Inked on Skin

by Archaeological

It begins in a shady North Blue town, with a tattoo artist and a polar bear on her doorstep. In all her years spent stabbing pirates with needles, Saki had never met one so shameless about having tattoos that badly done, and if it was necessary, she was going to nag him all the way across the Grand Line until he let her fix them. Slowest of burns Law/OC.

15. Butterfly effect

Four things to say:

1. I am working full time once again and doing overtime, which is why this chapter didn't come as soon as I thought it would. I can make no promises about the next one, but I'll do my best to keep a two month delay at most. I know, it sucks, but I virtually have no more time.

2. A few reviews have piled up that I didn't answer. I'll reply to them as soon as I can, but for now, I wanted to put up the chapter because I didn't want to stretch the wait any longer.

3. This is the longest chapter yet. Again. I couldn't find a good point to cut it off, I didn't want to leave it on a cliffhanger, and I thought the last scene was feel-good enough to be satisfying.

4. Thank you as always for reading. It warms my cold, withered heart to know that people enjoy this. I MISSED YOU AND I MISSED THIS STORY AND I WISH I DIDN'T NEED TO WASTE TIME ON A REAL JOB.

Guest: Thank you, actually – your review made me smile like an idiot, and knowing that someone's reading because of my characters is – gah, I need a Kleenex. Thank you so much. I can't answer most of those questions, except to say that Shachi will keep working on wearing Saki down, and that I would love to do a Marina spin-off but I wouldn't be able to juggle both stories at the same time. We'll be seeing more of her in the future, though.

Jag: I really wanted to say that I was going back to a regular schedule. I have obviously proved myself wrong, but thank you for staying around despite it!

Guest-22: It's a bit troubling to think that the cook reminds you of actual fleshy cooks, but who am I to judge! Are those two getting more romantic, though? Are they really? Hmm. Guess we'll have to find out. As always, thank you for reviewing!

---

14. Butterfly effect
(In the space where your brain and your heart collide)

Saki greeted a new day full of promises by getting the heel of a sandal stuck on a broken wooden step and tumbling down the remaining three.

"Ow."

She wasn't a superstitious person. If she had been, she may have interpreted the fall as an omen for what was to come, and she would have been right. Instead, she started picking herself from the floor, checking for injuries and finding none, while she heard someone rush to her.

"Are you hurt!?"

Felicia was in a flowery robe, clearly in the middle of getting ready for the day. Her eyes were wide, her curls were flying everywhere, and she had a five o'clock shadow and her jawline was way more pronounced that it had looked with her make up on.

Saki tried not to stare. It made no difference to her, but the revelation had caught her off guard.

"I'm fine," she replied. "I think I just woke up."

Felicia reached out to her with a hand. "Are you sure? You're going to have some nasty bruises."

Saki took her hand, pressing the other one to the spot of her hip where she had landed. "Yeah, don't worry. I've had worse."

Felicia looked confused for a moment, then laughed nervously. "Of course. I suppose they go with the profession."

"Yeah." Saki smiled back.

"Well, I'll, ah…" Felicia tightened the robe around her, covered most of her mouth and chin with a hand and gave Saki another shaky smile. "I'm going back in. The boss should be serving breakfast already."

"Thanks."

Felicia scurried nervously to the hallway and disappeared behind one of the doors.

To Saki's surprise when she got to the dining room, Penguin was already sitting on a table there.

"Did I wake up in a parallel reality?" Saki asked.

"Haha," he replied. "You'd be up later too if you were working in an engine room until late at night."

"Come on, half the time I visit you you're just chatting with Shachi."

"Yes, but the other half we're making sure when don't all die a horrible salty death."

"Touché." She took a chair near Penguin and sat on it. She was grasping for the paper on the table to look at the breakfast options when Penguin shoved an arm in front of her nose.

A black tribal tattoo done with geometric precision was on his forearm, black, neat and settled.

"I am good," Saki declared with a smirk.

Penguin grinned. "Is that your OK? Is it completely healed?"

"It looks like it. Does it bother you when you move your arm or you touch it?"

"Nope."

"Then welcome to the club of people with well-done tattoos. It's an exclusive one. Not just anybody can be in it. For instance—"

"Finishing that sentence is mutiny," he said conspiratorially.

"Who's going to know it?"

"I don't know, Bepo has pretty good hearing." Penguin reached for the paper and passed it to Saki.

"Thanks." And while she tried to decide if the fresh waffles were worth another assault on her hips, she added, "I think he has other concerns right now."

"You think he'll be better today?"

"I hope so. The mask seemed to do him good..."

Shachi appeared shortly after and announced his presence by slamming a hand on Penguin's shoulder. "You," he said darkly, dragging every sound, "are an asshat."

"Good morning, sunshine!" Saki greeted him.

"Getting up earlier than Captain should be forbidden."

"Captain doesn't wake up, he stumbles his way from his bed to the coffee pot."

Shachi furrowed his brow. "Does he even sleep at night?"

"I think he just falls unconscious every now and then."

"If I didn't find him sometimes napping with Bepo on deck I wouldn't believe he did," Penguin said.

"Well, he has to sleep sometimes. He's human. I think."

Shachi chose a chair and plopped down. "Do they have to do it where we all can see them, though? In the middle of the day."

"While the rest of us are working," Penguin nodded sagely.

"The privileges of being captain and first mate," Saki commented sarcastically.

"We should ask for a raise."

"Yeah, I really want a taller bunk."

Saki snorted, and when she looked up again she saw a boring looking man standing behind her crewmates, coughing discreetly, as if trying to catch their attention.

"Guys." Saki pointed in the man's direction.

When they turned around, they looked on the verge of a heart attack after seeing the man so close to them.

"Holy f—" Shachi stumbled on a chair and sat on it.

"Say something when you go near people," Penguin said, hand on chest as if his heart had tried to jump out.

"My apologies. I have been trying to catch your attention for a while."

The three pirates at the table exchanged panicked glances that confirmed that they all had to work on their awareness skills. Saki was especially rattled by it. She was good at paying attention and she had not been doing it as she should if this and the abduction a few weeks ago were anything to go by. But she wasn't being as inattentive at the moment as she had been in Qaryn. She was aware of the customers around the room. The man before them was in a whole another level of stealth.

"Do you need something?" Shachi asked.

"Yes, of course. I want to speak to Trafalgar Law. Are you Heart Pirates?"

Once again, the three looked at each other in the eye, in the faces printed on bounties strewn all over the Grand Line and in the Jolly Rogers of the guys' boiler suits.

They all looked away from each other and towards the man.

"Nope."

"Wrong people."

"Can't help you."

"Oh. I see. Thank you."

The man left as fast as he had appeared, and when they looked around the room to see where he had gone, he was nowhere in sight.

"That… worked." Shachi said.

"We're amazing."

Penguin nodded dumbly. "Damn right we are."

Law and Bepo showed up not much later, and the other three told them of the strange encounter.

"Keep an eye out for him," Law said, masking a yawn in a coffee mug. He hoped the second and third ones were coming already. "If he really wants something with us I doubt your lie will keep him away for long. I'd rather we go unnoticed in this island."

"A breather after the last one would be good," Bepo commented.

"It can't be helped," Saki said while she looked around distractedly. "It's not like we travel in something discreet. Someone is bound to notice we're around."

"Hey, watch your tongue," Shachi warned.

"Yeah, careful with what you say about our daughter."

Saki raised both eyebrows. "Your daughter is bright yellow and has a giant black Jolly Roger with the word 'death' painted above in capital letters."

"So?"

"You should have taught her to dress better."

Shachi made a face of disbelief. "You dare talk shit about our daughter's clothing sense? You?"

"If you have something against shirts with orange and green stripes you can say it to my face, Marshmallow A."

"He's B."

"Right. Thanks, Bepo."

"Why do you two keep siding against me?"

Penguin smiled knowingly. "Because you're a bully, Shachi."

"And you're a douchecanoe, Peng."

"Being low-key is definitely not your forte," Law said, though he didn't look angry. He was either resigned, in the process of waking up, or both.

"Sorry, Captain—"

"We'll be more careful."

"We didn't mean to—"

"Besides, the Polar Tang is perfect as it is," Law declared bitterly.

They eyed Law's hoodie, bright yellow with their Jolly Roger in black, and his fingers tattooed with capital letters. Someone present may have held back a grimace in an unusual display of politeness.

"Of course, Captain."

"Never meant otherwise."

"Yellow and black go so well together."

"So striking, so… intimidating."

"I think it would look nice in white, too," Bepo said happily.

"Who asked you, fluffball?"

Bepo automatically lowered his head. "S-sorry…"

"Leave Bepo alone, you third rate bully."

"Bully," Penguin repeated in a singsong voice.

Law contemplated the possibility of drowning in the mug, but he had drank too much already, and gestured to Felicia for another one.

He then heard a polite cough not two feet behind him, and it took a good measure of self-control not to choke on the coffee he was swallowing. He turned to see a middle aged man in a grey suit. His features were so boring that his eyes barely registered him, leaving him as this blurry nondescript entity. It had to be the guy from before. He had never heard him approach.

"Excuse me," he began. "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation. May you be Trafalgar Law?"

Before Law could answer, three voices around the table said a rotund 'no.'

Law stared at his crew as if wondering why exactly he had recruited them and what could he have done better, but recovered quickly to project an air of confidence. "I am."

"Oh. So you lied before," Bob said with the same tone an accountant handling the re-invoicing for three different companies at once may have had: completely dead. "Very smart of you."

The others snuck unsure glances at each other.

"But how should I know that you aren't lying now? It's your word against theirs."

The uncomfortable silence stretched. The Heart Pirates were starting to wonder if there was a hidden surveillance Den Den Mushi and this was someone's idea of a joke.

"Well," Bob said, apparently making his mind up while the pirates assessed the stupidity of the situation, "I should tell you just in case you are. Because," he took a perfectly folded paper from his pocket, opened it and showed it to the pirates. It was Law's newest bounty, "You look a lot like the man in this picture."

Bob was radiating so much second-hand embarrassment that they were almost regretting the lie. Was he this dense, or was it a tactic to… shame them? Get them to apologize? They didn't know. It didn't make sense. They just wanted him to stop being so cringe-worthy.

"Mr. Bear?" he said, and Bepo jumped a little on his seat. He didn't expect to be dragged into the conversation, and his big black eyes searched frantically everybody's for help. Nobody threw him a lifeline.

"M-me?" Bepo answered.

"Yes, you. You look trustworthy. Would you care to tell me if this man is Trafalgar Law?"

A chorus of frustrated sighs and facepalms erupted around Bepo. Only he had the power to put an end to it. He understood now. He had to rescue them, not the other way around. "He is."

"Oh, that's good. Now I can complete my task." Bob smiled beatifically at Bepo, and it looked so unnatural that they all wished he hadn't. "Mr. Trafalgar, my employer would like to extend an invitation for a meeting. He would like to talk business with you."

Law eyed him suspiciously, more alert than before. "I don't see what kind of business I could have with anybody in this city. Who is that employer of yours?"

"I am not allowed to reveal that information. He is a person of remarkable fame. You will understand when you go to the meeting point."

"And what makes you think I'll be going?"

Bob was thrown off by the sudden burst of rudeness. "Excuse me?"

"If he wants to speak to me, he should be the one to come, not me."

"Oh. Oh…" Bob thought over his words. "That is a solid reasoning. However, I don't think it will be possible."

"That's not my problem," Law declared, and a staredown between the two men took place. It lasted only a few seconds, but under Bob's fish stare, it felt like hours.

"Very well. I'll inform my employer of this situation. Have a god day, Mr. Trafalgar."

And with a little bow, he left the place.

"That was…" Bepo didn't know how to complete the sentence, but a few nods agreed with him nonetheless.

"Too polite," Penguin said.

"Too calm."

"He looks like his soul is dead. Do you think he'll be back?"

"What does he want with Captain, anyway?" Shachi asked.

"I don't know and I don't care, and I'm not going to stay here and wait to find out. Let's go, Bepo, we've got things to do."

And with that, Law left abandoning his second coffee unfinished with Bepo closely in tow.

—

Saki returned to the inn in the early afternoon after buying two second-hand adventure novels and a fuzzy red sweater at half price. Life was good. She left the booty upstairs and went to the dining room, which was empty at that hour save for Felicia.

With an ice coffee and the day's newspaper in hand, she sat on a table near the window and resolved to pass the remainder of the day in peace and quiet.

She hadn't been five minutes alone with her drink and her wanted posters when she heard someone walk straight towards her. She lifted her eyes from the papers slowly and unenthusiastically to be faced with a man that looked like he spent way too much time doing his hair, given the end result.

"You must be one of the pirates Bob told me about." He looked at Saki's hair and left arm tattoo like they were infectious illnesses instead of perfectly innocuous and well-chosen pigments, so Saki disliked the man automatically. "Where is Trafalgar Law?"

She returned her gaze to the posters, though her attention was on him. "Who knows? Ask around."

The man clucked his tongue. "I am Carpus, President of the Commercial Association of Coconut Affairs, and I have come here, leaving several important matters unattended, only to speak to him. Is he here?"

"Nope," Saki said, switching to the next poster on the stack. 'Magician' Basil Hawkins; 70,000,000 beli.

"I do not have time to waste on whatever games you rabble play. I need to see Trafalgar Law."

The superiority complex of the man was irking her. "Boohoo. Cry me a river. He isn't here."

Carpus huffed nervously, clearly not used to rudeness being directed towards him. "Bob said you were a liar. I see he was right."

"Well, yeah, I am, but he still isn't here."

Carpus slammed a punch on the desk in a pathetic intimidation attempt. Saki looked up at him, very irritated. Who was he trying to scare? He was shorter than her.

"I will repeat myself one last time," he said slowly, stressing every word. "I demand to see your captain immediately. Where is he?"

"My captain," Saki replied equally slowly, "is wherever the fuck he wants, which right now doesn't happen to be here, and even if I knew I wouldn't tell you, so stop wasting your time and mine and fuck off."

Carpus, who didn't have to deal frequently with rejection and much less being told to fuck off in such uncertain terms, acquired a curious maroon shade. Saki wondered what the reaction would be.

Apparently, the man thought that repeating his certifications would cause her to magically conjure a pirate captain, as if they meant something to her. "I am Carpus, four times elected President of the Commercial Association of Cocon—"

"Mr. President," Saki interrupted, "what part of 'fuck off' you don't understand, the first or the second word?"

Mercifully, heaven sent her a way to leave this conversation loop, of which she'd had too many in a single day.

"What is going on here?"

She threw her arms up in the air. "There you have him! Happy now?"

Law looked at the man with curiosity, with Bepo mimicking him, though they could imagine what was going on. "Who are you?"

Carpus took air and puffed out his chest to say his tirade. Saki wanted to crumple one of the posters and throw it at the back of his head just to see the reaction. Shachi and Penguin chose that moment to make their appearance, and they went from chatting happily to looking at the face Saki was making behind Carpus' back and directing all their energy to glaring at him while.

"I am Carpus, four times elected president of the Commercial Association of Coconut Affairs, and since you rejected my first invitation to my office, I have come to see you in person."

"Namely: I'm a pompous prick and I don't wanna hide it," Saki mumbled loud enough for everyone to hear.

Carpus didn't deign to acknowledge the comment. Law crossed his arms and stared at the man, utterly unimpressed. "And why are you so interested in speaking to me?"

"Because I have a job and I require someone of your… ah… caliber," the way he pronounced the word, like it was bitter and stuck to his tongue, made clear that that was far from what he was thinking, but unlike the present company he was too polite to say it, "to pull it off. Of course, I will compensate you for the trouble. Payment won't be an issue."

Of all the problems Law was expecting since he heard that someone was looking for him, a job offer had been the furthest from his mind, and he didn't want it anyway. This man appeared to be important in the island and well-off, and involving oneself with those types was never worth the hassle. "We aren't thugs for hire."

Carpus dismissed Law's words with a wave. "All thugs are. One needs only to find the price."

"We are not—"

"I will make my case as politely as I can," Carpus rose his voice, and it was strident and as unthreatening as his appearance. "You either help me in my little endeavor, or Marine soldiers will be knocking on this inn's door within the hour. If you don't think I have the connections to do that, you only need to wait here and see for yourself."

The pirates stiffened. That threat would have been a death sentence in most situations.

Law's glare hardened, and Saki noted, to her satisfaction, that Carpus shifted slightly under that stare. "What do you want from us?" He asked.

Despite the situation, Carpus found the guts to flash a self-satisfied smirk. "See? I found your price." Then the smile fell, and he was back to business again. "There is an annoying woman inside the association vying for power that is rightfully mine. I want to give her a scare, and you will do it for me."

"Details," Law pressed, at the end of his patience.

"Do you know the resort in this island? Of course you do," he answered himself, "but you haven't set foot inside it. Your target will be in a business meeting at the finest restaurant of the resort in three days. You will interrupt that meeting and deliver her to me. She will be given a stern talking to, you will make some money and I will remove a nasty thorn on my side. Isn't it wonderful?"

It was clear by everybody else's expressions that they weren't on the same page as him. If the man hadn't told them that he had a direct line with the Navy, he'd be dead by now. Law looked like he was trying to decide what was better, chopping his head off for real and going into hiding for the rest of the week, or complying with his blackmail.

"What is the plan?" He asked reticently. "I assume you have one."

"Not so fast," Carpus replied. "I've talked enough here and I'm a busy man. You will get the minutia in my office. I expect you there at nine sharp. Bob!"

Bob was right beside Carpus as he made the first step towards the exit, and he prompted from the pirates a few starts and a mumbled 'motherfucker.' "Yes, sir."

Saki's eyes went from left and right frantically, examining the room and trying not to look panicked. She had been on high alert and had never heard him coming. Judging by Penguin's and Shachi's reaction, they hadn't noticed either. Law's face, on the other hand, was unreadable.

Carpus didn't give the pirates a second glance as he left. It would be so easy to wring his neck while he wasn't looking.

"Oh, um…" Looking at the direction of the sound, they pirates watched golden curls and matching amber eyes emerge from behind the wooden bar. "Is it okay to come out now?"

"Were you there the whole time?" Law asked.

Felicia just ducked behind the bar again. Law let out a weary sigh and slumped on a chair. "A beer, please."

The guys followed his example, and Felicia rose once again from the depths of the bar when she realized that she wasn't going to die a gory death.

"It's tough being a pirate, huh?" She said conversationally while she got the bottles and glasses. "Who would have thought that President Carpus would be this kind of—AAAAAHHHH!" Felicia absentmindedly hit a bottle with her elbow and almost made four more fall, but she caught them in time. "Whew." She continued as if nothing had happened. "I shouldn't be surprised. It's always the respectable looking ones."

"Is he really that famous around here?"

"Sure he is!" She put the drinks on a tray and walked up to them, tripping for a second on a wobbly floorboard and recovering amazingly afterwards. Someone with a weak heart could die watching her. "Mr. Carpus is the most important person in this island. The association generates most of our wealth – you know how it goes – they establish trade regulations, taxes, yadda yadda. Merchants sell, money comes in for everybody. Well," she tilted her head and grimaced a little, "some of the money."

"So he really can call the Marines anytime?" Penguin asked.

"I guess so. There's a base close enough that they could be here in a matter of hours. Sometimes we see some rank and file here when they are on leave, but they avoid coming here when they can. I think it reflects badly on the resort to have soldiers around."

"So even if we don't want to do what he says, we're screwed."

"I'm sorry." Felicia gave him a sympathetic look, and Penguin got red, put a hand over his heart and looked away. "You can't go anywhere while you wait for the Log Pose, right…?"

Law took directly from Felicia the bottle she had brought him. "And even if we shook him off for a few days, the Polar Tang is at the docks. We can't leave it unattended for days."

"Speaking of which," Saki said, looking sadly at the empty contents of her cup and feeling the onset of a headache, "I'm heading there for clothes. Anybody else coming?"

"Me," Bepo said. "I want to stop breathing this air."

"We should all go. Might as well check that no one's messed with it."

"If they've laid a hand on her, there'll be a fresh corpse this afternoon," Penguin said.

"We can agree on that."

"Be careful out there," Felicia warned them. "The President has eyes everywhere. Best do what he asks without making much of a fuss."

The general mood was sour enough that she only received a few hums for replies. With the constant possibility of that ninja hovering around, any conspiracy attempts that might occur to them were better kept for private quarters.

—

They didn't find anything out of place in the sub other than a festive pair of patterned boxers that had escaped the laundry baskets to roam the empty halls, but spirits were still low when the hour of the meeting neared and they had to leave for the city.

It was easy enough to know where to go, even if they didn't know exactly how. The white building of the association towered over all the others, and even at night was so shiny that the reflection of the streetlights off it was offensive to the eyes. It didn't fit with the parts of the city they had seen thus far – industrial, stained grey and brown and yellow, and full of life.

The streets became gradually straight and ample as they neared the association. This part of the city was newer and clearly intended for show, not solely use. Buildings barely showed the wear and tear from the years, and to Saki's infinite relief, not even a single cobblestone seemed to wiggle when she stepped on them. The paths to the association looked especially well-kept, and the main building of the sector, the jewel of the crown, had been polished so thoroughly and shone so much that it could blind an unsuspecting prey bird. In fact, every morning a janitor was in charge of making a round around the perimeter and picking up any unfortunate knocked-out owls from the night before. He had the animal refuge on speed dial.

In case that there had been any doubt about what the place housed in its interior, above the wide glass doors was a sign displaying the acronym of the Commercial Association of Coconut Affairs with bold, golden letters for everyone to see.

A pregnant silence of exactly three seconds and a half passed as they stared at the sign and let it sink in. Then Penguin cleared his throat, which prompted Shachi to snort, which ultimately pushed Saki to make a strangled noise that sounded like a mouse was dying in her throat, and all the built up tension of the situation was gone as the two mechanics began to howl with laughter. Slightly less loud, Saki and Bepo started to laugh as well, and even Law seemed to crack a badly disguised smile.

"Guys," he said, trying to sound serious, though his success was up for debate. "Guys."

They quieted down enough to speak.

"Who chose that name!?"

"Did they vote?"

"Yeah, and then they voted president the guy they liked the least."

"Four times in a row."

They broke into laughter again.

"Guys." The admonishment was followed by shaky breaths, fake coughs and a few snickers. He walked to the doors and pushed one open. "Try to keep it down. We wouldn't want to offend the President."

The guy at the reception desk didn't understand why the group of newcomers began laughing simultaneously, firstly because he didn't see anything funny, and secondly because people who came to see Carpus were never happy. Had he not been warned beforehand of their arrival, he would have assumed they were there to commit a murder or steal the blueprints of the new coconut processing plant. He handed Law a pass that was nothing but a formality, because the staff that checked them had gone home hours ago.

Carpus' office was in the upmost floor of the building, because that's where raving megalomaniacs made their secret bases to be able to stare at the city at their feet and feel superior. It was especially important for the man, given that it was the only way that he'd ever be able to look at somebody from above their shoulders.

The operator in front of the elevator kindly informed the pirates of that fact save for the snark, and told them that the elevator was reserved for Carpus' personal use and special guests, hoping that they got that they were not included in the latter category. They did get it, and did the only reasonable thing one could do in those circumstances: shove the operator aside and take the elevator anyway.

Carpus' office was impossible to miss. The door was white and made of solid wood, and somebody had thought it was a great idea to gild the frame and decorate it with tiny reliefs of coconut trees. The man was obviously trying to compensate for his own perceived deficits.

"That is the tackiest shit I've seen in a long time," Saki said in awe.

Shachi gave her a disbelieving glance. "Did you even look at your shirt when you put it on?"

"Again with my clothes, you—"

"Do you have to start now?" Law cut them.

Both mumbled apologies to their captain and shut up.

Carpus was already waiting for them inside the office, as expected, staring down at the city from an enormous window – gilded, too – with his arms crossed behind his back, so his face couldn't be seen when they entered the room. An ocean of lights could be seen from that vantage point, and only then they were able to appreciate the magnitude of the resort. It was a separate world from the part of the island where the regular citizens lived. In comparison, the other sectors were dark and decadent.

Saki also thought that Carpus made an amazingly easy target for assassins from both the front and the back, so he either wasn't worried about attempts on his life or thought himself too far above lowly hitmen to die. She would have pounced on a chance like this they had wanted him dead. Empty office, mostly empty building, at night, with enough time to put distance between herself and a corpse. Could he make it any easier?

"I could hear you arrive from here. It appears that discretion isn't your forte."

Anybody who had looked for a split second at their ensemble jolly ensemble could have deduced as much.

"It matters not, but I'll ask you to refrain from being so loud while you carry out my job."

"Get to the point," Law said, all amusement from before gone. "What do you want us to do, exactly?"

Carpus walked to his desk in a slow, solemn and very irritating pace, then sat down on his plushy chair. He didn't offer a seat to them. Maybe it was a good thing. Someone might have felt tempted to throw it at his head.

"You will abduct Pomona Hazel from her private room during dinner. She is about to sign a contract that I have no interest in, and I want her to rethink how much she needs it. You will infiltrate the place as staff, remove her from the premises, and hand her over to my men, who will be waiting outside the restaurant. And she will be unharmed. Is that clear?"

"Why resort to us? We're pirates and you just said you have hired men."

"Because in the – I expect – unlikely case that you get caught, you are deniable assets, and you seem to have experience in the matter."

"We do?" Bepo asked.

Penguin looked from Bepo to Law, and suddenly pointed at Shachi and exclaimed, "Ah!"

"That was a willing kidnapping," Shachi clarified. "The papers lied. There was none of that 'you're coming with me whether you like it or not' stuff."

Saki coughed, and Shachi glared just to remind her that he hadn't forgotten their first encounter. Saki thought that it might have had more effect if he wasn't wearing his perennial sunglasses.

Carpus blinked deliberately a couple of times as he absorbed the new information. "Well, now that you know the plan you will be helping anyway, or else I'll get you a one way trip to Impel Down."

If they could have killed the man without the entire building knowing the culprits, they would have gladly done it, then tossed him into the coconut-flaky water of the docks with weights tied around his ankles.

"Now, about the operation," Carpus said, taking a fountain pen and a white paper, "You may be more difficult to place, since someone may recognize your face," he said to Law, "but luckily for us the rest of you are a bunch of nobodies, so we have plenty of freedom to choose your roles. Do you have any abilities I should be aware of before I assign you a job?"

There weren't crickets in the office, but if there had been, this would have been their moment to shine.

"Pirates," he sighed, "always making things difficult." He scribbled something. "I'll send a message to the inn to inform you of your jobs. I will attach a plan of the restaurant's layout so you can study it. I leave the small details to your expertise. And remember," he said very seriously, glaring at every one of the very pissed off pirates, "she needs to be unharmed, or this deal will be off. Dismissed," he said waving his hand and turning his chair to face once again the window and away from the pirates.

It would be so, so easy.

—

As promised, the next morning came the letter with the plans, and they all huddled around them during breakfast. There was also a package with the uniforms they'd need to wear.

As she read the list of jobs, Saki could guess the entire thought process Carpus had followed to assign them. By some miracle of the universe, possibly five planets aligning while a solar eclipse happened in the background, and also because they wore those freaking boiler suits everywhere, Penguin and Shachi had been placed with the maintenance team. Law would have to take on the lowly role of cleaning around the restaurant, because those were the people nobody ever paid any attention to. Bepo was tall, wide and extremely conspicuous, so he got assigned to security.

"Are you kidding me?" She said when she got to her placement, thoughtfully rendered as Girl – Server.

"Yeah, I can't imagine who'd want to see your face while getting their food," Shachi said.

Saki ignored the quip and kept talking to herself. "Who should we put to serve tables? Send the woman! Sorry, the girl. Heaven forbid you've got to watch a guy's mug while he pours your fancy-ass wine, you sexist prick."

"You haven't carried a tray in your life, have you?"

"…That has absolutely nothing to do with my objections."

Felicia, who, as always, was tidying up the room in the background, turned her attention from the windowpane she was cleaning to the four of them and said, "I could help you." When Saki looked at her, Felicia avoided her gaze and continued in a barely audible volume, "That is, if you need help. I'm sure you don't."

Saki could almost make out a halo of sunshine and goodwill around the girl's head. It may have been explained by the sunrays bouncing off her already golden hair, but she liked her version better. "My heroine," she said.

Felicia blushed and giggled.

—

For the next two days, Saki became Felicia's shadow whenever she wasn't at the reception or waiting on actual tables. At first Felicia had been shy, if chipper as ever, but as they got used to each other she began to sound more confident.

Shachi had taken to sitting on one of the tables to watch the training sessions unfold, sometimes alone, sometimes with Penguin, who kept insisting that they memorized the entire layout of the restaurant in case of emergency. This was one of those moments.

"This is a show for the ages," Shachi heckled.

"Shut up, asshole! Don't you have any new pipes to feel up?"

Shachi began to splutter something, because how dare she cast shadows on his decency in front of Felicia's angelic presence, but then a cooking pot slammed on top of Saki's head with a resounding clang and he decided his honor was avenged.

"No swearing!" Felicia said, tapping her weapon menacingly on the palm of her left hand. "And keep your back straight!"

"Yes, yes…" Saki sighed, straightening her posture. "I am not cut out for this."

"Don't worry," Felicia said kindly, "I used to think the same. And I still trip and drop things all the time. The trick is to catch them before they hit the ground! Or yourself. But that's not as important. Your body is expendable. Only the tray matters."

The way she said it, convinced that she made it sound like a mantra, was kind of unsettling. The beatific smile didn't help.

"…Right. Now I'm even surer that I'm not made for this."

"Not with that attitude!"

Saki chuckled. "You sure are, though."

"Arnold is getting old. Nowadays he only works in the kitchen, does the shopping and crunches numbers. I need to prepare for the day I take charge of the inn."

Arnold was like a phantom figure that every patron knew that existed, but very rarely showed his face around. Saki had only seen him once, chatting with a customer during lunch.

"You're going to inherit it, then? Is Arnold your father?"

A hand flew to Felicia's mouth. "Goodness, no!" She tried to hold back a giggle. "He took me in when I had nowhere to go. Even gave me a roof. I owe him at least this much."

"So you aren't from this city?"

"I am. I just didn't get along with my parents."

Saki wondered if it had anything to do with what she had seen the morning before, and the look Felicia gave her and what she said strengthened her suspicions.

"You… you didn't tell anybody?" She asked in a hushed whisper. "About… when you saw me without make up?"

Saki shrugged. "Of course not. That's not anyone's business."

Felicia relaxed visibly, and the smile returned to her face. "Thank you. You guys are nicer than you look."

"I wouldn't be so sure."

Felicia laughed. "Really? They seem to be a fun bunch." She motioned to the table with her head.

"They are."

Felicia lifted a tray filled to the brim with water glasses on one hand. "Alright, back to work!" She announced, more energized than before. "You need to rest the tray on your palm like this, and when you get to the table you always offer the drinks from the right side of the custom—AAAAAAHHHH!" She tilted the tray while she spoke and the glasses began to slide down. Some actually fell, but with a superb mastery of her trade, she shoved the tray below them and caught them mid-air. Then she raised the tray again as if nothing had happened. "See? It's all about falling to the level of your training."

Saki could smell the scent of disaster looming in her near future.

—

"How do I look?"

"Like a polar bear in a penguin suit."

"That's silly. I don't fit in Penguin's clothes."

Later in the afternoon, the crew was reunited in Law's and Bepo's room to plan their escape route. Bepo took the chance to try on his clothes for the security gig. He had even been given sunglasses to match, and between those and the mask he had to wear everywhere, it was difficult to tell if he was a bear or a very hairy man.

"Where did they get a suit his size?" Penguin asked. He was sitting on a bed, right next to Saki.

"Don't mind them, Bepo," Saki said. "I'm sure you'll make every lady bear that sees you swoon."

"He's not gonna see any," he whispered to her.

"So? Technically not a lie." And Security Guard Bepo did look quite spiffy.

"When has that ever stopped you?"

"I try not to lie to people I actually like, you know."

"Those are some standards."

"My nose may be stuffy, but my ears aren't," Bepo grumbled.

Shachi, who for once wasn't joining the argument, was busy with the floor plan. "Peng, there's a maintenance door hidden at the end of the second-floor hallway. I think we'll need to get it open to get the woman outside. They don't usually leave these open unless they're being used."

"It's the most direct path," Law said, eyes glued to the paper. "The only other ways out are the kitchen backdoor and the main entrance."

"There's the windows," Saki said.

"Let's not use those if we can avoid it."

For obvious reasons, Saki didn't argue back.

The private room where their mark was going to be was on the second floor of the building. It was a long hallway with private rooms at each side, two bathrooms for customers, one for staff, and right at the very end, hidden from sight, the hallway turned to the left and ended in a door. It was for staff only, and it was connected to the lower floor by stairs. On the paper, it had been marked as 'Maintenance Area.' There, on the first floor, there was the exit they'd need to use to pass unnoticed.

"So then… We get that door open from inside, and you drag the woman there so we can run through the back door," Penguin confirmed.

"I think we should wait until the last moment to do it," Saki said, "If the restaurant's packed I won't be able to spare enough time to help and get out without somebody noticing."

"Not to mention that the less people there are on the floor, the better," Law added. "I'll try to be in the second floor most of the time, but you'll need to be the judge of when we should move."

"And we don't know how many people there will be in the room," Bepo said. "I'll try to block the way from the first floor to the second if you need extra time, but…"

The problem with the plan was evident. Nobody knew where they would be at any given point, exactly. That slimy ducker Carpus had left the real planning up to them with the excuse that the less he knew, the better if he had to deny any involvement.

"We play it by the ear," Law said. "I don't like the idea of splitting up the entire night, but there's no other way. If worst comes to worst, though," at last, he lifted his eyes from the plans, "we get out of there no matter what we have to do. We'll worry about the consequences later."

—

The evening of the operation finally arrived, and Saki was donning a very professional outfit consisting of black shoes, fitted black skirt, white shirt and black bow that made moving a hassle.

Saki would have spent a long time staring off into space and wondering how the heck she had gotten into this situation if she hadn't been in a rush, but with a manager yelling in the kitchen to anybody that showed the smallest bit of inactivity, and a crime to commit in the following hours, she couldn't allow herself that luxury. Instead, she took three plates onto her tray and did her best to not drop anything.

"You," a voice said behind her, and a dish almost slipped her hand. She turned around to see a man around her height, pudgy and with fluffy brown hair. She'd seen him giving instructions in the kitchen before. "You aren't a waitress."

She wasn't expecting that. She smiled and looked at him in the eye. "I started this job today, that's why you haven't seen me before," she said. "I'm still a little clumsy, though," she added with a light laugh.

Let me out of the kitchen, you bastard.

"That's the thing. I have seen you before," he said, low enough that with all the coming and going in the kitchen no one else could hear. "You were at Arnold's."

"I don't know what you mean."

"You are a pirate. Why are you in my kitchen?"

Shit, shit, shit.

"You are mistaking me for someone else, mister..?"

"Are you tampering with the food?"

"No!"

She felt as if every single pore of her skin was being analyzed under the man's beady stare.

"I see. A waitress friend of mine told me she had been training somebody. I thought it may have been you."

"That explains the confusion," Saki said.

She was expecting security to burst into the kitchen at any time, but the man just warned her. "As long as you don't touch the food, I don't care what you do," and he went back to his pans.

He knew and was letting her go. He was friends with Felicia and had seen her and the crew before. Was he the chef from the inn's jelly night? It had to be him. Saki didn't remember his name. She also couldn't think of a reason why he wouldn't out her right away. She had to find the others and tell them that they had been discovered. Maybe the guy wouldn't say anything or, more likely, he was waiting to catch them all at once, if he suspected there were more of them. In that case, she shouldn't find the others. What to do, what to—

"How much longer are you going to stare at the dishes?" The manager suddenly yelled at her. "Move, move, move!"

Saki picked up the tray and headed for the second floor. The plan was done for. Even if the cook didn't intervene right away, as soon as somebody noticed that something was wrong, he would point to the Heart Pirates, and it wouldn't matter if they had sneaked out unseen. He knew where they were staying, and even if they didn't set foot on the inn again, one didn't need to be a genius to find the submarine at the docks. Why the hell couldn't Law get a regular ship that people didn't pay attention to from miles away? The value of discretion had managed to go so over her captain's head that she couldn't fathom how he had managed to elude justice so far.

Saki left orders in two different rooms before heading to the last occupied one. As shown in the floor plans, it was in the middle of the hallway. She looked around to make sure that nobody was around and dashed to the end of it, where there was a small turn, and a metallic door stood where otherwise there would have been a cul-de-sac. It was for maintenance workers only.

At some point, Penguin and Shachi should make their way to the other side and open it from inside. She tried to turn the doorknob. Yep, locked. She knocked lightly and no reply came. They weren't there yet.

She hurried to the damn room from where they'd need to abduct Pomona. She wouldn't be alone, and it was Saki's job to determine whether they could get to her without a ruckus or not.

There were three people inside.

Pomona was a woman in her early forties, though she seemed younger despite the few expression wrinkles that lined her eyes and mouth. She looked severe when she turned upon Saki's arrival, with icy eyes and her lips pressed tightly.

"About time," she said.

Saki was pretty much immune to the rudeness of rich fucks, and there was no doubt that this woman had more money than Saki had seen in her life –and she had seen quite a lot of it go through Rickhard's hands, even if it never stayed in them. She had delicate gold jewelry dangling from her neck, hands, wrists and ears, all contrasting nicely with her tan skin and the modest green dress she wore. Saki wondered just who she was so interested to impress, if she really had this much money to flaunt.

"My apologies," Saki said in a light tone as she put the food in front of them, remembering Felicia's lessons. "We are dealing with many orders at once."

"You should prioritize," she said. "And pour us more wine, girl." And with that if Saki had disappeared from the room, or better, she was no more important than a fly on the wall, she resumed the discussion with his business partner.

Saki stared at him from the corner of her eye. Short dark beard that made it hard to gauge his age, but she'd assume he was in his thirties, hair combed back and a suit that looked decent enough, but wasn't top quality. He didn't look important, although Pomona was certainly treating him as if he were. An intermediary, then.

That was more than Saki had needed to know, at any rate. He didn't look threatening, and the third person at the table was a bodyguard sitting near Pomona. He was twice as big as his charge, and might have posed a problem if dealt with directly.

"This is where the cargo should be dropped off. I'll make the arrangements for my men to pick it up."

Pomona placed a wooden frame on the table that contained a glass sphere with a needle inside. It looked a lot like a Log Pose. There was something written on it, but she couldn't make it out.

"What about the locals?"

"A lot of country bumpkins. I rented a part of that death trap they call a port for a pittance, and they'll be happy to turn a blind eye to the merchandise as long as we don't inconvenience them."

Smugglers, Saki thought. She was sure that Carpus would love to have this dirt on his political rival.

"It's a pleasure to do business with someone so efficient, miss."

"I told you before, Bastos, as I told your master – with our product making better revenue than that social climber's, I'll be in control of the association soon enough."

"You will get the first shipment during the first week of the month. Two crates with varied contents."

"Excellent. I have lined up a few clients interested in buying. Some of them in bulk, if the first trial goes well, so be sure to tell Joker that he will need to increase the amount."

Saki was filling the man's glass when she heard the name, and her grip in the bottle trembled for a second. Thankfully, she didn't spill anything out, but Pomona's attention was back on her.

"Don't they teach you anything at trade school, girl?"

"I am sorry, miss."

"He will be very pleased if you manage to secure this island for us, since we recently abandoned a major trade center in North Blue."

"Oh, that island that went up in flames? I read about it in the news. It didn't look like a big loss, though."

"It wasn't. It was useful while we had it, but it was nothing more than an old warehouse in a slum. We thought it was better to forget about it now that new business paths were opening up."

"Good riddance, then. We'll make this a much better place."

Saki put down the wine bottle when she was done and exited the room as quietly as she could.

She needed to talk to Law immediately, but he wasn't in the second floor yet. It would have to wait, so she went back to the kitchen for more orders in hopes that she'd catch sight of him.

—

Law's evening, so far, could be summarized thusly: there was a birthday party downstairs, somebody's stomach hadn't agreed with the seafood, and the restroom had been too far away. That was all one needed to know to accurately gauge how happy he was feeling. Who the fuck served oysters on a ten year old's birthday party, anyway?

As soon as he had been able to, he had disappeared into the second floor men's restroom and put a sign outside cautioning of the wet floor, determined to stay inside until they had to kidnap the woman.

He heard someone come in from his stall, and he realized a couple of seconds later that he ought to be paying attention because whoever was inside was wearing heels.

"Are you there?"

It was Saki. He opened the door.

"Finally! Do you know how late it is? Where were you?"

"It isn't time yet, is it? Did something go wrong?"

She looked like she didn't know where to begin.

"One of the cooks is the one that was in the inn the other day and has recognized me, but for some reason hasn't called security, there is a bodyguard inside the dining room aside from Pomona and her guest, who by the way is called Bastos, and he fucking works for Joker and they are trying to set up a business in this city."

"All right, deep breaths," he tried to calm her down. "How do you know?"

"Because they were talking about it in front of me, how else?" She said, still agitated. "They were laughing about Asteria!"

Law had to give her props for not doing something stupid yet understandable in that room. Her knuckles were white as she held the tray with a hand, and there was so much contained rage and impotency in her eyes that he didn't feel as bad about what he was going to say as he should.

"That man becomes the priority. Kidnapping Pomona is secondary."

"But the others—"

"Penguin and Shachi will get her out and to the boat by themselves. Think they'll be able to?"

"Yeah. She doesn't look like she'd be able to do much."

"Then it's settled. The bodyguard dies, we get whatever information we can from Joker's minion, and we get the hell out of here after the others. Unless you'd rather leave with the others first."

"Who do you take me for?"

Law smirked.

"Why are you doing this?" Saki asked.

The smirk dropped. "You said he knows about Asteria."

"You aren't going to risk the plan for something that irrelevant. And I wouldn't let you put everyone else in danger for something like that."

The unsaid part was that she was still letting him change the plan because she trusted he had a better reason. Law didn't know what to reply to that.

"You are doing this for the same reason you helped me when we met." She said, and she didn't need to ask because she was perceptive enough to know that she was right. "And you still aren't going to tell me what it is, are you?"

"Would you still trust me if I said no?"

Saki's stare was hard and unflinching. Sometimes it was difficult to remember that under the corny jokes and the smiles, both real and fake, was someone who had spent the last eight years lying and killing people without getting caught. You didn't last that much in that line of work by being soft-hearted or careless.

"Of course I would."

Against his better judgement, he raised a hand to her face and touched her cheek, "Then we know what we've got to do." His fingers lingered for a little too long, but Saki made no gesture to move away, and didn't complain about contagious ink. "Let's get that bastard," he said, and took back his hand and stuffed it in his pocket.

Saki looked like she wanted to say something to him, but decided against it, so she nodded and left the stall without looking back.

—

Like they had planned two days earlier, it was near the end of the night service, the pace at the restaurant had slowed down, and it was time to strike.

Saki had made a quick run to the kitchen to retrieve the desserts and coffees for Pomona's table, and to hide a sharp knife inside her right sleeve. She was exceedingly nervous for someone who had spent a good part of her life working as occasional hitwoman and full-time liar, and though the hand under the tray didn't waver, like Felicia had taught her, she could feel her heard pounding on her ribcage with every beat. She needed a cold head to do this sort of job, and it worried her. It may have been the lack of practice for months, or the fact that the immediate fate of the crew hinged on her ability to pull off her part of the plan. The stakes were higher than ever, she realized. Before, the only victim of her screw ups would have been her. She had liked it better that way.

To top it off, the hits had never been personal, and she had set her limit when Rickhard had made them so. It was much easier, more impersonal, to have a higher up point to a random unlucky guy than facing someone she had a reason to hurt. She could gloss over those. She didn't have to worry about her emotions getting the best of her. Once more, she realized how lucky she had been that she had met Bepo and Law before she tried to storm the smugglers' base. She feared that the wound of what had happened to Asteria and her family still too fresh to allow her to be professional, and she didn't want to find out what would happen if she messed up.

Saki did her best to hide her feelings of inadequacy as she rapped on the door and opened it. Everybody was counting on her, and while the others were doing the delivery, Law would be counting on her.

The feather-like touch of his fingertips was still fresh in her mind as she began to serve the coffee with a polite smile that hardly anybody present deserved.

She took care to spill a cup of the almost boiling-hot liquid only on top of the bodyguard. He said something rude, and so did Bastos, but Saki didn't pay any mind to their words while she apologized profusely and offered the bodyguard a change of clothes. Pomona demanded to speak to the manager while Saki led the man outside and to the staff's restroom.

"I'll call him right away, miss," Saki said, trying to sound embarrassed.

"I don't know how they hire them nowadays…"

It was always the less guilty ones that got caught in the crossfire. Saki had learned that soon, made it happen with her own hands a few times, and it was what she thought about as she locked the door behind her when the bodyguard was inside, let the knife slide into her hand, and stuck it in the man's throat as he turned around. There was a gurgle, and he fell to the floor without being able to let out as much as a cry.

She didn't think that killing was something to be proud of, but she tried to be good at everything she did.

Law came out from one of the stalls. "That was fast."

"I tried."

They moved the body between the two and hid it inside a stall. Saki locked it from the inside, wiped a few bloodstains on her hand with toilet paper, and stepped on the toilet to propel herself to the space between the top of the stall's door and the ceiling. She didn't understand why not even expensive places like this couldn't grant a person full privacy when they had they pants down, but she wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

It was a little difficult to maneuver with the skirt, but she managed to leave the locked stall without getting stuck or flashing her captain.

"Bepo was pacing near the stairs on the first floor," she said. "I think he's trying to stop other people form coming up."

Law nodded. "I'll get Shachi and Penguin."

"I'll…" Saki looked down at her hands. The stains weren't completely gone. "I'll wash this off. See you in a minute."

She watched the water run pink down the drain as she heard three pairs of steps hurrying on the hallway. She wiped her hands on her black skirt and went outside to join the group.

They had moved admirably fast, and by the time she was in the private room, Shachi was shoving pieces of Pomona into a burlap sack that Penguin held open. Both were covered in dust bunnies and scratches, and Saki had to hold back the urge to ask what the heck had happened to them. They must have also gagged Pomona, because only muffled sounds came from inside the sack as Penguin slung it over his shoulder and Shachi helped carry half of it.

"Captain, are you sure you aren't coming with us?"

Law was holding Bastos head against the floor and his arms behind his back, though he didn't seem to be resisting. "Go ahead. Take Bepo too if you see him. We'll meet at the inn."

"Roger that."

Saki peered outside, gave the guys the green light, and they ran down the hallway. She locked the room when she saw them disappear around the corner and heard the metallic door close behind them.

"Y-you don't know who I am!" The man snarled.

"A nobody," Law said levelly, reminding Saki of how Carpus had referred to them three days ago. "Joker wouldn't have sent you here otherwise."

A familiar blue dome stretched just to envelop Law and Bastos, and Law let the head go to plunge his hand into the man's back. "Mes." It emerged with a beating heart in it.

Bastos went so white that he could have passed for dead. "What-what did you—?"

"You are going to answer our questions," Law continued, the man's question falling on deaf ears, "and if you tell us the truth, we'll let you walk away in one piece. Do you understand?"

Saki knew he was lying. Letting this man go would put them all in danger. The question was if he knew Law was lying, too.

"What sort of cargo does Joker want to move through this island?"

"I don't know."

"Saki, make sure he can't scream."

As soon as she was told, she grabbed one of the fine cloth napkins on the table and stuffed it in the man's mouth.

"Your loyalty is admirable, but I doubt your boss is worth this." Law's face was unreadable as he squeezed the heart in his hand, and Bastos' eyes went wide as he tried to scream through the cloth.

In other circumstances, Saki would have sweated bullets thinking that this was exactly what Law could have done with her heart when they met. Right now, she was too angry with the man on the receiving end to care.

"I will ask once more. What is the cargo?"

Saki removed the gag slowly, just in case he tried to yell, but he didn't.

"Joker is selling fruits," he said between heavy pants. "That's why he thought this island would be a good place to start."

"Fruits?" Saki asked.

"Devil Fruits, I assume," Law replied, and looked at Bastos for confirmation.

"Y-yes. I don't know how, but he's gotten his hands on a ton of them. All Zoan. That's all I know, my job was just to set up this contract, they didn't tell me anything else!"

But Law wasn't letting him go so easily. "Before this, did he send fruits anywhere else?"

"I think he sent a few to some distribution points, but they weren't meant for sale."

Saki realized what Law was getting at. "Sent any to North Blue?"

"Y-yeah, I think so. I mean, we had Asteria before the revolutionaries came—"

"What?"

Bastos seemed to get a little bolder at Saki's confusion. "Why do you—" Then realization set in, and he said, "I remember your bounty info. You are from Asteria," he smiled incredulously. "Don't tell me you are the mole who butchered that idiot Rickhard. The dregs you left alive were looking everywhere for that one."

Saki's eyes became two slits, and she balled her hands so tightly that she drew blood. "What do you know about what happened in Asteria?"

"So it's true?" He laughed humorlessly. "You did Joker a favor. He didn't want that island anymore."

Saki's hand flew to the man's throat and tightened around it.

"Saki," Law warned her, but she ignored him.

"Your people set the island on fire to get rid of the evidence," she said.

"The revolutionaries did," he countered. "They noticed the confusion in our distribution lines and showed up in Asteria. There was a fight, our side lost and they set us on fire."

"Why would they do that?"

"Why not? They burned what was left of our network. You left the place unprotected and they took advantage of it." He had to be aware that he wasn't walking alive out of the restaurant, because otherwise he wouldn't have added, "That was your home, then? How does it feel to have set it on fire?"

Saki was ready to discharge all her rage on the man, but before she could to anything more than dig her nails into his neck, his eyes glazed over and he was dead, and she turned around, seething, to see that Law had taken one of the knives on the table and stabbed the heart right through the middle.

"Law!" She said, louder than she should have, but she couldn't keep her anger inside anymore, and she rose and walked up to him, gesturing violently with her hands. "Why the fuck did you do that?"

He caught her by the wrists, and it only made her want to hit someone more. "It was enough. We got what we came for."

"He was still talking!"

"He was just trying to get to you."

"I know that, but—!"

"Stop it. You are acting irrationally."

Saki swallowed a knot in her throat. He was right and she hated it, but she let her arms down, and he let her go.

"He wasn't important enough to know anything, Saki."

When she spoke, she sounded defeated. "How can you be so sure?"

The look on Law's face told her that had unwittingly tried to cross again the line he had firmly drawn on all matters related to Joker, and she was getting nowhere. It was the last confirmation she needed to be sure that his involvement with that man was closer than she had thought at first.

She took a deep breath. You're acting irrationally. Boy, that stung.

She kneeled beside Bastos' body again, and Law was about to object to whatever she was going to do when he realized that she was searching his pockets. Soon enough, she produced the device that Pomona had given Bastos during the dinner, and she handed it to Law.

"This is an Eternal Pose," he said, surprised, and looked back at her for an explanation.

"Pomona said it points to the place where the cargo was going to be carried."

She didn't know if it would make up to Law the scene she had just made, but it made her feel less useless.

Law accepted the Eternal Pose, and the tension in the air disappeared. He pocketed it. "We should go before somebody starts stumbling upon corpses."

"So much for a clean job," Saki commented.

"All things considered," Law opened the door a fraction to make sure the hallway was safe, and then went out, "both were quite clean."

"We're such professionals. If we ever need a career change we know what we can do."

Saki followed him close by, and when they got to the maintenance door, she regarded the doorknob with suspicion – because no plan could work so seamlessly, ever – and felt a mix of surprise, relief and even more suspicion when it turned without further complications.

Law paused for a split second to eye the doorknob as well.

Saki bit back a smile. "You didn't expect it to work either, did you?"

"Do you ever feel uneasy when everything goes according to plan?"

"Yes."

Then a telltale scream of somebody finding something highly horrifying and unexpected – say, a dead body – rang through the floor, and they looked at each other knowingly and booked it through the door. They shut it as quietly as possible, bolted it with a flimsy latch, and dashed down a flight of industrial stairs, following the same way Shachi and Penguin had taken. It was dark, but they didn't want to risk turning on any lights. Less than a minute had passed when the exit door and the promise of freedom stood in front of them.

Of course, that doorknob didn't budge. "Well," Saki said, turning to Law and looking expectantly.

There was movement on the other side, and both froze.

"Saki?" A voice whispered.

"Bepo?" Law tried.

"Captain?"

"Now that we've all been introduced, we could get to opening the door," Saki said crankily.

"I'm so sorry!" Bepo apologized from the other side. "A maintenance worker noticed the guys had left the door open and locked it. I offered to stand guard in case I saw anyone suspicious, but I haven't…"

"I'm fairly sure it's us they meant, Bepo," Law said.

"Oh. Right."

"Can you open the door form your side?"

"Not without attracting attention."

"Can't you cut it open?" Saki asked Law.

"I need a tool to cut with," he said. "I don't suppose you've got extra table knives on you?"

"I wasn't planning on murdering anybody else, but at this rate I may change my mind."

The door upstairs rattled, and they shut up immediately.

"It's locked," someone said.

"As it should. Let's check the bathrooms first."

Both pirates let out a breath they didn't know they'd been holding. The discovery of the second body was imminent.

"Maybe there's something around we can use," Saki said, turning around and squinting to see.

"Bepo, if we don't find a way to open from here, you kick the door down and we run."

"I'll be ready!"

A door, the one they had seen on the layout that connected to the first floor, opened in that moment, and Law was getting ready to knock out the approaching figure and give the signal to Bepo when it spoke.

"Looks like you need help." The rustling of keys grabbed their attention faster than the identity of the newcomer, but Saki was able to make him out against the light that got through the door.

"He's the cook I told you about," she said to Law.

He nodded in understanding and extended his arm to expand his Room and swap the newcomer's keys with the gloves hanging from his belt, but the cook raised both hands in a sign of peace.

"Hey, not so fast, whatever you want to do. I'm here to open that door for you."

"Why would you do that? And why haven't you told anybody we're here?"

"Because a friend warned me beforehand," he explained.

"Felicia?" Saki asked, though she knew the answer.

"You kept her secret," he said, walking quietly to the door. The click of the door sounded like a celestial chorus direct from heaven, "I keep yours. Go here," he passed Law a slip of paper. "It'll be safer than the inn."

"This can be a trap," Law said.

"You've been in Carpus' trap from the beginning. What's one more to deal with?"

The cook had a point, and it wasn't like they had a better idea.

"Get going before I get in trouble to. We can talk later."

They were shooed politely but sternly through the door, like unruly kids meddling in adult's affairs, and they joined Bepo outside. The cook closed the door and they listened to his retreating steps until they could no longer be heard.

"That was weird," Bepo said. "Everything and everyone in this island is weird. I'm getting tired of it."

Saki patted his arm.

"He mentioned a secret. What is it?" Law asked her.

"Now, now, it wouldn't be one if I told you, hm?" She said irritatingly, but it was enough to convince him that it wasn't relevant, because for all the stuff she kept to herself – never forgiving hiding the needle phobia – she wouldn't be reckless enough to hide critical information from them.

Keeping to the shadows until they were at a decent distance from the restaurant, they left the resort with no more than a cursory glance from the guards stationed at the exit.

"I wonder how those two are," Saki said, looking at the sky. It was cloudy and it promised rain.

"I saw them drop a sack into a cart before I was called to the door," Bepo said. "They looked like they had been through a tornado."

"They were already like that when we saw them upstairs." Law took out from his pocket the paper the cook had given them and unfolded it. "Anybody have any idea where this place is?"

Since they obviously didn't, they wasted a bit of time asking the few people around until they found the right street. It was the address of an apartment in a modest looking building.

"I guess we'll have to wait for him by the door," Saki said at the same time as Bepo pushed on the door and it opened.

"It wasn't locked, I swear!" He said in a hurry, putting his paws in the air. "I didn't break it!"

With a half-smile, Law pushed the door open and walked inside.

"Surprise!"

Though Saki would have called it a heart attack-slash-homicide attempt instead of a legitimate surprise, she was relieved to see that the people inside were none other than the two guys and Felicia. Penguin and Shachi had changed and looked clean, and they were all sitting around a square wood table and playing cards over pints.

"Why are you here?" Bepo asked.

Felicia giggled. "I brought them. I thought you could be somewhere safer than the inn. And, well, Mack offered."

"Mack?"

"The chef from the fancy restaurant," Penguin said. "You know the one that came for coconut jelly night?"

"He helped us get out of there," Saki said.

"Oh, no! You got in trouble?"

"Almost," Law said. "The backdoor was closed by the time we got there. He let us out."

Felicia smiled widely. "I thought you could use the help, so I asked him to keep an eye out for you."

"Why?" Law tried. There had been too much kindness for strangers in a single night and he couldn't help but doubt everyone.

But Felicia was immune to his scowly powers, and she spread her arms towards Bepo, "I couldn't bear to leave such a cutie to his own luck," she said, and quickly hid the bad pun with, "Also, the inn tab isn't going to pay itself if you end up in prison."

"Did you just—"

"You sure got us out of a beary hairy situation," Saki said.

"Oh, shush, I bearly did anything," she waved it off.

"Just know that we appreciate it beary much."

"Do you think all women are like this when they talk or it's just them?" Shachi said in a mock whisper to Penguin.

—

Mack got home a few hours later, well past midnight, and in that span of time everyone had been able to change to their regular clothes, courtesy of Felicia, and Saki had been able to make an intriguing discovery. On one of Mack's shelves there was a picture of him, a few years younger, and a teenage girl with shiny brown eyes and curly hair. The kicker was that she was wearing a pale blue dress patterned with daisies and dandelions. Saki didn't want to believe that she lived in a world where two of those existed, which only left one option.

Both Mack and younger Marina had the same hair, if she stared long enough. Weird island with weird people, indeed.

"I hope you weren't trying to act subtly," was the first thing Mack said when he went through the door. He shook his coat for some coconut powder to fall off before hanging it. "Because you didn't. The restaurant closed, security is going crazy because they don't want to put the resort on a lockdown but they can't find the culprits either, and it will be overrun by soldiers in the morning."

"There was a change of plans," Law said.

"A change of plans that involved two murders," Mack deadpanned.

"Yes."

"It did?" Penguin asked.

"Had to keep the bodyguard and the other guy from talking," Saki intervened quickly.

"Oh, yeah. Didn't think about it."

"So only Miss Pomona saw your faces?" Felicia asked.

"If Carpus said the truth, she won't talk," Law commented with clear distaste. "If."

"She probably won't," Felicia reassured him. "Miss Pomona won't want that kind of attention brought upon her. It's bad publicity for business."

Saki looked at her strangely. "Who told you her name? Carpus didn't say it in the inn."

Felicia covered her mouth and turned pink.

"I keep track of our usual patrons, and I knew she had requested a private room a month ago. It wasn't difficult to guess who your target was when Felicia told me about Carpus' plan."

"So… we are clear? For good?" Shachi asked, as if it was too good to be true.

"I think so," Felicia said. "I mean, a Marine or two may show up at the inn and ask for the guest registry, but with Arnold's system that isn't a problem."

"What system?"

"Make up a name for every pirate that rents a room. I'm really good at it," she grinned. "I can still promote you to Strawberry Sundae."

"I'm worried about the sub," Bepo said, completely ignoring Shachi's attempt to form a coherent response.

"You aren't the only pirate crew here," Mack said, "and they won't go out of their way to arrest someone who's not a big name." Upon the glances he got for that, he shrugged and said, "Sorry, but it's true. And anyway, wanted criminals are banned entrance from the resort. They won't be looking for you, so just don't get in their way."

Bepo seemed to be appeased by that, and even Law appeared to grow a bit more relaxed.

"Then, what now?" Shachi asked.

Mack shot him a skeptical glare. "I don't know about you, but I'm going to sleep. Feel free to use the floor," he said, stepping towards a doorframe that led to the inner part of the small apartment.

Shachi muttered when he was out of sight, "Cranky."

"He isn't a night person," Felicia said, and with a yawn, she put her cards on the table and got up. "I should go too."

The mechanics started protesting that she shouldn't be alone so late at night, but she wouldn't have any of it.

"Try not to come to the inn until the afternoon. By then the Marines will have cleared out."

After she left, and there was no more noise coming from the rest of the apartment, Penguin said, "It feels kind of bad to leave it like this."

They all knew what he meant. You didn't become a pirate to have your chain jerked around by the first opportunist that came by, no matter how important he was. It looked bad in the eyes of other crews, and it reflected badly on the captain, too. Carpus had something coming, even if they didn't know what, yet.

"We won't leave it like this," Law replied.

Penguin looked at him expectantly.

"I'll think of something. For now, sleep. I think we deserve it."

"Dibs on the couch!" Bepo exclaimed, and all hell broke loose.

Saki watched the scene unfold from a corner on the room, sitting on the carpeted floor, resting her head lazily on her knees.

—

To absolutely no one's surprise, Saki turned around on Mack's carpet for the umpteenth time that night. She may have been able to fall asleep in an uncomfortable surface in other circumstances, in part thanks to beginning to regain a semblance of a proper sleep cycle since they left the North Blue, but the events of the day plus two men and a nasally congested bear snoring in the living room made it an impossible mission.

Law was also awake. She knew, even with her eyes closed, because he wasn't breathing deeply and evenly, like one usually would – providing you weren't attempting to wake up an entire apartment building with your snores. Saki also had trouble sleeping when there were others awake around her, so she wasn't even trying. It was good enough to rest on the floor and hear the pitter-patter of the rain outside.

In a way, she was grateful to have them around. Lately, when she was too tired to shut out unwanted thoughts and she dropped down her guard to slip into bed, she had taken to crying herself to sleep. It was the moment of the day she allowed herself to let go, it felt awful and it gave her nightmares. Having an excuse to stay awake was welcome, even if her mind kept replaying the events of the evening.

It was her fault they were dead. She had known since she had read the news. She didn't need anybody to say it out loud and hearing the confirmation from a stranger hurt more than she was willing to admit.

She let out an involuntary sigh.

"You need to stop thinking so much," she heard Law say.

"I bet you never thought you'd have to say that to me."

He hummed. "I'm not sure I would've taken you up on that one."

"Thanks for the credit, I guess."

Saki opened her eyes to see Law sitting on the floor against the couch and staring at the window. She sat upright and blinked three, four, five times before it sank in her brain that she wasn't seeing things.

"It's snowing?" It couldn't be. It was too hot for snow, and she would know, because Asteria spent most of the winter season enveloped by a white mantle. Unless… "Coconut," she said with distaste. "It's coconut, isn't it?"

"It must be."

She let her full weight fall back on the carpet, covered her eyes with an arm and declared, "I'm sick of this island." Then she started to laugh to herself.

"Fantastic. My cook just broke."

She wanted to reply that he may find a more suitable replacement deeper in the apartment, but that only made her laugh harder.

"Want to hear a good one?" She said when she regained the ability to talk.

"Surprise me."

"Mack is related to the Marine captain that chased us in Lymes."

"I saw the picture." Of course he had seen it. She had expected him to. "Do you really think it's her?"

"I don't know, but it's that godforsaken dress for sure."

Law seemed to accept it as conclusive evidence. Saki thought he had given up on talking when he asked, "Do you regret joining the crew?"

Saki moved the arm from her face just enough to give him an unsure glance. "Please tell me you are joking."

"Do I ever?"

She was quiet for a moment. "Quite often, actually. At my expense a lot of the time."

"I didn't give you much of a choice back in Asteria," he reasoned. "It wouldn't surprise me if you had second thoughts."

She sighed and sat up again, because it was difficult to make a serious point sprawled on a carpet. "You saved my life twice in the span of two days."

"You fished me out of a sewer a month later."

"You rescued me from being sacrificed by crazy xenophobic cultists."

"You were already rescuing yourself. How the hell did you manage to move so quickly after the anesthesia?"

Saki scratched the back of her neck, and she shuddered a little when she touched the place where she had been injected. "I can be stubborn sometimes."

"Don't you say."

The wind picked up outside and a bunch of coconut flakes got stuck to the window. That had to be a hard mess to clean, Saki thought.

"You shouldn't let what that man said get to you," Law said.

She'd rather be cleaning that window than having this conversation. "Easy to say when you didn't basically kill your own family."

"They may still be alive."

Saki gave him a sad look. "I'd rather not get my hopes up."

"The papers lie, and people do too. Your old man didn't strike me as the kind of person who would just lay down and die."

That got a small smile out of Saki. "I know. I just can't get over it so fast. But I'll be fine." She said that last line more to convince herself than him.

"I know," he echoed.

They were just two words, but the way he said them made them heavy. Charged with his own memories, perhaps.

After another moment of silence, Saki found the courage to ask, "Do you have any family left?"

Law glanced briefly at Bepo, but didn't reply. All of a sudden Saki became very interested in her own hands. "Dumb question. Forget I said anything."

"I thought I told you to stop backpedaling."

She remembered that conversation. It was the first time he had talked about his parents, even if she hadn't asked directly about them. Then, she had been afraid to intrude where she shouldn't, too.

"Sorry," she whispered.

"I was born in Flevance."

Saki's heart skipped a beat as she lifted her face to look at his. There wasn't a single soul in the North Blue who didn't know about the White City.

This time, it was him who wasn't looking at her. He kept staring at the white-speckled window. Maybe it worked as an illusion of a home that he, too, didn't have anymore.

The questions piled up in Saki's mind faster than she could ask them – and worst of all, she didn't know if she should, but she knew she wasn't supposed to stay silent, either. "Did you leave before the quarantine, then?" She said with hope, because the other option, and the one that was most likely true, was too horrible to contemplate.

"No. I was there with my whole family. My parents wanted to stay and take care of the ill."

His whole family. Not just his parents, then. It was likely he'd had siblings.

"You survived the Amber Lead sickness," she said in wonder, not a question, but a certainty because he was there in front of her, and she could scarcely believe it after what she had just learned. "I thought it was incurable."

"For a person without the Ope Ope no Mi, it is, as far as I know."

("Were you sick?"

"Very," he said, pensive, staring idly at some point of the kitchen's wall. "Until I was thirteen.")

She couldn't begin to imagine how it would feel for a child so young to be left completely alone in the world. And he had somehow found the strength to keep going and become who he was.

She had never been so grateful for his presence as in this moment, thinking of all the tiny coincidences and successes and tragedies that had piled up, and it the end had worked together and brought them to meet in a dingy island in a corner of the world. She realized how slim the chance of the two of them ever stumbling upon each other had been, and how that meeting had turned her life upside down.

She had known she owed him from the moment he agreed to help her, but she hadn't been fully aware of how many other people, known and unknown, she owed as well.

"So the papers lie," she said.

He smiled at her. "My point exactly."

She was sure that she was the luckiest woman alive.

Feeling particularly daring, which Saki would forever refuse to attribute to the two beers she had had because no one ever had ever gotten tipsy with so little, she got closer to him and risked grievous injury by hugging him without previous notice. Thankfully, for her and for the time he wouldn't have to waste fixing her, he only tensed for a moment before he relaxed. By then, though, the hug was mostly over, because Saki was an idiot sometimes, but never full-on suicidal.

"Whatever happened before we met," she said, because she didn't want him to think that had been a filthy, insulting pity hug, "I'm very happy that it took you to Asteria. And I'm happy to be here with you and everybody else. So sorry that I can't… really feel sorry for what happened to you. I'm selfish like that."

After the shock from the hug wore down, Law gave her an amused smile that no normal person could have mustered after being told that they didn't feel all that bad about the mass destruction of their hometown. Saki was sure she wouldn't have been able to take it as well, but there was a hint of gratefulness in the way he looked at her.

"You'll have to try harder to offend me," he said.

"I don't want to. You know where I sleep."

"Good, because it was a pitiful excuse for and insult and for a compliment."

"It wasn't meant to be a… Ah, it doesn't matter." She made herself comfortable against the couch, near him. "Whatever makes you happy. I'm awful."

"You are," he agreed, "but we're all going to hell here."

Saki closed her eyes again, and oddly enough, she felt more comfortable in the close proximity of this man and a polar bear than on her own.