He was a soldier, a good one at that. He was considered to be the best of his generation. Son of a vice admiral and himself about to be promoted to one. He did his job without an ounce of hesitancy. He followed orders to a tee, and because of that, he was called a hero.

A hero who put the criminals in their place and protected the innocent and vulnerable.

The successor in the ultimate fight of good against evil is winning every time.

Even though it was just a job, he made it his life. It made him happy despite the hideous parts he had to turn a blind eye to. He told himself that things had to be done to maintain peace. He had to take children away from their mothers. Put fathers in prison for stealing food to feed their families—murder almost-mother for possibly caring for the spawns of devils in their wombs.

It had to be done; that's all there was to it.

Even though it broke him daily, he did his job despite everything.

Dragon looked down at the newborn that was desperately crying in his arms as he had heard from the other villagers that this one child was just a weird being to have in their home. He can't tell the difference between their words or thoughts about the baby being boarded alone without supervision. They only left it alone to die under the cold, wet, heavy rain as he felt his blood boil to think they didn't even help. 

Hearing the wails, he bent down on his knees to pick them up and held them in his arms as he shooshed them to soothe their crying. The only thing now was to find somewhere to crash for the night since he had a baby to keep them nice and warm, for god's sake. He searched around the city and found one place that could keep them warm for the night. No one lived there, and it was a little old and overused. He prayed that it wouldn't collapse on them, so he went inside, and luckily, he had matches light up some candles around for him to see. It was perfect for him and the baby to settle for the night until they could leave around the morning. 

"Alright," Dragon started removing his green cloak to set it on the sofa, still in good condition. "I guess this will be it for tonight." Dragon looked down at the baby that was looking up at him with curious eyes. "We will have to leave early in the morning, and I will have to take you back to Baltigo." 

She made a slight noise as he sat on the couch staring at her. 

"I don't know why no one wanted to help you since you look normal to me. I don't see anything wrong." He said, looking down at as she raised her tiny hand as he lifted his index finger to let her grasp it. 

He chuckled as she held onto his finger making her smile at him.

"Do you have a name? I bet no one left a name for you, did they?" He said, looking at her as he thought of any names that could fit her. He remembers the day Luffy was born and thought of the name even though he had to let his father raise him. 

Dragon looked down at the baby girl only to see that it was a girl and she had these adorable eyes and soft hair, and she was relaxed in his arms. 

"Lia. I think your name should be Lia." He said as she smiled up at him, nuzzling her head against him and earning a low chuckle. "Better get plenty of rest since we're going to leave early in the morning."

Outside, the sky was already dark, and the streets were emptying. Dragon headed for the first grocery store he could find. It wasn't particularly well-stocked, small, likely a family business selling the yield of their farms. They were already in the middle of closing up and eyed Dragon with displeasure when he picked milk from their shelves. However, any further annoyances went ignored when he put more berries on the table than needed and left as quickly as he had arrived.

He needed to make a plan, but he couldn't focus.

His thoughts kept returning to his failed mission and the cell he'd been dragged to. He'd been able to ignore it for months, but now it was all coming back like a downpour. The scent of the mold, hair washed in salt water, the iron around his wrists keeping him in place.

The apologies.

Dragon's nails dug into his hand's palm, drawing blood, slowly trickling down. The pain kept him in the present and stopped him from lingering on what he couldn't change. He had to move forward. He was needed back at the base soon, and Dragon had to bring them along.

Lia was awake crying after his disappearance, and he immediately started preparing a bottle.

"Relax, I went out to get you something to eat." Said Dragon, as he held the bottle for Lia as she sucked on the tip, grasping her tiny hands to keep it. 

Leaning close for her to drink it, Dragon made sure she could get every drop of it. He had a couple more for her until they could leave from here, Dragon supposed. This village was peaceful enough and didn't have too many orphans that another would be abandoned.

Lia had finished the bottle and burped as she nuzzled against the tall male. They needed to evacuate immediately and not stay another day, so he gathered what he could before leaving the house. It was a bit dark, but the sun rose over the horizon as he went to find the fishing boat he had sailed. After sailing in the water, they were out in the ocean for at least two hours and should reach the base very soon. 

"Well, this isn't surprising for anyone if they find out I have another kid to take care of." Said Dragon, as he leaned back with Rose still in his arms, but she was asleep during their travels, remained silent, and did not cry as any other baby would. 

The revolutionist could picture the looks he would receive when he returned to base. The minimum hours passed, and sure enough, he spotted the headquarters as he landed near the surface of the dry land area island. He flew over there while carrying Lia, hidden underneath his cloak, still in slumber. When he reached the headquarters, he opened the large door where other revolutionary army members were soldiers working hard and still on top of their feet. 

"Dragon, sir." Someone called their names, and a fellow soldier told him the latest updates on their recruits having to take down another island at bay. "Our reinforcements have reached the inside of the base and have taken down the other soldiers that we've attacked. The people were safe as they were released from their prison."

"Hm. Any news so far from the other commanders around the world?" He asked. 

"Nothing so far, but it seems things remain low for now." He replied.

"Good." 

Dragon continued to move forward to head to his room, where he could finally set Lia down to give his arms a rest. Setting her on the soft bed, he was in relief to be back with no disruptions so far.

A knock was heard from the door, and Dragon sighed, leaving Lia's side to answer it. Opening the door was none other than Ivankov.

"Dragon! I wondered when you'd be back after the recruits informed me that you've returned. I just wanted to share some interesting news about something--"

"I would be interested to hear, but could you do me a favor? Shut up." He grumbled.

Ivankov stopped as he looked at the commander's expression was a bit annoyed.

"Sorry." 

The male's eyes gave him the shiver when they were severe and intense.

"Do me a favor and see if there are some clothes for a baby size." He said. 

"What?" 

"Just do it." He said, shutting the door while heading back over to Lia as he saw her eyes open, and she was awake. "Well, I see that you awake from our long travel." She coos up at him with her big pink eyes staring into his steel grey ones. 

Dragon does remove his shoes as he sat down next to Lia but made sure she didn't roll off the bed only to sit in a comfortable position. He didn't want her to fall because babies can squirm around a lot. Lia was looking about curiously as she turned her attention to Dragon, that looked back at her with a soft gaze.

A few minutes later, Ivankov returned as he knocked on the door, and Dragon answered it. He saw the box of clothes that were babies. 

"Why do you need baby clothes?" Ivankov asked. 

"I need them for her." He said, turning his heel around and shutting the door behind him as he made his way over to Lia. "These should be able to fit you once I give you a bath."

Leaving the room, he went to grab a small tub that he washed out and ensured that Lia was still on the bed. He placed pillows around the bedside in case she fell off. He filled the small tub with water at a decent temperature for her and went to get her. 

"Alright, let's get you clean up." Said Dragon. 

He carried Lia to the tub and got on his knees to strip out of her clothing that was bigger than her size. She placed her in the tub and looked up at him while he scrubbed her with a rag to get her clean. He made sure that no suds were getting in her eye as he went at a slow but fast pace. Lia smiled at him, cooing as she splashed the water around her feeling it soaked around her form. When it was time to get out, Dragon got a towel out to dry her off and left out of the room, except he forgot something. Diapers.

He silently cursed, forgetting the last thing as he carried Lia in his arms to grab some. The place should have some since there are some infants and toddlers around. Entering the kid's area, he went to one of the drawers to grab a couple and return. On his way back, Sabo came around the corner, spotting the tall commander, and noticed him holding someone in his arms. 

"Dragon-San," Sabo called out to the male that stopped in his tracks. "Are you in a hurry? I was just about to talk to you about something."

"In a minute." Dragon said, walking past him to head back to his room because he didn't want Lia to stay under a towel any longer. "Now, let's get you to dress and hopefully get you something to eat." 

Dragon got a pink onesie, a bottom trim part for her to wear, and a bow wrapped around her head. 

(At least it isn't light pink to burn my eyes out. I kind of like this kind of color, pink).

Lia cooed when the tall male picked her up to carry her out of the room.