so glad I was able to help those two...they're such sweet children Roci, if they were up for adoption I wouldn't have hesitated to take them in..they're the kind of children that take better care of the parent than the parent takes care of them if you know what I mean, mister Trafalgar is so lucky to have such sweet kids...I wish they could visit"

The man's chocolate eyes twitched in slight jealousy, what was it that was so special about those troubled brats? So what if they had abnormally huge smiles, so what if they had talented silver tongues that could flatter just about anyone? In his opinion, they sounded like smartass children who used their wits to get whatever they wanted in life.

She would have went on and on about the two kids until she heard an unfamiliar ringtone go off on her phone, strange, with a confused and curious frown, she forcefully removed herself from the dork's determined grasp and answered the call, "hello?"

"Is this Gingerly Chloe?" Actually, her name was now Donquixote Chloe but she made no move to correct the mistake, "yes" that's when she heard an uncomfortable shuffle in the backround and dropped the phone at the next set of words, "I was told to tell you that the Trafalgar's home has burnt down"

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The fire was fast and furious, the fire department never made it on time, after finding the bodies, the police were shocked to find both adult's riddled with bullet holes while a young child's body was found half burnt and strangled with signs of a struggle.

It was then concluded that the well known warmhearted family was the victim of a nasty burglar who retaliated by burning the place down when he met resistance, but Chloe knew better.

She easily noticed how the police slyly dodged all mentions and questions on how there were also older twins in the family when reporters showed up, and how they didn't explain what happened to them, nor where they were at all in their speech to the public.

It was obvious that it had to do with something about that woman, she made a fatal mistake, it seemed to have slipped her mind that the situation could have been much more bigger and deadly than she could ever have imagined, and now it was almost certain in her mind, the twins were kidnapped.

But she couldn't run to the police and tell them about it, there were obviously crooked cops among them if not all of them being in on it, doing so would only put herself in danger as well, so she had to turn to the only person she could trust.

"Roci, I have to find them" she began, the blonde man only blinked at her and scowled, this was starting to go too far, "Chloe, this is enough, the kids died in the fire, the police must have never found their bodies-" "THEN TELL ME WHY THEY DIDN'T ANNOUNCE THAT TO THE PUBLIC!?" Rocinante froze, she never yelled like that.

"ROCI! THOSE PRECIOUS KIDS ARE PROBABLY OUT THERE SOMEWHERE! HURT! AFRAID! PROBABLY IN THE HANDS OF THAT GREEN HAIRED BITCH! AND IT'S MY FAULT! I GOTTA...help..them" suddenly, Chloe lost her balance and almost passed out if it wasn't for her husband catching her on time.

"Jesus Chloe! Calm down, the doctor said that stressing out will only worsen your condition" he scolded.

"I don't care" she bit back, "I have to help those...kids..even if...it..kills....me" The therapist frowned as her vision went fuzzy but immediately fought back against it with her stubborn personality as she got up from his grasp.

"Roci, if you ever met those kids, then you'd understand why they're worth it, they're special Roci, they're not just some brats with problems...they....they're like my own kids now" she softly whispered.

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No matter how strong a stone is, it cannot stop the process of erosion, it will keep carving and carving, until there is nothing left to crumble, it is the same with her stubborn will of determination.

~~~

Rocinante held back his tears, this wasn't the time or place for those, this was a time to stay strong, for her if not himself and his pride, he just couldn't bring himself to cry in her happy presence.

Chloe laid in the hospital bed and gently smiled at him almost apologetically, the doctors said there was no doubt that this was her final day alive, how did this happen? It was just like what Rocinante said, she worked herself so hard to find the twins, that her condition just couldn't let her keep up.

"Y-You baka!" He sniffed, "you've spent months trying to find these brats and now you're gonna die without even succeeding!" He scorned, this only made the blonde's icy blue eyes to mildly water up at her husband's chocolate doe ones, "I-I'm so sorry Roci"

The other paused as she struggled to lift up a weak pale arm and rub her cold fingers over his soft, warm cheeks, "I-I just wanted to save them..Roci you gotta believe me, they're worth it, they're always worth it....it's funny, I imagined that when I found them, then you'd finally be..able..to meet..them and..then..we'd-" her arm suddenly dropped as the heart monitor started to loudly hum.

Rocinante's eyes widened and almost started to pour tears, "what? No! Not yet dammit! Wait! We'd what!? I'd meet them and then what!?"

Nurses and doctors alike swarmed in to flush him out, but he didn't even resist, in fact, he marched right out of there after glancing once more at her dead smile, "...they're worth it"

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Rocinante, or should I say Corazon now, silently stomped down the cold white corridors no matter how loud he should have been at the moment- he was as silent as the morgue, he just had to keep going.

He finally found them after two long years, the two kids his wife died looking for, the ones he always refused to meet or get to know, but now, he was going to finally meet them in person, like she wanted.

"They're worth it" he remembered her saying, it was something he could never remove from his head, even though he highly doubted it, he just couldn't believe that two helpless little kids would be worth not only all of this trouble, but her life among it all as well.

Finally, he stood in front of it, experiment chamber #55, the two have been down here all this time being used as some sort of sick, illegal experiment to chemically evolve humans.

Experiments tying with his brother and some convict scientist, the blonde shivered at the thought and took a deep breath, this was it, and with a hesitant push, he forced open the door.

His eyes immediately came into contact with two pairs of silvery ones, the helpless and frightened look in their eyes were no suprise to him but he froze at what else he saw, unwavering kindness and intelligence beyond their years also reflected in them, along with a burning passion begging for affection scorched right through his very being.

And it was at this exact moment here that the man realized what his wife was trying to tell him so long ago, they've always been worth it, and now it was his turn to care for them.