Yes!—That is the reason (as all men know,
In this kingdom by the sea)
That the wind came out of the cloud by night,
Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.
Nearly three months passed since Law and Luffy freed the country of Dressrosa from Doflamingo's grasp, and the former Tenryuubito had been all but completely absent from the newspapers. Law had briefly read about him trying, and failing, to regain his throne, and that Doflamingo had last been seen on a small wintery island in the New World. He seemed to be more interested in regaining his footing with the Yonko Kaido than he was in any retaliation scheme. Law knew Doflamingo would eventually come for them, and had warned his crew as much, but felt confident that they had evaded the worst of his wrath for the time being. After all, Law and Roma had traveled the seas on their own after defecting from the Donquixote Pirates as children for over a decade before Doflamingo finally caught up with them. And even that had only been because Law had decided to take him on directly. For the time being, he was sure Doflamingo would be too busy keeping his head from Kaido to be concerned with the Heart Pirates.
"We're low on supplies, Law-kun," Roma murmured as she scribbled a list onto a sheet of paper. "Primarily in food, but also in our medical office. Do you want me to send a few of our nakama to get it?"
"I'll go," Law answered as he plucked the list from his sister's hands. Roma looked up at him with an upraised eyebrow.
"You sure? You don't usually go on supply runs."
"I could use the fresh air." Roma didn't protest, only snatched her list back to add a couple of items she hadn't been able to write before her brother had taken it from her. Once finished, she handed it back with a smile.
"If you say so. Don't be gone too long. I think Shachi and Penguin are making that stew from the back home in the North Blue that you love for dinner."
Law walked through the market of the latest port town in silence, Roma's list buried deep into his pocket. He already had a good idea of what the ship would be needing before they set sail in the morning. As it was, the sun was slowly descending in the sky, painting everything in a faint orange light as it fell lower on the horizon. The clouds above took on a pinkish hue that spattered across the growing night sky. Law had not even considered them until he heard a familiar, dark chuckle from high above. Law turned his head skyward, his eyes wide and his left palm suddenly cold. He took a step back, his heart racing as he stared up at the tall, lean man in a pink feathered coat hovering overhead. Law hadn't even seen him in the sky, thanks to the cloud cover and the way his coat blended in with the rest of the colors of dusk.
"You thought you could escape me forever, didn't you, Law?" Doflamingo asked. His voice never rose higher than a conversational tone, but Law could sense the threat in his words. It was the way Doflamingo always spoke, unless truly incited. He knew he had two options: Kill Doflamingo or get out of there as quickly as possible. And he wasn't sure if either option was plausible at that point in time. He was completely alone on the island, and had nearly died the last time he'd tried to fight Doflamingo on his own. Roma had been correct months ago when she'd said he owed Strawhat Luffy for keeping him alive while they were on Dressrosa. He was the only reason Law had survived immediately after losing his arm. His ally was the wildcard he needed now.
"How did you get here?" Law demanded. He hated the way his fingers twitched nervously at his side and he clenched the hilt of his nodachi to steady himself. He couldn't show fear now. He'd been caught off-guard, but he would not allow Doflamingo to see him falter. The one thing Law could be thankful for was that he had given the order for the Heart Pirates to submerge the ship until he called for them on his Den Den Mushi. They would be out of sight for the time being, and less of a target. Doflamingo chuckled again.
"You should know how my Devil Fruit works by now." Law scowled.
"Don't screw with me! How did you find me?!"
"I admit, it wasn't easy. Where is my little Roma?"
"I sent her ahead with the rest of my crew," Law lied. He kept his tone steady, careful not to betray his thoughts. Doflamingo could not know that his ship was right off the coast of the island. The warlord's laugh echoed off of the buildings again. All passersby who had been in the market had hurriedly left by now, leaving Law completely alone as he faced Doflamingo.
"Then I'll just have to make you tell me where they are!" As he spoke, Doflamingo dove from the sky, and Law could feel invisible threads tying around his limbs. He knew this would not be an easy battle.
Roma frowned as she checked the timepiece on the wall of the common room. Law had been gone for hours on his venture to gather supplies for the ship. Even taking a leisurely stroll, which Roma doubted he would, it shouldn't have taken him this long. She drummed her fingers on the armrest of her chair, unable to concentrate on anything but the clock as she glanced anxiously at it time and again. She couldn't help but be concerned for her brother, especially given the fact that they still hadn't managed to perfect a prosthetic arm for him. Roma's had sent her designs with Killer for Kid to work from, but the process had been slow. Her instructions were deliberately precise because she knew her brother needed perfection. For the time being, Law only had the limited dexterity of his left arm. And that made Roma nervous. Finally, she could take it no longer and stood abruptly, causing Bepo to flail and fall backwards at her sudden movement.
"Vice-captain-chan, where are you going?" the polar bear asked as she hurried out of the room.
"I'm calling Captain-kun," she answered sternly. "He should have been back by now." Roma all but ran to the control room, where Shachi was sitting in front of the control panel, and grabbed the Den Den Mushi.
"Roma-chan," he started, but the vice-captain was already dialing the code to contact the transponder snail her brother had been carrying. After a long few minutes of ringing, the snail clicked to life.
"Onigiri," Law's voice murmured through the snail and Roma released a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. She tried not to release a giddy laugh along with it. It would only make Law chastise her for worrying needlessly over him.
"Donburi," Roma answered, completing the answering system they had taken to using, modeled after the one Corazon had used when speaking to the mysterious Marine man when they were children. "Law-kun, what's taking you so long?"
"Go home, Roma. I'm busy." Now Roma noticed that Law's words were lethargic and slurred, which immediately put her back on edge. He wasn't making any sense.
"Have you been drinking?"
"No. Bleeding." Roma turned to Shachi with wide eyes.
"Shachi-kun, bring us up now!" she ordered before turning her attention back to the Den Den Mushi. "Why are you bleeding?!"
"A lot." Roma bit back a curse. Her brother wasn't careless. He wouldn't have normally offered such a nonsensical answer to her question.
"Law-kun, what happened?!"
"Doflamingo found me." Roma's blood now ran cold at her brother's words. She gripped the receiver of the transponder snail so tightly her knuckles turned pale. Actually, she realized, her whole complexion had blanched as pure, unadulterated terror coursed through her veins. Given the way Law sounded, she could only assume he had lost far too much blood in whatever fight that may have transpired on the island.
"I'm coming, Law-kun. Just try to stay calm and wait until I get there. I'll perform an on the spot transfusion and you'll be fine."
"You sound like our mother." Shachi tensed and gaped at Roma, but she couldn't be bothered to deal with his surprise in that moment. Besides, what did it matter if one of their most trusted crewmembers knew they were siblings? As far as Roma was concerned, the whole damn world could know so long as her brother stayed alive.
"That's right, Law-Nii. And like Mama, I'm not going to give up. We're almost at the surface. Can you tell me where you are?"
"On the ground." Roma bit back the urge to swear again. He wasn't thinking straight. "Tavern behind me."
"That's good. Can you see anything else?"
"I'm going to die."
"No, you're not!" she screamed, tears welling in her eyes. She didn't bother to scrub at them. Her hands continued to tremble with the receiver clenched tightly between them. "I won't let you die! We already lost Mama and Papa, and Lamie, and Cora-san! I won't lose you too!" Roma was almost doubled over, screaming into the receiver with abandon. She didn't care who heard her. Irrational as it was, if it kept Law alive, Roma would have kept screaming.
"I told him you weren't here. Said you went on ahead, like Punk Hazard. He's gone now."
"I wouldn't have cared if he was there, Law-Nii. I'm coming to save you. Just like before, when we were kids. I won't let you die."
"You'll be fine. You don't need me." Law's speech was growing slower and Roma's eyes flashed to the meter reading their distance from the surface. She couldn't even read it through her tears and could only hope they were as close to the surface as she wanted. Hell, she wanted to be on land now.
"Of course I need you. You're my brother."
"You have the crew. An' Killer."
"That doesn't mean-"
"Love you, little sister." Now Roma knew Law was in real trouble. He never spoke that way, even when they were children. He never just called her 'little sister'. This was all wrong, and Roma wanted to scream.
"I won't say goodbye! I won't!" Law was silent and, for a moment, Roma feared he'd lost consciousness.
"Please, Roma… Let me have this." His words struck her to the core. It was the same phrase Roma had used whenever she'd begged him for something important to her, like using the suffix on his name when she first began communicating after the fall of Flevance. Law had never denied her when she made that request, even when she had revealed her relationship with Killer to him. She couldn't deny him now.
"I love you too, Law-Nii." She received no response, though she could still hear the fast, shallow breaths of her brother on the other end of the Den Den Mushi. She still had time.
The instant the Kintsukuroi breached the water, Roma rushed to the island, where she knew her brother would be. Shachi, Penguin and Bepo were the only ones who followed her. The town had been almost completely destroyed, with entire buildings caved in on in flames. There was nobody around, and Roma figured that the civilians who had survived the brawl had run away in fear for their lives. She found her brother in the center of town, lying on the ground with his face towards the sky. His body was mangled, broken bones leaving his limbs in awkward angles, and he was littered with holes from Doflamingo's strings. The side of his torso had been ripped open from those strings, which had resulted in the large pool of blood that had formed under her brother's body. There was a bullet hole in his chest, right over his heart. Roma fell to her knees beside him and frantically felt for a pulse. She found none. Beyond all hope, she sliced into the palm of her hand and forced her own blood into her brother's wounds.
"Wake up!" she screamed, pounding wildly on his chest. Tears rained down her cheeks. "You can't die now! Wake up!" She screamed the order over and over again, until Shachi's arms wrapped around her and he forcibly dragged her away from Law's body. He held Roma's hand tightly in his own to stop her blood from flowing into her brother any more than it already had in her fruitless endeavor to save him.
"Roma-chan, he's gone!" Shachi yelled, even as he, Penguin and Bepo tried to hide their tears. "Captain's gone. We're too late!" Roma trembled and stared at her brother's body, her knees giving out beneath her. Shachi guided her softly to the ground and only allowed her to return to Law's side once he was certain she wouldn't try to give all her blood in a pointless transfusion.
While her three crewmembers sat or stood behind her in silence, Roma doubled over with her forehead resting against her brother's chest. She clutched blindly at the fabric of the shirt he'd been wearing; screaming in agony while terrible sobs wracked her body. For the first time in her life, grief had not turned her silent and she wailed until her throat was hoarse for her brother. And then she continued screaming anyway. Anything to make the gods she didn't believe in hear her grief.