One piece belongs to Oda Eiichiro.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. It was nice to hear from you some of you about it :) It's a bit scary wondering if that sort of thing is going to go down well or not!


Chapter XII: More Than Just An Alliance.

Nico Robin was peacefully enjoying the cool morning's breeze as she tended to her flower garden. It was the seventh day that she had been the sole female on board the Thousand Sunny. She openly missed her crew's navigator, and their allies, as did everyone else.

"Robin-chwan~" Sanji sung as he strode out onto the top deck, to bring her a morning cup of coffee.

"Thank you, Sanji-san." Robin smiled. She put her watering can down, then and sat at the small table to enjoy her drink, and to wait for the News Coo.

Her gaze naturally found its way to the man standing at the helm. His royal blue shirt with red palm trees flapped in the wind against his back. His hair today was more akin to the style he had when she first met him. It suited him so well, she thought. It always reminded her of Water 7, and not just because his hair was the colour of the shallow ocean. To her, this style looked like a tidal wave, just like the Aqua Laguna that annually devastated his home.

Nico Robin smiled with fondness. Not just for the man who currently held her gaze, but for everything about Water 7. That island had shown her the true colours of the crew she sailed with. She now knew she had a home, friends, a future. More importantly, she had hope.

The squawk of a seagull drew Robin's gaze to the sky. The News Coo landed on the handrail next to her, perched on one foot. She took one of the rolled papers from under its wing, and offered a coin in exchange. The bird extended its leg towards her, revealing a letter that was clutched between its talons. It was addressed to 'Mugiwara-ya'. Robin took the envelope and thanked the bird. With a squawk it took flight again, leaving her in shock as she saw what was today's front page news.

"Franky, can you call everyone to the kitchen?" she asked, her voiced was filled with mixed emotion.


The Strawhat crew, and their guests, gathered in the galley on board the Thousand Sunny. Once everyone was sat in their place around the table, Robin got up and handed the morning's paper to Luffy, along with the letter.

"Read that out loud." she insisted.

Luffy looked up at her in confusion until he turned his attention to the paper in his hand. "Wow, Tora-o is brave!" he laughed as he looked at the image on the front page.

"Why, what has he done? Nothing mightier than the brave God, Usopp!" the sniper boasted. He laughed for few moments and then sat back down.

"He kissed Nami. Look!" The young captain informed his crew as he turned the paper to show them.

"W-what?" Usopp stammered.

Sanji instantly shot up from his seat and snatched the publication from Luffy's hands. Tears streamed down his face as he took in the full page image before his eyes. "Nami-san!" he sobbed.

The picture on the front page was of Trafalgar Law and Nami stood close together down an alleyway, their faces hidden behind Law's hood. The tattoo on the shoulder of the woman was proof it was their navigator, and the hat clutched in the tattooed right hand of the man, proved it was Trafalgar Law.

"She's even wearing one of their uniforms." Sanji shakily pointed out through sniffs and splutters.

"They're just clothes, Sanji." Chopper tried to console him.

"No! She's joined his crew." He cried. He fell to the floor, moping in a pool of tears.

Luffy took the paper back and began to read the title of the article out loud. "'More than just an alliance, full story on page two.'" Luffy shrugged as he turned the page.

"Ex-shichibukai Trafalgar Law of the Heart pirates, and the Cat Thief Nami of the Strawhat crew were both arrested last night by marines. They are currently en route to Headquarters to stand trial."

Brook had dropped his tea at these words. Everyone else remained quiet, their moods shifting from being mildly amused at the cover photograph, to quite seriously worried. Every member of the crew sat on the edge of their seats. Sanji managed to drag himself off the floor to reclaim his place at the table.

Luffy continued, "After forming an alliance …" then he decided to skip most of the article, mumbling some words out loud. "The lovers were captured last night at their hotel, cutting their romantic getaway short." he concluded.

"A romantic getaway?" Usopp echoed.

Sanji took the paper to read the full article for himself.

"Would they really announce that they were going to HQ, if they actually were?" Zoro questioned.

"They wouldn't. When have they ever done anything by the book?" Franky surmised

"They lied about Ace's execution time, too." Luffy remembered.

"Captain. There is also a letter from Trafalgar-san." Robin reminded him.

"Ah!" Luffy said and opened it immediately.

'Mugiwara-ya, after long consideration, I have decided that the safest island for us to meet on would be Wano Country. It is not under the jurisdiction of any of the Yonko, nor is it affiliated with the World Government. It is an ideal rendezvous place, and your ship also has business there. We are currently four days from Wano Country. Bepo has a vivre card for the Heart pirates, just in case. -Trafalgar Law.'

"He wants us to meet him on Wano." Luffy happily divulged.

"He wrote that before he got himself arrested, and our navigator! Are you not worried about my beautiful Nami-swan at all? This is all your fault for letting him sail off with her in the first place!" Sanji ranted.

"Tora-o is a good guy. He'll work something out." Luffy smiled.

"I don't think that's quite what the idiot cook means." Zoro started.

"But he didn't want to leave Bepo." Chopper asserted in the doctor's defence.

"No, but Law was pretty quick to leave his navigator with us after Luffy reminded him that he had Nami." Zoro pointed out.

"And, why didn't he treat Bepo, and let Chopper look after Nami? He can move things with his ability. He easily could have swapped Nami with the Bepo, so she could have remained with us." Usopp argued.

"I'm not sure he is the ally you think he is, Luffy." Zoro said as he leant back in his seat.

"Nami trusts him, otherwise she wouldn't kiss him." Luffy tried to assure his crew. His trust in Trafalgar Law unwavering.

"Can we at least call his ship?!" Sanji shouted.


The Surgeon of Death sat in his cell feeling absolutely exhausted, both physically and mentally. The shackles around his ankles had been removed, but kairoseki manacles at his wrists were keeping him weak. Being propped up against his jail cell did not help as it was also made of kairoseki, but he didn't have the strength to peel himself off it.

Law had been silently reprimanding himself all night. He had been so determined to have Nami. She had utterly entranced him as she writhed beneath him in ecstasy. He had completely lowered his guard, giving the marines an opportunity to arrest them. Law's body still ached with a burning need for her, but the handcuffs stopped his body from physically reacting. She really was the bad sort of distraction that he initially thought she was.

When he wasn't reprimanding himself, the Surgeon of Death had been constantly paying attention to every sound that he heard. After he was thrown in his cell, the marine captain told the jailer to put the keys in the safe in his quarters. Which were apparently near the officer's mess hall. He had listened for the jailer's footsteps as he left, trying to distinguish where he went. He lost track of him after the sound of his steps clanged against a metal stairwell. Too many thuds came from the floor above, drowning out the man he was tracking.

He had kept himself awake all night trying to picture what the was going on outside of the room that contained his cell. Every foot step he heard now filled him with unrestrained hatred. He imagined how gratifying it would feel to chop up every marine on board this ship. If only he wasn't handcuffed. He hoped none of them were going to try to question him. He certainly wasn't in the mood for an interrogation.

Nami had been separated from him the moment they were dragged on board. Every time he heard a female voice his head would turn, forcing his ear in the direction of the door. He was desperate for some news of her, to know what they planned to do with her, or if she was still alive or not.

Two men who had been walked along the corridor had stopped within earshot of Law's cell block.

"Did you know she was his woman?" One of them asked, in a deep voice.

"No." the other grunted.

"Maybe we should have some fun with her, and force him to watch!" The excitement in the man's voice angered Law. Nami wasn't anybody's to mess with, not even his!

"Then slit his throat in front of her!" The second man sounded even more elated than his partner.

"It's only what they'd do to us. We'd be doing the world a great justice by killing them both."

"Fucking marines," Law cursed. "They're worse than pirates!" Memories of the corrupt Vergo came crashing back to him.

"Are we really going to HQ? They don't need a trial. They're guilty!" Law narrowed his eyes at hearing this. Even he knew that they wouldn't be going to Headquarters.

"No. We would only need to go there to decide if they were going to be killed or not. The news paper only wrote that to try and lure their crews there. These two are getting thrown straight in jail!" The man with the deep voice explained, sounding very sure of himself.

"About what we joked about before … ?" The other man inquired.

"I wasn't joking."

"Good. Tonight then." That last remark made Law think it was a statement, a promise, and not a question. He needed to get out of his cell, and fast.


Trafalgar Law drifted in and out of sleep for the rest of the day. He fought the urge, but he couldn't keep his eyes from closing. He was woken up once by the violent scraping of chairs along the flooring, some where over head. Law was brought some food not long after he'd heard that, so he assumed that there was a mess hall of some kind on the floor above.

It seemed the marines were too afraid to try and question him. That, or they just didn't see the point. From how the G5 had reacted to him on Punk Hazard, he imagined it was the former. The only contact he'd had since being locked up was when he had been brought his food. Three small meals, carried in by the meekest kitchen assistant imaginable. When Trafalgar Law refused to eat it, the young man ate a few morsels, letting him know it was not poisoned.

As the skies out side his window darkened, so did Law's mood. Night was drawing in quickly, and he hadn't had one opportunity to escape. 'Had those marines made those threats so he could hear them, to raise his stress levels, or were they actually going to go through with what they said?' They had definitely succeeded in severely angering him.

The entire ship suddenly started to violently vibrate. He could hear shouting and panic, but there was too much noise for his to discern anything.

"Oi!" Law shouted, but no one came.

Marines were frantically running backwards and forwards along the corridor outside his cell.

"KYAAAAHH!" Law heard. There was a pain in his chest that gave him a slight reminder of when Vergo had crushed his heart. 'That was Nami-ya.' he thought to himself. He had heard her scream so many times. It sounded quite distant, like it came from a different level of the ship.

What was going on? What was happening to Nami-ya?


Again, I welcome reviews :) Hope you guys aren't too disappointed. I'm not a fan of this chapter. The next will be better, I promise.

I almost got carried away with the bit of FRobin at the start of this one!

And I'm sorry for typo's.

4th July 2014