Is it timeskip time yet?

Since the reveal that Gol D. Roger was his new father, the now-named Gol D. Sou's life was relatively uneventful. As a baby, he really had nothing to do but take in his surroundings and monitor the ongoings in his life. However, even that was rather calm. Other than his parents, he only met two people: Rayleigh and Crocus.

Rayleigh was always there to watch him whenever his parents were off doing something else. And he met Crocus, as Crocus would always visit Sou to check up on his health. Other than that, however, Roger and Rouge were the only people he ever saw.

Based on the fact that he was the son of the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, it was likely that his existence was being kept secret. Even if Roger was not the Pirate King yet, based on the existence of Crocus, it was likely that Roger was already a notorious pirate, having participated in the God Valley incident. Due to this, it was probable that Roger would only tell Rayleigh, his most trusted friend, and Crocus, who was needed due to him being a doctor, even if Roger must have only met him at most 4 years ago.

His life passed by uneventfully, until around a year after his birth, he overheard a conversation between Roger and Rayleigh being held right outside his room.

Rayleigh's agitated voice cut through the silence. "You want ME to take care of him, Roger? I don't know anything about raising children. And didn't you already ask Garp?"

A resigned voice came from Sou's father, barely hidden fatigue in his voice. "You're right. I did ask Garp. But he'll only be able to take care of my other son. Rouge has shown signs of pregnancy, and it's likely that with her weak constitution, she'll be unable to survive childbirth, especially if something unexpected happens. If she dies, Sou won't have anyone to raise him."

Rayleigh immediately shot back. "Then why can't you just have Garp take Sou too? I don't see why you need to split up the two brothers."

The Pirate King's trademark cheerfulness was nowhere to be found in his response. Sighing, he replied, "Gaban has betrayed us. Thankfully, he never found out anything else about Sou besides that I have a son, but he was there when I found out that Rouge was pregnant. Garp informed me. Gaban gave the government information in hopes they would take him in after my death. They killed him. The government knows about Rouge and my unborn son, Ace, but has no information on where they live or any pictures of how Rouge looks."

Rayleigh sighed. "I see. To think Gaban would betray us. I'm guessing that the reason you want me to take in Sou, then, is to reduce the suspicion on both Sou and Ace since the government would likely be looking for a pair of similarly aged brothers. And if I made everyone believe Sou was my biological son, the suspicion would lessen even more. After all, while some may think to look at my son and me, and maybe even Garp's grandsons, they would likely never think to look at both of them."

"Yes. It's a shame that I would have to separate my sons, but if I want to have any chance of them being safe from the government, it must be done." The somber tone in his voice immediately added to the already heavy atmosphere.

This time, Rayleigh was the one who spoke in a resigned tone. "Alright. I'll do it. I'll raise your son as Silvers Sou. However, I won't hold any information back. I'll tell him all about you, the circumstances of his birth, and his little brother."

Roger's tone was a bit happier this time, as he replied, "That's all I could ever ask. Thank you, my friend."

At this, Rayleigh just sighed once more, before he opened the door to Sou's room and carried him from his crib. Looking down at the baby, he remarked, "Guess you're coming with me now, buddy." Sou gave typical baby babble in response, before snuggling up against Rayleigh's arms.

As he did this, he began to process the information. From what he could tell, he was around 24 or 25 years before the post-timeskip timeline aka current canon, since Roger was known to have died 24 years before canon, and was made the Pirate King 25 years before canon. Since Ace was born around 23 or 22 years before canon, with him dying at 20, 2 years before the current canon, Sou was able to infer his location in the timeline based on the news of Ace's conception and the existence of Roger.

Taking all this into account, Sou inferred that he was born around 25-24 years before the current canon, meaning he would be around 23-22 at the time Luffy sets sail, and around 2-3 years older than Ace. Based on his location in the timeline, Sou knew that Roger was going to die in less than a year, culminating in him being adopted by Rayleigh. After confirming this, he fell asleep in Rayleigh's arms, content in knowing the time period he was at.

And so, five years passed by peacefully for Sou, with Sou arriving at his sixth birthday. However, for everyone else, these years were anything but that. In the first of these five years, the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger was executed. With his speech revealing the One Piece, many pirates flocked to the Grand Line in search of this elusive treasure, resulting in the Great Age of Pirates.

With this Great Age of Pirates, came chaos. "Golden Lion" Shiki went on a rampage throughout Marineford and was sent into Level 6. Shanks started his pirate crew, and battled Marshall D. Teach, resulting in the three scars over his eye. The Legendary Shipwright, Tom, was put on trial for the creation of the Oro Jackson and was given 10 years to build the Sea Train. Vinsmoke Judge gave birth to his first child, Vinsmoke Reiju.

In the second of these five years, the grave of the renowned samurai, Ryuma was robbed, with the sword Shusui being taken. In the third, Nico Olvia is captured by marines, and her comrades are killed. A giant, Jaguar D. Saul, frees her and deserts the marines. Nico Olvia returns to Ohara, with her daughter, Nico Robin, meeting Saul.

The island of Ohara is completely burned to the ground by a Buster Call, with every citizen being killed besides Nico Robin, who is put on the run and given a bounty of 79,000,000. Jaguar D. Saul is killed. Portgas D. Ace and Sabo are born. Portgas D. Rouge dies after extending her pregnancy to 20 months. Silvers Rayleigh is saved at sea by Hatchan, Shanks meets Yasopp, and many notable people are born.

In the fourth of these five years, Vinsmoke Judge attempts to genetically alter his children, with three children being successfully modified, and one is born as a normal human. His wife dies. The Vinsmoke quadruplets and Zoro are born.

In the fifth and final year, Whitebeard claims Fishman Island under his protection. Kozuki Oden and his Nine Scabbards attempt to defeat Kaido but fail. Oden and his wife are executed. Toki, Oden's wife, uses her Devil Fruit powers to send her son and her retainers 20 years into the future. Inuarashi and Nekomamushi. Nami is born, and a Marine, Bell-mere is caught in a battle between Marines and pirates. She survives and takes two orphans she finds, Nami and Nojiko, back to Cocoyasi village, adopting both as her daughters.

While all of this happens, Sou lives a peaceful and unbothered life along with Rayleigh and Shakky, who he accepts as his parents. Their parental guidance provides a pillar of support he never had in his previous life, which is what caused him to become so warped. After a year passes, his 'cheat' finally awakens, coinciding with the birth of Monkey D. Luffy.

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A/N: Sorry if this seems boring, but I personally just wanted to rush through the baby chapters since they're by far the most boring parts of any story in my opinion. I also wrote this at like 3 am, so there might be problems. I might go back to re-edit this later. As always, please comment with any questions or concerns.