"Oh this is fascinating. It looks like if I needed it, Hachi, Teacher, and Shrimp-san could give me blood." Veena scribbled down her own blood type under the rest of the other's; she read each name carefully. "It's certainly a good thing Boss was able to donate his to you, no one else is compatible."

Anandi was still reeling from the bomb that Veena had so casually dropped on her earlier that morning. "He did that….for me. Why did he never say…?"

"Doctor-san, I don't remember the last time I had my vitals checked though." Veena said, effectively bringing Anandi back to reality. Now was not the time to obsess over this new development in her recovery; right now she had a job to do.

"That's fine Veena-chan, I'm taking them down today either way." Anandi spoke as she focused on her notes. "Now, any allergies to speak of?"

"Oh, just shellfish."

Anandi briefly looked up at her to see if she was making a joke. "Alright….any major surgeries, bone breakage, the like that caused your body to develop a handicap?"

"No, none to speak of."

"Good. Veena-chan, I'll leave so you can undress; I'll need to examine you for palpitations in your abdominal area."

"Oh there's no need."

Anandi fought the impulse to look away abruptly while Veena discarded her shirt and pants; giving the patient a measure of privacy and showing respect to their body was heavily ingrained in her professional ideals. Veena however seemed perfectly at ease, though she also seemed to trust Anandi, though it was likely she had received medical care from doctors much more experienced than her. After a moment, Anandi let her gaze go back to Veena.

"If you'd just lie flat on the cot, I'll-"

Anandi stopped; her mouth couldn't seem to function as Veena hopped up on the cot in just her undergarments, perfectly at ease, and making herself comfortable.

"Veena-chan?" Anandi stayed in her seat, one hand going to the end of her stethoscope and clutching it to her in an almost nervous fashion she thought she had long grown out of.

"Yes?"

"Where...where did you get those?"

Veena blinked. "Oh pardon?"

There were scars; long one, short ones, ones that were oddly shaped, others in what looked like repeated slashes. Some were a brighter red and deep while others were much older and seemed to blend in with Veena's skin to the point you'd have to concentrate to make them out. The bottom line was that they were numerous. Many seemed recent enough to still look painful.

"Those lacerations." Anandi internally slapped herself for acting so flabbergasted; she had seen far more serious injuries on her island. Still, she had not been expecting this in the least.

"Oh, these are just from training." Veena said nonchalantly. "My father wanted me to be skilled in hand to hand combat, knife play, and a degree of sword techniques should the occasion ever arise. It is wise to know a little of everything, though I never did get the knack of handling blades as well as judo."

"I see." Anandi went back to her notes. "Veena-chan, how old did you say you were?"

"I'll be seventeen this year."

"Some of those scars look to be much older than couple years….how long did that psycho make her train?" Anandi struggled not to break her pen in her hands; she had some misgivings before on the ethics of bringing another person into the life of a fugitive, but it seemed Veena was much better off there. At least if she got anymore scars in the future, they would not be inflicted by her own father's hand.

"Doctor-san?"

"Veena-chan, try to just relax. I'm going to be pressing down on your torso to check your organs." Anandi spoke with a calm tone and a light smile; she found explaining what she was doing to the patient made them and her more comfortable. "You see, when I press down quickly like this I can feel your organs to some degree and see of they may be enlarged past their average size. I can also feel the outline of your belly for any inflammation."

"Oh I see. I've had it done, but it never hurts, just tickles a bit." Veena giggled as Anandi pressed her hands down quickly; Anandi scribbled down the results in her notes.

"Very good, nothing out of the ordinary. Now let's check the basics, pulse, heart rate, and blood pressure."

Veena was very obedient through the whole process and it was obvious she was no stranger to it either; Anandi felt her slight anger fade as she went through her mental checklist and jotted down the vitals.

"Alright Veena-chan, you seem to be in perfectly fine shape." Anandi announced cheerfully and Veena beamed in approval. "I'll let you go before you're late for Kuroobi's lessons, but if you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask me or come to me with any concerns."

"I'm sorry I couldn't give you my current information." Veena said as she pulled on her shirt. "It must hurt to stand with your leg…"

"Don't think of it, I get along okay with the crutches. I just need to take it easy; if I push it, I'll just ruin any of the healing my leg's already managed to get started." Anandi said. "I really am fine and there shouldn't be any lasting damage either. I truly was lucky, those bullets could have done some serious harm."
"It's lucky the Boss was type O+! Thank you again; I'll bring you your lunch tray later!" Veena said brightly as she bounded out to the deck where Pen and Kuroobi were already sparring. Anandi could see some of it from her window; Kuroobi was still the more powerful, but Pen was holding up much better than he was.

At first she had been worried about falling behind and the earful Kuroobi would give her for it, but to her surprise, that very morning he had come to deliver her breakfast and tell her that she had better stay off her broken leg as much as possible. He would not train someone who was not in top form.

"So many surprises and it's not even noon." Anandi smiled to herself and carefully slid back down into her office chair. "What will the next hour bring?"

She took a fresh sheet of paper from her notebook and licked the tip of her pen that had a little ink left; she would need more soon, but she didn't see the harm in using the last one to write her old home. Anandi couldn't help smiling to herself as while writing with a much neater hand than her doctor notes; there was so much to tell, yet she would have to be satisfied with a correspondence of only two pages at the most.

The letter read as so:

Chief Gopalrao,

How is everything back home? I have to say, being out on the sea is an almost out of body experience; even though I've lived on the cusp of the Grand Line my whole life, it seems like I'm seeing the world for the first time.

I hope you and the others have found my notes and been able to use them for your benefit; I'm enclosing instructions for the most commonly prescribed medicines I've been providing. I've become the doctor for the Arlong Pirates; maybe you won't believe it, but I'm enjoying my time with them. It hasn't been easy and we've had our share of obstacles, but I've gradually been accepted as one of their own. In fact, we've taken on two other humans for our gunman and cabin boy and a musician. I am safe. There's so many things I want to say, so many questions I want to ask, but I can only write so much in a letter.

I also wanted to make it clear that I'm not sorry for what I did; this might also be hard to believe, but these fishmen aren't what we thought they were. As time goes by, I've come to see we share many more similarities than differences; even Captain Arlong has come to regard me as his crew mate, though time will tell if he will accept me as his friend. I await that day patiently, but as long as I am his ally, he has made it clear he will never allow harm to come to me and I will do everything in my power to thank him for what he's done. Along with providing me with shelter to repay for my help and keep me from being imprisoned, he has broken the law of Fishman Island to save my life. In his own way, he, along with the rest of my comrades, have more than shown that they do not consider me an outsider, not anymore. It might sound impossible, you might not believe a single word of what I've told you, but it's all true. This strange world is becoming my home because they've made efforts to make it so. It has made me so happy, even now as I write to you, I don't know if I could ever really describe it properly.

It confess, it hasn't been easy, especially for Captain. He is as unused to me as I am to fishmen; I don't think he had once spoken more than a few hostiles words to one before making my acquaintance, but then, I have never spoken to one of his kind before now in my whole life. Perhaps you could relay all these things to everybody and perhaps it would assuage some of their fears. I know it did mine.

I also know you and the others may never want to see me or even hear from me again. I suppose the main point of this letter is to let you all know that I will never forget the kindness you've shown me and I thank you with all my heart for giving me a home to remember.

With love, Anandi

"Why is this being shown to me?" Jinbe asked as he carefully folded back the paper by the creases and slid it back within its envelope; he placed it back down so the admiral could take it back, but did not hand it to him personally.

It had been a week since the letter was sent out through the News Coo and it had wound up in his hands. Across from him sat Admiral Kizaru, who was lazily puffing on a cigarette as Jinbe was reading; a chair was pulled up on one side of the desk, but Jinbe didn't make a move to sit down. He had no intention of staying for longer than necessary and Kizaru didn't care much to insist on being hospitable. This was apparent from the guards who stood at attention on either side of the room, though seeing as how the admiral was just as, if not moreso, infinitely strong as the fishman, they were not necessary.

"Arlong used to be a member of your crew. I recall having to take care of the mess he was making on Foolshout Island; if I didn't happen to be there, it seems likely all those people would have been massacred." Kizaru's words carried no concern, but Jinbe knew better; he would not call in a pirate to headquarters on a whim. Being a Warlord and making a pact with the five leaders of the World Government did not mean much to the admiral or really that many of the other marines. A pirate was never to be trusted.

"I don't see what this had to do with that, but I would assume it's of some importance for an authority to intercept mail."

"Hm, this is just a copy. A few marines were still stationed on that little no-name island from your old buddy's appearance; they required for any mail sent their to be checked in case that woman sent a letter that could contain anything useful. The villagers themselves agreed to it; they don't want that pirate and his crew coming back anytime soon."

Jinbe said nothing as Kizaru took a long drag from his cigarette; he himself had been keeping tabs on his former crew mate, and had heard the rumors that he had a human on board with the others. Whether this was voluntary or not was of some debate, especially on Fishman Island, who were quite certain it was just a rumor and nothing more. But then came the news of Vice-Grip Vichitra's defeat and the disappearance of his daughter, not to mention the other unknown human who seemed to be working with them at the time. Even so, he himself did not believe that the girl had been kidnapped. Arlong had so far not sent out any threats for a ransom; what's more, while he killed the captain, the others were left alive. This letter seemed to confirm that and reveal much more that made Jinbe reread the words a few times, just to make sure he had not been struck with illiteracy.

"It's all a bit interesting, eh? The Arlong Pirates have a nasty habit of killing all marines who stand in their path from what I've read, along with some civilians if it suits them. And then there's the matter of those people; tell me, you wouldn't happen to know anything about him recruiting humans to his ranks?"

Jinbe shook his head and looked Kizaru straight in the eye. "I haven't been in contact with any of the Arlong Pirates for a long while; all I've heard is hearsay."

"Mmm, I was hoping you'd have more to say. After all, letting the same beings he loathes on his ship? It's all a bit suspicious. I've seen the anger that fishman holds for the human race and it's almost scary, wouldn't you agree?" Kizaru's eyebrows rose slightly; though he sounded more mocking than anything else, he did mean what he said in a sense.

It was he who had taken in Arlong, had stopped his rampage before he could reach the general population of Foolshout Island. Had he been on his level, there was no doubt in his mind that the captain of the fishmen pirates would have no qualms about killing any human who so much looked at him. His record said it well enough, but the look of utter loathing in his glare spoke more volumes than anything else on paper.

"Are you saying he has plans that involve human cooperation?" Jinbe chuckled humorlessly. "I sincerely doubt that Admiral. From what that woman says, he is allowing humans to join and that's all I can get from the letter. Unless you have any other information I'm unaware of."

"I don't." Kizaru admitted freely. "I have no idea what any plans of his might be, but it seems you wouldn't either. Ah, well, better to be safe than sorry." Kizaru nodded to Jinbe. "You may leave."

"What does this mean?" Jinbe walked down the halls of the navy headquarters, ignoring the stares of other marines as he let himself out. Arlong even entertaining the thought of owing a debt to a human was impossible to comprehend, Jinbe had immediately dismissed the rumors of him even letting the doctor join his crew to repay her. But the words were all there in black ink, dried and signed by the woman called Anandi, the woman who had betrayed her home's safety to help a fishman pirate.

But even the fact that Arlong was expanding his crew members with humans, even the fact that he had left survivors among his enemies, even the fact that he and the others were learning to coexist with the very creatures they had sworn to kill if they so much as crossed paths, was not as shocking as the way Anandi had spoken of Arlong in an almost endearing way, her words were so fond and her claims of his consideration to her so ludicrous, Jinbe could hardly believe she was speaking of the same man he had known since childhood.

Perhaps he could reason that Arlong had let her on board since they had no medical professional with them to sail the dangerous New World; she seemed to be adeptly skilled enough to treat a fishman under duress and even Arlong's pride may have not allowed him to be indebted in anyway to a human, but there was still the matter of the law.

As a pirate, Arlong was already a wanted criminal and with all the things he had already done to earn his bounty, the fact that he broke a law of his own home didn't mean much out of context. The law itself was another reminder of the rift between fishmen and humans more than anything else and even if it had not been officially enforced, it would have still been an unspoken rule amongst their kind. Showing kindness to a human never seemed to lead to any good; even Queen Otohime's triumph had ended in more tragedy than success.

"He gave her his blood...a human. Arlong gave his blood to save a human's life."

Jinbe felt the sun on his face once he stepped out of the building and made his way back to his ship; his own crew was already waiting for him and bursting with questions. He told them all he could and they reacted with the same surprise as he, but less restrained. Even now as he took the time to gather his thoughts and enjoy the fact he was not in the admiral's company, Jinbe could not shake out of the daze he seemed to be stuck in.

"A human…"

Jinbe leaned over the side of the ship, watching the sky disappear as it sunk back down, slowly submersing itself into the ocean. To think Arlong had a change of hearts would be foolish; all men's hearts and minds could not change so soon; from what the letter told of the past weeks, this change was still a bit of a work in progress. Even Jinbe could not rightly claim he had been freed of all his prejudice despite heeding Fisher Tiger's last words and being able to use reason to broaden his once so single minded ways.

But even he could not have imagined such a thing would happen, though it was Arlong himself who had long ago thought he was too ruthless in his own conduct with humans. When Fisher Tiger's attempt for peace had been met with bloodshed, when the tables had turned, when they took separate paths, Jinbe could never shake the thought that he would come to regret not killing a man so hell bent on pursuing violence against the very species Jinbe was learning to have tolerance for. Was it possible, that perhaps deep down, people never really did change, but was it possible for their better nature and their reason to be drawn out, even if it was almost squashed out of existence by their own stubborn hate?

The sun was becoming farther and farther away the more they fell to the seas depths, yet even so, it seemed to shine brighter than ever before through the murky water and the dark shadows.

"Arlong….that arrogant fool who I used to call brother...is it possible you've grown up?"