-Sabo Pov-

Meeting up with Ace and Lilith was somewhat strange. Lilith was covered in dog drool and shed fur. That in and of itself wasn't too strange. Lilith often appeared to be covered in suspicious substances, usually proven to later be blood or booze depending on her mood, when I'd know her. What I found odd was the fact that she was trying to hug Ace, who was running in circles around a large tree to avoid her, while Lilith in turn was being chased by the largest three legged dog, or four legged dog for that matter, that I have ever seen. Law looked just as confused as I was but Gracie, being Gracie I suppose, had expected this.

Once everything had gotten sorted out and Lilith had stopped chasing Ace the dog was introduced as Fang-chan a family pet. Apparently his leg had been amputated when he was a puppy because Akainu had kicked him. Akainu apparently kicked puppies. I was unsurprised. Fang-chan was overly friendly and would have licked each and every one of us had not Lilith recalled his attention in what might be considered a noble moment of self-sacrifice. Fang-chan then proceeded to lick the back of her head. Gracie laughed right along with my brother and I while Law merely looked smug.

Walking through the forest Gracie insisted we take a small detour to avoid some monkeys. When Law asked why they couldn't just fight them Lilith replied simply, "They throw stuff. It's unpleasant," and kept walking. The detour was accepted. Entering Level One, I quickly observed, was almost entirely anticlimactic. Other than Fang-chan trying to stuff himself down the tunnel mouth and nearly getting stuck it was also uneventful. Which leads us to where we are now.

"Don't touch that," Lilith advised Ace without even bothering to turn around. He was, in fact, about to poke a plant which appeared to be a glowing bluish mushroom the size of your average side table. "It's not at all harmful but they smell funny and it takes forever to rub off," Lilith informed him.

"As a general rule you should basically not touch anything without permission," Gracie agreed, "We won't run into anything like this today but some stuff down here is poisonous and while we've found nothing deadly so far some stuff can be unpleasant and I don't want to have to deal with any of it. Ace, that mostly applies to you."

"Why?" he asked indignantly. "I can handle myself."

"Because out of everyone here, you've spent the longest time with Luffy," Lilith chirped. "I think it's contagious," she reported, "Law, if you discover a new disease you can name it right?" She didn't bother with a response. "Should my theory ever be proven we're calling it 'Dumbshit-itus' okay? You're all witnesses."

"I don't think it works that way," I muttered.

"Well, technically speaking if you find a disease you do get to name it," Law admitted, "but I'm not convinced that you can prove this disease exists."

"I do not have Dumbshit-itus!" Ace protested. "There is no way something like that exists! You made it up!"

"No I didn't," Lilith shot back immediately. "I discovered it."

"I don't believe you," Ace insisted.

Lilith just ignored him. "Follow me," she said and jumped. She disappeared through a hole in the floor that I hadn't noticed.

Law looked down after her. "I can't see the bottom," he reported. "It's all black."

"It's usually like that," Gracie informed us. "I'll bring up the rear," she added cheerfully.

"Do you think it's safe for me to go down there?" I asked uncertainly. "Like Law said, I'd rather not reopen my chest and bleed to death."

"You should be fine," Gracie said. "I don't see you dying anytime soon."

"Well, just to be sure…" I pushed Ace in first. With a strangled cry of 'hey' and a bit of fire he fell forward and disappeared. I waited a moment. "Ace? Are you dead?" I asked carefully.

"What was that for?!" he shouted up. "That could've been dangerous!"

I distantly heard Lilith mutter, "But it's not."

"Do you think I can get through safely?" I asked Ace. "I didn't hear you go thunk or anything but that's no guarantee."

"Oh yeah it's perfectly safe!" Ace called irritably. "I fully recommend going down head first!"

"It is actually more fun that way!" Lilith agreed. There was a pause. "Sabo shouldn't go down head first! That would be a very bad idea!"

"Oh let's just get this overwith," I muttered and stepped closer to the hole.

"Would you like me to push you?" Law offered.

"Don't even think about it," I warned him and let myself drop.


-Lilith POV-

Sabo landed just fine. Well… 'landed' isn't the best word really. That particularly tunnel cuts straight from Level One to Level Five - took me ages to find the thing - and is more of a slide than a passageway. I don't know what got it so smooth of why it's there but it's very convenient for a quick descent and skips Levels Two through Four - which are most boring anyway. Especially at this point. Actually, by the time I turned eight everything on One through Nine was boring. Too easy. If it weren't for that show off on Level Ten…

Law slid down the hole and quickly vacated the space just as Grace slid down head first. She sat up, grinning. "You're right, it is more fun that way," she said.

"Yeah, I figured that out when I came down here to fight Nash," I agreed.

"Oh yeah! We really need to visit that guy! It's been forever since we've seen him," Gracie remembered.

"You didn't visit him without me?" I asked.

"Of course not, he was your friend. Or rival. Or teacher. I'm not sure what he counts as," she decided. "Nash is weird."

"Who's Nash?" Ace asked. "And why would he live down here?"

"Like Gracie said, Nash is weird," I answered his second question first because I'm just all contradictory like that. "And he's a Demon who lives on Level Ten. I used to go down there and fight him all the time. Got my ass handed to me," I recalled.

"Yeah, and then you'd fix it and try again the next day," Gracie grumbled. "Bloody suicidal if you ask me."

"What? It was totally worth it and I learned a lot! Besides, it's not like that bloody show off gave a damn."

"What do you mean by that?"

I hunched over unhappily. "Asshole only ever used one hand," I muttered. "And I never managed to make him move his feet either." Ace and Labo laughed outright. Law smiled slightly. Apparently they liked the idea of me losing. Horribly.

"Not even once," Gracie agreed smugly.

"Don't rub it in," I accused. "Besides, I was eight. I could totally take him now!"

"That's a groundless statement," Gracie decided.

"No it's not. I've done nothing but train for the past ten years. He's been standing in the same goddamn spot all that time. There's no way I'd lose," I reminded her stubbornly.

Ace shrugged in agreement. "That actually makes sense," he agreed. "I've never seen you lose against anyone besides Pops and he's impossible to beat." I saw the sadness flash in the back of his eyes and understood. Whitebeard was like a grandfather to me. Or a really old uncle. To Ace he'd been a father he could actually be proud of. That wasn't the type of gap that just closed up on its own after just a few days. At least we got to say goodbye first. It wasn't like with Mom. Although in the long run I don't really feel much better about it. Death is dead and loss is loss. It wasn't so easy as that.


-Gracie POV-

I caught Ace and Lilith looking all depressed after mentioning Whitebeard. They both fell silent. Personally of course, I'd never met the guy. But I respected him for what he did. And I respected him because Lilith and Ace looked up to him. Lilith wasn't the type to agree with having people look out for her unless she actually respected them. I wasn't sure what it was that Whitebeard had done but clearly Lilith thought he was a decent guy. Ace I didn't know as personally, but if there was someone who could make that guy refer to him as 'Pops' then he must be a great man indeed. Shame of course that I never got to meet him. I broke the silence. "Come on guys, Level Six is just ahead," I reminded them. "Let's go." Lilith nodded to me gratefully. She didn't like being reminded of the past.


-Law POV-

Everyone suddenly seemed uncomfortable. I decided to ignore them. Frankly, I was in a very bad mood. I hadn't dissected anything or even killed anything since I got to this godforsaken island and that alone was putting me in a foul mood. On top of that I'd just gone down a slide. Even as a child I'd thought slides were... well, childish. Fortunately my nauchandi fit down the passage but that hadn't been a given. On top of everything I really don't like being told what to do. And Lilith kept telling me what to do. Granted it was useful advice: don't touch that, trun right here, watch your head, that sort of thing. But I was still being told what to do. I really hate that.

There was a lizard in front of me. It was hanging upside down from a stalactite, large beady eyes staring at me. The lizard was about the size of a large cat with greyish green skin and small fluorescent blue spots dotting its back. It blinked. "Oh dear," Miss Gracie realized, "Uh, Law… I wouldn't recommend moving right now," she informed me. "Those things have tongues that are poisonous and can reach upwards of ten feet. Not deadly but really, really painful. If you'll just give me a second," she requested. I decided to see what Miss Gracie was up to. She hadn't actually given me any orders and I'll admit I was curious to see how she handled this kind of situation. I wasn't really worried, the lizard wasn't that intimidating and I'd dealt with much worse. Miss Gracie had mentioned earlier that she wasn't completely helpless and I wanted to know just what it was she could do. I was curious. The results were slightly anticlimactic in that they were over in an instant. Miss Gracie threw a rock, distracting the lizard. An impressive longue shot out several feet and latched onto the object just in time to go limp. A knife had embedded itself in the lizard's eye. It fell to the ground, dead. "Got it!" Miss Gracie reported happily. "But you shouldn't step on it's tongue. I did that once by accident. Terrible idea."

"I'm wearing shoes," I pointed out.

Miss Gracie frowned. "Right. Well, I'm not. Never do really. Do you want to catch up with the others? They seem to have wandered off without us." I frowned, not liking the idea that Lilith-ya would just leave her friend behind in a place like this. "Lilith trusts me to look after myself, and I'm grateful for that," Miss Gracie said, head tilted to one side and a smile on her face. It was like she could read my mind. Well, she can see the future. "Besides, if it weren't for Lilith, I'd probably be dead right now," she confessed. That certainly got my attention. I didn't even have to ask before Miss Gracie explained herself. "I was a pretty miserable kid up until I met Lilith. Sure, I was alive, but just because you wash up on an island doesn't mean the islanders have to like you. And who would like a baby whose eyes cloud over and make creepy lights? I got fed sure, they wouldn't let me starve, but I basically raised myself. I hated how people looked at me. Lilith convinced me that it didn't matter. Between the two of us we got into a lot of trouble, but it was worth it. Lilith never stopped smiling and by extension, neither did I. Lilith's the one who convinced me to be happy. And taught me to fight. Somehow I ended up staying with her and her mother. If it weren't for them I probably would've jumped the cliffs and tried to swim back into the ocean."

"Why the hell would you do that?" I demanded, perhaps a bit more harshly than I had meant to. The idea of Miss Gracie just up and drowning herself alarmed me to no end.

She seemed not to be offended by my tone however and smiled brighter. "People think stupid things when they're alone," she said simply. "I was somewhere along the lines of 'I came from the sea, I'll die in the sea' and so on. 'No one will miss me.' Sometimes I convinced myself there was something out there waiting for me. A home or a family. I don't think that way anymore though. I'm okay as long as I know Lilith's okay."

"You put a lot of trust in her," I observed. I wasn't really sure how to respond to all this. Miss Gracie, I was finding, was by nature extraordinarily honest. Well, she did say that she never lied. I couldn't help but worry. Someone might take advantage of that. Normally, I was the type of person who fell under that category of people you should trust with your secrets but… I knew I wouldn't betray her trust. Miss Gracie was so sincere… I wanted her to stay that way. "It takes courage to trust someone that much."

"Not really," Miss Gracie said, "Just faith." She seemed then to suddenly realize that we were still standing over the body of the dead lizard. Lilith-ya and the others were getting farther away. "Oops! They're probably there by now! You should come, it's beautiful!" Miss Gracie exclaimed, suddenly grabbing my hand and pulling me along eagerly. "The lights are stunning and it's even safe for Devil Fruit users! I'll show you!"


-Lilith POV-

I had of course noticed when Law got pinned by the fang-tongued rock lizard, but decided to let Gracie handle it. I was pretty sure she liked him anyway. Best to give them some alone time. Meanwhile - while those two were left alone - we'd finally made it. It looked exactly as I remembered it. And it was worth coming just to see Ace and Sabo's reactions.

"Woah, that's incredible," Sabo said, half murmuring to himself in awe. "Where's the light coming from?"

"And why is the water glowing?" Ace asked.

I laughed a little. It certainly looked like that, at least to the untrained eye. The cave was dark, but - like most of the Pit - illuminated by bioluminescent lifeforms. In this case, some tiny little critters who lived in the water. When left alone, in still water, they didn't glow. But when the water was disturbed they shone a soft blue. Small waterfalls trickled down the walls and into the pool, giving a source of constant illumination. I couldn't be bothered to explain all this though. "Let's just say it's magic and leave it at that, okay?" I asked, taking in the familiar sight. The pool was large and - in my opinion anyway - quite beautiful. The entire cavern was the size of your average ballroom and dotted randomly with stalagmites, stalactites and the occasional pillar reaching from floor to ceiling. I always liked this place. The sound of water echoed softly over the walls, a constant and soothing sound.

Suddenly I felt bone tired. The feeling had snuck on me occasionally since the War of the Best.


-Sabo POV-

"Did she just fall asleep?" I asked, staring at Lilith. "I didn't think that happened to her. Doesn't Lilith have that thing where she can not sleep for days or something?"

"Usually, yeah," Ace agreed. "But when I woke up at breakfast this morning her grandmother was going on about her 'awakening as a D' or something. Apparently she's one of us now."

I sighed exhaustedly. "At least I don't have to worry about the sleeping thing," I decided. "I bet Lilith would be pissed if we woke her up."

"I'm not risking it," Ace decided immediately. "This one time, she stayed over on the Moby Dick. Thatch tripped over her since she always sleeps on the deck and she threw him overboard without even waking up. It was incredible."

"She slept on the deck?" I asked. "She used to sleep on the roof!"

"I still don't get it," Ace decided, shaking his head.

"I'd guess it's got something to do with self-reliance or not wanting to owe people or something like that," I said shrugging. "It's Lilith. Who knows what goes through her head."

"Huh?" Lilith jerked awake. "What just happened?" Her countenance darkened. "I fell asleep didn't I?" she asked darkly. Ace and I nodded. "This is going to get fucking annoying isn't it?" Ace nodded again. Lilith sighed in defeat. "And after all that training I put in too," she muttered. "Ah, whatever. You guys coming swimming too?" she asked.

"None of us can swim," I reminded her. "You can only swim when you're a Fishman."

"Or a Mermaid," Lilith pointed out. "And it's safe to swim here," she told us. "Something about the phytoplankton in here keeps it from counting as water apparently. I know because I accidentally fell in as a kid." Ace snorted. "In my defense, I was making that hole at the time," Lilith said pointing. I hadn't noticed it before, but there was indeed a hole in the far wall, opening right over the water. It clearly wasn't as natural as the rest of the tunneling we'd seen. The stone here was smooth and black, not crumbled and jagged like the hole.

"Why were you making the hole?" Ace asked incredulously.

"It wasn't my brightest idea," Lilith admitted. Her hands came up to the hem of her shirt and the next thing I knew it was over her head and tossed aside.

Ace flushed and I looked away. "Uh, what are you doing?" Ace asked, startled.

"What? I'm wearing a bra," Lilith shrugged. "And it's weird swimming in baggy shirts." She pulled off her pants. "You guys swimming or not?" she asked us. "Devil Fruit users don't get a chance like this every day you know," she reminded us. "C'mon. It'll be fun. Besides, I've still got to get some dog slobber off me thanks to Fang-chan."

I glanced at Ace. He was taking this better than I'd expected. But still not so well. He was bright red and not looking at Lilith even a little. While I'll admit I didn't exactly expect Lilith to be wearing any type of underwear that was black and lacy I could handle it. In all honesty it covered the same amount as a bikini so it wasn't such a big deal.


-Ace POV-

At first I was just flustered because I was seeing Lilith in her underwear. But I quickly got over it when I saw the fresh scars on her body, silvery against her skin. Lilith had always had scars - that was a given with how she chose to live her life. But there were new ones that drew my eye and pinched at my heart. A ring around the top of one leg. I recognized it as meaning her leg had been cut off at some point. A massive burn mark all over her shoulder. Lilith's arm must have been hanging by a thread. And half her side, covered in twisting whitish thick flesh. Something massive had passed clean through her. Burns.

"You hid those from me on purpose," I accused.

Lilith looked at me, surprised. But she knew instantly what I was talking about. "Well duh," she said, "I healed my eye all the way but I couldn't be bothered with the other scars. They'll be gone on their own in a month or so anyway. And they'll only be sore for a few more days max so you don't need to worry. It's already happened. It's over. It doesn't matter anymore."

As much as Lilith may be able to rationalize things that way, I couldn't. She'd gotten hurt like that because of me. It was my fault. And judging by the extent of her scars, Lilith had nearly gotten herself killed. Sure, things like that happened to Lilith a lot. She got injured and hurt a lot. She fought a lot. But I never liked seeing the proof of it. I never liked seeing her injured. "You shouldn't have gotten hurt for me," I decided. It came out as a half mumble because I didn't want her to think I was rethinking the same things as last night. I wasn't. It took a conscious effort but I wasn't.

"Well I did," Lilith said frankly, "And it's over now. It doesn't matter. I'll try harder not to get hurt next time but no promises or anything."

That doesn't mean I have to like it.


-Gracie POV-

I'd grabbed Law's hand on impulse but now I didn't have the guts to either acknowledge that fact or to let go. He didn't seem to mind… or had he just not noticed? Either way he was still hot. Really hot. Went up against a fang-tongued rock lizard and was totally cool about it. Then again he probably didn't know what it was exactly… And they're not deadly or anything… but they're still freaky-looking. It's the eyes. They're all gooey and gross. I could hear the sound of the pools up ahead.

"What's that sound?" Law asked. "It sounds like water."

"That's our destination!" I told him. "You'll like it! How long has it been since the last time you could go swimming?"

Law looked suddenly distant. "Too long," he decided. His face just now… No. It's not my place to pry. Better to just change the subject.

"Then you'll enjoy this!" I told him happily, desperately hoping my hand wasn't getting sweaty or anything. When Law saw the water he gasped and his eyes went wide. I was delighted. It was some of the greatest emotion he'd shown since he got here. I was oddly proud of that.

Lilith's head shot up from the water and I realized that she and the other boys were already swimming about in their underwear. "Gracie, Law!" she greeted cheerfully, "You're late! C'mon, strip and get in!"

I didn't think this through all the way… I realized. While I used to come down here with Lilith all the time as kids, and then later with Chibi-chan when he tagged along, I'd never actually stripped with actual guys present, not to mention how ones. I mean, Chibi-chan was a guy and he was human and everything but he was like, five or something. That doesn't count. I took a surreptitious breath to steady my nerves. Don't be a coward! I reminded myself. If Lilith can do it then I can too! I ditched the shirt.

Law was flustered. "What are you doing?" he asked. His expression was somewhere between surprise and alarm. It really didn't help my nerves.

"I don't want to swim in my shirt and pants," I argued simply. "It's not such a big deal."

"C'mon Law," Lilith scolded, "Don't chicken out now or I'll resort to my truly pathetic imitation of Fishman Karate and soak you where you stand."

"Don't threaten me," Law bit back reflexively, but he was already pulling up his hoodie. Dear god he's got a six pack. And he took his hat off again. And his tattoos are so hot. I wonder what they mean… I could find out. The thought made me frown. That was the problem with my powers. There were very few people capable of keeping secrets from me. Lilith was one of them, but only because she knew Haki and how my powers worked. Unless someone was actively using Haki I could see them, wherever, whenever I wanted to look. Past, present, future. All it took was a little concentration and a reflective surface. Sometimes it was a terribly tempting ability.

Law's tattoos. I could see when he got them if I wanted. Or I could look back and find out why his face was like that when I mentioned swimming. Or look into his future (again, this time without permission) and see any number of things - even how he dies. "Miss Gracie?" Law asked abruptly. I jumped slightly and looked up. "You were lost in thought," he informed me. "I thought you would prefer to be swimming."

"Right. Thanks," I agreed awkwardly. At first I was distracted by my thoughts. Then I was just distracted by the extremely attractive Law in nothing but his boxers. Brain, don't even think about it, I threatened myself, If I have to imagine an more I'll probably get a nosebleed or something. And I thought he was hot enough back when he was still wearing clothes!

Finally getting into the water and swimming over to Lilith, I was reminded that Ace and Sabo were wearing nothing but boxers too. Heaven help me. I don't think my heart will hold up.