A/N: I feel very uncomfortable writing these two chapters. 0: The family drama starts here.

SEllen23: Aw, thanks! Those compliments doesn't don't make me feel good at all! Haha but yes, there are definitely good stories out there – just give them a try. :D

Snowflake97: I like him, too. He's okay ;) His attachment will be showing even more as the story starts winding down – but just how attached will he be down to the wire? Lawsan moments are difficult for me when Sanji isn't being a difficult little shit like he was – I swear it's hard for me to write romance.

Guest#1: yo ho hoho! To answer your questions, he was very annoyed, but now he sees why Luffy does what he does – there will be more of that to come! As for Zoro, he is a little bit nicer – but writing ambiguously about their relationship will continue (I'm a huge ZoSan fan. I worship them as much I enjoy a LawSan) and Trebol as a dog? Ahha he certainly is!

Guest#2:Thank you! Your compliments definitely do not give me joy! (I'm a terrible liar) I'm so glad you enjoyed the sweet fluff – it's the hardest part to portray when I'm writing. I avoid it like it is the Ebola/Zika/Swine flu virus in one. As for the scene in the carriage, they did notice, and were yelling at Rosi for warning him – they were sitting there anticipating a fight. I will be more clear next time, k? ;)

Musical Bear: Luffy always struck me as the innocent pervert of the group. He could be looking at something and not really 'feel' for it as anyone else would, but react with a 'what? gesture if caught, haha! I love writing him in that predicament! And Zoro's 'feelings' are definitely ambiguous, here. Sometimes I don't even know what to do with them, but they definitely add to some tension and drama, don't they? :D Mihawk is huge. I'd be trying to climb him like a tree, tho. 0: As for Rosinante's attitude, there will be more of it on full display here in the next two chapters.

Part Seven

The fire burned brilliantly in the distance. Nami cried quietly into her cape, Tony on her lap. Luffy watched quietly as Shachi's body burned, Ussop holding Penguin's urn next to him. Zoro's arms were crossed tightly over his chest, all of the men with grave expressions. Next to them, Kidd and his crew watched with similar faces, the silence of the group heavy. The funeral pyre had taken place just outside of the small town that promised a train station, where the group intended on boarding a train going East.

Mihawk stood nearby, wearing no expression.

The evening slowly fell, and when the ashes remained, the group began to move.

As Ussop and Zoro gathered the fine dust into an urn Nami had picked out, Luffy turned to Mihawk. "Where is this Mingo?"

"Where you'd found Sanji."

"You'll come with us?"

"Of course. This is the favor Shanks asked of me."

"Did he know Mingo would do this?"

"It was only a matter of time once Trafalgar's presence was identified. His involvement with Doflamingo was a very large one, one that he relied on. He suspects wrong doing within his own organization. He was curious. It was merciful of him to send his brother rather than came out himself. Otherwise, I suspect you'd be burning more bodies over there."

"He's that strong?" Luffy asked curiously.

"Cruel. Calculating. Unafraid to take risks. Unnaturally gifted. Shanks suspected he'd experimented upon himself, or else he is an actual God. You'll have to accept that there is a big possibility that both men might be dead by the time you arrive."

"Sanji wouldn't let it happen," Luffy said with confidence, as Zoro returned to his side, and Ussop, Nami and Tony went to take care of the newest urn in their possession. "And Law would do whatever it took to keep him alive. They'll be there waiting for us."

"Your unusual confidence earns no sympathy from me when it is shattered. The death of your friend here has been devastating to the lot of you."

"All of us knew the risks," Luffy said. "We're bandits. Adventurers. Explorers. We fight to live, we live to fight, we fight because all of us has done so all our lives! That's all we know how to do!"

"Death is meaningless when it's achieved so hastily!"

"Shachi died for what he believed in! He came out here knowing what he was doing, and he did so without fear, without hesitation, and because he was protecting his friends! If he feared death, he wouldn't have even revealed himself to Law! Don't talk down so quickly on my friend – he was much braver and more fearless than you!"

Mihawk pulled back because there was no changing Luffy's view. The others agreed with him with their silent stares his way, and he removed his hat to give his black hair an impatient sweep.

"It's certainly not my position to judge what you do with your lives, I suppose. But I do respect Shanks, and I promised to fulfill this favor for him."

"Mingo will regret making Law come back home. I guarantee it."

"We'll get them back, old man. You'll eat your words," Kidd said fiercely. "Besides, I owe Sanji a kick – that bastard left his damn shoe print on my back!"

"He prevented your drowning, Kidd, calm down," Killer told him.

"Bastard's half fish, I admit."

"While you were preparing for his funeral," Mihawk said, turning away from them, "I sent a message to Shanks. He will send assistance."

"The more the better, to even the numbers!" Luffy said cheerfully.

"Child, once you enter Dressrosa, you'll be overwhelmed," Mihawk muttered. "It will be nothing like the Marines."

"Fuck it, let's go, Luffy. He can bring us down on the way over," Zoro said impatiently. "The longer we're here, the less we can do to help that idiot and that dumb ass psychopath."

"Settle down, Roronoa. Your feelings aren't needed here."

"I swear I heard that, before," Luffy mumbled, rubbing his chin.

"We'll take the train as close as we can – along the way, we'll find the others. In an effort to prepare for the encounter, I'll let you know what Doflamingo's capable, of. Just understand that I did try to talk you out of it."

"The effort was wasted, because that kid doesn't listen to nobody," Kidd mumbled, moving away from them. "I was already close to death, guys. My mind's made up – we're doing this."

"Hey, Kidd! Isn't this an alliance?" Luffy asked excitedly.

"Aw shit, i guess it is!"

"If that's your decision," Killer said with a sigh.

: :

'Shachi and Penguin were both aware of the risks,' Rosinante signed with a heavy expression, signing their names as the animals they were named after. 'I trusted them. If they both fell so you would survive, then they did so with bravery and heart.'

Sanji found it interesting when Rosinante traced the air over the outline of that heart tattoo over Law's chest. It gave him a small thrill that he could learn more about the man by witnessing the interaction between them. He found it very difficult to understand anything Rosinante was saying, who used his hands and expressions to talk. So he watched Law for clues, and tried not to interrupt, as the other man was watching Rosinante intently. He still demanded that Rosinante slow down his speech from time to time but they had time – the train would take a day to reach the other end of the country.

The man wasn't deaf – he'd cut his own tongue out. He uttered a sound here and there, could laugh, but he really was an expressive man that made such a show with his words that Sanji could interpret some of them by charade alone. But it amused Sanji to watch Law take it in with such intensive patience. He sat on the floor with his shackled hands in his lap and focused on the pair's conversation, as Law sat on the couch arm next to him, and Rosinante still sat in the chair that had been custom made to accommodate him.

"Why didn't you stop Gladius from killing him?"

'Shachi knew that if you'd escaped, the death toll would have been much worse. He believed in our efforts.'

"I feel guilty for losing both of them."

'This is it. They have all the names, dates, and associates involved. When that happens, I have a plan in mind for us to be out of here.' Rosinante then sipped his tea with a frown, then sat the cup aside carefully. 'I will have to serve my time. But the information I provided should be enough to lessen my charges.'

Rosinante quickly signed, 'But I made arrangements for you, as well.'

"It never occurred to me that these things would catch up."

'Everyone pays the price. It's the right thing to do.' Rosinante flipped through the drawing pad, and withdrew a stack of papers. Law took it, reading through some of it. The frown intensified.

"It's not going to work if I'm associated with the Strawhats."

Rosinante waved it away. 'It'll be fine.'

"I did commit crimes against the Marines as I'd participated in the shootout with them."

'When I've served my time, I'll come find you.' Rosinante set his tea aside. 'Maybe we'll sail around the world. Sight see.'

"We'll just play it by ear."

'It's only a matter of time when the others catch up. Everything should fall into place by then.'

"'Others?'"

'I left them alive for a reason.'

"He said the others should be catching up soon," Law then said to Sanji, who looked immensely relieved. "Why involve them?"

Rosinante wrote hastily, tapping the names with an impatient expression.

"Sanji and Penguin wore him down so I could shoot him."

Rosinante dropped the writing pad with a stunned expression. Then gave a relieved gesture from his forehead. He tapped Pica's name.

"Roronoa cut him down."

Rosinante clapped with delight, obviously happy with the outcome. He set aside his paper and charcoal and stood, brushing crumbs from his pants. Then Law stood suddenly, pulling one boot off, dirt and rocks spilling onto the floor, the other man giving him a disgusted look. He then reached down and snatched Law's sock off and waved it in the air with an animated display of revulsion over the state of it. Sanji bit his lip and tried not to react with amusement.

Law removed a plastic wrapped item from his boot, and Rosinante clamped his nose shut and gave him a revolted look.

"You ass, just take it! Vergo had it," Law said, insisting on him taking it.

Rosinante dropped the sock, taking the item with a frown. He unwrapped it and Law put on his sock and boot again. When he realized that the notebook contained information that Vergo had been keeping since his time with the Marines, Rosinante fell back in his chair, kicking his legs around, notebook waving in the air, emitting a delighted laugh, causing both Law and Sanji to look at him with frozen expressions.

"I told you, he's an idiot," Law said to Sanji.

The man then shifted quickly into a proper position on the chair, slipping the notebook into his shirt as the door opened with a bang. Jora walked in, her face as scraped and battered as Baby's, and at her side was Dellinger. Both of them looked furious, and they looked at Law and Sanji with so much contempt that Sanji rose from the floor, just in case.

The teen snarled, then ran straight for Sanji as Jora marched towards Rosinante, her huge body heaving with heavy breath.

'You didn't die,' he signed with disappointment.

"How could you leave us like that?" she demanded, as Law stood aside to let Sanji deal with Dellinger. Sanji pushed out with a heavy thrust kick that the teen leapt over, whirling with an axe kick that would have taken Sanji's head into the wall, but the man ducked effortlessly, and caught the boy with a heavy kick of his own, the teen smashing into the wall with a heavy thump of sound. "And Gladius is gone! That Kidd drowned him, I know he did! If he isn't dead already, I'll go back and kill him myself! Doffy will give me permission to do so, to avenge the loss!"

Dellinger pushed away from the wall, giving a snarl as he threw a leg up. Sanji side stepped, was caught in place by the shackles, so he bent backward, near parallel to the floor, and waited for the boy's leg to pass. Once it did, he kicked his leg out wide in a fan motion, caught the teen's supporting leg, then kicked outward with the other, sending him stumbling across the car and slamming into the wall with another huge bang. When he lifted his head, his nose was bleeding, and his eyes were wide with fury, baring his sharp teeth. He raced over once more, whirling into somersaults and Law jerked out of the way because those boot heels looked like they'd slice a man's nose from his face.

Sanji smirked, then kicked straight up so that Dellinger's shins slammed into his, stopping the somersaults. Law winced at the sharp crack that sounded out, and the teen's eyes filled with tears before he flopped to the floor, as if he'd lost feeling in his legs.

Jora turned away from Rosinante and looked at Sanji, then realized what happened to Dellinger. With a low gasp, she shoved Law aside and hauled the boy up and over her shoulder, throwing a punch at Sanji. Sanji avoided the hit but relaxed because she left him to glare at Law.

"Just wait until we get to the mansion, boy," she said. "Both of you will pay for your actions. Doffy will be very unforgiving."

"Look at me stressing over it."

"You'll break. You might think you could continue with that attitude, but Doffy will break you. And you'll regret treating your family like this," Jora promised viciously.

"None of you were my family."

"You brainwashed this piece of shit to think exactly like you!" Jora hissed at Rosinante. Then to Sanji, she snarled, "And you! You touch my boy again, I will break those legs myself!"

She strode away as Dellinger flipped them off, but the angry expression on his face wasn't enough to hide the pained tears that he then tried to dash away.

'I keep trying to kill them,' Rosinante sighed with frustration. 'They're stronger than they look.'

"Why involve the Strawhats?" Law asked him again.

Rosinante paused for a second, then hastily wrote down a few things, holding the pad up.

"'Because Shanks said so?' What does Shanks have to do with it?" Law asked with bewilderment.

Rosinante shrugged at that point, pulling out the newspaper once more and showing them their recent exploits, tapping on a recent headline. 'He believes in him.'

"What is he saying?" Sanji asked Law impatiently.

"Shanks told him to involve you guys because he believes in Luffy," Law told him.

Sanji grinned at him. "Don't you, yet?"

Law didn't answer, taking his seat once more at the edge of the couch, crossing his arms over his chest. Sanji nudged him with his shoulder, still smiling, before he sat back on the floor, crossing his legs.

"Stubborn ass. What's it going to take to convince you that he can perform miracles?"

"It might be different this time. Doffy isn't the Marines. And he isn't one of Luffy's allies, either. He's on a level that's unchallenged."

"I believe in him. That's enough for me," Sanji said.

Rosinante listened to them. He was very uncomfortable with the relationship before him. He'd never imagined Law returning to him with a man in his company – though the concept wasn't unheard of, he just never thought it would happen. Law had never expressed interest in other men, nor did he warm up to the thought of being with a woman, either. But seeing him look at Sanji the way he did was like watching another person in Law's skin.

And Sanji looked up at him with all those feelings on his face and made Rosinante feel relieved that someone could look at Law with those expressions because no one else had.

He still didn't know how to accept it, though. He just resolved to ignore it all together and focus on Law himself.

'Will Straw Hat find you?' Rosinante asked Law.

"I have no doubt. Once he finds out Sanji is with me, he'll be showing up as soon as he can. He likes to pick fights. He likes the challenge of facing off with…a strong fighter. I don't think he'll care about the investigation, he would just like to see what sort of trouble Doffy is."

'That is what I was told. I'm counting on it.' Rosinante then smiled at him, looking relieved. 'I had thought it would be difficult reconnecting with you.'

"I have no ill will towards you. I'm not that same person I was when you sent me away."

Rosinante looked delighted once more, rising up from his chair and crossing the space between them. He hugged the man tightly, then picked him up and whirled him around with a happy laugh, much to Law's mortification and Sanji's amusement.

"Don't pick me up like I'm a kid! I'm too old for that!"

'Never too old for hugs!' Rosinante signed indignantly after he released him. Then he clasped his nose shut and waved a hand in front of his face. 'You stink.'

"Can't help it."

'There's a shower room behind you. Use it. Please.' Rosinante gave him the key from his shirt, then left the passenger car.

"He says we stink," Law said to Sanji, unlocking the shackles immediately. He crouched to rub sensation back into Sanji's wrists, pulling them up to kiss them gently. "There's a shower room, here."

"I wouldn't mind a shower," Sanji confessed, smelling himself with a wince. Then he reached out, pulling him close to kiss him. Law returned the kiss because he needed the intimacy of it, to express his own relief. "They'll leave us alone for awhile, right?"

"Probably. It sounds like they're going to let Doffy do the talking."

"Then while we shower, I'm going to suck you dry. Desperate times call for desperate fucking, and all," Sanji promised against his lips, reaching down between them. "I'll be real quiet about it, too, so your dad doesn't hear us."

"He's not my 'dad'. And how could that even be the first thing on your mind when we're on our way, quite possibly, to our deaths? You have to keep that in mind – Luffy might not show up in time."

"Then that makes it even more so. I'm going to comfort the both of us. Every time we do it might be the very last time – and it'll get our minds off the tension."

"As long as you're not doing it for the wrong reasons," Law then mumbled, pulling Sanji's head from his by lightly pulling hair. He studied the other man's expression, and noted that there wasn't a blank look to his eyes, the way Sanji used to look at him when they first met – they looked as desperate and scared as his. He couldn't help but wonder which one of them really needed the comforting.

: :

The city had grown larger – it bordered the coastline. The salty air was just as pungent as he remembered, and the vast difference of a 'civilized' society compared to the western landscape he'd grown comfortable with was such a massive transformation. The buildings were structured and carefully managed, the landscape green and lined with rocky formations that jutted upward from a heavy tree line. The smells were intense, and it took a lot for him not to cover his mouth in reaction. He instantly missed the wide open, the smells of an untamed land.

There were too many people, with too many roads, with too many organized structures that looked like a cage.

The train ride had taken a day to complete – the speed had been something neither of the men were used to, and motion sickness had been a challenge. By the time Law felt he'd gotten used to it, they were already at the train station. People stared at them openly as they left it – they looked like prisoners, walking behind the gigantic man in a black jacket, and the scowling faces of well known gang members had bystanders scrambling out of their way. It took two carriages to transport them to the mansion.

When they pulled up to the mansion, his stomach was in knots. Groundskeepers kept the area beautiful – security men, armed and obvious about it, wandered the grounds. All of them turned and stared as they walked to the massive pillar-lined front porch.

When they walked into the front lobby of the mansion, house servants flitted around them, taking jackets, offering refreshments, and leading Rosinante, Law and Sanji back towards Doflamingo's first floor office. The smells of the mansion made Law sick. It was a thick combination of smoke, spices and the outside air. Stress left his stomach and chest in knots. Sanji was intensely silent, and he hadn't looked up, once. But he stayed close to him, even when Baby 5 pestered him for his demeanor, and Buffalo teased him about his appearance as an obedient 'wife'.

When Rosinante walked into Doflamingo's office, the man was sitting there waiting for them, grinning widely as he stood up from behind his desk. He reached out and hugged Rosinante tightly, before kissing his cheek. He then looked him over for any sign of injuries, his brother pulling his jacket tight around him with a frown.

Then Doflamingo took the few steps necessary to stand in front of Law and Sanji. Both of them were breathing in a tense, careful manner as they looked up at him – Sanji's neck catching as his expression filled with fear, and Law's turned stubbornly defiant. Doffy stared down at him, his eyes invisible behind his sunglasses. Taller than Rosinante, but broad shouldered, moving with a slight waddle as he walked, the man had a very imposing air about him. His pink jacket, similar to the one Rosinante wore, hung from his shoulders, but he hadn't changed much since Law last seen him. Neither of the men looked as if they'd aged any.

He bent low just so he could look Law in the face.

"Welcome home. It's good seeing you again," he said, his voice deep and measured. He then reached out and hugged Law tightly, and Sanji grimaced because Law was very uncomfortable with the touch, and he was the size to Doflamingo as a child was to him. He had the very real sensation of wanting to interfere hastily, with as much panicked measure as he could. Once Doflamingo released Law, he walked around them, looking over him with an amused smile. "Granted, you don't look like how you had when you walked off. Look at this mess, Rosi. Did you really mean to bring him back like this?"

Rosinante shrugged.

Doflamingo returned his attention back to Law. He reached down, to run his fingers through Law's hair, touching his shoulders briefly while Law froze under the touch. "Your hair looks like it hasn't seen a brush since you left. You look thinner. And is that all you've been wearing this entire time? It looks like trash. I'll make sure our tailor comes by, and he'll refit you right away. Your room is still where you left it. I made sure that it was maintained, because I knew you'd come back, someday.

"And who is this?" he asked curiously, noting how close the two men stood.

"It wasn't my choice to come back," Law said tightly. "You should've just sent a letter. This is really inconvenient."

"Ha ha! You're still as mouthy as ever! I can't stress how much of that attitude was missed. Your contempt hasn't diminished any! By the way, I appreciate what you did to Trebol and Diamante, but did you think you could get away with it? I'm sure Rosi has told you by now that Trebol is in excellent hands, now."

"I wasn't happy to find out I'd failed. I'll have learn from my mistakes and try again."

Doflamingo bent once more to look into his face. "You'll respect your elders. And he is your elder."

"No one here deserves my respect."

"No one here deserves your attitude, either, considering the hands that made you what you are, today. And you haven't answered my question. Who is this man?"

Rosinante tapped the table to catch his attention, so Doflamingo straightened up to look at him. 'His beloved.'

"What."

'It's true. No babies.'

Doflamingo looked at Law with a frozen smile. "How could you do this? It is unnatural. Men weren't made for other men. There are plenty of women available."

"Your opinion doesn't matter to me."

"I don't understand it."

"It's not for your understanding. What matters is how it feels to me."

Doflamingo laughed merrily, straightening away from him with his hands in his pockets. "Well then! Those dreams have been shot down in flames! Sorry, Rosi, but it looks like you'll never have grandchildren. You will have to adopt another one from the children's home. I'm sure they'll find what you're looking for. Admittedly, I wasn't looking forward to the task. Dellinger was a tough one to raise, and Jora did a mighty fine job of it."

The boy that dressed in women's clothing? Sanji wondered. He was obviously very confused with his own gender.

Doflamingo then turned, and read the note Rosinante had written down. He turned to them once more. "Sanji Blackleg? Like the Baratie chef, Redleg? But your parents are the Vinsmokes, from the northern border. Trappers from the north country."

Despite 'not knowing' who he was, Doflamingo sure was familiar with his family name. He had no doubt that Doflamingo knew everything about him and was just messing with him. "Redleg raised me. He was my family."

Doflamingo looked delighted that he'd said so. "Ah. Family doesn't always have to be blood. How long have you worked at the restaurant?"

"Since I was thirteen."

"What made you leave?"

Reddening, Sanji refused to answer. His lips tightened and his eyes shifted away to look at something else in the room because even if Doflamingo's eyes were hidden, he could feel them taking him in with calculating weight. Suddenly the man was drawing close to him, and Law stood in his path – the action was so quick that he hadn't even heard Doflamingo approach, and by the time Law was in front of him, the man was too close, and the tension was incredibly thick.

"It's rude to ignore someone when they're talking to you," Doflamingo said, frostily. "I ask that everyone look me in the eye when they speak to me."

"It's rude to pry when you already know the answers to your questions," Law returned.

Stepping back, Doflamingo frowned at him. Rosinante cleared his throat noisily, the sound of his lighter flicking open. The silence was nearly unbearable. Sanji couldn't help but watch him with utter terror because if the man did anything in physical retaliation, Law would put himself in harm's way and Sanji couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to him because of his action.

"I was reassigned to another position outside of the restaurant," Sanji said hastily, his voice nearly thin. "To answer your question."

For a few moments, Doflamingo continued to stand there. Where he was looking and what he was thinking was absolutely impossible – but with the way his lips spread with a smile said that he was through with the confrontation.

"Well, if this is so, Law, if you choose a man rather than a woman, then it makes no difference to me. But it'll take convincing the church to accept this."

"I didn't ask for yours or that organization's approval."

"Oh? So you fell for him, counting on that?"

"It shouldn't matter to you how it came about."

"How does that work?" Doflamingo then asked curiously. "When I re-introduce you to the family at dinner, tonight, how shall I introduce him?"

'Just use his name,' Rosinante signed, after walking up to stand behind Law just so Doflamingo could see him directly. Sanji was bumped away from Law by the other man's intrusion, but as he caught himself, he realized that Rosinante was inserting himself into the tense confrontation just to deflect the situation. 'Why is it their business to know their relationship?'

That interruption had Doflamingo looking at his brother for a few more seconds. Sudden tension caused an uncomfortable sensation in Law's chest, looking back at Rosinante with caution.

But then Doflamingo smiled again. "We don't keep secrets from each other, here. I want everyone to know what you've been up to since you've been gone. And that includes introducing your…your…uh…"

He looked to Rosinante for help, and his brother gave him a shrug. "Boyfriend? Mate? Beloved? How does that work? Blackleg, how would you like to be introduced?"

Sanji said nothing because nothing came to mind, and he felt too tense to make an attempt.

"Are you easily intimidated?" he was asked, the man bending to peer at him. All of Sanji's instincts screamed at him. His throat tightened. Sweat built at his hairline, and he couldn't bring himself to make eye contact at that moment – every little bit of fear he had for bigger men hit him with such intensity that he couldn't think. Doflamingo must have sensed that fear, because when he smiled, it wasn't friendly. Just predatory.

"Well, we'll figure it out, then. For now, Law, you're welcome to take back your wing. I'll have the tailor come to fix your clothes. Those get burned. All of it. None of us here should look as if we live in poverty. I've worked much too hard to allow that to happen."

'Are there guarantees that Blackleg will be unharmed?'

"No," Doflamingo said with a puzzled expression. "Like Baby's boyfriends, I decide whether it's a worthy match. If you think you can just bring anyone to the table, you're dead wrong. Only the matchmaker decides for me whether or not a relationship will work in favor for the family. This one will be new, to be honest. First time for everything, here, though. Don't get comfortable here, Blackleg. I will sort out the situation before dinner."

He looked at Law with a wide smile. "Well, then. Welcome home. Dinner is at the usual hour. Don't be late. Rosi, come with me. I want to hear about your trip. Jora and the others were by before you, and all they did was complain about the way you treated them. I want to hear it from you why Gladius has not returned."

'Everything they said was true. I did my best to leave them behind.'

"You need to stop being so mean to them. They love you."

As they left the office, a house servant came by, lumbering slowly to where Law and Sanji were standing. He bowed respectfully, introducing himself. "Good morning. I am Jean Bart. I will escort you to your wing, sir."

"I know where it's at," Law muttered pensively.

"Rosinante asked me personally to follow your bidding." Jean lowered his head once more. "I will take over where Penguin and Shachi have left off."

Law looked at him with a frown.

"You'll die, too?" Sanji asked him bitterly.

"If it means that you'll survive, then, yes."

"Then I'm not warming up to you, at all."

Law nodded at Jean, who led the way out of Doflamingo's office with a lumbering stroll, saying nothing in response.

: :

"You're kidding me," Sanji said with amazement, staring up at the high ceilings, the marble pillars, the sheen of a floor with mosaic tiles. The place looked like it belonged to a museum. The windows were open with fluttering curtains, there were side tables with ornate art pieces, and paintings on the wall that were of scenic landscapes. There were wall sconces, and guards that lingered at the edge of their vision, and when he glanced through the windows, it showed off a beautiful display of the ocean and a curve of the coastline.

"You grew up in this? And lived for a few years in a pitiful shack?"

"That I made with my own hands."

"It was nice inside," Sanji admitted then, as Jean opened the doors to a room that was open, spacious, and filled with beautiful pieces of furniture. There was a massive bed towards the floor to ceiling windows with a balcony beyond that, potted plants captured in the sea breeze, and an equally massive desk with surrounding book shelves that were crammed full of various titles. Nearby was a walk-in closet that Jean opened to reveal various shelves of footwear, of clothing hanging from staggered bars, and what looked like an entire wall of accessories. To the left of that was a bathroom that had a very large tub, shelves of room for decorations, candles and mirrors, and accessories carved out of marble.

Sanji was in awe. He'd never imagined himself in such a grand setting, and, if the visit weren't so unpleasant in the first place, he'd have a fine time getting acquainted with everything he saw. His skin itched for a warm bath; he wanted to dig around in the man's closet to learn his clothing history; he wanted to romp in the bed, hearing the seagulls call, and breathe in the salty air that caused the curtains to flutter nearby.

When Jean started talking to Law about the contents of the closet, Sanji wandered away from him to venture up to the desk. When Doflamingo had said that he'd maintained the room for him, he wasn't kidding – there were stacks of hand written essays, notes, diagrams, blood stained scrolls spread over the surface. He noticed that someone had left a rude note on one of them, telling him that breakfast wasn't the time to bring his projects to the table for everyone else to partake in.

All the book titles were medical in nature, but he noticed one stood out. He reached for it, the slender volume of How To Be A Gentleman marred with a bloody handprint. When he opened it, there were doodles over the printed ink, pictures of women marked with horns and devil's tails, and even some hangman games, tic-tac-toe with two different sets of ink. There were pages ripped out. He put that back, amused.

Then he turned and looked at the entire presentation all over again, before looking at Law himself. The man was such a contrast to the setting – he just could not picture the man he knew belonging to a place like this. The man he knew preferred less as more – the looks of surprise and shock by some of the servants were testament to how noticeable the change was.

Sanji leaned against the desk as Jean left the closet and went into the bathroom, drawing water that didn't need to be pumped from a well, warmed by fire. Pipes rattled as water filled the tub, and the scent of bath oils touched him before he knew it. Jean emerged, the large man with odd facial markings looking right at him and gesturing for him to enter.

Nausea made Sanji's stomach turn to knots. He felt his muscles freezing. His mind went blank. When Jean realized he wasn't getting any answer from him, he returned to the closet. Not that the man wasn't friendly or hospitable, but because he was back in the place he never wanted to be. Never in his life had he imagined he'd be in the mansion that had always been his scorn. The water turned itself off.

Law left the closet with clothes in his arms, Jean taking them with haste, scolding him in that he was the servant.

"You can use the bath, first," Law told him.

"Don't leave me."

"I won't. I don't trust Doffy. He loves making surprise visits. Here are some clothes that might fit you," Law then said, reaching for the pile nearby, but Jean quickly took the task, holding up the pieces that Law had found. Uncomfortable with the lack of his own action in handling such a menial task, Law trailed off from what he was going to add. Jean blinked at him.

When the knock at the door sounded, Sanji left the desk – he couldn't help himself from needing to be near Law. He felt uncomfortably vulnerable at this point. He took slow, deep breaths as Jean set the clothes down and went to answer.

Baby 5 strode in with a huff, looking at Law. "Hurry and get cleaned up. Doffy wants to talk to you alone. Rosinante said he'd stay with your wife," she said with a sneer, turning to Sanji with a critical eye and a smoking cigarette dangling from the corner of her mouth. "How can you be comfortable with that title, huh? Are you even a man? Or are you a eunuch?"

"I'm not separating from him," Law told her.

"Doffy said if you don't come to him, he'll come to you. Your choice," Baby warned him before glaring up at Jean, giving him a disgusted look. "Rosinante's servants offend me. They're always so weak, following his orders like damned dogs. Bark for me, fool."

Jean made no expression, or even acknowledged her, so she 'hmphed' and walked out, slamming the door behind her.

Law felt uncomfortable making any choice, surprised that he even had one. He then felt Sanji touch him.

"Go. I'll be fine."

"Not after the last time. Not after what he just said."

"Rosinante said he'd stay here with me."

"For all I know, he'll kill you as soon as I leave under Doffy's orders!" Law exclaimed, stressed about it.

Sanji reached out and grasped his hand, pulling him over. He kissed him gently, hugging him close. "I promise nothing will happen to me. If he didn't believe in how much I mean to you, I wouldn't be with you, right here, right now. I want you to focus on what he's going to say to you, keep all your wits about you. Don't give me another thought while you're with him. Just come back to me after you're done."

Law was too tense to relax in his arms. His mind was still running with the confrontation earlier, and anxiety over turning his back to Sanji made the situation even worse. "That's impossible. If he decides this isn't suitable, he'll – "

"Think about it, love. He's a shitty man that will keep his enemies close, just to keep an eye on them. He knows exactly who I am, and he knows exactly how much power he has over you with me, here. That shit head already tested you. He's not going to do anything to me," Sanji assured him firmly.

He kissed him hard, then pulled back to force an expression of confidence on himself. "Let's get this over with. Luffy and the others will be here, soon, don't worry. We won't be here long."

Law hesitated for a few moments, then nodded, frowning. He looked at Jean, who was looking in the other direction with no expression to his face. He walked away to the bathroom, obviously lost in thought, and Sanji followed, anxiously biting his nails because even he didn't believe in himself.