The front door to Rocinante's apartment shut behind him. Finally alone, he let out a long sigh of relief. He'd waited for over an hour to speak to child services and then it took another hour of talking, explaining, trading paperwork, and more talking to even get anywhere. Rocinante felt like he left a good impression on the man with whom he spoke to, but he still had several more hoops to jump through.

He looked at the paperwork in his hands; background checks, health checks, reference letters, classes for preparation—the list never seemed to end. But it would be worth it, if he passed all the tests. He was feeling rather optimistic about it, too. Surely with a letter of reference from the chief of police he wouldn't have any trouble bringing Law into his home.

Rocinante settled in the armchair and switched on the television, tossing his coat over the couch as he went. Law had set it to the Discovery Channel; Rocinante didn't bother changing it. He didn't really pay attention, instead choosing to use the television as sufficient background noise to drown out the day's thoughts. He tugged at the collar of his button up shirt and ended up undoing several of the buttons. The room was stuffy and the old ceiling fan didn't do much to help him cool off.

There was still so much more to do on top of the technicalities of adoption. In the meantime, he'd have to work on clearing out his apartment, make space in the spare room that was currently being used to hold all of Rocinante's old things. Furniture, he'd need some new furniture to suit Law, an improved supply of gluten free foods—oh, and he'd need to sort out an improved schedule to suit Law better. It wouldn't do to leave him stranded, no matter how well he seemed to get on by himself.

But, perhaps the most important matter, would Law even want to live with him? Rocinante rubbed his face. Law had expressed how he wanted to stay, and did seem to like him. But there was a difference between spending the occasional day together and living in the same home.

Rocinante looked at his watch—four o'clock. That meant Law would be arriving home from school soon. He would probably make his way over to Rocinante's house within about fifteen minutes. Maybe he'd ask Law to help him clean up.

He allowed himself another five minutes to rest before he finally got up, stretched, and headed into the kitchen. Rocinante had offered to let Law stay the night, since it was a Friday, and give Bellemere some time off from dealing with his grouchy attitude and general dislike of everyone around him. Law would probably be hungry.

...But Rocinante was also terrible at cooking. The last thing he wanted to do was have Law come back to a flaming apartment. Maybe he'd wait. Or order takeout.

Exactly sixteen minutes later, Law showed up at the door. He had his overnight bag in his left hand and his backpack slung over a shoulder. Rocinante welcomed him in with a smile and Law promptly dropped his things on the couch as if he lived there already.

"What's for dinner, Mr. Cora?" Law asked.

"I thought I'd let you decide," Rocinante said. "What do you feel like eating?"

Law looked thoughtful for a moment. "How about pasta?" he suggested. "That's easy to make."

A pang of guilt went through Rocinante. From prior events, and probably some simple deduction, Law had figured out that Rocinante couldn't cook worth anything. It wasn't exactly a secret, but Rocinante still found himself embarrassed about it. He fiddled around with a stray piece of hair.

"We can have something else if you want. We don't have to make it just because it's easier."

"I like pasta," Law said. "Besides, last time we cooked something else your sleeves caught on fire."

Another stab of guilt. Rocinante laughed nervously while Law gave him a knowing smirk. "I've never been very good in the kitchen," Rocinante muttered.

"It's okay, Mr. Cora," Law said, rocking back and forth on his feet. "I'm not gonna tell anyone."

Using their last box and a half of gluten free pasta, Rocinante and Law created a simple, but effective, unconventional spaghetti dinner using what was left of a bag of mixed vegetables and some old marinara sauce. The box of bandages, still on the counter from last time they cooked, was empty after Rocinante insisted on cutting the vegetables himself.

They ate their meal in relative silence as they watched a few episodes of some crime show. Law had taken an interest in them after first hearing about some of Rocinante's adventures on the job and now it had almost become a ritual for them. That, and Bellemere was pretty strict about what Nami and Nojiko got exposed to. He only had the opportunity to watch them while with Rocinante.

Throughout the show, Rocinante found himself looking at Law with mixed emotions. On one hand, this was the child he might soon be inviting to stay in his home permanently, a fact Law was unaware of, and he felt excitement growing within him.

On the other hand, he was going to have to sit Law down at some point and talk more seriously about his two missing years. That was something he wasn't allowed to overlook, now knowing that it wasn't a simple runaway case. He wasn't sure how Law was going to take that.

"How was school today, Law?" he asked.

Law shrugged. "Same as always," he said. "I saw Mr. Smoker hanging around in the office today."

"Did you?"

"Yeah. Why was he there?"

Rocinante paused to try and come up with a good answer. "To make sure nobody was in trouble," he said finally.

"Was anyone in trouble?"

"I don't know. I hope not."

A little after seven, and the end credits of the show played, Law dumped the contents of his backpack out on Rocinante's table. Rocinante hovered nearby in one of the table's matching chairs with a novel in hand just in case Law needed any help. But Law kept quiet almost the entire time, his presence only noticeable through the scribbling sound that his pencil made.

Occasionally, Rocinante would glance over his book to check on Law, who would look back at him for a second before continuing.

"So, you guys are studying rocks?" Rocinante asked.

"Yeah," Law said.

"Is that interesting? I don't remember much about rocks."

"It's okay. But I heard we get to dissect frogs next year. I really want to do that." Rocinante scrunched up his nose. Law smirked. "And—I also heard we'll get to touch them and stuff, and take out their insides, and that they're really smelly—"

"That's disgusting," Rocinante said. "I can't believe you still do that."

Law giggled to himself quietly. He glanced at the book in Rocinante's hand. "What's Crime and Punishment about?" he asked, pointing at it.

Rocinante glanced at the cover, and then at Law. "...Crime, and also punishment."

"Is that all that cops read about?" Law said, eyebrows furrowed.

"I read about other things, too. I just happened to be reading this."

Law huffed and went back to his science homework. "Well that sounds really boring," he said. "You should read something else."

Rocinante chuckled. "Maybe next time I will."

A little after eight thirty, and Rocinante was pulling on the metal frame of the couch's pull out bed while Law fetched some bedsheets from the closet. The bed was old and a bit creaky when sat on, but Law never really complained about it.

"Hey, Mr. Cora? What is this?"

"Hm?" Rocinante turned to look at him. "What's what?"

He froze. In his left hand, Law held a haphazardly folded pile of purple bedsheets. In the right, a relic that Rocinante could have sworn he'd banished away to a box in the spare room; his black feather coat. Law shook it a little, and the black feathers of the coat seemed to wave to him in greeting. For a moment, everything else in the room save for Law and the coat disappeared.

"Where did you get that?" Rocinante demanded, too quickly and too forcibly for his liking.

"I found it in a bag behind the old humidifier in the closet," Law said. "It smells really gross. What even is it?"

Rocinante quickly stepped over and gently took the coat from him. It reeked of stale cigarette smoke and burnt feathers. He rubbed the coat between his fingers. It was still soft. He shut his eyes, took in a deep breath, and then exhaled.

"It's a coat," he said. "Just an old coat. That's all."

Law asked him a couple more questions about the coat, but Rocinante didn't hear him, as he was already on autopilot headed for the spare bedroom. He walked inside and switched on the light. The room was piled full of old boxes, old clothes, and old furniture. All of these things together seemed to create the odd smell lingering in it.

"Wow, this room's really messy." Rocinante looked down. Law was peeking inside the mysterious spare room from behind him. "Don't you ever clean it?"

"I haven't, not in a long time," Rocinante said. "I might ask you to help me clean it."

"Sure, I can do that," Law said.

With a bit of reluctance, Rocinante went inside and laid the feather coat over a box of aged magazines. The arms of the coat drooped down over the sides. His gaze lingered on it for a moment more before turning away from it. He wanted to burn the coat. Or donate it to some other unfortunate soul. But it stayed there, just out of sight, the little blackbird on his shoulder that never left.

"Why don't you get ready for bed, Law?" Rocinante said. "We've got a long day tomorrow."

Law made a face. "Why do we have to go to the zoo, though?" he said. "It's just a bunch of smelly animals in dumb cages."

"But Nami and Nojiko like it," Rocinante said.

"Well, they're dumb too."

Rocinante made a face at him and Law made one right back. Then, he ushered Law out of the messy room, turned the light out, and closed the door behind them. The couch bed was fitted with sheets and both of Law's favorite blankets while Law went off to the bathroom and brushed his teeth. When he returned, he plopped down on the bed, which groaned under his weight, and he snickered to himself about the noise. Then, he looked up at Rocinante, who was about to leave.

"Mr. Cora?" he said.

"Yes?"

"I was wondering...do you have any family?" Law asked. "I was gonna ask you before, but I forgot."

Rocinante's breath hitched. He looked at Law, who was staring at him expectantly. "Um...I suppose that's a bit of a long story…" he said, trailing off. The look on Law's face was begging him to go on. "And it's not really all that happy either."

"I wanna know," he said. "I told you about my family, I wanna hear about yours."

"Well...alright. Fair's fair," Rocinante sat down on the bed. "Where do I start…"

"At the beginning," Law said.

Rocinante hummed. "My father was a wealthy man and my mother was kind and warm. I also had an older brother named Doffy. For a while, I believe, things worked out well for us. But..." He sighed. "Well, first we lost mother to an illness. No matter how much money my father paid, nor how many treatments she went through, she still passed."

"Oh…" Law looked down. "I'm sorry."

"I don't really feel too upset about it," Rocinante said. "I was too young to remember her much. But my father and brother took it much worse than I did. My father fell into a deep depression after her loss, and my brother was…" he paused, "...He never really was the same after she passed. He would always shout at my father, blaming him for her death, calling him names. Something changed inside him."

Or maybe it was always there, he added silently, and he was simply too foolish to notice it.

"Our broken family fell on hard times, my father quickly began losing money, colleagues, our home, and soon enough we were having trouble putting food on our table, and eventually, good places to sleep at night. Child services finally intervened."

"So you're like me," Law said.

"Yes. I was put into foster care like you were, but I was even younger at the time. I passed from family to family, and eventually I became unadoptable. When I turned eighteen, I left the system and…" Rocinante paused, was silent for a full minute, before he smiled and continued. "Well, that's not important. Sengoku found me in a rough place and took me under his wing, and now I'm happy."

"Did you ever try looking for them?" Law asked. "Your dad and brother?"

Rocinante nodded. "I did," he said. "I held onto the hope that I would be able to see them again, all those years, and the moment I became an adult I set out searching for my father. I found him later." He blinked. "Or...I suppose, I found what remained of him."

Law gaped at him. "What?" he breathed.

"He was shot dead in the apartment he was living in. I was shocked when I found his obituary in a paper," Rocinante said. "The case went unresolved, the trail went cold. I was frustrated about it for years—I still am frustrated about it."

Which was an understatement. Rocinante had been inconsolable, furious, and for years had spent every waking moment trying to figure out who had killed his father. He had spent ages going down dead ends, interrogating possible murderers, and wallowing in his own misery. It had been all encompassing in his early adulthood. It ruined relationships, damaged friendships, and in some cases was still a sore spot in conversation.

His father was kind and loving, he hadn't deserved to die like that. No matter the circumstances.

"What about your brother? Did you find him?"

Rocinante closed his eyes. "I did," he said. "But...I think that's a story for another time, Law. It's getting late."

"Aww."

Law laid back in the bed, bringing the pillows down flat with him, and Rocinante pulled the covers over him. "Remember, if you need anything I'm right in the other room," he said, pointing to the door of his bedroom.

"Okay."

With that, he turned out the light in the living room. Rocinante made his way to the bedroom, grabbing his prefered sleeping clothes, before heading off to the bathroom. He closed the door quietly so as to not disturb Law. He shed the shirt he was wearing and paused before pulling on the clean one.

Looking at himself in the mirror was always a bit tragic. Without a shirt, every single scar, every little secret was exposed. He trailed his fingers down what once were gashes on his shoulders and slices on his arms. Three bullets were forever immortalized on his skin by means of ugly rounded scars on his chest.

Law was a curious kid by nature. Someday in the future he'd catch a glimpse of Rocinante, of the scars, and every single intricate detail that made him hideous. Someday, he'd be asking about them.

But there were some things that Rocinante simply couldn't talk about.


Fitting the five of them into Bellemere's minivan wasn't the difficult part. No, it was the fact that they had to drive for a full hour in the car with three children who didn't always get along. Nami spent the first twenty minutes bouncing up and down in her seat with excitement while Nojiko tried, and failed, to restrain her. Law was determinedly ignoring them in the back with his Gameboy Advance in hand, a present from Rocinante last Christmas.

"Are we there yet?" Nami whined. "It's taking too long."

"We're about halfway there, Nami," Bellemere said.

Nami puffed up her cheeks. "But it's been so long already!" she said. "How am I supposed to know when we get there?"

"You'll know when you'll know." Was Bellemere's response, to which Nami let out a long, irritated groan. "Why don't you find something to do? I think there's some coloring books back there, right?"

"I already colored in those, Mom," Nami said.

"Hmm—Oh, how about a road game?" Bellemere said. "We could spot for cars."

"I don't wanna spot for cars. I wanna spot for elephants and giraffes...and lions and tigers and—"

Rocinante was only half paying attention to the conversation, as his body was nagging him for its daily nicotine fill. He shifted and fidgeted in the passenger seat, staring out the window as he tried not to think about it. He counted the mile markers as they passed the car one after the other. It didn't help much.

"I hope the seats aren't too uncomfortable," Bellemere said.

"Oh, no, they're fine," Rocinante said.

"Really?" she said. "You look like you're sitting on a bunch of cheerios."

Rocinante forced out a chuckle. "Aha...if only," he said.

Realization dawned on Bellemere's face. She turned toward him, face neither judging nor upset, and perhaps this was even worse than if she had been angry with him. "...You should really think about giving that up, you know," she said quietly. "It's not good for you, nor anyone around you."

"I know," he said, in an equally hushed voice. "But it does help. Really it does."

He went quiet, and stayed quiet, gaze returning to the roadside. The car passed under a bridge, the brightness of the sun temporarily dulling and the noise of the wheels against the pavement echoed in his ears even louder than before.

"Just...think about it, okay?" Bellemere said. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "It's a new decade of your life. Things are going to change."

Rocinante decided not to say anything, not interested in spilling too many of his inner thoughts. But the air was still awkward and uncomfortable, and he found himself holding his breath. The silence was filled only moments later when Nami loudly complained about her seatbelt, and he exhaled in relief as the conversation drew away from him once more.

It took exactly twenty six minutes longer to reach their final destination.

The second they got their tickets, Nami was scampering away into the crowd with Nojiko following after her, asking for her to slow down. They weaved in between families and couples alike, past children with balloons, all the way to what appeared to be a butterfly house.

"Mom!" Nami yelled. "Me an' Nojiko are gonna go in here okay?"

"Alright—But wait for us inside, okay? Don't go too far!" Bellemere called after them.

Law trailed along by Rocinante, carefully examining their surroundings. He looked generally disinterested in what was happening and occasionally squeezed the pocket in pants where he'd put his Gameboy, as if he was prepared to find himself a bench and play games all day.

"Is there something you'd like to see, Law?" Rocinante asked.

"Not really," he said.

Rocinante grabbed himself a map from one of the little stands outside the butterfly house and opened it up. The zoo was laid out fairly evenly, with more than its fair share of interesting animals. Bellemere hovered behind him, standing on her toes to see it properly.

"Oh, Law!" Law perked up when Bellemere called to him. "They've got polar bears around the back of the zoo!"

Law's interest was suddenly perked, and he hurried over to snatch the map out of Rocinante's hands. He held it close to his face, squinted at the colored paper, and then his eyes widened a little.

"Can we go there?" he asked. "I want to see them."

"Sure. But there's still plenty to see before we get to them," Bellemere said. "We'll make our way around to the bears, okay?"

Law looked at Bellemere, then at Rocinante and frowned a little. Then, he folded up the map and walked toward the butterfly house. "Okay," he said. "Whatever."

The doors to the butterfly house were large, large enough for Rocinante to walk in without having to duck down, which he was thankful for. They were also lavishly decorated with at least four different species of butterfly, colored in various shades of red, orange, pink, and blue. Upon entering he found the butterfly house was quiet and peaceful, unlike how some of the later exhibits would be.

The room was filled with tall plants, a few trees, and more flowers than could be counted. Nami and Nojiko, with their bright colored hair, almost blended in with the surroundings as they weaved through the foliage on the hunt for butterflies. They passed Bellemere and Rocinante, shushing them—with the reasoning of "the butterflies like it quiet"—before scampering away.

Law stood out against the colorful backdrop, with his monochrome clothes and indifferent expression. He looked at the plants as if he had seen them every day of his life and walked off without a word. Rocinante decided to follow him, and the two happened upon a few little windows. In them were caterpillars in various stages of life, from freshly hatched to chrysalis .

"I want to open it," Law said, pointing at the large chrysalis in the display case.

"You shouldn't," Rocinante said. "There's a living creature in there. It's busy changing."

"Yeah," he said. "That's why I want to pick it open. I want to see it." He registered the mild shock present on Rocinante's face and shrugged. "It's just one butterfly. There's another million of them flying around already."

"Law, I don't think—"

Nami gasped. "Mr. Cora!" she said. "There's a huuuuge butterfly on your head!"

Rocinante tried to glance up, but he couldn't see it. "Really?" he said. "What does it look like? How big is it?"

"It's soooo big and blue and—!" Nami turned toward Bellemere, who was approaching them on the little path with Nojiko. "Mom—Mom look at the butterfly! It really likes Mr. Cora!"

Rocinante grinned and laughed, feeling the small insect wiggle around in his hair. "I-I hope it's not planning on nesting in there," he said. "I don't know how I'm going to explain to the zoo staff that their butterfly doesn't want to stay here anymore."

"Butterflies don't make nests, Mr. Cora," Nojiko said.

"Yeah!" Nami chimed in. "But if they did make nests, they'd totally nest on Law's head—Cause it looks just like one! Right, Law?"

Law made a face at her. Nami stuck her tongue out at him. The butterfly left Rocinante's hair and fluttered in front of him, showing off a brilliant orange and blue pair of wings.

The zoo map ended up being rotated between the five of them as they all decided where they wanted to go next. It was a three against two decision to visit the zoo's resident crocodile population as the three children had seen the animals on TV and all agreed that they would be interesting to see in real life.

The crocodile pit, which appeared to be a very fitting name for the rounded cement enclosure with too-high walls, was full of crocodiles. Some laid on the cement with their mouths wide open, while others appeared to be fast asleep. Only a single one was moving, albeit slowly, and soon it disappeared into the murky pond that they were provided. Nami was too short to see over the railing, so she ended up squinting through the wire mesh.

"Huh," Law said, resting his head on the railing. "I thought crocodiles would be more interesting. But they're all so fat and lazy. I'll bet they don't even do anything."

"It's pretty hot out," Bellemere said, "I don't blame them for wanting to be a little lazy." She looked down at Nami. "Doesn't a nap in the warm sun sound nice, Nami?"

"Ice cream sounds better," Nami replied. "Can we get ice cream, mom?"

"Well…" Bellemere trailed off, glancing toward a nearby pavilion where a family of four happened to be walking out with ice cream cones.

"Please?" Nojiko cut in. "Please please please?"

"I wouldn't mind some ice cream myself," Rocinante said. "Why don't we go get some? My treat." Bellemere looked at him with the full intent of dismissing this idea but Rocinante shook his head, having none of that. "I insist," he said. "We're here to enjoy ourselves, right?"

The comment earned him two interested grins, one curious glance from Law, and one eye roll from Bellemere.

"Ice cream, ice cream!" Nami said, jumping up. "I want the orange cream kind. Mom, do they have the orange kind?"

"I don't know, maybe."

After they'd decided on their choices of ice cream, Rocinante and Law volunteered to go inside. The girls picked a blue table with a rainbow umbrella situated next to a large oak tree. They chattered about the butterfly house, about the penguin display they'd be headed to next, and looked at each other excitedly whenever an animal in the distance let out a low bellow.

Everyone save for Bellemere cackled like a pack of hyenas when Rocinante stumbled over a hose and his chocolate-vanilla twist ice cream cone went all over his face—especially when he made an overly silly face and said, "Not again!"

They set off for the next exhibit shortly after the last cone was devoured. The road to the polar bears was a slow one, and Rocinante could tell from the way Law twitched, squirmed, and determinedly said nothing about the majority of the interesting animals they passed that he was getting impatient.

"They should move the bears to the front of the park," he said. "This is taking way too long."

"There were bears in the front," Nojiko pointed out.

Law scowled at her. "Those were black bears, Nojiko. Polar bears are different."

"I never knew you liked polar bears so much, Law," Rocinante said.

"They're my favorite," Law said.

"I see," Rocinante said. "What do you like about them the most?"

"Hmm...well, for one they look really soft," Law said. "But they're also really big and strong-they're the apex predators of their environment. They can take down seals, and walrus, and even other bears. And they're really, really good swimmers."

"You sure know about a lot of things, Law," Rocinante said. Law grinned up at him.

When they reached the exhibit, Law disappeared from Rocinante's side and ran to the rail, squeezing in between two adults who happened to be there, and ignoring Rocinante's attempts at telling him to be polite.

There were exactly three bears on display in the polar bear exhibit, two of them lazily resting in the sun, blinking their eyes in an effort to keep themselves from falling asleep completely, while the third was scratching itself on a tree growing in the pen. But, much unlike the crocodiles, Law was staring at them as if they were doing circus tricks.

The sign claimed there were supposed to be four polar bears in total. Further reading showed that one of the bears had recently given birth to a cub, a little male polar bear, and that the mother and cub were moved off site for the time being to ensure their safety. The zoo provided a picture of the newborn cub, which was taped to the enclosure and laminated for protection from the elements. Law stared up at it with a small grin.

"It says here they're taking suggestions for what to name it," he said to Rocinante, voice hinting at excitement.

"Oh?" Rocinante said. "Do you have any ideas?"

Law nodded several times. "I want to name it Bepo."

"That's a cute name for him. I like it," Rocinante said with a smile. He picked up a card and a little wooden pencil from the box provided. "Maybe, if we all chip in, they'll name him that, huh?"

This made Law smile widely, and he grabbed enough little suggestion sheets for all of them. Nami protested, saying that Bepo wasn't really a name, but Law convinced her to do it after bribing her with some of his allowance. They all stuck the suggestions in the little clear box, which was already packed full of suggestions.

"Do you think they'll do it?" Law said.

"Maybe. I guess we'll just have to cross our fingers and wait to see," Rocinante said.

Law crossed his fingers so that there were two sets on each hand. Rocinante suppressed a chuckle and simply smiled down at him, crossing his fingers for some extra support. Law smirked as if their diabolical plan couldn't possibly fail.

It was late when they left the zoo, the sun was setting behind them as the five of them wandered back to their car. Nami, exhausted from all the excitement, had passed out on Bellemere's shoulder within the last half hour of their visit. Nojiko, too, was tired from the visit and walked slowly alongside them, holding Rocinante's hand. Law walked ahead of them, Gameboy Advance making an appearance once more. The light reflected on his face and faint music played from it that drifted behind to the four of them.

Rocinante walked side by side with Bellemere. They chatted casually about some of the less important things in their lives, about Bellemere's jobs, about the friends that Nami had made in school. She told a story about a man she worked with who had made Nami laugh with a little pinwheel in his hat, and about a rowdy customer who never failed to make her day a little worse.

At some point she reached out and took his hand in hers, interlacing their fingers together. She smiled up at him and he returned it. Nami let out a groan on her shoulder, yawned, and then turned her head to the other side. The ride back home, Rocinante noted, was far more comfortable than the ride out had been, and not simply because of the fact that Nami was fast asleep.


Three weeks later, Law printed out a page from the zoo's website and hurried to show it to Rocinante. It announced loud and proud that they'd named the baby polar bear "Bepo". Rocinante put it on the fridge.