A/N: Inspiration for this chapter provided by Charlie Puth's See you again.

I own nothing.


It was a quiet night, and all was calm inside the yellow submarine as it made its way silently along an underwater current. Deep inside the submarine the Captain sat, hidden away in his office behind a mountain of books. The dim light of the musty room did not offer much in terms of illumination, the only thing it managed to highlight was the lone figure sitting stoically at his desk. A book laid open on his lap, untouched, his gaze, unfocused on something off in the distance.

Nights were the worst for him, especially quiet nights like this, with nothing to distract him from the aching inside his heart. He hated it, that feeling of emptiness, which he could never fill, not even with all the hearts of the people responsible.

Why was it that he could never hold on to the people who meant the most to him, why was it that everytime he opened his heart to someone they had to be ripped from his life? It was not fair, but it was his reality, and for the first time, he resolved that he would not allow this slight to consume him. The life Corazon offered him was far too precious for him to throw away, that much he knew. Besides, if he did, he knew she would never forgive him, not in this life nor the next.

Suddenly, the figure moved. The tall, lanky man stood, removing the furry hat from his head, he stared at it affectionately for a moment, before placing it down gently on top of one of the many stacks of books and ran a hand through his unruly black hair.

"It's been a long day without you my friend, and I'll tell you all about it when I see you again. We've come a long way from where we began, oh I'll tell you all about it when I see you again." He said as his eyes trailed back to the hat.

His voice was hoarse and low, laced with all the emotions he attempted to contain deep inside. There were so many things he wanted to say, so many things he never got a chance to say, so many things that will forever remain unsaid. Reaching out he gripped the top of the hat and felt his heart clench within him.

"Why'd you have to leave so soon? Why'd you have to go? Why'd you have leave me when I needed you the most?"

It was the first time he had acknowledged her since that day, it had been too painful for him. What could he possibly say to make that sinking feeling in his gut go away? He wanted to believe she was in a better place, along with all the other people he had ever loved, but it was too painful for him to imagine her anywhere but by his side.

"...Carry on," he heard himself whisper, "Please give me all the strength I need to carry on."

Letting out a heavy sigh he removed his hand from the furry object and slowly made his way toward the door, hoping that for once sleep would not eluded him, the way it seemed to every night since that incident.

"Hey! Watch out!"

A voice rang out behind him in warning, a second too late, as the owner of the voice barreled into him knocking him off his feet.

"I'm so sorry!" The young woman said, scrambling to get off of him as she nervously glances behind her. "Shit!" She spits under her breath.

Pushing her off, he manages to grab his nodachi and stand, before a group of about a dozen men surround them.

"I'm so sorry," she apologizes again, her eyes darting between his nodachi and the men, "but do you mind giving me a hand?"

Before he has a chance to reply, she had already leapt in the air, launching what looked like flurry of senbon needles at the group of men. Sighing in exasperation, reluctant to get involved, he unsheathes his sword and yells "room," before decapitating the men surrounding them.

It was over almost as quickly as it began, yet something was still unsettling him. Glancing around his eyes fall on the crumpled body of the girl, lying a few feet from him. It surprises him to see her in such a state, she had been so lively a moment ago, and against his better judgement he slowly walks over and gently picks her up.

As he lifts her up, he can feel her body tense, her breaths coming in in short gasps, as her eyes crack open. The hand she held clutched upon her chest relaxes slightly as her eyes survey the scene, taking in the incapacitated bodies of the men attempting to catch her. Weakly, she turns her head, her golden eyes finding their way up to meet his. As they slowly focus on his face he could hear the almost audible gasp she lets out, as a glint of recognition flashes in her eyes.

"D… d… doctor… Tra… Tra… Trafa..." She attempts before slipping out of consciousness.

He feels a scowl begin to form on his face as he continues to stare at the girl in his arms. If he was not mistaken the name she was trying to say, was his, or maybe perhaps his father's. He could not be sure. What he was sure of was the fact that he had never seen this girl before.

"Captain!"

The familiar voice pulls him from his thoughts as he turns to find a few members of his crew running toward him, led by his trusty first mate.

"Bepo-ya." He says, acknowledging the bear.

"What happened here?" The white bear inquires, gesturing at the headless men littered around his Captain.

"Just giving the girl a hand." He replies, tilting his head slightly toward the girl in his arms.

"Is she okay?" Bepo asks cautiously, approaching the man.

He felt his frown intensify, "I'm not sure Bepo-ya. One second she was fine, the next like this."

The rest of the crew gather around them and he does a quick assessment of her body. There were no physical injuries, an attestment to her abilities, which made his lips twist into a slight smirk. No, her current state was not due to an injury attained during her scuffle with those men, which would mean it must be the result of a pre-existing condition. He needed more time with her, so he could do a proper examination, something inside him urged him to fix her.

Once he got her into the sub and onto the examination table, it did not take him long to conclude that she had hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. All it really took was one look at her heart. He did the best he could to cut away at some of the excess muscle that was restricting her blood flow, but it was only a temporary fix. In a few months or so, the hypertrophy would cause the buildup to return, giving her issues again.

As he sat there waiting for her to awaken, he could not help but wonder how it was she knew his name. Sure, he was a pirate, probably had a wanted poster out there, it was possible she caught his name in the papers, but the doctor part, no one referred to him as 'Doctor Trafalgar'... Trafalgar Law, Surgeon of Death, sure, but Doctor Trafalgar… that was new to him. Choosing to ignore that little voice in the back of his mind which kept suggesting that perhaps she knew his father, he decided that it had to have been related the the Surgeon of Death thing.

"Excuse me?"

Her voice was small, and cautious as it pulls him from his slumber. Opening his eyes he could feel a small smile settle on his lips as he take in her face. There was something about her that drew him to her. Try as he might he could not quite put his finger on it.

Sure, she was pretty, with delicate features and an appealing body, but it was not as if he had never had the company of a pretty girl before. No, she was different. Pretty girls were a dime a dozen, but there was something special about her. Those golden eyes of hers bore into his soul and demanded his attention.

Fixing his eyes on hers he gives her a slight nod, indicating for her to continue.

"Thank you." She says earnestly, as she takes her time examining his face before she continues. "You look a lot like him you know."

Raising an eyebrow at her, a small frown settles on his lips. "Like who?"

"Doctor Trafalgar."

The little voice in his head mocks him, telling him that he should have listened, that it always knew what it was talking about. "You knew my father?"

She nods, a sadness filling her eyes, telling him she was all too aware of the fate his father suffered, that they all suffered. "He treated me before, many years ago, in a place so far away."

He could hear the melancholy in her voice, and it invokes memories within him that he had long ago suppressed. It was unsettling, he did not like these feelings she was conjuring up within him. He had spent far too many years suppressing them to have them surface now.

"I'm sorry." She says suddenly, breaking him from the downward spiral into his emotions. A sudden warmth fills him as she flashes him a bright smile. "It must have been hard on you… I wasn't aware anyone had survived…" Her voice trails slightly before it picks up again. "But hey, you kept the hat."

Instinctively, his hand protectively shoots up to the furry hat on his head.

He flinches as she hops off the table, removing the monitors he had placed on her body. Closing the distance between them she stops in front of him, her eyes still fixed upon his hat. "Oh, it's a different hat." She muses, a hint of disappointment in her voice.

She was so close he could feel the warmth radiating off her body. As if entranced, he removes his hand from his head, lifting the object as he does so. "This?" He asks, holding the hat out to her. He watches her carefully as she gingerly takes the hat, turning it around in her hands. "I got it a couple of years ago. The other one got too small."

"Oh." She mouths, placing the hat back onto his head. "Do you still have it?"

Her question is met with silence, and she pouts at the perplexed look he gives her. For a moment in time the only thought that ran through his mind was 'cute.'

"The hat. Do you still have the hat?" She clarifies.

His lips tighten as his brows furrow slightly. He had understood her question the first time, what confused him was why she was so fixated on his hat. "Possibly." He replies, as the corners of his mouth curve into a cryptic smirk.

Suddenly, she laughs, not a mocking laugh, but one full of love and mirth. The sound takes him by surprise, he had not been expecting that. Meeting her eyes his stomach does a flip as his heart rate increases. Her smile was captivating, and it manages to draw him out of the dark corner he had hidden himself in for so many years.

"You don't remember me do you?" She asks in a chuckle, her eyes twinkling with joy.

He wanted to shake his head no, but before he could, memories once lost to him came flooding back. Memories of a happier time, of a happier him. Memories of the little girl not more than six years old, with a smile that shone brighter than the sun, and the fuzzy white hat she wore. "Azarashi-ya?" He asks in a whisper.

She laughs again, the sound, music to his ears. Slowly she draws even closer to him, her arms begin to snake around his neck, pulling him into an embrace, then his eyes fluttered open.

He scowled as a loud knock pulled him out of his much needed sleep and the dream dissipated from his mind. "Come in," He commanded groggily.

"Captain?" Came a meek voice as the door opened a crack, letting in a sliver of light. A furry head appeared in the crack, his face falling when he saw his Captain sit up in bed. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were sleeping…"

"No, no it's okay Bepo-ya." He said in a tired voice, cutting off the bear. "What's up?"

"We found it."

In an instant, the man leapt out of bed, forgetting all about his need for sleep, and grabbed the furry hat before he bounded out the door, a flustered polar bear in an orange jumpsuit quickly following after him.

It did not take long for him to reach the control room, confirm Bepo's words and begin to surface the submarine.

He knew it would not make a difference, that no matter what he did, no matter how many hearts he collected, nothing could ever bring back that smile. That smile that pierced through his heart and filled him with warmth, it was lost, tossed into the sea along with what remained of his heart. No, nothing he did now could undo the events of that day, but it did not mean that he would not hunt down those bastards and annihilate every last one of them.

When the submarine surfaced, he was the first one out the door, followed closely by his first mate and the rest of his crew. He was glad that they approved of his vendetta, that they did not think any less of him for doing what it was he was doing. He knew that Bepo and the rest understood his reasoning, he knew that they loved her just about as much as he did, albeit differently.

His eyes followed the horizon landing on a outline of a ship a few hundred meters away. A small sadistic smirk graced his lips as the submarine silently moved closer closing the distance between the two vessels..

It was not much of a battle as the Heart Pirates made easy work of the other ship. Their Captain, was as ruthless as ever, and by the end he was able to add a few dozen hearts to his collection, while the crew collected the rest of the loot.

Closing the box he let his body fall back into his chair. Kicking his feet up, he rested them on the lid and removed his hat. There was a tightness in his chest as he lost himself in those spots littered around the bottom rim.

"How do I breathe without you?" He found himself asking the inanimate object. "I'm feeling so cold… but I'll be right here waiting for ya, till the day you're home."