Once again, thank you everyone who reviewed :) It means so much and encourages me to carry on writing - katakuriforever and also sarge1130 (I feel like you understand Miyuki so well and your feedback is always wonderful!)

Marco ruffled through the stack of paperwork on his desk, trying to find the file of a patient he saw yesterday - Mana or something like that; he had forgotten to fill in the treatment portion and he just might forget if he didn't complete the paperwork today. His sister had seen Mana before he did and he could barely make out her scrawl from the previous page; he had struggled to figure out what Miyuki did with her before issuing Mana the new treatment.

Miyuki was due back soon. If everything went according to what Law described, then she was supposed to be here yesterday, unless something happened to her or the crew.

He shrugged the worry off his shoulders; there was a time not too long ago where he didn't have to care about his sister. Heck, he didn't even know he had a sister till a few years back. Not till his mother wrote a dying letter to him about her situation with his stepfather (though he would never call him that, the only father Marco acknowledged was Whitebeard). It was Whitebeard who urged him to look after 'family' as he did with the crew. He had gone reluctantly but in watching his stepfather murder his mother (who he felt nothing for) in front of Miyuki, he had gained a sister. For that, he was thankful.

In the wake of this new found sibling-relationship, he had flown back to visit her a few times because nobody would be completely alright having both parents killed in front of them.

He realised too late that it wasn't enough when Miyuki knocked herself out cold and tried to end her own life.

The Vivre card almost extinguished before restoring itself again. He would have kicked himself if he was too late. When he arrived at the hospital, Miyuki was awake and her face was pale - a whole night of crashing and resuscitation would do one's body in so it was no surprise. The half-siblings sat there in silence and Marco watched his new family member stare in the abyss. He had read the chart and knew she tried to overdose herself which wasn't to be taken lightly especially since she was a doctor and clearly knew the implications.

It wasn't an uninformed decision but one where she knew exactly what was gonna happen. Only she didn't know she would be revived and now she was at a loss.

Now at this point Marco had seen enough death to be either indifferent or saddened by it. Though he was partially responsible for the state Miyuki was in, he did not regret getting rid of the stepfather who was abusive towards his after all blood mother and now half-sister. He would never leave the Whitebeard Pirates because they were his true family but with all the values that Whitebeard had brought him up with, there was no way he could just leave his sister be.

"I'll take you out to the seas. You'll join our crew as one of the doctors and we'll all teach you how to protect yourself." Miyuki looked at him, perplexed. "You can choose to stay here but a bunch of the villagers heard about your episode and I can't imagine them being open to you treating them." She bit her lip, in deep thought, genuinely considering the offer.

"What if the one thing I need protecting from is my own self?"

Marco was a little stunned by the admission and question. But he simply replied, "then we will find a reason for you to believe on your own that you are worth protecting."

Yeah, so much for that. Along with the grief from Whitebeard and Ace's death that nearly blinded him, the worry that his sister might take her life again multiplied with their deaths. He knew the decision to bring her on board was the right one when she got along so well with Thatch and then Ace after. Thatch suggested Miyuki should have the devil fruit so that she could infiltrate and gather intelligence from afar so it would be less dangerous which sounded like a good idea because Miyuki could then read how much the crew cared for her. He had been very worried when she figured out how to dive with her devil fruit powers - always wondering if she would unintentionally apply too little of the coating so that she could 'drown' and nobody would ever know because 90% of the strongest people on board had devil fruit powers. With Miyuki, his mind was always full of worry.

Trafalgar Law had better brought his sister back safely. Otherwise, Hippocratic Oath or not, it would be a graveyard of hearts.

Miyuki didn't plan to join them for such a long time but she decided that since she suggested for the crew to drop the hearts off at Rocky Port she couldn't not watch how it would go down. Marco was probably worried, the smallest things set him off these days but he really shouldn't be worried. She knew why he kept such a close eye on her but there were more important things.

She had gone ahead with her diving gear to Rocky Port for some recon and it looked like the Marines had taken Law's taunts somewhat seriously. There were enough Marines on the island to be aware of their presence but she wasn't seeing any of the big shots that were there for the war. How typical of them to underestimate rookie pirates.

Law's plan was to drop off the hearts at the docks and then bail. He had no intention for bloodshed but as always, he would not refuse if it was necessary. Anyway, he had a back up plan in case the Marines tried to flank them.

"The South docks have got their Captain so your deal will best be struck there. It's also the furthest one from the other docks so they'd need a long time to surround you guys if you do the drop off there." Miyuki informed the Heart Pirates as she dried herself off atop the lighthouse she had just hijacked. She couldn't recognise the Captain but the pink haired Marine who yelled for the war to stop at Marineford was there. She was secretly glad for that and for Shanks who came to physically put a stop to the madness; Marco had looked like he wanted to go on a rampage and if she lost Marco along with Thatch and Ace, she would really not survive.

Whilst waiting for the Heart Pirates to get in position, Miyuki took the time to send a carrier seagull to Marco. Obviously the Vivre Card he had of her would suffice in telling him if she was alive but because he might actually threaten Law for taking her back so late, she needed to send some sort of explanation why they were running behind schedule.

The Captain was still scrambling to get the Marines into position and hadn't noticed the Heart Pirates had arrived. True to plan, Law was accompanied by Penguin who was holding the bag of hearts while the other crew mates stayed in the submarine right by where they dropped the two off. They needed to be on the lookout in case the Marines fenced them in with the other ships.

Aside from the Marines, Miyuki could sense the presence of the remaining String Pirates - which was also a part of Law's plan; he needed the as a distraction to get away so he had left a note with the concussed crew that he was heading to Rocky Port, if they wanted their hearts back they needed to get it from the Marines. She had to admit, that was pretty clever seeing as how he came up with the plan almost minutes after she suggested he become a Shichibukai. The Marine Captain looked completely useless as he stood there, shocked by their appearance and then taking a few steps back to keep some distance. Gosh, she really hated Marines.

Law tossed the bag of beating hearts by the Captain which made him squirm and jump in disgust. "I'll take the first step in this 'alliance'. Ring headquarters and tell them to install me as the next Shichibukai. If I don't hear back in 3 days, the next bag of hearts I'll be delivering will have yours in the mix." Before the end of Law's proposal, one of the marines were already on the Den Den Mushi to Marine HQ.

Miyuki could sense the String Pirates closing in on them - not that Law needed to worry about them at all - so she sent a distress signal to him using her devil fruit powers. Law nodded, acknowledging her message and she got ready to get out of Rocky Port.

"Captain! A bunch of outlaws who identify themselves as the String Pirates are here. They look like they are heading our way but some of the pirates are harassing the villagers. What should we do?" Coby yelled in the distance, ready to run to help the villagers. "Coby, take your squad and assist the villagers. We cannot let common folk be involved in this chaos." When the Captain directed his attention back to Law, he realised that him and Penguin had fled though his threat was left hanging in the air.

It had only been a day since Rocky Port but the Marines had published on their papers that Law had been given the title of Shichibukai. The Heart Pirates were rejoicing at their newfound 'protection' and were now en route to Bergmann to drop Miyuki off. They were having a round of drinks and food in the dining hall - celebrating their success in their two most recent ventures - Bepo's rescue and Law's instalment. The former however, was still recovering in the ward - or resting room as the crew called it.

Miyuki sat down in the chair next to Bepo, she couldn't bear the noise from the loud crowd. Penguin had started singing and the rest had followed along. Not that the Whitebeard Pirates were silent about their celebrations - that crew definitely knew how to party - but Miyuki never quite enjoyed loud places. That's what drew her to practice medicine - the wards and theatres were always quiet - a good place to think and just be still. Bepo wasn't heavily injured but he was taking his time to recover and Miyuki definitely thought that there was more damage done to him than everyone had thought.

"You still get flashbacks?"

"I do, but it's not worth mentioning it."

"Because they wouldn't understand?" Miyuki asked sharply. Bepo looked away. "Or because you think they wouldn't understand or hear you out?" His mouth opened as though he wanted to say something, he paused for a bit and then said, "Shachi was hurt more than I was. I was captured but I wasn't quite shot."

"But you were still hurt." She reasoned.

"But I was still hurt."

Law watched from the door as Miyuki picked up Bepo's injured wrists to examine the marks. He had wanted to check on Bepo while the crew were merry-making - he didn't like too much noise - but Miyuki had gotten there first. He realised that they were in a different kind of conservation so he stopped. He wanted to practice chivalry and walk away but this was his best friend and though he suspected it, he was now hearing verbal confirmation that Bepo was still traumatised by the events that had just passed.

"It'll start coming to you very frequently." Bepo gave her a confused look. "The flashbacks." Which earned a look of understanding from him. "Then as your wounds become less visible they stop being so frequent." Miyuki looked at the faded scars that decorated her wrists.

"You've done this before."

Miyuki didn't respond to the statement and continued, "Then, it hits you hard again when you thought you've recovered from it all - the taunts, the pain and the feeling of being trapped with no way out. And then the people around you start to panic because they've never seen this from you before, and they feel helpless because they don't know how to help and they don't know how it hurts." Bepo looked thoughtful as he processed what she was saying. "I don't know your crew very well yet, but I know at least there will be one or two who wouldn't diss or make light of your hurt. They'd probably help you carry it."

She gave him a small smile and stood up, a little embarrassed from her ramblings. "It doesn't mean it will take away the hurt but it sure will be less lonely. I sure wish I said something sooner."

As she turned to leave she made eye contact with Law which surprised her, she was usually good with her surroundings but she was probably more into the conversation than she thought. It was good that Law had heard what they had said. She knew he cared for Bepo, enough to keep him up that night. Bepo would surely be fine with Law. Everyone needed someone, they just didn't know it yet.

"Miyuki-ya, when do you want your surgery done?"

They were now half a day away from Bergmann and most of the Heart Pirates save for Bepo, Shachi and Ikkaku had recovered fully from their encounter with the String Pirates. Law was planning to hold up his end of the deal when they requested for Miyuki's assistance in locating Bepo.

It was going to be a simple procedure anyway - he just needed to realign her left eye muscle so both of them would be looking straight ahead. He just didn't quite get why she couldn't ask Marco to do it. Perhaps it just wasn't painful when he did it with his devil fruit powers.

"If we've got time now then maybe we should just get it over and done with." Miyuki replied coolly. "Just, no anaesthesia. I want to be awake and watch the surgery."

"You want to watch your own surgery?" Law asked, raising his eyebrow. She nodded. "Miyuki-ya, it's an eye surgery?" She squinted, unsure what he was going on about. He looked at her in disbelief, "How are you going to watch me do a surgery with your eyes when I am operating on your eyes?!"

A soft sound of laughter escaped her lips. It hadn't occurred to her when her nerd brain took over - eager to watch a fellow physician perform a procedure - that she would not have been able to because her eye was the organ of interest. Apparently Law who had looked all but a bit annoyed awhile ago had found this situation to be humorous as his lips twitched to form a smile he was trying to contain.

"Right." She was still laughing at the situation. "Sorry, nerd moment." She patted Law on his shoulder as an apology. "I won't watch the surgery since I'm physically incapable to. But seriously, no anaesthesia."

And she definitely meant that.

She had abused that substance so much in the past, no amount of anaesthesia would be able to numb her pain in the years to come.

Sorry for the absence of updates. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please review, no matter how short or long, it is always encouraging to hear what people think of my work x :)