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Garp is beginning to think that maybe his generation is just cursed for kids.
The first was Dragon.
His Dragon. His starbright, hellfire child. His baby.
Neither Garp nor the mother were the marrying type, so she exited the picture and left him with a squalling bundle of joy to keep alive. It was a hell of a learning curve. Maybe Garp never really got the hang of it. He was so proud though. Still is, in his heart of hearts.
His son was a good Marine, at least by Garp's standards. He didn't blindly obey orders, instead pursuing his own justice. Bold and defiant and certain. Garp had thought that Dragon would be just what the Marines needed. A fresh start, a new direction. He'd had such high hopes.
But Dragon hadn't wanted to try to fix the system from within it. He saw the worst of the world from the Marines. The worst of the government. He'd decided to change it.
And then he'd left, and become the world's most wanted criminal, and Garp had realized he might one day have had to watch his son's execution.
Just like he'd had to watch his friend's execution. Roger's last request was for Garp to take care of his child, and Garp hadn't pointed out what a shit job he'd done with his own kid. He'd just said yes. What else could he have done?
Ace was Roger's, even if the man had never met him. Garp couldn't bring himself to call Ace his son. It felt like a betrayal of his late friend. It felt like bad luck. But Ace didn't want to call Roger or Garp his father, so he grew up with nothing but a dead mother, a deadbeat grandfather, and a troupe of mountain bandits. It was a relief to be able to send Luffy to him, even if keeping them together wouldn't be as safe as leaving them separate. No kid could be as despondent as Ace had been, not with Luffy around.
Garp hadn't been a good father, he knew, but he had tried to be a decent grandfather-- even if the best he could do was keep the boys alive.
For a while, at least.
He'd worried about having to watch his son's execution. He'd never expected to have to stand as witness to his grandson's death.
He still has Luffy. He holds onto that fact, even though it brings him very little comfort these days. He still has Luffy, and anyone who tried to take Luffy alive would have the fight of their lives to contend with first. That is the most comfort he can give himself: if Luffy's damned determination to be a pirate kills him, it will be on the battlefield.
If their generation-- Dragon and Ace's-- really is cursed, then maybe it'll skip Luffy. The kids of this generation, the real age of the pirates, are all fierce, diamond-hard creatures of determination and spite.
Hell, one of them has even wormed his way under Sengoku's skin, hasn't he?
But that's a sore subject. Everything is sore with Sengoku, these days. Garp can't forgive him for Ace's death-- for making him watch Ace's death. Sengoku can't forgive him for hiding Ace away, all those years.
The pirate would be a sore subject anyway, though. Partly because he's a pirate-- mostly because he's Rocinante's.
Poor, sweet Rocinante.
The kid's been gone a long time now. Almost as long as Sengoku had him for. And they'll never know the whole story, only the fragments and guesses they've made and the occasional cruel remark from Doflamingo.
It's enough to paint a picture, though.
Of course Rocinante would have died to save a single child. He couldn't have done anything else.
Like Dragon. A good Marine. Too good. He cared too much to survive it.
Was that the curse again?
Garp doesn't believe in curses. But himself, Roger, Sengoku-- all losing their children, in one way or another. What's that saying? Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action.
Maybe Luffy could get out of it. Luffy and Rocinante's kid. Trafalgar, that's his name. They've got the fire to keep living, despite everything.
Garp can only hope. He's only got hope left, after all.