It's been a while, huh? Sorry about that. I've been busy.

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ONE PIECE

Chapter Twenty-One

The days following the defeat of the pirates were consumed by chaos and hysteria. The decision had to be made on what to do with the now ex-Shichibukai, as he clearly couldn't hold the position any longer now that he evil deeds had been brought to light. This was a decision that was handled between King Riku and Admiral Fujitora. It was a decision that took some time to discuss, as everyone had their opinion to put in and wouldn't leave the two men alone to discuss it.

"He should be put to death!"

"Impel Down? Secure? Ha! That's what they thought two years ago!"

"Prison won't atone for his sins! Prison won't bring my husband back!"

"A life for the lives of many! It's not too much to ask"

Nothing was getting done, and they were stuck in a rut. Admiral Fujitora, from what I could gather from whispers between the Marines and the soldiers of Dressrosa, couldn't make the call to kill the man and still uphold his sense of justice. Doflamingo had already been defeated, and killing him without bringing him into the higher ups would put them on his level. The King, from the way he looked when he was seen, was in the same boat. He didn't want to kill Doflamingo because it was morally wrong to kill the man who couldn't move with his injuries and sea stone bringing his strength down. He also didn't want to anger the citizens of Dressrosa by voicing this, as he wasn't sure they would stand behind his decision, no matter how much they liked him.

And with everything going on, the Tontatta people brought forth another problem that no one else had considered or even paid attention to.

"What did they really want with the Princess?"

There was the thought that went through our heads that maybe they were just being selfish and wanted her to heal those who had been injured so that, in the event that something happens (like oh, I don't know, a war to take Doflamingo's head) they wouldn't have to worry about casualties or being overpowered in the numbers department. Leo had the same thought, and it would have been left at that if the Princess herself hadn't spoke up about what had been said to her on countless occasions.

"This is all just a warm up," They would tell her as she sat in her cage. "Big things are coming, and you'll perform a true beautiful work of art in due time." It was always Jora that dropped these little hints. Jora, the woman tied up in a corner with a few pieces of tape over her mouth as she had woken up a while ago and wouldn't stop speaking very loudly about how we wouldn't get away with this.

It had been revealed that she had been kept to restore the SMILE Factory in the event that if it fell, she would be able to bring it back. But she wasn't sure that was what they wanted, even if that was what they had said. Bringing an inanimate object back from destruction was one thing, but what she suggested was something completely different.

"What if they meant for me to bring back the deceased..."

That was surely a thought that had been in the back of some of our minds, but had never been expressly stated. The Tontatta Princess looked horrified at the idea, but her worries were quickly laid to rest by Robin who, still recovering from her snapped arm as well as injuries that were much worse adorning her back, patted the dwarf on the head with the fingers of her not-hurt arm and offered a smile.

"Even if that were the case, Doflamingo is no longer in power of you and you won't need to use your powers unless you wish to do so."

I said nothing, sitting in a chair by the side of the bed Robin rested in, watching the dwarf princess with narrowed eyes as she jerked from Robin's touch and turned her nose up. I wasn't angry at her, not in the slightest. I was actually thinking too hard to control my expression. Thinking of her powers, actually. She was sitting here and not healing anyone, simply because she hadn't gone to do so. Perhaps she hadn't thought of it? Or perhaps she was too tired from overusing it for a long period of time, though I wasn't sure how long she was even being held by Doflamingo and his men. There was a huge part of me that wanted to say something about it, something about the girl healing Robin's broken arm before going to heal the others, maybe even healing Law's arm if it were possible, but I held my tongue. Because I'm sure Robin and the others had thought of the healing properties as well, and no one mentioned anything yet.

When the princess left, I turned to the older woman on the bed and frowned. "Is there something the matter, Mara?"

"You know she ate the Heal Heal Fruit, right?" Robin hummed, picking up a book with the help of her own Devil Fruit powers and flipping to the page she had left off on. "Why not ask her to use it then? Fix you up? Heal your back at least so you're not in pain anymore. I mean, it's a convenient thing to have, and it doesn't appear to drain her physically." Robin said nothing. Simply read her book with a smile that meant she knew something I didn't. I sighed and lifted my legs, placing the balls of my feet to the edge of the chair and bending my knees to my chest, chin resting on them as I looked to the window. "Fine, don't get healed."

"I've always healed normally." Robin said after a few minutes. "There's no point in dredging up the emotional trauma she has gone through simply to mend a few bones or close a few wounds. And I've got a few extra limbs at my disposal, so it's fine." My face burned and I pressed my cheek to my knee. I hadn't thought of her emotional state, and I felt stupid for even talking now. I heard the book's page turn once again. It would be rather rude to ask her to heal the others now when they could heal just fine on their own and weren't in any danger of dying. "I have a question I would like to ask as well, Mara."

The tone of her voice sent shivers of my spine. Even before I peaked over, I knew she would have a smile on her face, but I hadn't expected her to be looking at me with eyes that showed more mischief than I was comfortable with. "Can I choose not to answer?" She nodded, smile widening. "Then go ahead I guess..."

She was silent for a moment, regarding me with eyes that held far more wisdom than I thought she had possessed. And when she spoke finally, I jumped at her voice. "Franky told me he saw something rather interesting on the stairs the other day." The events were already playing in my head, and the reunion with Law was as fresh as ever in my mind. Robin continued like she hadn't noticed the redness taking over my face and neck. "I was just curious as to what that was about."

"Nothing." I answered too quickly. "And those weren't even questions." Robin giggled - - she actually giggled - - and shook her head ruefully, turning back to her book without another word. She wasn't going to pursue an answer because that wasn't how she was. She would wait for me to come to her and talk. Had this been, oh I don't know, Nami I was talking to, this would be a whole different story with a completely different outcome that would get more people involved as she screamed at the top of her lungs if I didn't answer her properly.

But as Robin read and I sat in that chair, I wondered about how bad it would be to let someone know what happened between Law and I in the past. Sure, it would be embarrassing, but would there really be any other negative consequences? I could only think of how good it would feel to have another person's perspective, and see if they could help me figure out what to feel at the moment. Because I hated being confused about it. Did I still like him? I didn't even know him anymore. Did he still like me? Did he ever like me? And if not, what the hell should I do about everything?

Robin sat impassively on the bed, back against the mound of pillows that had been provided and fluffed by Rebecca and Kyros, both feeling bad about her getting hurt during the fight with Diamante. She looked to be oblivious to my thought, but she knew. She had to know. Robin was perceptive, and she was just waiting for me to continue on my own.

So I did. With a great sight, I swung my legs down until my feet pressed to the cold floor, scooting closer to the bed and leaning over on my elbows, bringing her attention to me once more. She didn't look surprised or shocked or confused. "It wasn't nothing." I forced the words out, meeting her eyes and hesitating only a moment before continuing. "Uh, I kind of...well..." It was hard to find the right words to say to her, especially when she laid her book down and gave me her full attention. Finally, I ran my hand through my hair and sighed heavily."A lot happened."

There was the look in her eyes, like she was a child hearing about her friends' crush, and even though I thought about not telling her, because I couldn't find the words or stop blushing, I went on anyway. And told her more than I had meant to originally.

I went through everything, some parts getting more details than others. Sabaody. Marineford. The aftermath of the War. Kuraigana Island. Meeting with Zoro and Mihawk. The first kiss on the submarine between Law and myself. Killing Raven. The kiss with Nate, which I laughed off. The first time I realized I actually liked the dark doctor. The second kiss with said dark doctor. The time we almost had sex, said with little detail, though she looked like she wanted to know more. I hid my face when I spoke of this, and started to tear up when I remembered how I felt after he kicked me out of his room. Meeting with Garp. Kissing Law again, and almost doing more. Leaving with Kaeli. Going to an island and realizing Marue had been the bad guy all along, working with the sister who had killed my family (another thing she hadn't known, as her eyes widened considerably), and defeating the man. Her killing him, and him killing her. The other very intimate experience with Law that ended better than the first one. The last kiss we shared. Leaving with the Marines after promising I would be alright.

By the end of my recounting of everything that happened with the Heart Pirates two years ago, my hands were numb from clutching the sheets in them. Robin was silent for a long time, finger to her chin and face the picture of deep thought.

"Your life reads like an angsty romance novel." I deadpanned at her response and would have smacked her if she wasn't sporting a broken arm and various cuts. She cut her eyes to me and frowned. "How do you feel about him now?"

This was the question I had been waiting for. I sighed and leaned forward even more, forehead resting on top of her blanket covered leg. "I don't even know. It's all confusing and I can't even say that I like him anymore because I don't know him anymore. He's different than he used to be. I can see it in his eyes. And it just pisses me off that he didn't even look at me - - not once - - until we saw each other on the stairs! And what does he do then? Fucking needs to validate that it's really me by looking at every single small detail. Can't he just know by looking at me? Like you guys did? Even Luffy knew for sure it was me, and he joined the Colosseum fight without seeing my face first. Same with Sabo!" I took a deep breath and buried my face further into her thigh. "I don't like this, Robin."

"I'm not sure how to help you with this problem, Mara." I frowned into her leg. She patted my head in comfort. "Once you figure out how you feel, though, you can come to me once again and I'll listen more."

I lifted my head and gave her a look. "You just want to be in on some gossip." She smiled and didn't even deny it. We lapsed back into silence, Robin returning to her book and my head leaning on her leg as one of her arms sprouted from the bed and stroked my hair, now freshly cut thanks to the wonderful talent of Robin. "Hey?" She hummed in response. "Have you heard anything from the Revolutionaries?"

"I believe they left Dressrosa this morning."

My heart dropped as I shot up from my position and brought my hands to my head, the chair that I had been sitting in knocking to the floor. "They what?!" Without waiting for a response, I left the room and entered the long hallway, turning left and dashing down as fast as I could. Past the rooms of those injured from the fighting. Until I reached Luffy's door, which I threw open without knocking and shouted into. "Did Sabo and the others really...leave…?" He wasn't in the bed. I entered the room and looked around. "Lu?" He couldn't be up walking around, could he? He had only woken up about three hours ago, and they gave him strict orders not to leave the bed or else he wouldn't get any meat.

Then again, Luffy never listened and got what he wanted in the end anyway.

"Lookin' fer that Straw Hatted kid?" A woman passed by the open door, hitching her bony thumb down the direction I came from. "He went to visit that Fuzzy Hatted kid." And she was on her way, pushing a cart of empty trays that nearly brushed the ceilings, which I had no doubt all came from one Straw Hatted idiot.

Who was currently visiting Law.

Fuck.

I shoved aside my confused feelings for the man at the moment and dashed back the way I came, looking carefully at each door until I found the one with his name scribbled on the piece of paper taped in the center. Again, I didn't bother knocking as I shoved the door opened and spoke again. "Luffy! Where the hell is that idiot...Sa...bo…?"

Maybe I should have knocked?

Lying in the bed was Law, of course, with his arm stump bandaged, his shirt off, and his face the epitome of discomfort and anger. Lying on top of him was Luffy, his arms thrown around Law's waist, bits of food stuck to his face with drool coming from the corner of his mouth and his snores so loud they could put Gramps' to shame.

In spite of myself, I barely concealed my laughter with a snort as I covered my mouth and felt my eyes begin to water. Things were just getting better and better in the sense of seeing Law in uncomfortable and comedic situations. First he was a potato sack, and now he was reduced to nothing more than a teddy bear. It appeared, as I clued together all of the evidence, that he had eaten and fallen into a food coma of sorts. Nothing too unexpected from Luffy, to be honest.

"Mara-ya, I hardly find the situation funny." Law's face was grumpier than I had ever seen it, though I didn't fail to notice he had his remaining arm lying against Luffy's back, as if he was, in a way, kind of returning the embrace lazily.

I snorted and came in the room, shutting the door behind me, more to spare him the embarrassment of anyone else seeing who happened by than anything else. "You're not seeing it from where I stand, Law-ya."

He narrowed his eyes. "Just get him off of me."

As much as I would have loved to see this continue, and possibly take pictures to show everyone later, I complied, moving forward by his bed and grabbing Luffy around the waist. The boy was heavy as hell, my arms shaking with strain as I lifted him up, groaning when his head fell backwards onto my shoulder and drool began to cascade down in slow motion towards my bare skin. "Don't get your fucking drool on me, idiot!" Too late. It landed. And oozed down my arm. And I gagged. "Oh God, this is worse than when we were kids."

I struggled to put Luffy into the bed beside Law's, in the end just carefully shoving him onto the bed and relieving myself of his dead weight. I clearly couldn't ask him where Sabo was, because he was dead to the world, so I started to show myself out, moving to the door without another glance at Law.

"Wait a moment, Mara-ya." I froze, but really considered just leaving the room and ignoring him if he called me back. But I didn't. I turned to face him and raised a brow, trying to seem indifferent to being near him even though I felt a clenching in my stomach and wanted to run away as fast as I could.

Law said nothing more for a long time. "What do you want, Law? I'm busy." I wasn't really busy, though. I was probably going to go see Usopp and Zoro in the room that they shared. Or find Rebecca. Or see how it was going with the King and the Admiral. Or do anything else, really. But he didn't need to know that.

And I waited for more than a second. More than a minute. And when it became apparent that I was waiting for nothing, or at least something that wasn't important enough to say immediately, I left the room, ignoring when he called out again and slamming the door behind me, earning a scolding for this from the woman that was passing by with various medicines on her person. My heart thumped the whole way down the hallway, and I realized I had passed Usopp and Zoro's room in my anger, so I kept going. Down another hall, turn right, up some stairs, and turn left. Into the room where the Donquixote Pirates were held prisoner.

Kyros and the others stood around the pirates, keeping them all separated in case they tried something. I moved to the one-legged man and huffed, sparing a glance at Diamante, now awake and watching Kyros with angry eyes. I could see now that his neck was severely bruised, as well as cut in the front that looked almost deep enough to kill.

"You really went for the kill, huh?" I muttered, eyeing the injuries on the man who turned his glare to me.

The soldier shook his head when he turned to see what I was referring to. "That was Robiland. Done to save mine and Rebecca's lives at one point." I hummed, smiling at how grateful he sounded. "Do you need something?"

"Have they made their decision?" He nodded, hand tightening around the hilt of his sword. I knew what the decision was by that simple angry movement, but I asked anyway. "And?"

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"In one day, the Marines will transport the Donquixote Pirates to Headquarters where they will receive their punishment and be sent to separate prisons in both the New World and the Grand Line. If they are sent to death, then so be it. However, I will not raise my sword to defeated men, no matter who they are."

The outrage following King Riku's declaration was short lived because, considering what Doflamingo had done, he and his men could very well get executed for their crimes. That was enough to satisfy the people so that they didn't scream about killing him themselves anymore. I stood in the room that was behind the balcony that the King stood on, leaning against the wall beside Viola and chuckling.

"He's a much better person than I am."

She turned her attention to me and said nothing for a moment, simply looking at the side of my face. Studying me. Probably looking into my mind to find the meaning behind those words. "You would have killed him." It wasn't a question, but a statement. Because it was true.

I nodded. "I would have after everything he did here."

"This is not even your country to worry about." She spoke quietly while the King addressed the people outside from the balcony. "Not yours or Luffy's. I still don't quite understand why pirates would help us like you did."

A smile spread across my face and I tilted my head back. "Perhaps he pieced it together as well." She hummed, confused by my words. "This place reminds me of back home. Good on the surface, rotten to the core. Since we couldn't fix that country when we were kids before it was too late, he was trying to save this one as soon as he could." I shook my head and chuckled. "Or maybe it was because it made Rebecca cry. Who knows?" I shrugged.

8888

"Alright!" Luffy sat on the edge of the bed in Law's room, despite the man trying to kick him off when he got too close. I sat on a chair near the door, Zoro standing against the door beside me with his eyes trained on his captain. Robin was closer to the bed in her own chair, careful not to press her bandaged back against the wood of the chair too hard. Usopp sat on the other bed in the room, legs crossed and bandages covering his arms, face, torso, and legs. Franky was on the bed as well, bandages covering the ruined side of his face and nothing else. "We leave tomorrow!"

Robin, Franky, Usopp, and Zoro all nodded. I shrugged. Law protested. "Straw Hat-ya, your crew isn't healed completely. It wouldn't be wise to head off now."

"That's why we're waiting until tomorrow."

"That's not the point!" Law sighed and hung his head. "What will we do if we run into trouble on our way to Zo? We don't have enough people to fight."

Usopp, body already shaking, rethought his decision to nod and hastily agreed with Law. "Y-yeah, Luffy! We should wait a few more days!"

"No." Luffy was obstinate. There was no changing his mind. "We leave and go on our next adventure." He turned to me and blinded me with a grin. "I haven't gone on an adventure with Mara since Marineford!"

I scowled. "That wasn't an adventure, dumbass."

"We have so many things we need to do!" He ignored me and started to ramble on about the things we hadn't done since we were kids that we needed to do again. "We can have a fight and see who'll win, but it'll probably be me since I'm way stronger than I used to be and you can't beat me anymore. And we can see who can beat more sea kings! Because I don't know where to find big animals like there were back home… And we can find Ace and Sa - -"

It had become harder and harder to interrupt as he went on, but towards the end, at the mention of the other two, I was able to. "Luffy!" He stopped immediately and noticed my bored expression as I leaned forward and sighed. "I meant to tell you later, when we were alone, but I guess now's as good as ever, right?" He was silent. I took a deep breath and met his eyes. "I'm done."

He cocked his head to the side and frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. "I don't get it." And he wasn't the only one confused. The others were giving me strange looks that only got stranger when I got up from the chair and crossed the room, bowing at the waist towards Luffy as I explained.

"I'm sorry Luffy, but I'm breaking the promise we all made. I can't be a pirate anymore and I can't make it to the end with you." I was met with silence from all around. "I know you're not mad at that good for nothing blond for choosing a different path, and I'm sorry that I'm changing mine halfway through. I'm done with adventuring. I'm done with the danger. I'm just going to go home and live a life there, probably work at the bar or join the old hag and her group. I can get a way there, so you don't have to do it. I'll call Hancock, because I'm sure you have her number somewhere, and I'll get to the East Blue with her help." More silence. I didn't raise my head. "I'm sorry, Lu."

I felt a hand descend onto my head, patting hard. I looked up at him finally and was met with a grin. "Okay!" Nearly everyone in the room fell out at his acceptance of my resignation. I was even taken aback.

Before I could say more, the door fell open and in came the giant green haired Rooster, Bartolomeo. He was crying heavily, moving forward sluggishly and coming to clutch to my arm. "M-Mara-sama! You can't just give up now!"

"Were you...eavesdropping?"

Luffy laughed and got comfortable in his chair. "I don't mind, Mara. You can quit!" I looked to him and narrowed my eyes. He was acting suspicious. There had to be a catch. And as if to prove my point, he grinned wider. "But I'm not giving you Hammock's number!"

I sighed and hung my head. "Of course you're not."

"I'll take you home!"

Usopp was the first to speak after these words. "Luffy, we can't just turn around and go back. We're in the New World."

"We can go through the Calm Belt!"

"Idiot!" This was shouted by Zoro, Franky, Usopp, and (surprisingly) Law.

Bartolomeo released my arm and moved to cling to my leg, sobbing in the pants I wore as I addressed Luffy again. "What's the catch?" He laughed his usual laugh and I rolled my eyes. "Knowing you, there's a catch." Because Luffy wasn't as innocent as he seemed. He was sort of a diabolical genius in his own right. A devious boy, even when we were children.

"Go on a few more adventures with me." He said seriously, all traces of humor gone from his eyes, though that large smile remained. He was serious about this. Of course he was. Piracy was his life. Had been since we were kids. Since meeting Shanks. "Go on more with me, and see if you still want to go home when we're done." I pursed my lips and thought about it.

A few more adventures with Luffy would likely get me killed or severely injured in the end. But they would be fun experiences that I wouldn't get otherwise. And I would get to see everyone again - - the entirety of the Straw Hats and the Heart Pirates. That was a good and welcome thing in my mind. And God, I missed everyone so much that it hurt for months, and I was so close to seeing everyone again that I couldn't refuse.

So with the eyes of Robin, Franky, Law, Zoro, Usopp, and Bartolomeo on me, I stuck out my hand and gave Luffy's a firm shake, a grin spreading over both of our faces. "Deal."

[A/N]: I don't have much to say this time except for the fact that I have no idea when I'll post again? My brother and sister's birthday is today (March 13th) and my birthday is on Saturday (March 14th) and I plan on going to SXSW again. And then it's going to be spring break, which is going to be spent figuring out my next classes and signing up for them. And then I'm going to have classes, which will take up all my time. So, uh, it might be a while again, but I promise it'll be worth the wait!

See you guys when I see you, and I love you~

XoXoXoXo