"I don't know about this Law…" Leila spoke anxiously. He was taking her to the castle, as per Eloise's request.

"What do you mean, you said you wanted to wear a dress" He spoke calmly and carried on walking forward without giving her a chance to back out.

"I know but…I don't know these people!" Leila hissed, tugging on Law's top to get his attention. "Do I have to bow down to them?"

"What?" Law looked at her extremely confused. "Why would you have to do that?"

"T-they're royals aren't they?"

"Yeah, but they're friends before anything" Law reassured her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders to coerce her through the gates.

"And you're sure its fine for me to come?"

"Yes, everyone's coming – what am I going to do, leave you on the ship?" He chuckled at her nervousness.

Leila's mind was racing – she was scared to meet these important clients to Law for many reasons. She didn't want to make a bad impression, she didn't want to be indebted to anybody and she was afraid that they may know about her. Leila stopped walking, her shoes firmly planted to the ground. Law was forced to stop and he turned to face her, beginning to grow impatient.

"Leila-ya…" He warned her but she looked into his eyes desperately. He could see she was afraid, although he couldn't understand why to this extent.

"What if…" She began to speak, her voice not sounding like her own. "Law, what if they recognise me?" She hissed at him underneath her breath.

"Why on earth would they recognise you" He sighed.

"I used to go to these type of balls – I told you before right?"

"…Not really" He replied. He couldn't remember her going into detail about it.

"Xander used to be a royal. So he still had connections and used to host these types of formal parties for all kinds of important people. I was always there. I used to enjoy them so much because I could go off and actually have fun – I could easily lose the knights in the large crowds"

Law hummed in understanding. "I see. Still – they aren't of very high standing so they weren't likely to be invited. Besides, why would they remember another young lady at a ball?"

"Depends, do they have brothers?" Leila asked honestly.

"…Whats that supposed to mean?" Law looked down at her disgruntled and unsatisfied before Eloise called out to the pair from her window.

"Heey!" She had half of her body out the window, waving furiously. "Come in, I can't wait to meet you!"

Before they could reply she had shut her window and Leila blinked a couple times before speaking. "…Isn't she meant to be sick?"

"She is." Law confirmed, sighing. She was as energetic as usual.

Leila twirled around in the make-shift dressing room. She was wearing a nude-pink slim dress that hugged her figure. Eloise sat on a chair eating a snack as she clapped furiously.

"That also looks amazing on you!" She said wide eyed. "I'm so jealous – you can pull of anything!"

Leila blushed at her sincere compliments and felt slightly embarrassed. "Hey, that's not true!"

The pair had almost instantly hit it off. As soon as Leila stepped into the castle Eloise had enveloped her in a hug and had tugged her into a large room filled with dressmakers with various colours and styles of gowns. Eloise's sisters were just as friendly and pleasant but Eloise held a special charm to her that could make anyone feel at home.

"Come on out then, let's take a look!" One of Eloise's sisters encouraged.

Leila opened the curtains and stepped out to see many women smile and nod their heads in agreement. Abby, the sister who had encouraged Leila to show off her dress held her hand to her chin in thought.

"Hmm, It does look good but I don't think this is your colour" Abby confessed, rifling through various dresses.

"What are you talking about?!" Eloise exclaimed in shock horror. "Can't you see how beautiful she looks?"

"I'm not saying that dummie!" Abby huffed, shaking her head. "Of course she looks beautiful but she could look stunning if I find the right colour!"

"Hey, it's honestly not a big deal! I'll wear whatever!" Leila tried to diffuse the sisters as she awkwardly stood between them. She had been trying on various dresses and she was beginning to grow tired.

"It is a big deal when Law brings a woman anywhere" one of the sisters laughed, causing many to nod in agreement.

"How long have you all known Law?" Leila asked curiously.

"Years – he's essentially the family doctor" Abby explained, her expression darkening slightly. "But he's mainly around for Eloise, due to her circumstances…"

"And you were all okay even when he was a shichibukai?" Leila questioned warily.

Eloise nodded without much thought. "Daddy didn't mind what his intentions were outside of work. As long as he did his job it wasn't a problem"

"He definitely has soft spot for him though" Abby snickered. After holding up a delicate red ball gown her eyes seemed to sparkle. "I've got it! Why didn't we realise this? Red!"

Leila stiffened but didn't say anything as Abby passed her the elegant gown.

"Red is way too extravega-" Leila began to protest but got cut off when Abby pushed her back into the dressing room.

"Nonsense, that is definitely your colour" Abby nodded definitely. "I feel like we need an outside opinion though, wait a minute".

Leila heard the door slam as Abby went to find someone else – Leila assumed she was summoning another seamstress and looked down at the gown with a sigh. The familiar colour of the wine red did indeed compliment her complexion. Her Hispanic heritage practically shone through when she slipped it on. Her skin, although pale like her mother held a hint of a warm tan and her dark ebony hair cascaded down her back in soft waves. The red of the dress made her golden eyes stand out and Leila bit on her lip as she smoothed the dress over her figure. The gown was tight fitting until her hips where it flared out like a traditional ball gown. It hugged her waist snugly and complimented her large bust fittingly.

"Of course it looks great…" Leila huffed underneath her breath, feeling a shiver of disgust travel down her back. Seeing herself in a red gown transported her back to Thriller Bark. Xander would command her to wear red dresses at every single ball without fail and all eyes would be on her. She grew used to it but as soon as she grew old enough to realise it was a way of her representing Xander's signature colours she began to detest it. Any link to him, she detested. As she was about to pull the dress off of herself she heard a male voice protesting outside the curtains.

"Ouch! H-hey" A familiar male voice protested, annoyance lacing his voice. "Don't push me"

Leila felt a small smile fall onto her lips as she recognised Law's grumpy voice almost instantly.

"Because, a male's opinion is important! You can see things that we women may miss" Abby explained curtly, her voice communicating the no-nonsense personality that she had.

"Are you done?" Eloise asked Leila, peeking her head into the curtain without waiting for a reply. As soon as she saw Leila she whistled and grinned at Law. Law's sat down on a chair and sighed in annoyance, wishing it would soon be over with.

"I was having an important chat with your father you know…" Law spoke to Abby irritated. Those two never got on well – they were of a similar age and their personalities clashed far too often.

"You won't care about that in a minute. Just wait" Abby swatted him.

Leila took a deep breath and ignored the disgusting feeling on her skin as she opened the curtain and stepped out carefully. Law didn't look at first, he was too focused on looking out the window. But when he heard the squeals of the girls in the room he looked and was instantly floored. It was rare to see Leila dolled up and Law forgot to breath.

"Beautiful…" Law couldn't help but murmur, unknowing to himself.

Abby giggled and nodded in agreement to which Leila blushed all the way up to her ears as she could tell that Law had meant the compliment. Law looked her up and down hungrily as he took in her body. The dress accentuated everything in the right places and still held the class and elegance to be permitted. He had to remind himself to breath and he let out a deep breath as he somewhat regained his composure.

"That's the one. Definitely" A seamstress spoke. Leila chuckled nervously, unused to all the attention being on her and she shyly let her eyes fall the floor. She occasionally glanced up at Law who's eyes never left hers.

"You look just like a princess" Eloise murmured, seemingly thinking aloud. Leila stiffened and let out a troubled sigh. She walked gracefully over to the dresses and began to flick through them quickly. Her eyes widened and glistened slightly when she landed on one and without saying a word she had gone back into the dressing room.

"Seriously? You're trying on another one? Why bother?!" Eloise complained. Leila calmed her verbally, telling her to wait as she climbed out of the red gown and handed it back to Abby through the curtain.

The room was quiet and hesitant to see what dress Leila had chosen over the red gown that fit her so well. Eventually, she stepped out in a dark navy blue dress. It had lace material that fit around her shoulders but was half transparent until her bust line. It was not a traditional ball gown but a flowly, slim fitting dress that was rouched at her hip. This this dress was delicate and classy, navy blue with shimmers of sparkle at the trail of the dress. As she stepped out, it seemed to move in unison with her body and a subtle thigh slit revealed itself. Law's eyes widened at her beauty and he couldn't help but lose his thoughts at the sight of her.

'How did I get so lucky to be sleeping with this woman…' He thought to himself, his breathing irregular. Law was so enamoured that he barely noticed his heart hammering in his chest. It echoed up to his ears and he felt absolutely bewildered. She was, by far, the most gorgeous woman he had ever laid his eyes upon. And he had seen plenty of women.

Abby hummed in appreciation to the dress and turned Leila around to assess her in a 360 style.

"You really do look good in everything…" Abby confessed, seemingly less obsessed with the red dress. Leila smiled at her kindly and took a look at herself in the mirror. The dark blue further brought out the vibrancy in her golden eyes and it suited her complexion just as much as the red – if not more so. Leila nodded in her decision but looked over to Law. She saw he had his head in his hand and Leila's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Hey sleepyhead" Leila called out to him, making him look up at her briefly. "What do you think?" Leila gave him a playful twirl, the slit showing off her lean legs. Law felt a lump form in his throat and he nodded.

"Looks good"

Leila smiled to herself, satisfied with that response but Eloise rolled her eyes.

"Ugh, can't you say anything better than that?" Eloise complained to him.

"What do you want me to say?" Law stared at her coldly. Eloise carefully got up and made her way over to Leila, holding her by the shoulders and staring at Law from behind her.

"Look at this girl! She's incredible! And all you can say is 'looks good'?" She told him. Abby laughed as she began to clean up the dresses.

Law found himself staring at Leila who was now blushing profusely.

'Cute…' Law thought to himself, enjoying her reaction.

"She is incredible, I agree" Law confessed. Eloise smirked, somewhat satisfied and sat back down. Leila turned away from him and made her way back into the dress room, her heart hammering in her chest so hard that she thought it was about to leap out at any second. Her ears were bright red and Abby looked at her sister knowingly.

"Now that we've found you the perfect dress, my turn!" Eloise grinned.