Hi there (sneaking in through the backdoor and pretending it hasn't been 7 months),

I'm really sorry for the long wait! This chapter had so many beginnings, middles and endings until things started to make a little sense... And to be honest, for a while I wondered if I should continue writing this story since with this year being what it is, parts of it might feel a bit too close for comfort. But then I figured that after spending so much time on here, Law and Savenna deserved their shot at happiness despite everything. But if you feel uncomfortable reading this I totally get it and thank you so much for having stuck with me for so long!

And before I go on, I want to shout out a huge thank you to Guest666-69, ClosetCase, sarge1130, Ladyktbaby, Razhenshia, Supreme Moon Cat, DancesWithVulcans, Leynadoodles, Melissa Fairy, Scarlet3Wolf12, Tora3 and the lovely guests who graced this little story with their wonderful, amazing reviews that literally made me cry and jump around the room at 2am. Thank you so so much for taking the time and for being so awesome!

And at last, oh man, I'm so sorry for that ending! Only after reading the reviews I realized the last chapter reads like the end of the story - I must have thought about all of this for so long I couldn't see the wood for the trees. But I really hope you'll enjoy the next chapter! :-)

A little warning upfront: This chapter contains violence, references to physical and mental illness and suicide so please read at your own discretion.

Penguin coughed smoke out his lungs before sending another load of cannonballs flying toward Blizzard Rock. "We need to get closer!"

"I'm trying!" Ikkaku's voice barked through the intercom. "There are two ships manned with angry marines firing at us. This isn't exactly a piece of cake!"

"No kidding! Bepo, I need a hand here. Bepo?"

The bear was standing at the railing, eyes frantically searching for his captain in a chaos of blood and fire spreading across the northern shore. After the final order the radio had gone silent. Since then the First Mate had been staring at the bloody massacre descending from the hill slopes, unable to believe what he was seeing.

"Be careful!" he fretted. "We have no idea where they are. We could hit them by accident." But the mechanic dismissed it with a wave of his hand. "You know Captain – they will be fine and we have orders to follow. Come on!"

"Yeah, let's show those kidnapping marines what the Heart Pirates are made of!" Shachi let out a battle cry. "No one messes with our long-lost lovers!"

Bepo didn't correct him. He might have said something when Shachi's remarkable powers of deduction had first led the mechanics to believe Savenna had been taken to the marine camp against her will, but he didn't have the heart to tell them the truth. He let them believe Savenna Silvers was a damsel in distress, waiting for Law and his knights in shining armor to rescue her. At least some of them had a good time fighting today, the bear thought.

He himself wasn't so lucky. After Law had radioed in, a deeply disturbed Nell had pulled him aside and shown him the letter. And Bepo wasn't an idiot. A good look at the armory would have been enough to find out what had really happened.

The First Mate was about to follow the mechanic to the cannons, when he cast a last look at the harbor and stopped. A solitary figure was standing at the bottom of the hill. Tall and silent. In the middle of the blue sphere of death.

"What is it now?" Penguin nagged. Bepo reached for the binoculars and scanned the shoreline for the fifteenth time that day. Blows coming from the island intensified and the bear inhaled sharply.

When it came to murder, Trafalgar Law was a rational man.

At least that's what Bepo had thought until a rain of still-beating hearts came down on a group of cornered marines, followed by blood sprinkling white tents and disfigured corpses sent sprawling over protruding rocks. "Oh no…"

If Bepo had ever doubted his captain's powers, the cold-blooded slaughter of an entire marine battalion definitely set his expectations straight. But terrifying or not, what was his captain thinking? They had a submarine even that couldn't save them when the government got wind of this. What on earth had happened over there? Zooming back to the figure under the Room, Bepo stiffened.

Their captain wasn't alone.

When the bear understood, he almost dropped the binoculars over board. Law wasn't killing marines on his way to Savenna. He had reached his target before they'd even spotted him - her body was hanging in his arms like a dead thing. Despite guilt and nausea urging for him to bury his head in his paws, Bepo held up his gaze only do discover something worse. This wasn't the woman who had boarded the ship at the marine base but the one he had treated behind closed doors.

"He knows," Bepo exhaled with spine-chilling realization.

"He knows what? What is it with you today?" Penguin complained over his shoulder. But Bepo was unable to move. Roger help us… Speechless, he kept his eyes on the grotesque spectacle.

There was hardly anything left of the lost, haunted boy the First Mate had cared for not just a day ago, or the collected man he had been following for the last five years. At the foot of the hill stood somebody else – a stranger; savage and merciless. He didn't even look at the marines as he ripped them apart, bursting chests open and twisting heads off shoulders. Law's face remained stone-cold, his body rigid as if he didn't dare disturb the girl pressed to his chest.

The days when he'd stand by watching Savenna deliriously bash people's heads in were over. Her fierce, naked rage had jumped onto him. But the longer Bepo watched, the more he realized it had been there the whole time. Hidden, like so much about Law, underneath layers of composure protecting them from the maddening wrath of an entire generation.

Under Bepo's anxious eyes, Law advanced through the marine camp, tearing hearts out as he went. When passing the tent with the World Government crest, he stopped. Then as if snapping out of hypnosis he marched on toward the sub. His powers must have been at the brink of exhaustion. He waited until they had reached the dock before finally teleporting them both on board.

The Heart Pirate cannons were still firing diligently when their captain landed on deck – his face ashen, eyes wide with rage.

The crew came rushing in from all sides ready to greet him, but immediately froze in their tracks. They didn't understand, as they stared at the strange yet familiar girl in his arms. Limp and motionless, lips blue from the cold and mouth open like a frozen gasp for air, Savenna was a sorry husk of herself. Blood that had already soaked through Law's shirt, was dripping down her naked arms. But it was the icy, otherworldly color of her skin that kept their feet pinned to the ground.

"That story about the White City…" Shachi stuttered. "I thought she was…She didn't say…"

"She was never cured," Penguin finished. "It all makes sense. The sudden disappearance, the morphine…" Alarmed, all Heart Pirate eyes jumped to Law. "Holy Roger, she still has it! How could we be so stupid?" Shachi cried out, "She's still sick. We need to do something!"

Law didn't respond. With growing darkness in his eyes, he headed for the front hatch.

Is…is she dead?" Bepo's voice made him stop.

Law turned around soundlessly. "She wouldn't dare." Teeth gritted in defiance, he pushed her body through the airlock. "No way is she getting that stupid tragic ending of hers! Prepare the operating room."

Bruised, strained and unhinged from the fight, Law couldn't possibly be fit to operate. But no matter how much Bepo pleaded, he wouldn't listen. His face grew wilder every time somebody tried to calm him down. Determined to the degree of obsession, Law had parted with reason. He lowered Savenna onto the operating table with the delicacy of a dock worker throwing cargo overboard. Bepo didn't dare to speak up when he demanded his equipment to be prepared and hurried out of the way when Law reached for mask and gloves.

With the devil on her heels, a petrified Ikkaku helped them prep the body for surgery. Dark blood had dried running across Savenna's face. As they cut through the remnants of her clothes, they started with confusion at the old wounds that had popped open across her stomach. Seconds later, the machines told them what they had already known.

No pulse. It was too late.

"Prepare to intubate and get me a bag of O negative," Law ordered.

"I'm sorry, Captain… I don't think there's anything we can do," Bepo muttered. "Even if we magically manage to restart her heart, she's lost too much blood."

What happened next would haunt Bepo's dreams for weeks. He was about to pronounce time of death, ready to let out the sob that had been sitting in the back of his throat, when Law let out a spine-chilling laugh.

"I'm the Surgeon of Death and I decide who dies on my ship." There was a hardness in his voice, burning delusion twisting his features "She isn't just a patient. She doesn't just die," he seethed. "She's had enough Haki to outrun Amber Lead for almost a decade. So believe me, she knows how to come back from the dead. And she'll do it again, even if I have to make her."

He must have lost his mind, Bepo concluded. Grief must have finally pushed him over the edge. But he wouldn't dare to actually try to bring her back, would he? Bepo swallowed hard, hoping for his captain to let it go. But despite bodies lining the streets outside, Law's eyes danced like the battle had just begun.

"Intubate," he ordered again, forcefully this time. The bear felt like he was going to faint. There was no way out of this – sane or not, Law was still his captain. Nauseated, the First Mate did as he was told.

On the other side of the operating table, Ikkaku started paralyzed between Savenna's wan skin and the doctor's mesmerizing anger. The atmosphere in the room was so tense she could cut it with a knife.

It was as if Law had forgotten he was a doctor at all. There was nothing caring about his gestures, no sticking to textbook and a complete disregard of all the procedures he held dear. Bepo couldn't watch when the first electric shock passed through the mess of blood and tubes that was Savenna, followed by CPR cracking at least three of her ribs. "Clear!" Her back arched before falling back onto the table a second time. The line on the screen kept running flat.

"Again!" Law commanded. Head held low, Ikkaku obeyed.

The monitor spiked. The line rippled fretfully before flattening again.

Bepo inhaled deeply.

A dark smirk creased Law's lips before he took the defibrillator paddles from Ikkaku and sent a new discharge through Savenna's body. "This isn't the moment to play hard to get!" he snarled and ordered Bepo to keep ventilating. Even though Savenna was set on defying him, after the fifth angry shock, they caught a pulse. Bepo almost couldn't believe it. It was weak but it was there. Confusion turned to panic when the shaky vitals plunged again.

Law shook his head with irritation. "If you walk out on me now, I'm gonna follow you, I'm gonna find you and trust me, it won't be pretty." He injected another dose of epinephrine and watched as the heartrate went back up before spiking out wildly.

"So we are going for interior bleeding now? How clever." Grimly, Law reached for his scalpel. "Watch this, princess!"

Their bloody match went on; Savenna collapsing, Law cursing, yelling and arguing, until what felt like hours later, his first patient was finally stable.

As soon as Law released her, Ikkaku rushed outside and threw up. He'd given her five minutes to empty her stomach and get her head straight. More they couldn't afford.

"Your orders, Captain?"

Trying to quench the sickness rising up in his own stomach, Bepo had remained inside. Law stood by the table, ears ringing, blood-covered arms hanging low. When the First Mate stepped closer, the doctor flinched. Color had fled from his face. His eyes went wide as he stumbled back to reality. Struggling to believe what he had done and what would have happened if he hadn't, he retreated until his back hit the wall.

Bepo placed a hand on his shoulder. "You did good." He didn't know whether Law heard him, but he allowed himself a deep breath for what seemed like the first time since they entered the operating room. What Law needed was at least twenty-four hours of sleep, but Bepo knew he wouldn't let it go. Law straightened himself, eyes hardening with determination.

"My cabin. Bottom drawer of my desk. The blue folder – bring it to me. Make sure to take all pages…"

"What for?"

"I'm curing her."

Nell's dark-ringed eyes flared up the moment a battered Ikkaku entered the kitchen. Shachi and Penguin's heads jumped up from the table. "What? Now tells us already!" Impatiently, they watched the woman fall into a chair.

Then, exhausted, Ikkaku nodded.

"Thank Roger!" the two mechanics called out. Nell just leaned back against the wall with a sigh of relief. She didn't have strength for more. Sliding down to the floor, she allowed herself to close her eyes. She hadn't slept in over two days and it still felt like a nightmare.

Penguin and Shachi, after navigating the sub out of cannon range and submerging as soon as the sea around Blizzard Rock permitted, had joined her in nervous waiting. "I knew Captain Silvers would pull through – she's a fighter!" he second mechanic laughed.

"But I don't understand…" Ikkaku muttered, removing the surgical cap that barely restrained her hair. "The woman in there should be dead. And not just now. According to modern medicine, she should have died years ago."

"It's the Haki," Nell sighed, attracting the attention of three pairs of sleep deprived eyes. It was time they knew everything. "She never told anyone here. Not even Law. But she was born with the Conqueror's Haki." A painful expression flit across Nell's face and Ikkaku immediately regretted having said something. "It helped her fight Amber Lead longer than humanly possible."

Penguin's jaw fell open. "Wait… Conqueror's Haki like Gol D. Roger's Conqueror's Haki?"

"And admiral Senguko's?"

"And Red Hair Shank's," Nell absentmindedly finished the list. "Like them, Savenna usually gets what she wants. Whether it's a new dress or human life."

Shachi's eyes narrowed. "So that's how she put those chores on my list!"

"You don't need Haki for that, trust me," Penguin informed him. "I'm more concerned she could have murdered us in our sleep."

The other mechanic shrugged. "If that's what it takes to spend a night with Captain Silvers…"

"Oh my god…"

"That explains a lot actually," Ikkaku said then, too tired to snap at them. "The lead had been in her system for so long it had damaged half of the vital organs. Both kidneys and the liver were done for. Captain had to cut out a third of her lung tissue, remove four tumors and transplant a heart."

"He had to work himself though thirteen reluctant marine donors, before finding a heart strong enough to sustain the fragile blood vessels. Bepo tried pointing out that operating on top of a pile of bleeding corpses wasn't exactly sanitary, but Captain said if the patient died of something as trivial as an infection, he would take it as a personal offense." She chuckled darkly. "We lost her so many times I stopped counting, but I've never seen anyone cling to life that hard before… And now I know why." Ikkaku smiled to herself. "It seems like some North Blue magic survived after all."

"What about the metal?" Nell asked almost soundlessly.

"He got it out."

"What? How?" Shachi yelped. "But it's incurable!"

The woman nodded silently, not really trying to hide her own bewilderment. "Yes, but he survived, didn't he?" She paused, pondering. "He operated on her under the Room while we did our best to keep her stable. He shambled it out of her bit by bit, disintegrating her into tiny body parts and putting them back together… It was scary as hell."

Nell didn't understand. "So that was the cure? The Ope Ope no Mi?"

Ikkaku nodded. "I swear, we didn't know. We found out about all of this only three days ago. Otherwise we would have… he would have…" She stopped and took a deep breath. "Did you know about her condition…?"

Nell smiled bitterly. "I helped her hide it," she said. "I tried talking her out of it. I failed, obviously."

"Yeah, we tried talking Captain out of the surgery and he murdered thirteen more people. I guess stubbornness is something else they have in common."

Nobody objected.

"Well I'm glad I'm the not the only one he's angry at," Penguin exhaled. "Every time I looked inside, I thought he was going to defibrillate me through the door."

Ikkaku shook her head. "He wasn't angry. He was terrified."

"Captain scared? No way!"

The woman shot him a penetrating gaze. "Do you know how many medical rules he just broke in there? And that's Captain we're talking about. A man who'd made me clean the sub for a month just because I'd put on my uniform inside out." Ikkaku's eyes wandered back to the hallway leading to the operating room. "I've never seen him so scared in my entire life. If he wasn't an excellent surgeon and hadn't threatened to transplant my organs should I yawn again, he might have just been a medical student afraid of losing his first patient."

We need to do something! The words still echoed in Law's head after seventeen hours of surgery. After letting the door of his cabin fall shut and lighting his first cigarette in two years, his hands were shaking, headache wailing inside his skull.

"I see the practice paid off." The outline of Corazon's figure emerged in the corner. He must have been waiting for him. "You've perfected it."

Law pinched the bridge of his nose. "It wasn't good enough." Repeating Amber Lead surgery had become his own nighttime meditation over the years, but it was so much harder when the patient still had a pulse.

It had been the hardest surgery Law had ever done. Performed only once on a living patient by a thirteen-year-old high on opioids, he had been convinced the procedure would kill her. It had been developed according to old Flevance standards, meaning it would get banned straightaway from any self-respecting medical textbook. Chances of survival were absurdly low.

And Savenna was so fragile. It had been like operating on an origami using construction tools. His steady and careful hands were suddenly not steady and careful enough, and with every incision he'd waited for her vitals to drop and for everything to be over.

She had made it through the surgery but in her condition there was no guarantee. There was a good chance that after all those years her body wouldn't be able to function without the poison. That she rejected the new organs. Or that from one moment to the next her new heart would stop for no reason at all.

Corazon's shadow whistled dismissively. "Give yourself a break. Last time you did it in a cave by a dumpster fire. I feel like circumstances have improved considerably."

Staring at the wall, Law took another drag. "Had I known five days ago I could have done so much more." His aching fingers were balled to fists. "I should have known the moment she'd set foot on my ship. Penguin was right, there were symptoms. I should have seen it. I'm a doctor – it's my fucking job to know!"

Law felt his rage rekindle. Even with his Devil Fruit powers exhausted his fingertips twitched with desire to kill. It had carried him through the tireless morning. He didn't even remember the faces of the marines he'd butchered, but he couldn't care less. They had been protecting the people who sold out his country, left them for dead and who had made Savenna sick in the first place. And for that they deserved to die. The only thing he regretted was not having enough time to send those royals to kingdom come. It was either killing them or saving her.

But even if he sailed into the next best marine base and orchestrated a bloodbath, it wouldn't restore everything she had lost.

That was all on him.

Defeated, Law sank against the wall. "I messed up, Cora-san. I pushed her away so hard, she couldn't tell me she was dying."

"You weren't exactly upfront with her either" the ghost remarked. "It took almost an arm and a head for her to realize what was going on with you."

"That's different."

Corazon arched an unimpressed eye-brow. "You are two stubborn idiots too proud to ask for help. Sounds like the same kind of stupid to me."

"It's not the same!" he squirmed. "Because she's right! She had no reason to trust me. I never came back for her!" He had tried telling himself it was better that way. That two bullets and hypothermia were a merciful death compared to the final stages of Amber Lead poisoning. He'd never dared to question what happened. But that didn't save him from waking up at night and throwing up into the morning hours, knowing he was lying to himself.

"You saw her get shot," the ghost reminded him. "No one would have expected you to come back for a dead body."

"I wanted to," Law said hollowly. "First thing after I healed myself. Dig her up from under the snow and bury her back in Flevance. Somewhere where she could see the ships…But then I heard about the raids, the marines policing the surrounding towns and all of the bodies burned in the cover-up. I would have never found her." He paused. "Or at least that's what I've been telling myself."

"She doesn't blame you."

"You don't know that," Law hissed. "She walked out there, knowing she wouldn't come back because she thought that I couldn't help her! She thought I didn't care…How could I be so stupid?"

"Law, listen to me," Corazon insisted. "That girl brought a whole army to the ground through sheer willpower alone. She's not one to give up on life. The reason she did it was to protect you. So trust me, she's not the one blaming you. Murder and sacrifice are her way of showing how much she cares." When Law wasn't convinced, the ghost rustled his feathers, annoyed. "And it's not like you didn't return the favor. Most people exchange apologies, you …well…"

Law's downcast eyes wandered to the desk, where the stars and fireworks gleamed in the blueish dark. Suddenly the words popped back into his head.

You were all that mattered and when you left, you made me a very happy girl. You walking away meant I had finally succeeded in saving someone I loved. Never blame yourself for that… The memory was a blur, trapped behind a screen of fear and confusion. Had that conversation really happened? But even if it hadn't, the words wrapped themselves like a soothing blanket around the ache in his chest.

Law pressed his eyes shut as he banished the feeling. "That doesn't change anything," he decided. "I failed her."

"Please somebody shoot me again!" Corazon wailed, pulling the purple hat into his face. When he straightened up, his ghostly features had darkened. "That Nell person was right – you two are exactly the same. Blind, stubborn and expecting the worst even when life is smiling on you!"

He got to his feet, wildly gesticulating at Law. "I tell you it's going to be okay, but you can't put that into your head even if your life depended on it. It's as if you want everyone to drop dead and the universe blame you for all eternity. How about she survives, you forgive each other and live happily ever after? Have you ever considered that the world isn't made of worst-case scenarios?"

Law jumped up, still far from reaching Rosinante's height. "Funny you ask." Law snarled. "Remember how you died? Lots of ways that day could have turned out better."

"But…"

Law didn't let him finish. "You wonder why I always think of the worst? You might have raised me but I'm nothing like you. You've gone through life throwing that grinning optimism at everything and everyone and you survived until you didn't. The world is different for me. No matter what happens, I stay behind. Aftermath is all I get to see," Law exhaled, shaking. "Do you know what that feels like? Being alone to the point where you start losing your mind? Hell, don't you think I tried being like Shachi, all hugs and good times?" The cigarette fell to the floor. He didn't notice. "All I kept seeing was how fragile and clueless they are. They don't know how it feels like to kill a parent, go days without food or sleep between rotting bodies to survive the night. It's not their fault but at one point fragile, happy people leave or they die. And being prepared is only way to deal with that!"

That's why his crew hadn't known about his episodes. He hadn't been ready to be alone again.

"But she knows," Corazon prodded. "So why can't you let this go?"

"Because I'm her fragile, happy person! I got to live my life. And now it's my turn to anticipate all that could wrong so I can pay her back."

But that was only one half of the truth. The moment Savenna had collapsed, he realized he couldn't stay behind. Not again. The void she left behind was a loneliness he wouldn't be able to bear a second time. That's why he needed to keep his promise. No matter was Corazon said, he wouldn't rest until she was pretentious and pretty again.

The world felt heavy and cold. Savenna was surprised. She had been fairly certain it would never feel like anything again. There were no snowy roads or music. All there was around her was crushing emptiness. Like someone had cracked her mind open and removed everything in it.

Savenna was utterly underwhelmed. She imagined death to leave more of an impression. She hadn't kidded herself to be allowed into heaven – Magda used to say they'd all get struck by lightning, should she ever cross the threshold of a church – but eternal damnation had sounded good enough. Where else would she get to see people being thrown into pits of hell fire without having to do the dirty work herself? And if she pitched in, she might even get promoted. At least there was one place that rewarded bad character.

But no.

No hell fire, not even some sorry embers she could toss at the marines coming in after her. What a waste of opportunity.

Then a raspy, dry sound pierced the blanket of darkness. Stunned, Savenna realized she was listening to her own breath. Panting as if she was about to lift a boulder onto her shoulders, she managed to pry her eye-lids open. After an unidentifiable number of ragged breaths, she recognized crumpled white sheets occupying her field of vision.

She wasn't dead. She was in a hospital bed. How ironic, she thought.

The lights were out except for the distant blinking of a monitor. Her right arm, punctured by the well-known stiffness of needles, had fallen over the edge of the bed. Damp hair was sticking to her forehead. Savenna tried to move her legs only to find them tangled up in a blanket that did little against the fever chills that started creeping in.

Exhausted, she was about to stumble back into unconsciousness, when something tickled her neck. The pillow had moved. Confused, she summoned up just enough strength to turn her head.

Only to find herself staring into the face of a man.

He was asleep. The dark rings around his eyes suggested that didn't happen often. But even now his features were tense, looking out seriously from underneath disheveled hair. From the corner of her eye, she examined the crumpled white coat and books lying open on the bed. Something about him felt excruciatingly familiar.

Her chills abated in the warm air separating them.

Anxious, Savenna counted his breaths. One, two, three… Regular and even. Without knowing why, she was relieved. Then with the memory, a weak smile emerged on her lips. It must all have been a bad dream. Everything was exactly as it had been.

"It's my turn. Don't worry, Mushroom Head," she croaked. She really didn't want to take care of Lamie right now, but he'd been with patients all day and needed to rest. And maybe they were lucky enough to get another hour of sleep…

Now there was nothing strange about this room and the darkness in it. They had lost electricity many nights ago and the old hospital machines were running on a generator. Law's father must be upstairs taking the night shift, Magda asleep a few doors down… Savenna smiled. She had lived through this night many times before. She had finally reached that front door. She was finally home.

Watching Law through delirious, placid eyes, Savenna fell back to sleep.

"Captain! Captain, come quick!" A voice thundered in her vicinity, followed by equally deafening footsteps. "She's waking up!"

Suddenly somebody's overly large head blocked a light that Savenna hadn't been aware existed in the first place. "Savenna? Can you hear me?"

The light became blinding, hurting her eyes. She wanted to back to that room. More bellowing voices, darkness coming and going. Why couldn't they just leave her alone? And why did everybody had to yell? She inhaled, keen on telling them to get lost and regretted it instantly when cold air burst through the stinging, burning place in her chest.

Pain flared up like wildfire.

Chills started shaking her. Her pulse thundered in her ear. Stop, make it stop! Make it stop make it stop make it stop make it stop make it stop make it stop! "Morphine…" she demanded, shocked by the feeble sound of her own voice. Waiting for the exquisite lightness to chase off the pain, shadows moved above her.

"Bepo, she already had a dose."

"But she said…"

"She's just coming out of anesthesia. She probably doesn't even remember her own name." Screw you, Savenna screamed internally. Her body was now curling with fire, pain stabbing through her limbs with every heartbeat.

"We need to check her cognitive abilities. The surgery might have damaged her brain." She knew that voice. Law. Of course. Mushroom Head was at it again. Denying her what she wanted was the sole point of his existence.

Bent over the bed, Law recoiled when her bloodshot eyes flew open, wide with rage. "I'll show you brain damage if you don't give me my shot!" Then, hands pressed to her temples, she winced. "What is this? What the hell did you do to me…?!"

"I think it's safe to say that she's regained consciousness," Bepo remarked from the sidelines.

"Fuuuuck… Somebody kill me…!"

Quickly, Law injected something into her IV drip. "Just hold on – it will set in soon." It better, Savenna thought, cursing to herself. "Try and think of something else. What's your full name?"

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Concentrate on the question," he repeated calmly. Wouldn't be so calm if your skull was being cracked open, would you? "Savenna Silvers…" she tried only to be hit by another wave of plain agony.

"Age?"

"Getting older by the second, Mushroom Head. Come on!" she pressed through her teeth, feeling slightly lightheaded. Her head stopped throbbing. The world became wide, warm and soft around the edges.

"Current occupation?"

Savenna's eyelids fluttered and fell shut. "Finding something to stab you with…" And she was gone again.

When she woke up six hours later, the pain had receded far enough for her to hear her own thoughts. Groggy, she looked around and memories of the submarine turned. She had been put up in one of the infirmary beds. Maybe even the one she had used during Law's CPR training. But now the room with the white walls was empty and her bed was the only one occupied. The dark underwater blue pressed in against the window, messing with her fragile sense of time. When had they submerged? How had she ended up here?

Her mind was reluctant to obey when she tried to think of the last thing she remembered. Island. Marines. Being attacked. Conqueror's Haki… Appalled, she fell back into her pillows.

Law had followed her.

He knew.

There weren't enough threats and blackmail in the world that could have get her out of this. Not with the hardness she remembered filling his eyes… Painfully, Savenna forced herself to focus.

Looking down at herself erased the last doubts. Her naked arms gleamed with the cursed white of Amber Lead. As was the lump of lost hair on the pillow and the tips of the toes looking out from under the blanket. No, this definitely wasn't her Polar-Tang-body. There had been times when she should have been worried about that, but given recent developments her disguise was useless. There was probably nobody left for Nell to fool.

She tried to recall how she'd survived, but deep down she knew it didn't matter. She had used the Conqueror's Haki on Blizzard Rock and she would face the consequences. She was too fragile to recover this time. She would die soon, probably in the next couple of hours. Maybe tomorrow if she was lucky.

Savenna sighed. There was no running from it anymore. On the island she had been scared, begging Law for help. Now the only thing she was afraid of was having to look into those dismayed, gray eyes again.

She felt like a Sea King had swallowed and spat her back out, but she knew what had to be done. With difficulty, she pushed herself off the bed and got to work.

She decided to use the bed sheets for the dress. Despite being the wrong color, the fabric was good enough. With medical needle and thread, she sewed herself expertly into her new creation. Magda would be proud she hadn't lost all her skill. Bandages became flowers, hung around different corners of the room. With the main decoration done, she worked on the list of songs she wanted to be sung and tried her hand at drawing her own portrait, which turned out to be a bad idea. She was just about to figure out how to build a coffin out of cardboard, when a tired voice interrupted her endeavor.

"What are you doing?"

Savenna swiveled around.

Law was standing in the doorway. Confusion was printed on his face. He looked awful. Deep-set eyes, hollow cheeks and skin an alarming shade of gray. Under normal circumstances, Bepo would have already tied him up in the bed next to her.

Holding his glance, Savenna was struck with regret. All she had put him through – the lies, the bounty hunters, the marines, the memories. She had tried so hard to make it better, to protect him and yet again, she had failed. Unable of thinking about it any longer, she looked away.

"Planning my funeral," she announced, putting on a fresh smile. "You'll need to rsvp."

Law arched his eye-brows. "I really should have gone easy on the drugs." With his usual seriousness, he picked up his clipboard. "Okay, let's see how you're feeling. Any chest pain or shortness of breath?"

Savenna just gave a quick laugh, fiddling with the white flowers. "I know you want to help, Mushroom Head, but don't worry. As you may know, this," she said pointing at her skin, "is some nasty stuff. After using my Haki on the island, it won't take long for it to finish me off. I'm doing you a favor here – you really don't want to be organizing this."

Law took a deep breath. "I know it might not look like it now but you will get better," he tried. "It just takes time and a lot of rest."

Spinning around in her makeshift gown, Savenna shot him a mischievous look. "Nice try, but no way I am letting the person in charge of those uniforms take care of my wardrobe. If I'm going to die young, I'll have to look pretty," she declared. "Also, what do people usually eat at funerals? I might want to give Penguin a heads-up…"

"Wait…Are you serious about this?" He looked like he'd just been slapped. But his outrage didn't do much in the face of Savenna's determination. She just shrugged and said, "It's always good to prepare for major life events. Just don't let the crew dissect my body. It might traumatize Bepo."

"You think?"

Wordlessly, Savenna bent over a notepad and started scribbling. Amazed at her talent for ignoring his appeal to the powers of reason, he snatched the paper out of her hands.

"Hey! Those are heartbreaking words people are supposed to say about me when I'm dead," she protested.

"You're writing your own eulogy?!" he called out. "You know that's not your job, right?"

"My funeral, my rules. Give it back!"

Law gritted his teeth. "Well, tough luck – you're not dying."

"Oh really? And why is that?"

"Because I cured you, you idiot!"

Dumbfounded Savenna gazed at him for two breathless seconds. Then she broke out in an unhinged laugh. "Yeah, right. And what else did you do? Become pirate king? Find a girlfriend?"

But Law didn't give in. "I'm not kidding," he insisted. "But if you won't believe me, you better believe this."

With that he turned around and opened one of the storage cabinets. Savenna recognized the old iron med kit when he placed it onto her bed. It was the one she had discovered when breaking into his cabin. It felt like ages had passed since then. Law popped the lid open and handed her a small glass vial.

She put on a bored expression when she held it to her eyes. It contained a shimmering white-gray powder that tickled weightlessly from one side to the other. "What am I looking at?" she asked.

"Amber Lead – only a small part of what was in your system."

Savenna froze.

What…? Glancing from the snowy powder to Law and back again, she considered for the first time that he might not be joking. Could this be possible? She wanted to shake her head but couldn't. Law had survived and through some kind of miracle, so had she. But so many had tried. What did he know that other doctors didn't?

It hit her like a punch in the stomach. The vial slipped out of her fingers and shattered, white dust silently settling onto the infirmary floor. Her hands shaking, she looked helplessly up to Law. "Don't move," he said. "It's still poisonous." With that, the blue dome circled out of his palm and teleported her back on the bed.

Savenna's face had twisted to something between mild hysteria and complete disbelief. Her mouth was forming words but none came out. He had done this. He had succeeded where everybody else had failed. "Are you okay?" Law asked, when she didn't move.

She kept eyeing him, paralyzed. "You…you really cured me?"

"No, I just poked around your organs for seventeen hours – of course I cured you! I would have done it sooner, had I known that…" he began but stopped.

She knew where this was going but it was too much to take in. Savenna turned around and feverishly started hammering against the wall until she detected a hollow space behind the bed. She pushed into the plank until the wood gave in and revealed one of Shachi's blessed sake reserves. Despite Law's protests, she popped the cork and downed a gulp of the fiery liquor.

"You really like to make me suffer, don't you?" he said. In return Savenna handed him the bottle. Defeated, he sat down and took a generous sip himself. For a while they sat in silence.

Then she asked, "It was the Devil Fruit, wasn't it?"

"Yep," he sighed. "Only way to operate on cellular level." Slowly, he reached into the first drawer of her nightstand and pulled out a pile of handwritten notes, glossed from top to bottom with a fierce red marker. "I should have shown you this after the marine base. Sorry for the messy handwriting. Thirteen-year-old me wasn't exactly an artist..."

Savenna picked up the first page and squinted against the infirmary lights. Her face remained blank. She picked up another page. Then another. This was impossible and yet it was all there. All that she had been searching for the last eight years. Little had she known that Law was the only doctor who could perform the surgery. "How did you get this?"

"Mostly trial and error," he admitted. "It took me a week to get it done that first time. The procedure was the same for you, only that I couldn't do as much as I wanted to. Your skin," he said, searching for the right words. "It won't regenerate. The poison had been in your system for too long, there was no pigmentation left to save. I'm sorry…"

Her skin. That's why she hadn't seen it. But the white color paled next to the thousand questions flying around in her head. "Why did you keep the notes?" Savenna finally decided to ask.

"What do you mean?"

"You were the only survivor. What's the point in keeping a record of a procedure you'd never get to repeat?"

Law smiled a tired smile. "You were going to come and find me, remember?"

It had been a childish idea. Yet, here they were. He had kept his promise. She had been such an idiot. Of course he would help her, despite all her bad decisions. He had been trying to help her before he really knew her, and before Flevance even saw what was coming.

Furious joy pumped fire through her veins. She wanted to scream, jump on the bed, take Law's hand and dance around the room, fling her arms around him. But just as that mad smile was about to explode around her face, she stopped.

She couldn't.

Too much had happened. She had brought back those dark, lost places and pushed him right in. She had put him and his crew in danger. They could have died because of her. She cringed with every memory that came back. Whatever Law had to give she didn't deserve it.

"Thank you, Mushroom Head," she said, her voice barely rising above a whisper. It was all she could manage.

"Anytime..." he replied, confused about the grief spreading over her face. Had he done something wrong? Why did she look so heart-broken?

"What are we going to do about the lead?" she asked, clearing her throat. She needed to talk about something else. She tried to lower her eyes but Law held her gaze as if searching for whatever she wasn't telling him. When she stayed silent, he nodded. Wordlessly, he shot out another Room and navigated the particles into a new glass jar.

"Okay, now you're just showing off."

"We can't risk it poisoning anybody else," he said.

"Fine, but can we acknowledge how creepy it is that you kept that in the first place?"

"Says the girl planning her own funeral."

"Touché."

Law had been reluctant to leave but when she shot him one of her well-trained smiles, he had no other choice. When she was alone, she climbed carefully out of bed and stepped to the mirror at the other end of the room.

Even though she'd suspected as much, she couldn't help but flinch at her reflection.

A stranger was looking back at her.

Where her face had been was now a patchwork of scars, purple bruises and angry burns. Both cheekbones were hidden by a blueish swelling, nose pointing sideways. That's how bad it had truly been… Dazed, she forced herself to look at the rest of her body. Underneath her funeral dress, a net of black stitches covered her chest and stomach, hematomas blossoming on the nearly transparent skin, wrapped around child-sized bones.

This time the brush with death had not been without consequences. She didn't recognize the lines of her face she had inherited from her mother, the shape of her father's eyes or the almost invisible brows she used to arch in disdain.

But somehow she wasn't surprised. The sharp pain of understanding made her press her eyes shut when she realized why. At last her looks matched who she truly was. The lies she'd told, the torment she'd inflicted, the lives she'd taken and the good people she'd hurt. The pain she'd caused others was now etched into her own skin.

In a last act of defiance, Amber Lead had held up a mirror to its survivor's rotten soul.

His thoughts still circling around Savenna's strange behavior, Law found the crew cooped up in the hallway as he walked out of the infirmary.

"Is she awake? Can we see her?" Penguin blurted out.

"She needs to rest…"

"Did she ask for me?" Shachi edged in sideways.

"Why on earth would she ask for you?" the other mechanic scoffed. Shachi turned around with a smug air about him. "I have that effect on women."

"Boring them into a coma? Finally something we agree on."

"Oh, please," Ikkaku interjected. "The Captain and her fled the White City together. That woman is beyond even your powers of annoyance."

Too late did the crew notice the blank expression on their captain's face. Law stared at Ikkaku as if she'd just rammed a dagger into his back. "That…" he started and stopped. "How do you know…?"

Law had been wondering about this since the crew had met them on deck. But so much had happened since then that he'd pushed it into a faraway corner of his mind. After his latest episode there had been various ways they could have found out – the maps and notes in his cabin, for one. And even though Flevance's fate wasn't recorded in any history books, it had still made it into a good campfire story. But no one could have known what really happened that day. He'd never told anybody except Corazon.

As all Heart Pirate eyes shamefully wandered to the floor, Nell remained the only one to hold his gaze. Her face had hardened since the last time Law had seen her. Lines of dried tears marked her eyes, harboring silent guilt and anger quenched by fatigue. "Savenna told them," she answered the question hanging in the air. "They know everything."

Law sighed. Of course, she had. He should have known that after unconsciously juggling with his crew's body parts, people would start asking questions. He expected to find the usual anger rise in his stomach, but it didn't. Savenna had been right. His crew put their lives on the line for him. They deserved to know the truth.

But that truth wasn't the only one he was forced to deal with.

Those people had seen him at his worst. After torturing Doflamingo's man, he'd lost control – not only had he blacked out but he'd almost killed one of his crew mates. He'd been the weakest a captain could be.

Sensing numerous eyes settle on him, Law remained immobile. Despite the zeros behind his bounty and the satisfaction he'd felt when the marines pointed their cannons in his direction, he felt like his crew had more reason to call themselves pirates than he ever had.

Law cursed to himself. The moment had come at last. Before Blizzard Rock he wouldn't have the strength to face it. But now, steeled from wrestling with death, he couldn't bring himself to care about being seen for who he was. Hard-eyed he lifted his chin ready to take the hit.

"Now that you know everything the choice is yours," he announced flatly. "Should you not want to be part of my crew anymore, I would understand. I've displayed weakness and you are free to go, if that's what you want. I won't be holding you back."

His words were met with stunned confusion.

The smile on Shachi's face froze. Bepo's mouth was left hanging open and Nell fought the urge to hit Law over the head with a bedpan. "What is he talking about?" Penguin asked, urgently elbowing Ikkaku.

"How the hell should I know?" she hissed. "You sure he didn't suffer a concussion?"

"I knew something happened during that fight!" Shachi called out before smacking Bepo over the head. "Why didn't you take better care of Captain?"

"Stop ganging up on Bepo! Maybe it's caffeine-deprivation?" Ikkaku suggested. "Nobody really knows what happens when he doesn't get a cup in twelve hours…"

"Nah, it's lovesickness," Shachi said. "A part of his brain usually shuts down when he talks to Captain Silvers."

"What? No!" Law exclaimed louder than intended. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Why was no one handing in their resignation? "Guys, I'm serious!" he insisted. "If you feel like I'm not strong enough to be your captain, I understand."

"Are you kidding?" Penguin called out. "With all due respect, this is the dumbest thing I heard since Shachi took dating advice from a News Coo."

"I was desperate but he has a point," Shachi added. "You are the toughest of us all! The way you survived the destruction of your home and how you rescued Captain Silvers from those kidnapping marines – we wouldn't have been able to do any of that!"

"Kidnapping…?" Law shot a questioning look to Bepo who just shook his head.

"Yes, you taught us what it means to be a pirate," Penguin said. "You can't just ask us to give that up. What would become of us? We need you!"

This time it was Law who gaped at them with utter disbelief. Why was no one calling him out? He waited for them to laugh, to tell him this was just a part of one big joke and walk away. But nobody laughed and nobody left. Instead, Law's eyes widened with alarm when his crew pulled him into a tight hug. "What are you doing…?"

"Apparently this is called affection and you'll have to get over it," Nell explained matter-of-factly. "Or at least that's what Savenna told me."

Bepo, masterfully ignoring his captain's attempts to wriggle himself free, brushed his cheek against Law's. "You fought more enemies than all of us together, Captain. And the fact that you're still fighting isn't a weakness - it makes us admire you even more. We're always going to have your back."

Law didn't understand. They could as well have been speaking a different language. They were the fragile, happy people. How come they weren't scared and running for their lives? What at first felt like Corazon's words echoing in his mind, turned out to be Savenna's. Your crew is more than strong enough on their own. What they need is for you to trust them with your life as much as they trust you with theirs.

Law had always been convinced that he was the only one capable of taking care of himself and his crew. Until three days ago, he'd never imagined that there was someone strong and reckless enough to try and help him. And even less succeed at it. Whenever he'd thought of waking up that night under Savenna's starry sky, confusion and embarrassment had been so overwhelming, he had to stop.

But when the moment popped back into his head, he didn't squirm. Maybe, if his crew didn't judge him, maybe she didn't either. And suddenly, Law realized that she wasn't the only one crazy enough to protect him. While he'd been caught up bringing down vengeance on everyone in his path, the Heart Pirates had fought off Blizzard Rock's entire marine defense and managed to lose their ships all on their own. He'd underestimated not only their loyalty but their skill. If a crew was capable of looking out for their captain, it was them.

"Go ahead, they are gone. You can start gloating now," Law sighed at the infirmary door, that had been shooting him the familiar I-told-you-so vibes all along. No doubt Savenna had listened to the whole thing with a matching speech ready to go. And for once, he didn't mind hearing it.

"You were right – I should have trusted them," he admitted. "Without them there wouldn't be much left of us after our little adventure."

Law leaned against the hallway wall and prepared himself for one of their heated exchanges, that deep-down he didn't hate half as much as he pretended to. But then he heard something usual.

Silence.

A frown forming on his forehead, he stepped closer to the door. "Didn't you hear? I said you were right," he repeated, articulating extra carefully. "Which means I was wrong. Isn't there some kind of celebratory protocol for that?"

More silence.

Immediately Law knew something was wrong. This wasn't like her. No matter how much drugs she was on, she would never miss an opportunity to perform a victory dance. Hesitantly, he knocked at the infirmary door. "Hey, are you alright?" When there was no reaction, Law reached for the doorknob but the door was locked from the inside. "What…?"

A wave of panic washed over him. She had just woken up. What if something happened to her heart? Instantly Law opened his palm. If she wasn't coming out, he was going in. But as he tried to summon his Devil Fruit, the Room only rose into a feeble little swirl before dying down. Law stared at his hand with disbelief and tried again. His fingers started shaking and he felt the strength rush out of him.

Law's face darkened when he understood. "Sea Stone? What the hell, Savenna? What's going on?"

Her back against the door, Savenna jerked with every knock. She could feel the fear and hurt in them. The key to Law's old marine shackles clutched in her right hand, she hugged her knees and pressed her eyes shut. He would have to shamble the sub to pieces to get around the chains blocking the door.

She didn't think it would hurt that much, but she had no choice. She had heard everything. Law was getting better and there was no way she would stand in his way again. Maybe if she kept him away from her long enough, he'd recover. There was no way to be sure, but she had to take her chances. It was the only thing she could do for him now.

At least locked in there she wouldn't be able to hurt anyone again.

"Why are you so happy?" Penguin wanted to know when Shachi marched through the door wearing a wide grin.

"Just spent some quality time at the morgue. Look!" he cheered, before producing a platter stacked with hearts and livers from behind his back. Penguin jumped with disgust. "This is a kitchen! People eat here!"

"I know," his fellow mechanic beamed. "These are for Captain Silvers."

"She's recovering from Amber Lead poisoning, not cannibalism," Penguin pointed out.

"Please, I'm not an idiot."

"Sometimes that is really hard to believe."

"Oh really? You think you're so smart?" Shachi snorted. "Then why did Captain tell me to make sure Captain Silvers only gets organic food, ha?"

Disheartened, Penguin glanced at him sideways. "You know that that organic food has nothing to do with organs, right?"

Shachi squinted back at him for a while as if weighing his words, then shook his head with a doubtful smile. "Nah, I know a trap when I see one. You're just messing with me because you're jealous I got all the good stuff." With that he placed a benevolent clap on Penguin's shoulder and put his organic delicacies on the top shelf of the fridge. "Maybe that will make her join us for dinner again!"

"That or hang another chain on the door," Penguin muttered, going back to chopping vegetables, and making a note of tossing Shachi's acquisitions overboard when he wasn't looking.

A couple of minutes later, the mechanic had produced two bento boxes and joined Bepo on the infirmary floor. The bear was wearing the same downcast expression as when he'd left him. "How are our favorite kindergarteners?" Penguin asked. "Still trouble in paradise?"

"See for yourself."

"Could you hold still for once?" Law called through the key hole, crouching in the hallway under the Room.

"Easy for you to say – that was my rib!" Savenna's voice complained from the other side of the door.

"This would be a lot easier if I could see," Law remarked sharply. "Like you know, during any normal exam."

"That's not what you told nurse Mai."

"Remind me again why there's a door in my face?"

"Because I'm ugly."

"And how is that my problem?" Law rolled his eyes with exasperation before another organ was selected and teleported to his makeshift lab in the hallway. There he'd subject it to all possible tests before sending it back to her. But like he'd pointed out, it wasn't an ideal arrangement. Savenna had agreed to put the Sea Stone away during the exam, but working with the Ope Ope no Mi resulted in her kidney flying accidentally into Bepo's face and sending him hyperventilating for the rest of the morning.

"Yeah…And I thought I'd seen everything," Penguin marveled.

Inside the infirmary, Savenna's suspicious glance was set on a batch of organs bobbing in the air. She wasn't sure she would ever get used to contemplating the inside of her body. But that was the compromise. Either she put the Sea Stone away and let him examine her, or he'd shamble his way through four cabins, into the machine room, and down the fuel tank until he'd find a wall that didn't resist his abilities.

After making her decision to stay away from him, she'd taken care of most of her treatments herself. But Law didn't always agree with her methods. "Did you take out your own appendix?" he yelped when finding that this time one of the reddish cubicles was missing.

"Maybe…"

"I honestly don't know how you're still alive in there. Did you at least run a complete blood count?"

"Do you think I'm stupid?"

"Are we really having this conversation?" Paper rustled and was slid back under the door. "Here. Make sure to follow these instructions for the next exam."

Silence.

"Is that an S?"

"Yes."

"Your handwriting really does suck."

"Of course, I can see how that is the problem here," he snapped. "Forget it. Just slide the ECG results under the door when you're done. I want to take another look at your heart. I really don't feel like committing murder again just to get you a new one."

Whatever reasoning had brought this situation about, Law hated it. He'd hammered against that door until his knuckles had gone numb, but Savenna's stubbornness being literally out of this world, there was nothing he could do.

So he had no choice but to resort to other problem-solving methods. After inventing new more or less successful ways of examining his patient, he'd captured a rookie pirate crew to drain them of their blood. Their supplies were running low and Savenna would be needing countless transfusions for the poison to successfully leave her system. Next, he'd gotten down to the prison cells filled with the few marines he'd left alive. After making sure their injuries were severe enough, he switched off the lights and started practicing. If he wanted to be operating from behind a closed door, he'd have to learn not to rely on his eyes. Finally, he'd have to find out how to keep Savenna's wounds from opening back up and a new test subject was already waiting for him.

"Honestly, Captain, I don't understand why you're going through all this trouble," Penguin remarked leaning against Law's cabin door that afternoon. The doctor who had just strapped a freshly gagged marine prisoner to an improvised operating table, looked up with a dismissive frown. "Practice."

The mechanic shot the marine an apologetic look. "This might be rather obvious, but why don't you just tell her how pretty she is? A lot less work if you ask me," Penguin suggested.

Yeah, right.

If Savenna had earned a berry every time someone complemented her looks, she'd be richer than old Roger's crew. And if none of those complements could do the trick, Law doubted that his would. "I don't see how this is relevant."

Between Shachi whose vocabulary was limited to words printed in dirty magazines and a captain who despite rummaging in people's brains seemed to know less about human feelings than the seaweed he'd just prepared for lunch, Penguin wondered how he had remained sane for so long. "Now that Nell isn't dressing her in pretty illusions anymore, she's obviously embarrassed to come out," he explained.

Law stifled a laugh. The only time Savenna had encountered the word embarrassment would have been in a dictionary. And even then she'd probably have refrained from using it. With Conqueror's Haki and the temper of a middle-aged dock worker, he wouldn't be surprised if she held a blade to the throat of everybody unlucky enough not to fall in love with her at first sight.

No, this wasn't about her looks. It was something else. Maybe she was punishing him. But if that was the case, why couldn't she choose something that didn't put her own life in jeopardy?

"Now that you know what she really looks like, I bet she's scared that you won't like her anymore," Penguin added.

"That's ridiculous!"

The mechanic arched an eye-brow. "Is it?" Having finally captured his captain's attention, he made a daring step inside the cabin. "You need to let her know that none of this changes your feelings for her."

In the middle of rolling out his surgery equipment, Law halted. Oh no… Suddenly he knew where this was coming from. He still hadn't convinved his crew that he and Savenna weren't a couple. And the Blizzard Rock rescue missing sure hadn't helped. But if Law knew something for a fact, it was that romantic feelings played absolutely no role in whatever she was doing.

Only in a way – very far-fetched, of course – Penguin could have a point. Maybe she wasn't being cruel, but actually afraid that he wouldn't accept her flaws.

Despite Savenna's habits of provoking and manipulating people, she had accepted all of his bad sides he'd sworn he'd never show anybody else. How could she possibly think that he wouldn't do the same for her? Maybe that's what she needed to hear. But how on earth was he supposed to convince her?

Hesitantly, Law stepped away from the marine. "How do you do it?"

"Do what?"

Law didn't believe he was saying this out loud. "Tell her she's pretty."

Penguin looked at him as if he'd severed one of his arms again. "Let me get this straight – you never said that to a girl before?"

"Not really…"

The mechanic had trouble making sense of that. "But with all due respect, Captain, how do all these women come back to the sub with you?"

Law shrugged. "We never do much talking." While Penguin was silently dying inside, the doctor wondered if stating the obvious would really help get Savenna to see him again. But however bad the idea was, the other options were significantly worse.

"Well, there are many ways to go about it." The mechanic cleared his throat. "But a declaration like that needs to be thought through and is best accompanied by a nice gift. Do we still have some of that West Blue chocolate or did Bepo eat that all?"

Already the doctor knitted his brow with disapproval. "No junk food until she's recovered."

"Alright…" Penguin conceded at his cold stare, wondering if he should be worried about the word organic after all. "How is your signing voice?"

Law's glare grew deadly.

"Okay…Not your biggest asset then." His captain might be lacking in the department of basic human interaction but he still knew over fifty ways of killing someone with a pencil. Then Penguin had an idea. "How about you write her a letter? There are lots of words you can use to describe beauty!"

Law considered it. Of all the options, this would probably make him feel the least stupid. Penguin, watching the change on his captain's face with rising enthusiasm, suggested, "You could even try a poem?"

"Don't push it!"

"Fine," his crew mate held up his hands in defense. "Let me know when you're done and we'll put some flowers between the pages. Good luck!" And with a last wink, Penguin let himself out.

Only when the door fell shut did Law realize what he had agreed to. The marine on the table let out a sound of agony and he couldn't agree more. With slight desperation he let himself fall into his chair. He had to write a letter to Savenna – a girl who had fashioned her life according to her favorite stories and who used to throw books out of the window whenever they didn't meet her expectations, caring more about plot holes than some poor person's head injury. Yes, one could say she felt strongly about the written word.

What if she didn't like his letter?

With a frustrated grown, Law reached for pen and paper and placed his chin on the edge of his desk. When the marine whimpered again, he turned around plaintively. "Any suggestions?"

For most of her life Savenna had been certain she knew everything about the diseases of this world. Those that were contagious, those that were fatal; those that were both. But it took the healing of one for her to realize that she'd been naïve and cocky, like the child she refused to grow out of.

Her eyes kept staring at the sponge and soap in her hands.

Since her organ match with Law, she'd kept moving in circles. She'd never thought it would be so hard to pretend. Shooting those stupid lines like it was all okay, while all she wanted to do was yell at him to keep away from her. Vanity was the only excuse she could come up with, but who knows how long she would be able to keep it up.

But that wasn't the worst part.

The door wasn't enough protection. He was still hurting – she could feel it in his voice, had seen it in the dark circles around his eyes through the key hole. Wherever she was his pain followed.

It had never been Amer Lead. She was the disease and her contagion nestled deep. She had tried spitting it out and washing it off but even when her skin was scrubbed raw, the heaviness wouldn't leave Law's steps. She had tried cutting it out, get rid of parts of her body she didn't need, and only gave up when fever and bloodloss-dots had started clouding her vision. What was she supposed to do? How did one remove a rotten piece of soul? No textbook had ever taught her that.

It had been there for so long – She had treated her governess like a nuisance and still got the woman to give her life to save hers. She had made her classmates' existence a living hell and didn't mind their dead bodies paving her road out of Flevance. She had been too selfish to heed her mother's grief or the lengths Fetch would go to save a daughter. She had left a friend behind and walked out on a man who'd offered her a name and a home. No matter what path she chose, someone always got hurt.

She was the disease and there was no cure. Her venom found everyone who made the mistake of coming too close.

Footsteps approached and Savenna panicked.

This couldn't go on – it couldn't happen again. Not to these people.

Anxious, she stumbled to the white drawers of the infirmary and strapped gloves over her shaky fingers, two whole scrubs over her body and three surgical masks over nose and mouth. She didn't know how it traveled so she had to try everything. When voices echoed through the hallway, she huddled up in the corner and held her breath. Maybe if she sat still she could contain it. Maybe the air would finally grow lighter.

But what if it wasn't in the air at all? What if it was in her touch? In her words? Her fears and thoughts? Her insides cramped with dread when she remembered the terrible things she'd said to Law, to Nell, even to Bepo… her anger and her lies. Had they sealed their fate?

Head droning with thirst and fatigue, heart throbbing with anguish, Savenna curled up in a ball and prayed for the world to finally swallow her whole.

"She needs you. She just doesn't know how to show it," Rayleigh insisted, when Savenna had once again disappeared among the groves, leaving young Nell looking for her until the sun had set over Sabaody.

Nell doubted the old pirate knew how often she repeated that to herself. Whenever Savenna got injured, she wouldn't let her fight in her stead. When she came home drunk and sick with Amber Lead, she wouldn't let her hold her hair or take her temperature. Nell got to witness the sobbing and cursing when she got dumped, but on the nights she cried silently her door remained shut.

That's just how she was, Nell had grown to understand. Savenna had lived two whole lives before meeting her. There were parts of her that she would never disclose. And while she had no trouble putting her work on other people's shoulders, she could never truly rely on anybody but herself.

The survivor's curse Rayleigh used to call it.

For the longest time, underneath her composed self, Nell had felt helpless. No matter how strong she became or how well she mastered her Devil Fruit, Savenna never allowed her on the front lines if she could help it, with nothing but a terminal illness and two functioning Hakis on her side.

That's why Nell had worked so hard on their plan. Not because she cared a rat's ass about revenge, but because she would get to show Savenna that she was someone she could fall back on.

During the surgery she had almost gone nuts. Again, she hadn't been able to do anything, besides sitting by her side, hour after hour until she woke up. But when she did, her door was closed again. This time not only for Law but for everybody else.

Even behind her snarky comments, she could tell that Savenna wasn't herself. The cookies Nell had stolen from the kitchen and left at the door had still been there when she came back, as did the books she'd brought up from their old cabin. And when Nell knocked at her door that day, there was no answer. "Savenna?" She tried again. "Are you alright? Do you want me to call Law?"

The infirmary remained silent. Her patience waning, Nell pressed her ear to the door. Had something happened to her? When she didn't hear the familiar breathing on the other side, she couldn't stand by any longer.

She pulled a pin out of her hair like she had been taught, and slid it carefully inside the lock. The door sprang open and Nell launched inside. "Are you okay?" She panted. "Where are…?"

But she didn't get to finish her sentence. Two hands grabbed her and violently pushed her against the door. "Stay away from me!" The grip was weak but the element of surprise was enough to send Nell staggering. More shocked than hurt, she stared at the birdlike silhouette crouching in the half-dark, eyes gleaming with madness.

"Savenna…?"

"Don't!" Her voice echoed shrill inside the infirmary walls. "You need to leave. I don't want to hurt you." Nell didn't understand. "What on earth are you talking about?"

Violently, Savenna shook her head. "Didn't you hear me? It's not safe for you here! Do as you're told and go away!"

As if programmed to obey her orders, Nell's legs were about to head for the door, but surprisingly she didn't move. Something was wrong here, but she didn't care. Not anymore. Anger had finally found her.

Anger.

"Do you know how hard it is to love you?" she blurted out into the darkness. For the first time Nell didn't care if her words were going to hit were it hurt. "We were supposed to do this together! For two years we didn't nothing but train. But that doesn't mean anything to do, does it?"

Nell shook her head, pushing back tears. "I should have known… After all this time you are still the sole survivor, burning bridges as you go because no one will ever be strong enough to stand by you. I know you are the one who's sick, but do you have the slightest idea how much this hurts? Have the person you love most think so little of you?"

The ghostly figure wavered as if slapped in the face. "No… that's not…I just wanted to protect you!"

"Protect me?" Nell laughed. "Just as you wanted to protect me now from whatever is going through your head this time?"

"I'm not good for you, Nell. I hurt people," Savenna muttered, defeated.

"Who are you to decide that?" Nell chuckled bitterly. "You are no god, Savenna. Conqueror's Haki might bring you back from the dead, but that still doesn't give you the right to make decisions for other people. Or to leave them behind like yesterday's trash!" She thought she'd forgiven her for walking away and leaving her with nothing but a letter, but she hadn't. And she wanted her to know.

"That's not…" Savenna protested now with a hint of indignation.

"I know you're a hopeless narcissist, but this? You are hiding in here because you think that your sheer presence is enough to kill people! Do you even hear yourself? You're treating others like they are nothing but helpless idiots unable to fend for themselves. Even Law who performed a freaking miracle to save you. And he was right! You can't possibly trust anybody to help you, if you think you're the center of the fucking universe!"

When Savenna remained silent she ploughed on. What had before been concealed by an intricate web of illusions, finally seemed crystal clear to Nell. "And I know where this is coming from. You get like this when you're scared. This has nothing to do with me, Law or anybody else – this is you being scared of not being able to run away from life anymore," Nell concluded.

"It's easier to be a monster than a regular human being. And believe me, I know. It means not being able to let go whenever life doesn't suit you, having to look at the consequences of your actions and letting people be there for you... That's how it is for all of us." The anger that had fueled her speech, slowly seeped out of her. Her voice grew soft with sadness. "I'm sorry, Savenna. I really am… But I can't do this anymore. So let me know when you're ready to be my sister again." With that she turned around and softly closed the door behind her.

"What do you think?" Law asked, nervously fiddling with an empty pen.

He'd been writing all night, filling pages and tossing half of them out again under the influence of a dangerous amount of caffeine. He had little memory of the last ten hours, and no clue how the pages of his first literary accomplishment had spread over the entire cabin floor. But it had turned out to be more fun than he'd imagined, and somewhere deep down he was a little proud. Not that he'd ever tell Penguin. That idiot only waited for him to share his feelings left and right and sing lullabies to every unlucky organ donor. When the mechanic remained silent, the captain of the Heart Pirates scowled. "So?"

Penguin swallowed hard, cheeks glowing red. "Well, you certainly have an eye for detail, Captain…"

"Is that good or bad?"

"Oh, it's very good. It's just…" he stuttered, "I didn't expect so much…imagery."

What was it with Penguin today? He looked like he was about to pass out. He'd asked him to write something and Law had done just that. Where was the problem? And what on earth did he mean by 'much imagery'?

"Hey, is it just me or did someone leave their Mihawk-porn lying around?" Shachi called from the cabin door. He picked up a page and grinned. "And there's Captain Silvers too! And I thought I've read all the dirty stuff on the ship – nice!"

The empty pen in Law's hand broke in two. "Did you invite everyone down here?!"

"Sh! I'm getting to the good part," Ikkaku hissed from the floor. Law had tried to get rid of her an hour ago, but she'd threatened to run off with the ending. "And don't worry, Bepo won't find out. I told him I've seen a marine ship before coming down. The bear won't leave his post anytime soon."

Terrific. Now he'd have even more time to explain himself. For a moment, Law considered teleporting himself to a desert island where he could quietly let his shame consume him. But thank Roger at least one person on the sub wouldn't think he'd lost his mind.

"Wait…" Ikkaku inhaled sharply, staring wildly at the blurry writing. "Did you actually try this…? Like for real?"

"That's not the point!" Law groaned with frustration. "Can someone just tell me if it makes sense?"

"Depends on how flexible they are…" Shachi said, rubbing his chin.

"And how can you possibly know about the scare on his butt?" Penguin blurted out. Mournfully Law let his forehead fall onto the backrest of his chair. "You'd be surprised how much intel marines have on the warlords."

"That explains why that prisoner looked so traumatized," Shachi figured. "There you are, expecting torture and dismemberment and instead you get to answer questions about Dracul Mihawk's private parts. That would also kinda put me off." Rin spite of Shachi's opinion, the marine prisoner had actually proven more useful than Law had expected. And his proof-reading skills hadn't been the worst either.

"As much effort as you obviously put into this," Penguin suggested carefully, "I don't understand how this is supposed to bring your feelings across."

Yes, Law's choice of prose might have been slightly unconventional, but he had tried everything else; a regular letter, a Wanted poster and even a medical textbook entry analyzing the symmetry of Savenna's face but none of them seemed to hit the nail on the head.

The doctor shrugged. "She likes that kind of stuff…I thought that if I'd write anything then it should be something she enjoys reading. She has a thing for Mihawk, so I thought… Anyway, I could refer to her looks multiple times."

"I can see that," Penguin commented, trying to hide his embarrassment.

"And so does Mihawk," Ikkaku added, before looking up from the page. "Sorry…"

"Come on, Penguin. He couldn't be clearer about his feelings," Shachi complained, holding a paragraph into the other mechanic's face. "Those are obviously all things he wants to do with her. See here? Her voluptuous lips parted slowly and she couldn't help but tremble with desire when his fingertips brushed over the curve of her breasts. I personally would only write that about someone I wanna see naked. Right, Captain?"

Law's face turned ashen.

What the hell was he talking about? Law had read his share of cheap romance but he hadn't made the rules! You were supposed to write things like this! And because of his underlying fear of boring Savenna, he had no choice but to write something racy. It was supposed to be funny. Sort of an inside joke. But they were just words. They couldn't mean anything. And neither did the main character. Law tried to convince himself that this had been so easy to write because of his own questionable taste in books. And since when did Shachi know what voluptuous meant, anyway?

"Don't be ridiculous," Law managed to say. "It's just means to an end."

The mechanic shrugged. "If you say so, Captain. She's your girlfriend."

"She's not my…"

"He prefers the word lover," Ikkaku corrected.

"Alright, that's enough. Everybody out!" Suddenly Law rather felt like putting on Sea Stone chains and throwing himself overboard than listening to this for another minute. If his crew could invest at least as much imagination into their battle strategies as into his private life, they wouldn't be rookies any longer. But to hell with it, he didn't need Penguin's opinion. This stupid story would go right into the trash where he should have tossed it in the first place.

After the crew had walked off with long faces and Shachi had assured him that there was nothing better to swoop a girl off her feet than good, genuine smut, he let himself fall on the bed face forward.

That had definitely not gone according to plan.

Law was usually good at solving problems. But why did he always feel like a complete idiot as soon as Savenna was involved? Could Shachi have been right? Had he imagined all these things for a completely different reason?

Savenna's books had proven themselves quite educational in later life and he'd be lying if he said he'd reread them out of nostalgia only. And he couldn't deny the curiosity that had been eating at him, since Savenna had boarded his ship. He'd caught himself wondering how all of what he had written would feel like if it were real. Not with Mihawk in the picture, obviously…

Rolling onto his back, Law couldn't help but think back to that moment in the hospital.

It had been a misunderstanding, of course. A stupid game. But what would have happened if that woman hadn't walked in? Would he have…? Suddenly it was back, the burning, electrifying sensation that had rushed through every inch of his body when she'd pressed herself against him. Her fingers clutching his arms, her breath on his neck hot and sweet, her closeness intoxicating… Then she was there, in the story, behind the words, between the lines, looking at him tauntingly as if she knew exactly what he'd been thinking the night before while his pen had brushed over every part of her imaginary body…

What the hell is wrong with me? Law jumped up from the bed, heart racing.

Not only was she his patient, which made it inherently wrong to think of her that way, she existed on a different natural plane than him. She always had. Even with Flevance gone, she still belonged to a world he could only observe from afar. She'd always be the dazzling, unattainable girl making a room stand still when she walked down the stairs. He might be Trafalgar Law, the infamous Surgeon of Death on Grand Line, but to her he was still just Mushroom Head.

She would never think of him that way – hell, she didn't even want to talk to him. They weren't children anymore and would probably never be friends again, no matter how much he tried. He had let her down too many times. He should treat her like any other patient until they could go their separate ways again, each returning to their life like the adults they had grown up to be.

Law woke up to an alarm wailing in his ears. When had he fallen asleep? Mechanically he shot a glance at the clock. It was the middle of the night. An hour before Ikkaku's diving sequence would be taking them back under water.

Trying to shut off the alarm he realized what it meant.

Code Blue. Cardiac arrest.

Shit…

He should have known Savenna's new heart wouldn't be able to sustain her. He'd spared the next marine in line for forceful organ donation and now she'd have to pay the price for his negligence.

Law almost flew off the chair, the mark of his glasses printed on his forehead. He grabbed his instruments and dashed across the abandoned lab. This was exactly why he always expected the worst. Penguin and his letters were not going to save anyone now. Determined, he rushed down the hall and rattled the handle. It didn't budge.

Law tried summoning his Devil Fruit but the Room died in a blue swirl in the palm of his hand. Damn it! How could Savenna be so reckless? He couldn't lose her – not after everything that happened. In the pit of his stomach he felt it again. The same burning, desperate anger that had pushed him through the lines of heavily armed marines. Only this time it was stronger, like an electric current buzzing through his body. Just as he thought his chest was about to explode, his caught a glance of his right hand.

Stunned, Law stumbled backwards. His hand was gleaming black, like covered in thick machine oil. There was only one person he'd ever seen this happen to.

Haki…

Panting, he tried making sense of it, then decided it didn't matter. As long as he could use it, it could do whatever it wanted with him. Under a long line of curses, he took momentum and send his fist flying through the door. The lock sprang out of the hinges, metal banging against the wall. The Haki disappeared as fast as it had come, but Law didn't notice.

"I swear if I have to get you a new heart, I …" he started, but froze in his tracks.

The bed was empty, the sheets undone.

The monitors were screaming wildly into the darkness. The curtains stood open, letting moonlight cut a white shadow into the room. What the hell was going on here? Squinting into the room, he recognized the trail of discarded scrubs and surgical masks leading to the side of the bed. Law's stomach twisted with dread but his legs kept moving.

Savenna's fingers trembled as they clutched the shimmering vial. She expected it to feel cold but it didn't. It felt light and ordinary. And soon it would be back where it belonged. After all these years, they were the only ones who truly belonged together. Poison to poison.

Fiercely, she quenched the fear in her heart. She had brought death to so many people, why was it so hard when it was just for herself? After all she had done it should be easy – the only fitting conclusion to a decade of killing, vengeance and abandonment. Savenna didn't notice the tears blurring her eyes. Come on, Silvers! This isn't the moment to be a coward. Summoning her last pride, Savenna raised her chin, closed her eyes and lifted the rim of the vial to her lips.

"Don't!"

Law's voice fired so much anger, it made the blood freeze in her veins. Her eyes flew open, just to meet his piercing gaze towering above her. The blinking lights of the monitors shot waves of madness across his face. His glance wandered from the powder in her hand, to her red-rimmed eyes and the blood dripping from where she'd ripped the tubes out of her arm.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

She was unable to speak.

As he stood there, tall and dark in the moonlight, she expected him to unleash hell upon her. The kind of anger that none of his enemies got to face. The kind of fury they only reserved for each other.

Before she knew it, he'd seized the vial. She didn't resist. He would punish her because she stopped fighting. For having broken their unspoken oath of never giving up.

But Law remained silent. Only then did she see he was shaking, glassy eyes wide with fear. They both flinched when the vial shattered on the floor, a cloud of Amber Lead rising up around them.

Lit with sudden panic, their eyes locked. Seconds of fearful hesitation passed, until Savenna kicked the vial to the other side of the room, staring in awe as it left a trail of illuminated floor tiles in its wake.

"I…" he started and broke off.

She opened her mouth to say something but failed. Instead she watched him turn the monitors off, walk to the other side of the bed and slide to the floor.

Back to back, they sat in silence.

Law knew there was protocol. He needed to be careful, consult a textbook, possibly restrain her but he couldn't. He wanted to yell at her; call her cruel, selfish, stupid, curse the last four generations of her family, but the only thing racing through his mind was fear. "Why did you do that…?" he asked soundlessly.

"To see if it would kill me."

"Why?"

"To know if I'm still a human being…" She hadn't thought she could admit it, but the words had left her mouth before she knew it. "I always wanted to grow up to be like those happy, busy people under your window." She felt herself smile. "So when things started to fall apart, I refused to believe it. I was convinced there was some big adventure waiting for us. But the truth is, I became obsessed. And before I knew it, I couldn't go back. It was my own poison that's kept me alive," she muttered. "You were right – I'm incapable of trust. And the more I try, the more I realize that none of it will come back."

On his side of the darkness, Law stiffened.

He had said those exact words before, confessing to ghosts and shadows. The only people he could tell what the past had left him with. He'd never thought it would hurt that much hearing it from somebody else.

Even after seventeen hours of surgery, Savenna's will had seemed unbreakable. Her bones had never grown to their full extent and her lungs resembled that of an old woman, and still everyone had seemed tiny next to the conqueror queen of his imagination. But now he'd seen what Corazon had meant. They weren't different at all. When it came to life after Amber Lead, she was just as powerless as he was.

Law thought it would be harder, but when he finally spoke it felt like a relief. "I've heard people say that it will, but honestly I have no idea…"

"What…?"

"Yesterday I asked my crew to walk out on me. And I actually believed that they would," he said, feeling the sting of shame. "I don't know the first thing about trust either." It had taken Corazon years to beat it out of him and here he was, saying it out loud. "Whenever I trusted someone, they…"

"They betray you or they die," Savenna finished matter-of-factly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Law fought the urge to look around and stare at her. How could she know? He'd never told anybody about Corazon or Doflamingo.

"I understand. You lied to protect them," Savenna concluded, finger nails buried into her knees. "But I always end up hurting people. I love Nell and yet I abandoned her and you… you cured me and the only thing I do is make you sick." The guilt she'd been ready to burn away from the inside, came crushing out. "Back on marine the base, you said you didn't want to see me, but I didn't listen. I never listen. And I pushed you over the edge. I'm so sorry, Law. You deserve so much better."

For a moment, Law couldn't make sense of what he'd just heard. Was that the reason she wouldn't let him see her? Not because she was hurting but because she was afraid of hurting him? He let his head hang low. "Stop…"

"But you do!"

"Savenna, you never made me sick," he rasped. "It wasn't your fault. Without you I'd be nothing but a corpse rotting in the hospital I was too afraid to leave."

She shook her head. This didn't make sense. "Then why did you only get worse with me here?"

"Because I left you behind!" he called out. Age had slipped out of him and in the night cold of the infirmary, time was standing still. "My family was my father's responsibility. Lamie was his patient. But you were mine. I only had one job and instead of helping you, I ran," he gulped. "It's my own guilt that's been driving me mad, not you."

"And when you came back, I was terrified. I wanted to prove you were the enemy not because I actually believed it, but because I was scared about what would happen if I cared about you again." Law chuckled bitterly. "So whatever you think is wrong with you is just as wrong with me."

Dazed, Savenna lifted her chin from her knees.

Could Law truly be scared of something? The little boy, yes, but Surgeon of Death cutting corpses and breaking down doors didn't know fear. Or did he? Then she remembered the day in the kitchen and felt nauseous. There had always been more to Law than met the eye.

"It's not worth it," she muttered. "I'm not a good person to care about." She had been too selfish to understand it before, but him not caring about her was the best thing that could have happened to him. She would have to live with it, but as long as it was only her she could handle it.

Law remained silent.

How badly she wanted him to say something. But the closer she listened the more the room went quiet. After a while she couldn't even hear him breathe. Savenna flinched as his voice suddenly cut through the darkness: "Are you done or is there more bullshit where that came from?"

"What…?"

From the other side of the bed, Law gave a short, bitter laugh. "Guilt I can understand but this? Really? We are bad at a lot of things, but not half as bad as self-pity looks on you, princess."

The laughter vanished from his voice, replaced by the anger she had coming for her. "Of course, I care! I've always cared, even when you didn't deserve it. And Roger, could you be awful…" He inhaled sharply, as if wounded. "But it's always been you – you've made sure of that from the start and now you have to deal with it."

"I…"

Law sighed painfully. "Do you want it in writing? I bet Penguin would like this…" With that he rolled up the white sleeves of his coat and stretched out his arm into the room. Under the moonlight their skin shone in the same color again. A ghostly blueish white.

"You asked what the ink was for," he swallowed hard. "It's my Amber Lead. After I was cured, I thought loneliness would finish me off. With that metal, fucked up as it is, it felt like part of you was still there. And when it was gone I couldn't do it. So I told some pirate to take a needle and mark my skin as it was supposed to be. At least that way I wouldn't forget."

Unable to process what she was hearing, Savenna stared into the darkness.

He had refused telling her about the tattoos not because he didn't trust her but because it was about her. Could she really have meant that much to another person?

Law wasn't finished. "And you've always cared more about your friends than you feared anything else. You saved my life on that island. So even though part of us is screwed up, you've never stopped being human. Sometimes I think we've just spent so much time surviving, that we never learned how to live…" She heard the bitter smile on his lips. "But if anyone can figure it out, it's the girl who beat those guys in the back alley. Now go and terrorize some peasants, so I know you're okay."

Savenna couldn't move.

After all those years, he still saw her for who she was, the cruel, selfish person her own mother had rejected, and yet he'd never erased her from his memory. It's always been you. She had known too – from the night she had walked up the steps to his father's house. She'd hated him not because he was smarter than her, but for the feeling of impending doom that she knew was waiting for them both. And it wasn't only obsession that allowed her to survive but the idea that in some crazy fantasy world they might see each other again.

When she felt her walls crumble, she didn't do anything about it. "Mushroom Head…"

"See?" Law chuckled. "Wasn't so hard."

But his smile vanished when the bed frame creaked and her shape appeared next to him. She looked shattered, stumbling as her knees got caught up in the hand-made funeral dress. Her white eyes were brimming with tears. "I don't know how to do this," she whimpered. "I don't know if I can…"

Law's eyes widened with surprise as she crept forward and flung her arms around his neck.

Savenna had never considered the possibility that she might grow old. Her life had been a race against time. And Nell was right, she was scared senseless. Amber Lead had been a part of her for so long, she had no idea who she was without it.

Then, she felt Law slowly lowering his arms around her. Under the white coat his muscles tensed hesitantly, while her tears dampened his collar. He didn't say anything, but when sobs started sharking her, he lifted her legs off the floor and pulled her on his lap. Carefully, he slipped out of his coat and placed it on her shoulders.

Cradled like a small child, Savenna realized how good it felt to be held by somebody again. She took in sharp scent of stale coffee and disinfectant, and the radiating warmth of his body, easing into the Law-hug that hadn't changed in the last eight years besides the fact that he had massively outgrown her. The prospect of life seemed just as terrifying as before, but maybe she could bear it if she wasn't doing it alone. She hadn't been aware of how tired she was, until her head slumped down against Law's chest.

Holy Roger, and what now? Law didn't dare to move. He needed to put her back into bed, get a new set of IVs, and restart the monitors. Ikkaku's report would be coming in soon. He had to find out why he hell he was able to use Haki after make sure Bepo was watching out for marine ships. He needed to be prepared.

But the urgency subsided when he looked down at Savenna, snoring peacefully inside his coat. Despite himself he smiled. He couldn't bring it over him to wake her. She had fought for so long and now she needed sleep – everything else could wait. He tried to move as little as possible when he pulled down another sheet from the bed and covered her with it. With a sigh he leaned back and listening to the familiar breathing next to him, he closed his eyes.

For the first time in years Trafalgar Law fell asleep without dreaming.