2/2

She winced, like he struck her a physical blow, but her voice was deceptively honeyed. "H-How may I help you, Trafalgar-kun?"

He frowned and thankfully released her. "Never call me that again. Dinner. Let's go."

"Trafalgar-kun came to show little ol' Sophie the way to the gall—?" He grabbed the front of her hospital gown with a scowl. Sophie instantly held up her hands. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! The ammonia made me a little high. D-didn't you say there were going to be fluffy pillows involved?"

He let go, not very gently. "Maybe you'd feel better with a cigarette."

Sophie untied the hospital gown—she'd worn it over her Criminal clothes, so they wouldn't get wet—and shut the door exactly four times before facing him. "No, thank you. I don't smoke that often."

"Ah." He reached into his pocket. "Then you won't mind if I kept this for a while long—"

"Give me my lighter!"

She clapped her hands over her mouth. Shrinking back, a red-faced Sophie watched Law slowly drag his hand out from his pocket. He clenched empty air. Of course.

He studied her like he was probing a lab rat. "Chain smoker, are you?"

"It's none of your—yes," she changed tactics forcefully, because she had nothing to be ashamed of, "Yes, I am. What do you care?"

"I still want to dissect some lungs from smokers." Law let that sink in and added, "Just a passing thought."

Sophie did a very good job of hiding her shudders. He wouldn't. He just liked threatening her, getting all up in her personal bubble, watching her panic. She felt like a tiny, pathetic bug nailed down under a microscope. The feeling was wretched. If not for her protesting stomach, she would've ran back into the storeroom, slammed the door, and curled into a little ball. Yes, Sophie quite preferred the company of dead men over Trafalgar Law.

Determined to put the matter behind her, she strode ahead despite the fact she had no idea where she was going. "At least I'm not a pirate."

He chuckled. "A familiar comeback."

Fury swelled in her chest. Blindingly fast, Sophie whirled around and spat, "You feign politeness in everything you say, but not even that can disguise what a deranged, nutty-as-a-fruitcake PSYCHOPATH YOU ARE! HOW'S THAT FOR A COMEBACK!?"

'Comback… comeback… back…' echoed down the hall.

"…and I mean that in a very caring way," Sophie finished weakly.

The shadows beneath his hat were angled sharp enough to cut and Sophie was aware of how very deserted this hallway was. Now would be a good time to run, but her feet seemed to be welded to the floor. As he walked forward, she couldn't even blink, much less move.

"I seem to manage quite well," Law said. His smile was terrifying. "Room."

A blue-green dome encased Sophie. She whirled around, terrified, and wondered, not for the first time, if burning alive may have been the smarter option.

"Shambles."

—

"Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!"

"Drink and the devil had done with the rest!" Shachi bellowed.

"Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!" the pirates cheered, stamping their feet.

The Heart pirates were having a grand time, led by Penguin who was waving Sea King bones like a conductor. As they finished off the song, Shachi raised his mug in salute and chugged it sloppily down his front. Bepo drummed his paws on the table, hollering. Even Law, relaxing in the middle of all the disorder, seemed entertained.

"Hey… can you please…"

His hand bent and tossed the object into the air again.

"Please…"

Toss.

"…please put my head down!"

Law looked mildly surprised, as if he'd forgotten Sophie was still decapitated. "Hm? Sure."

And then he tossed her head at Bepo.

"You are the worst!" she screeched, spinning through the air.

The bear caught her easily. It seemed he had some experience catching heads—but that didn't bother her in the slightest, because his fur was as warm as a soft blanket. "Are you okay?" he asked politely.

"Perfectly fine! Never let me go, I'll stay like this for—WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

Law had her wrists in a tight grip and clutched a surgical knife right at her throat. He blinked. "Experiment time."

"NO. GIVE ME MY BODY BACK."

Bepo glanced at Law, who just shrugged. The bear picked up Sophie's head and plopped it squarely back on her neck. But she had more important things to concentrate on besides the fact that she nearly died again…

"Food!" she sobbed, and began piling leftovers onto her plate.

The pirates were all quick to offer suggestions on which plate was the tastiest, what part of a pufferfish to eat ("It's not like any of us'll die with Captain here!" Shachi said confidently. Sophie was understandably not reassured), and which had the greatest chance of burning her tongue off. Someone poured her a drink she rapidly glugged down… glugged… and kept on glugging…

Penguin looked mildly impressed. "Damn, you're drinking a lot."

"Don't worry! I can hold my own!" she proclaimed, slumping over on the table. "Don't… underestimate…"

"YOU CAN'T EVEN LAST THROUGH ONE GLASS!"

"Of course I can!" she slurred defensively. "Just… never tried this… what's this… this…"

"WHAT THE HELL'RE YOU EVEN SAYING?"

"It's rum."

Bepo gaped. "Amazing! Captain understood her!"

"A TALKING BEAR IS MORE AMAZING!"

"…I'm sor—"

"WHY ARE YOU APOLOGIZING?"

Sophie snorted rum up her nose and doubled over, coughing. Curse those pirates and their well-timed humor! After the bout of trying not die was over, she clambered back up up, wheezing slightly and red-faced.

"You're taking this rather well." Law smiled at her, the very picture of civility, and she knew he'd just seen her almost kill herself with rum.

"It's not that easy to scare Strangways Sophie. It'll take more than… splicing… off my head…" She took a second to repeat that in her head and then corrected herself, "No, actually, you terrify me."

He smirked a little. "How straightforward."

"Y'know the legend of Cat's Eye?" Penguin waved a drumstick at her. "We've heard the rumors even before we entered the Grand Line. They say the reason the king locked up the island was because he wanted to hoard all the gold for himself. There's a mountain of gold buried underneath his castle, they say." His smile was all teeth. "Imagine."

"We'd be the richest pirates in all of Grand Line!"

"Man, what I'd do with that much gold…"

"Anyway! You have really crazy ability," she said, munching on Sea King meat as the other pirates went into a discussion about the pros and cons about buying mermaid statues. "But really cool at the same time. If I could split molecules as easily as you could split my body apart, that would be incredible."

She took another gulp of rum and savored the lightheaded, giggly sort of feeling that drifted over her. Alcohol was no substitute for nicotine, but she'd take what she could get. "I mean, investigating the wonders of the natural world is the whole reason why I'm a chemist. There are whole oceans waiting to be discovered. What can I find at the end of the world? Elements I can control, the bombs that I can form, the things I can blow up, the smell of sulfur! Ahhahaa…" Sophie snapped herself out of the stupor and dabbed her mouth with a napkin. "But I wouldn't expect a murdering doctor like you to understand."

"—they'd be giant and we could stare up at them all day—"

"And how exactly are we going to fit that in here?" Penguin snapped.

"How about renovating our cabin arctic tundra style?" Bepo piped up.

"WE AREN'T A HOME IMPROVEMENT SHOW!"

Law set his mug down. "In the World Government… and even in your Marine base… there are people who will never appreciate your interests. We aren't so different in that way. Every sane person alive will shun those who don't abide by common thought. So you make bombs for a living. You call me a murderer, but what does that make you?"

His unnerving grey eyes watched her smile die away. "Do you really want to see the end of the world?" he asked quietly.

When she found her voice again, Sophie said, "There's a difference between killing out of cruelty and killing out of necessity."

"Is there?" His tone was devoid of all emotion.

She stared. In the background, Shachi was pointing out all the parts of the submarine he wanted to upgrade with his hypothetical new set of tools, and Penguin muttered to Newsboy Hat about buying more maps.

"I experiment on humans," Law continued, "because it furthers my knowledge and hones my skills. But even so, I don't delude myself in thinking that at the end of the day there's something more than a corpse sitting on my operating table. What difference does it make whether you're buried in a gilded coffin or none at all?"

Sophie's reply was harsh. "Difference is one person might've deserved it."

"Bullshit. Deserving death? And who gets to decide how much life is worth? Don't act so superior when you want to justify killing another human." Law leaned closer, cold grey eyes narrowed, voice cutting. "Death is the same wherever you go. It doesn't matter if it's one, or two, or a million people. Don't avert your eyes from it. Don't try to pretend it's necessary. It doesn't matter how they died, or why they died, but they did. And that's all that matters."

Her fingers were leaving red crescent marks on her palm.

"You're treating death like a statistic," Sophie quietly pointed out.

"Because it is," Law replied. "Am I wrong?"

She stared at the table and said, after a long pause, "Are all pirates cynics?"

"Cynical? Depends on how you look at it." He took another drink of his rum and asked quite plainly, "Have you ever had a dream?"

Sophie wasn't sure she heard right. "…I have…"

"So?"

"I want to eradicate all germs in existence and make odd numbers illegal. I think I sent in a petition to the Gorosei last year."

Law leveled her a flat glare.

"I'm serious," she snapped. "Got a condescending insult to throw my way?"

"That's one of the most pathetic things I've ever heard. I should take off your head again for that."

Ah, demeaning and threatening her all in the same breath. And to think that she'd almost been worried he'd gotten past that stage. Sophie plopped her cheek on her palm, thoroughly miffed. "Yeah? And what's yours, Doctor?"

Law replied, "One Piece."

She ran her fingers down the cracks of the wooden table, thinking. "…With the things I've seen, I'm the last person who will doubt the existence of Gold Roger's treasure… but… you're wasting your life for an elusive fantasy of gold and glory. Out of all the pirates who make it into the Grand Line, less than one-tenth reach the Red Line alive. And less than one-tenth of that have found a way into the New World. You might—no, you… most likely… will die."

"Yeah," he responded, "And?"

Sophie stared up at Law, unable to process what she'd just heard.

"…Say it again."

He didn't even need to ask her what she meant.

"I'm going to find One Piece."

Law raised his mug at her and threw his head back, draining the rum. She watched his muscles work, searching for the power that rested in his veins, his bones, just there, so close she could almost breathe it in if she tried.

—

Sophie awoke with a gasp.

She crammed a fist under her pillow—gun's not there, okay, where's the rifle—she was on her feet in a half-second, fumbling blindly through the darkness. Panic rose like bile in the back of her throat. She strained to see the dim red remains of a crackling fire, the other sleeping soldiers, the one that should've been keeping watch over the rest—oh god unless they were all—

And then Sophie banged her head on a shelf.

She promptly sat back down.

It took her a moment to remember where she was—the Heart Pirate's submarine, sleeping next to dissected organs. Sophie rubbed her forehead and took a deep, calming breath.

"Okay… very glad no one saw that…"

She fumbled through the darkness and opened the door, bringing in a waft of chilly air. Shivering, Sophie folded the blanket the pirates had kindly given her into a perfect square and slipped on her satchel. As an afterthought, she dusted the jars a bit. There was nothing like a good morning cleaning to pick her up.

"Sophie!"

A mess of black curls poked out door. "Shachi-san! Penguin-san! Good morning!"

Shachi winced. "Ow, ow, ow—n-not so loud, Sophie-chan." It was a wonder that he could still stand up, after that drinking competition last night.

"Mornin'!" Penguin shouted jovially. "What a nice day for sailing, right?"

"Aagh! Whhhyy!?"

She stumbled over to them. "Th-this is absolutely not a nice day at all. It' so c-c-cold! Shouldn't the Sunflower Kingdom be a Spring Island?"

"That's right, but we're stopping at Drum Island to restock on supplies." Penguin tilted his head. "Isn't this a good thing for you? It's not like you wanted to go to Cat's Eye Island."

"Right," she agreed instantly, a bit defensive. "Speaking of which, I should head over to the deck…"

"Wait! Sophie!"

Startled, she turned around. Penguin was grinning. "It's been fun."

"For you, maybe!" she huffed over her shoulder. "I never want to get decapitated again!"

The pirates howled in laughter. As Sophie walked away, her lips lingered in a tiny grin.

The heels of her boots clacked down a familiar passageway. What a truly bizarre set of circumstances. Just last week ago she'd sprinted for her life in the opposite direction… Sophie glanced out the familiar porthole, where once upon a time she'd wriggled through. The submarine steadily approached a snow-covered island, giant white pillars stretching between long, slanting fingers of sunlight. Her breath caught. She'd never seen anything like it. The drum-shaped pillars, the gleaming ice castle, the pirate flag…

What.

Disbelieving, she pressed her nose against the porthole. Just as she thought. The white-on-black Jolly Roger was unmistakable.

"Why? Drum Kingdom is part of the World Government! Why did they raise a pirate flag…?" A dozen hypotheses assaulted Sophie, each worse than the last. "Don't panic. Facts first, theories later."

On her way to the deck, she passed by a group of pirates. Sophie's thoughts were whirling so fast she didn't pay attention until—

"They're blaming the fire at Crawfish on us! Can you believe those bastards—eh?" The burly pirate wearing a fuzzy ushanka hat jumped slightly when he realized Sophie was reading over his shoulder. "Sophie-chan? Mornin'! I'm Anko, remember?"

The pirate in the newsboy cap sighed. "It would be nice if someone remembered me."

Sophie kept reading. Fire spreading across the island. Eighty confirmed dead, hundreds more still missing. All attributed to the Heart Pirates… just like Law had said…

She pointed at the newspaper. "Can I borrow that?"

Anko nodded eagerly. "Sure!"

She voiced her thanks and walked out on the deck, reading as she went. Her breath misted and she could taste the cold in the air.

Guardian of Alabasta, Sir Crocodile captures eight pirate crews this last month. Magician Basil Hawkins rampages across Longben's Skull. Cipher Pol Five apprehends the fearsome Grey Scourge in Oreina. She flipped through the bounties page (Iron Mace Alvida, Devil Dias, Cavendish of the White Horse, Strawhat Luffy...) and stopped. Revolutionaries successfully overthrow the Viran monarchy.

It was over, really, truly over. The soldiers, marine and rebel, could all go home. She felt a strange, empty lightness. Of course it was going to end this way, they had predicted as much, but the finality of it was like taking a wrecking ball to the stomach.

The war was over, and she'd lost.

The sub entered a river, cruising against the current. Sophie lifted her head, her lips parting, newspaper forgotten—pristine, untouched snow blanketed towering pines, as far as the eye could see. A News Coo flew overhead, disappearing against the white-blue pillars looming high above the island.

Sophie was so absorbed she didn't notice a shadow beside her stretching an arm around her shoulder. Law pulled her close enough that his coat tickled her cheek and warmth spread through her bare skin.

The expression on her face could either be described as agonizing confusion or extreme horror. "Wh-wha-wha-wha—"

"Careful," he muttered.

Right on cue, a group of hooded figures appeared behind a snow mound, all carrying muskets pointed directly at the sub. "S-state your name and your purpose, pirate!"

Though Sophie was having an internal panic frenzy, he remained unruffled. "Trafalgar Law. Buying medical supplies. I promise you we mean no harm."

With that short exchange, their whole demeanor changed. They lowered their muskets and chuckled to themselves. "Medical supplies, was it? That's fine. Kinda brings back memories of that guy, huh?" One person shouted at them, "Bighorn is just ahead! Welcome to the Sakura Kingdom!"

Law nodded. "Thanks."

Her bewilderment grew. "Sakura Kingdom…?"

There was a flash of something in her peripheral vision, but before she could see what it was, he moved away, leaning against the rail, and she discontentedly began shivering again. "You saw the pirate flag, right? This island probably wants to proclaim independence from the Government." He frowned. "Not like they should be blamed… the idiot ex-king drove this country into ruin. The best doctors in the world used to come from Drum Island. Now it's only a shell of what it used to be."

Her relief was palpable. "So it's not overrun by pirates?"

"By the way those people welcomed us? Unlikely."

She'd only heard snatches about Walpol before, in G-13. The only thing she knew for certain was that the Vice Admiral hated dealing with him. He'd preferred to let Drum Island be, from what Sophie remembered. But… if G-13 had known this king had harmed his people so badly… and refused to do anything… she shook her head, she didn't even know the whole story, just what Law had told her. Either way, kingdoms were still mostly sovereign from the World Government… G-13 might not have been able to do anything…

As Sophie brooded over this, the submarine dropped anchor beside the outskirts of Bighorn. The Heart pirates piled out onto the deck. "Oooh! We're here! Shit, it's freezing!"

"I don't think it's that bad," said Bepo cheerfully.

"YOU'RE AN ANOMALY!"

"…Sorry…"

"When you arrive in town, get those bandages changed," Law told Sophie.

She nodded. "Yeah. Thanks for… well, not everything, but you know. Good luck on finding One Piece."

He tossed her the lighter. "I will."

She caught it. "Really, your confidence is astounding," she said with a half-smile, and tossed over the newspaper. Then Sophie sidled over to Bepo and clutched the front of his orange jumpsuit. "Farewell, beautiful animal, I'll miss you the most. You were my favorite." She hugged the polar bear.

Bepo was conflicted. On one hand, he had a sniveling girl that smelled like rotted corpses wrapped around his middle. On the other, all of his crewmates were glaring daggers at him. It was a rather novel experience.

"I'll miss you, too," he lied kindly.

"Y-you mean that?"

All this idiocy was too much for Law. "Bepo could take off your head with one swipe of his claws."

Sophie let go blindingly fast. "Oh. Um. I'm just going to… take off now… And I won't miss you at all," she snapped at Law, who had ruined all her fantasies of the polar bear and her frolicking in daisy meadows. I've had enough of head-taking-off-ness to last a lifetime.

She jumped over the rails and landed heavily on the snow. With a wave at the pirates shouting their farewells, Sophie vanished into the pine trees.

"I hate to see her go, but I do love to watch her leave," Shachi sighed with a dopey grin.

"Shachi." Law beckoned.

His jaw dropped as Law dropped a few strands of curly black hair onto his palms. "No way! You remembered? Captain, you're amazing!" He breathed in deeply. "Smells like… formaldehyde—wow,that stuff's strong." Shachi held it away, coughing.

Law slipped the scalpel back in his pocket. "Be back before the Log Pose sets," he ordered the rest of his excited crew, "And don't fuck around; we're only here to stock up on supplies."

"Cap, you're not... planning on hunting her down again, right?" one pirate spoke up.

A cruel glint flashed in his eye, but Law just grinned and shook his head. "The chemist served her purpose. She's no use to me anymore."

Besides, he honored his promises.

—

"The Den Den Mushi has a severe cold," said the café owner apologetically. "We need to get it warmed up first."

Sophie's forehead met the table. She was bundled up in a thick coat the owner had generously lent her; the icicles that had frozen on her eyebrows had melted a while earlier. Her groan was muffled. "Well, I've waited one week already; another hour won't kill me… much."

She spent the last of her beli on a pack of her favorite Ground King cigarettes and black, bitter, piping hot coffee. Mmm… the nectar of the gods…

The doors were thrown open, sending in a flurry of snow. "How are you doing, Dalton?"

Sophie spat coffee all over the table. The café broke out horrified screams and she tensed, instinctively searching for a gun holster that wasn't there.

The owner nervously scratched his cheek. "Ah… well… Dalton-san went to Robelle… so…"

Young, slim hips were clad in tight pants. Thick blonde hair fell over a purple leather jacket. The cigarette dangled from Sophie's mouth. Back in G-13, she'd heard rumors… rumors about the loveliest of women being born on Winter Islands, beauties as frail and delicate as a white jasmine, their skin as soft and smooth as fresh snow…

The lady turned around—

Sophie's brain malfunctioned.

"At this time?" she frowned, deepening the wrinkles that lined her face, and her nose was as pointy as a witch's. "I saw a pirate ship banked on the river."

"Turns out they're just here for medical supplies. The captain's name was, um… Gora… Tafar… well, something long."

"That's not good. Isn't anyone keeping an eye on them?"

"Hey! You've hoisted up a Jolly Roger; that's practically an invitation to all pirates passing by this island! And I mean…" Sophie shrunk back, realizing how ill-planned her burst of outrage was, "well… aren't you, um, a-afraid of getting in trouble with the World G-Government?"

A hush descended upon the café. The belly-shirt-wearing old lady examined her, one eyebrow crooked up. She took a swig from a large bottle of plum sake and sauntered over to Sophie's corner.

"Listen up, little girl. Pirate flags carry many different meanings. Certain flags are flown with pride and can never be stained no matter how many bombs are thrown at it. Where was the World Government when Walpol threw out the doctors who disobeyed him? Where were they when hundreds of his subjects died of disease?" She slammed a palm on the table, nearly overturning Sophie's coffee. "Our flag is a symbol of faith!"

"I'm sorry," Sophie said flatly, not sounding sorry at all, "but that's a bit stupid."

The rest of the customers seemed to choke on air. What, did she say something wrong?

The witch lifted up her sunglasses. She looked terribly amused. "Heeheehee! What a rude little girl. Yeah, I thought so, too, until a couple of loudmouthed brats proved otherwise." With one foot, she dragged out a chair and dropped herself in it. "Is something wrong with your hands? It's okay, you can tell me; I am a doctor."

"Um, I-I don't think I need—"

"Those bandages haven't been changed in about thirty-six hours. It doesn't seem like much, but fresh bandages will help reduce scarring and speed up healing." She took a long drink from her bottle and pointed. "I'll dress them for you, but it'll cost all the beli you have on your person right now."

"That's too bad. I spent the last of my money on this coffee."

"Then two years of indentured servitude."

"…That price is a little steep, wouldn't you say?"

"Kids these days," she groused, resting her sharp chin in her palm. "Miserliness makes you very uncute."

Sophie daintily took a sip of her coffee. "Oh? I wasn't aware I had any cute qualities in the first place." She paused. "Wow, that was totally not what I meant to say."

The entrance bell jingled. The café owner looked up. "Welcome! Are you the pirates that docked outside of town?"

Oh, fudgeapples. It was only logical to assume that the Heart pirates would be staying in Bighorn. Sophie was the one who should've been at a port, searching for a ship that could take her to G-13. She should've, but…

Sophie quietly excused herself and crept out the back door. Everyone in the café, even the witch lady, was focused on the recent arrivals. Their attention was arrested by one pirate in particular, whose bounty had become famous in the papers as of late.

Her smile widened. "Heeheehee…! Now this is a surprise. It seems I'm coming across your face everywhere today, Trafalgar Law."

One customer tugged on the café owner's sleeve and pointed furiously at the morning's newspaper. "We… we let such a scary guy on this island?" he squeaked.

"It's an honor, Kureha-shishou," Law said. His gaze flickered over to the empty seat and the cup of coffee. It was still emitting wisps of steam, and a faint scent of cigarette smoke lingered in the air.

"Shishou? Pretty words from a wicked man. What does the Surgeon of Death want with me? Have you come here to learn the secret of my youth?"

Anko pointed at her. "Captain, who's this old hag? HABUGHFF!"

There was a sound like a head attacked a stone wall and lost.

"Insolent brat! I'm still a very young one hundred and thirty-nine years old!"

—

Sophie sullenly picked apart a leaf beneath a pine tree. She'd wanted to contact Hippo first before setting off to find a ship… which wasn't unreasonable. And if it delayed her for a few hours… there was no helping it, right?

Crawfish and Drum Island were entirely different worlds—worlds Sophie was only just beginning to fathom. Gator Town had smelled of soil, tree bark, and warm, damp earth. Bighorn was fresh and sharp and bitingly cold. It was the first time she'd ever seen snow, real snow. No one could blame her for wanting to stay out on the ocean a little longer… right? She bit her lip, disconsolate at herself for feeling guilty. There was nothing to feel guilty towards.

She crushed the cigarette into her boot and began aggressively padding a snowball together.

A little rearranging here and there, and a tiny Aokiji snowman grinned back at her. Sophie relished that accomplishment for a few minutes, then looked up as a fuzzy, bipedal rabbit strolled by.

As if sensing that possible death was close, the animal stared at her, whiskers trembling. She reached out for a big warm hug, glittering hearts and flowers shining beside her face.

"Bunny," she dreamily called.

The laphan promptly bit Sophie's arm.

"OH MY GOD, GET OFF, GET OFF!"

"Ai-ai-ai!"

With a single punch, Bepo sent the laphan flying in the air. He turned to her. "You've really got to stop thinking every fluffy animal that comes your way is cute."

Sophie was face-down in the snow. Blood pooled around her nose. "Thanks for the advice."

"No problem!" He stood there in silence, perhaps basking in the fact that he hadn't been told off. When it became apparent Sophie wasn't moving, he gave a shrug and walked away.

"Wait!"

She scrabbled at his suit.

"Hm? What do you want?"

"Can't you stay—here? For a bit?" She wiped away her nosebleed. "Unless you're planning to take off my head, I mean… wow," Sophie laughed suddenly, "you guys are a really scary crew. It's not like I hadn't noticed before, but…"

She fell silent. After a pause, Bepo flopped down beside her, cross-legged.

"You're pretty scary, too. You got burned and you almost drowned and I'm pretty sure Captain had at least three schemes to kill you… but you're still alive. That's the scary thing about you." A wide grin stretched across his face. "You fight back."

"I… well, um… that's kind of funny, actually. Before the war, I've never fought for anything. Not really. Not for things that actually matter." Sophie hugged her knees, cheeks pink from the cold. "Three months ago was the first time I've ever stepped outside G-13. That's funny, right?" she asked again, even though she wasn't smiling. "I'm nineteen, and this is the first time I've ever left home."

After a moment of contemplation, the bear replied, "You should do what you wanna do. Take it from a pirate. Life's too short."

Her life was measured by how many blueprints she made in a month. Or how many bombs she shipped out in a week. Short? Her life seemed endless. Sophie was sure that even after she died, her skeleton would still be working for the World Government…

She took a deep breath. "That's… um… actually, I was sort of thinking…"

"BEPO!" A loud holler broke through the air, startling them both. "Oi, Bepo, where are yoouuu? We're leaving!"

The bear brushed off his suit and stood up. "I'll follow my captain's dream until I die." He patted her on the head. "I hope you find your dream as well."

Sophie watched his orange jumpsuit disappear into the snow, feeling a bit like she'd let a grand opportunity slip from her burned fingers. What a novel concept they had. She'd never thought criminals could say stuff about 'dreams' without making a joke out of it. But… the Heart pirates were… a bit different from the average criminal.

Of course, Trafalgar Law was a lunatic. But she wasn't really of sound mind either. So, there was that.

She fell on her back and stared up at the grey sky. A snowflake landed on her nose. Sophie had generated snow dozens of times in her lab. Yet somehow, they were never like this…

How many other miracles were out there? She wanted to see them all. Sophie was a chemist, a purveyor of intellect, a researcher of the natural world. And there were so many things she didn't know. They all stuck out in her memories, vividly sharp: the first time she'd seen an alligator, walked in a swamp, tasted rum, felt real snow beneath her fingertips… meeting Sid, and Nellie, and that horrible Shichibukai… Law and Shachi and Penguin and Bepo…

The war is over, the little voice in her head reasoned, Sensei probably thinks you're dead. What are a few more days of adventuring? It's not like anyone will know…

The iron in her chest throbbed, black and cold. But there was also G-13, her laboratory, her bedroom… it was a perfectly sensible life. And, pineapples, Sophie dearly missed it… the sense of normality, a clear dawn after a storm, something so—unreal after the war it couldn't even seem possible…

"Girl!" the café owner shouted, coming into view. "The Den Den Mushi is ready for your call!"

Sophie slowly stood up and looked out past the pine trees, toward the river. No time for self-pity. No time for hesitation.

She closed her eyes, briefly. "I'll be right there."

—

With a grunt, Penguin hefted two crates onto the submarine deck. "That's the new dialysis machine, the water, and the food supplies," he muttered, ticking off the items on his fingers, "and last… C'mon, we don't have all day! But be careful. But be quick about it!"

"Which is it?" Anko shouted back.

"Oh, just hurry up." Penguin grinned. "Unless you're too tired after getting beat up by an old granny?"

The bottom of a shoe was still imprinted on his forehead, which Manta and Hai Xing kept sniggering at. "Shut up, assholes," he sulkily told them, tugging his hat lower.

Once the pirates finished quickly (but carefully!) loading the remaining cargo, Bepo hollered, "That's all of it, Captain!"

"We set sail for Cat's Eye Island! Raise anch—"

"Stop the sub!"

Law halted mid-step.

A young woman slowed to a halt, ankle-deep in snow, doubled over and gasping for breath. Snowflakes were caught in her curly black hair, and her cheeks were flushed pink. She stabbed a finger in his direction.

"Tr-Tr-Tr-Trafalgar Law! I refuse to get my hands re-bandaged! If you want to exercise your rights as a doctor, go ahead! B-b-but, I'm w-warning you, I'll resist with all my might unless you bring me onboard your s-s-submarine!"

Shachi and Penguin stood on the upper deck. The former gripped the rail excitedly. "Did you hear Sophie-chan asking for another favor?"

"I got the same feeling," Penguin replied, his tone wary. "Orders, Captain?"

Very deliberately, Law faced Strangways Sophie. Desperation, fear, and something like hope flickered in her blueblue eyes. He was aware that his entire crew was avidly watching from the portholes. She hugged her bare arms, shivering, but never breaking eye contact. Determination, that was good. A talented chemist. Yes, he saw the potential. But she was loud, rash, and World Government… had a good mind, though, and that was something he could use…

With a slow smirk, Law called back—

to be continued

trivia

hai xing: chinese for starfish

anko: japanese for anglerfish

pescado manta: pescado means fish in spanish and manta for manta ray