Chapter 4

"It's Law. Trafalgar Law"

Law dodged to the side as Bartholomew Kuma fired a blast strong enough to reduce trees and boulders into nothing. He could hear the distant panicked yelling of Bepo but decided to ignore it.

He had deliberately let himself get caught in the explosion. Not his entire body, just a part of his left shoulder to his upper left arm. The sleeves tore, revealing a nasty open wound—that smelled like burning flesh that Law was more familiar than he was comfortable with—and blood dripping off it.

And shit it hurt.

Law grabbed the area around his neck, next to the wound but careful not to touch it.

In dreams, you shouldn't feel pain.

His amber eyes shined as a smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. A huff of estranged, amused laugh escaped his mouth.

He had never been happier to be in pain.


Tsuru raised an eyebrow as she observed Sengoku from the couch of his office. He just received a piece of parchment with his personalized seal on it, from a news' coo that had landed on the other side of the window earlier and kept pecking at the glass.

The seal was meant for the information to be read by the Fleet Admiral, and the Fleet Admiral only. Any other personnel, even those of a high rank in the Navy, weren't allowed to read it. It was a seal given to only a handful of people that worked right under Sengoku, or at every marine base of each of the Blue in case they needed to send emergency information to the fleet admiral.

It was supposed to be a highly important seal, which meant whatever information the parchment contained, was of high confidential and priority. Or danger.

And Sengoku had been reading that parchment over and over again for at least four times now.

Tsuru, for all her wisdom and experienced patience, couldn't hide her curiosity even longer.

"What is it about?" She asked, tone craftly flat.

The only indication that showed Sengoku heard her was a blink of his eyes, though he just kept reading. Tsuru sighed as she saw his eyes darted to the start of the parchment again.

"This..." Sengoku finally said, not even bothering to hide his surprise and disbelief. Tsuru didn't say anything, patiently waiting for the man to continue. He didn't.

Sengoku rose up from his chair, rolled up the parchment and shoved it into one of his coat's pocket.

"I need to go somewhere. Urgent" he simply said as he roughly tidied up the papers on his desk and picked up a bag that was prepared in case he had to go somewhere in emergency.

Tsuru stared at the man and sighed, shaking her head. She opened a cabinet, picked out a certain paper, and gave it to Sengoku.

"At least fill and sign this," she said. Sengoku scanned the paper, and realized it was a letter of authority of some sort, stating whom would be in charge should the fleet admiral be away from the headquarters.

He hastily wrote, signed it and gave it to Tsuru. She was not surprised to see that he left the office duty to her despite only being a vice admiral, she was always more efficient in it rather than the others. Though most of the fatal decision would still be up to the three admirals.

"I'll be back as soon as I can," Sengoku informed as he went out the door in long strides and slammed it shut behind him. Tsuru stared at the door then out the window. She sighed again, wondering what could get her friend to be so worked up like that.


Sengoku walked down the hall of the headquarters, ignoring the personnel around him (or maybe they sensed him being in a hurry and scooted out of his way, he didn't bother to realize). He made his way to the port in a fast-walk, the content of the parchment still fresh in his mind.

I'm the survivor from the White City.

I want us to meet.

The marine base in the North Blue.

I'll be waiting for a month.

p.s. Come if you want to know anything about Cora-san. If you don't come, your loss.

There were a lot of questions that popped up into Sengoku's mind, like how the kid acquired the seal, how he knew where exactly the Fleet Admiral's office is—Sengoku really should have captured that news' coo—and how he had managed to escape Flevance in the first place.

But it all faded into the back of his mind when he read that one word.

Cora-san

Sengoku knew that Rosinante's codename when the man was acting as a spy in the Donquixote Pirates was 'Corazon'. So the 'Cora-san' mentioned would be him, right?

Sengoku gritted his teeth. He had come up with theories, of course. Looking at the information brought to him, he tried to carefully collect and mend the pieces, careful to keep seeing the bigger picture. And the most probable one he came up with, was that Rosinante had lied to him about not nearing the devil fruit, stolen the very same fruit, and fed it to the boy with the amber lead syndrome, all to save the boy.

Sengoku didn't like it. He couldn't believe that Rosinante would lie to him, especially about something this big. But all evidence pointed to it, and Sengoku was rational enough to know that that might be the fact.

So he needed answers.

Despite all the suspicions he had on the parchment—for all he knew it could be a ruse to distract him or lure him into a trap—he had this twisty feeling in his gut that told him it was true.

And he was a fleet admiral. A little ruse or mind games would be far from enough to beat him.

With that in mind, he proceeded to meet the boy from Flevance.


Sengoku jumped off his small boat after he put down and tied the anchor. He had arrived at the island of the North Blue's Marine Base. Looking at the port, he knew it was a pretty lively island, seeing the many merchant's ships anchored nearby.

He tugged at his t-shirt, feeling a little weird in it because he had been going around only in his uniform for months. It was a nice and comfort table feeling, though. To be wearing light trousers and sandals instead of the marine pants and boots.

He adjusted the bag on his shoulder and started walking. Before, when he was still on the sea not far from the island, he had received another message—and captured the news' coo this time—from the amber lead boy. It was only a scrap of paper with just one sentence written.

Sengoku had frowned at the sentence, which wasn't even a sentence, really. Just a mention of one object, which he didn't have a clue what it meant.

Did the boy want Sengoku to bring him that object? Did it have any significance?

The more he thought about it, the more ideas came to mind, so he just shoved the paper into his pants' pocket and continued his way.

Sengoku had to stop when a ball came flying his way. He easily side stepped and caught it with one hand. He narrowed his eyes at the ball before turning to look at the direction it had come from. Two boys, each wearing hats and similar clothes, looked at him and waved. Sengoku was about to throw the ball back at them before his eyes drifted a little to the side and found another, smaller boy.

His mind snapped to the scrap of paper.

Fluffy, white, spotted hat.

Sengoku took the paper out of his pocket, and read it again to make sure. He looked at the boy but couldn't quite make out his expression, his eyes shadowed by the hat.

Sengoku walked up to them, one hand playing with the ball for a little before throwing it in between the two older boys, who almost crashed into each other trying to catch it.

He stopped in front of the boy in the spotted hat, who, now that he had a closer look, was smiling in amusement. At him.

"Hello, Sengoku-san" the boy greeted, adjusting his hat so that the shadows in his eyes lifted up a bit. His voice was still high-pitched and… young. "Nice to see that you actually got my message. I was afraid that it might be… interfered on the way," the boy gave Sengoku a tiny smile, which Sengoku just now was able to identify as a smirk.

So this was the boy.

"Yes, I did get your message. Both of them" Sengoku answered, waving the piece of paper in front of him before putting it in his pocket again. He raised a brow when Law turned around and started to walk. So the kid wasn't much for words, huh.

"Have you eaten?" Sengoku absentmindedly asked, following the boy. He mentally slapped himself upon realizing that it was 10 in the morning, way past breakfast and not even close to lunch.

"..I'm fine" the boy answered. Sengoku didn't miss the short pause and the vague answer. Had the kid not eaten yet?

"You could show me to some good places. My treat" Sengoku pressed the casual approach as the boy led them to a narrow, seemingly abandoned path at one corner of the port. The marine instinctually kept an eye and an ear out for any danger. Not that many things could hurt him.

"No need. We have enough food" The boy answered with a shrug, glancing back a little at Sengoku. The Fleet Admiral didn't miss the 'we' mentioned, guessing he was referring to the two boys at the port earlier. Or maybe more other people.

Walking behind the boy like this, Sengoku could observe the boy clearly, except the face. The most noticeable trait of the boy was the hat—probably why he wrote that on the paper—and the knife strapped on his waist. Sengoku didn't even want to think about why a kid his age—and how old was he, anyway? Fourteen? Thirteen?—went around with a weapon in plain sight.

The kid was small and more to the thin side. Sengoku absentmindedly made a mental note to tell him to eat more and maybe buy the kid some food. If he squinted, he could see the patches of white on the kid's skin, one of the most prominent signs of the Amber Lead Syndrome.

Had he been healed? Did he really eat the ope-ope fruit?

Sengoku was thrown out of his thought as the boy stopped in front of a small, rundown house. With the trees and animal sounds around, Sengoku believed it was in the outskirt of a forest at the southern part of the island. Good thing he had the idea to memorize the map of the place beforehand, just in case.

"We're here," the boy said, kicking off his shoes and striding into the house. Sengoku quietly put off his sandals and lined them near the entrance—because that's what polite people did—and went inside.

The kid had already made himself comfortable on one of the old couches, and Sengoku carefully sat on the wooden chair right across him. It was a bit small for him, but it looked like it could hold, at least.

"I was about to serve you something, but we only have water, and I'm sure you already have some with you" the kid said, pointing at Sengoku's bag where a water bottle was kept on the side, secured with a net.

Sengoku just nodded, and since it kept bothering him, decided to ask,

"What's your name?"

Because he couldn't keep calling him 'the Boy from Flevance' in his head. And trying not to care about the boy wasn't an option anymore.

The boy blinked and stared at him in surprise. Sengoku raised a confused eyebrow in return.

"Oh right, you don't know yet" the boy said softly, more to himself.

Sengoku blinked. What?

"It's Law" a little pause, "Trafalgar Law," the boy said, clear and firm. Sengoku sealed the name into his mind, unconsciously changing all the labels—'the Boy with the Amber Lead Syndrome', 'the Survivor from Flevance'—into the name.

In Sengoku's opinion, it was a good name.

Sengoku watched the boy—Law— with critical eye, careful not to make it too obvious. Now that they were facing each other, he could see his face more clearly even though the lighting wasn't really in his favor. Dark hair, amber—and wasn't that just ironic?—eyes, and dark circles under them. Sengoku wondered if the kid was deprived of sleep or if he originally looked tired like that.

"So, where do we start?" Law asked, leaning back against the couch. Sengoku had thought about it from the first time they met—or from the moment he read the message—but the boy was fearless. Frighteningly so, it was almost abnormal. Most people, especially children, would be wary by the appearance of Sengoku alone. Granted, he didn't look as scary and stern as Akainu, but he wasn't exactly kind-looking, either. From the very start, the boy—Law—didn't even show the slightest sign of nervousness. Hell, the boy had smiled in amusement at seeing the fleet admiral at the port. If the boy wasn't equally suspicious, Sengoku would be impressed of him.

"Is your friend going to listen in on us, too?" Sengoku asked.

Law didn't immediately answer. Sengoku narrowed his eyes as a smirk blossomed on the boy's face, "He wouldn't be able to hear us from where he is. But if it makes you feel better, I'll ask him to leave"

Law tilted his head up, one hand cupping his mouth "Hey, Bepo! Can you leave us alone for a bit?" he asked.

Silence.

Then a rustle.

And a door opened, revealing a—Sengoku had to blink a couple of times to make sure he was seeing it right—white bear walking out. He was standing and walking on two, his head dipped low, as he muttered a "Yes, I'm sorry" and scurried out of the house.

Sengoku was still wide-eyed even after the bear closed the door shut. He turned to Law.

"Was that—?"

"A bear mink, yeah. From the Grand Line"

Sengoku frowned.

"How could a mink get here?"

"Fell from the island, got swept away, somehow survived and washed up on an island in this Blue. I saved him from bullies. We became friends," Law explained, crossing his hands in front of him. Sengoku had this weird hunch that the boy had told that story multiple times before.

"So, what do you want to know, Sengoku-san?" Law asked again.

Sengoku obviously wanted to know the exact reason why the Boy from—no, Law suddenly wanted to meet with him. But he was given the chance to ask, so he gave the shot.

"How did you escape Flevance?" the Fleet Admiral asked, trying to keep his tone as light and not intimidating as possible. Law raised his eyebrows. Sengoku knew it was a sensitive topic, so he wouldn't want to burden the boy. He wouldn't even push it if Law didn't want to answer. Something traumatizing like that could be—

"I escaped while covering myself with dead bodies and made my way to the port and outside the city. Next question"

Sengoku blinked.

He… where should he start to get surprised?

The fact that the boy covered himself in dead bodies to escape, or the fact that he answered without so much as a flinch, or the way he said it as if he was reading some old, boring story?

Sengoku stared at Law. If he had to describe the boy's expression, it would be… indifference? No. it might be close, but not quite. It didn't look as if the boy completely didn't care, but there was something cold and off in his eyes that Sengoku couldn't quite decipher.

"…Were you really a member of the Donquixote Pirates?" Sengoku asked again, because he had learned to take every chance he could get.

Now Law's brows knitted together, seemingly… annoyed? But he answered anyway.

"I was. For around two years. Don't worry, though. I'm not their spy or anything" he said. Sengoku nodded at this. He could see the genuine hatred on the boy's face at the mention of the pirate crew.

"Then, about Doflamingo—"

"Don't you want to ask something else, Sengoku-san?"

Law cut him short. Sengoku had to applaud the boy. It had been a long time since the last time he was interrupted when talking, counting out Garp who just didn't have 'manner' in his dictionary.

He wanted to praise the boy more, when he realized just what Law was talking about.

"I've been calling you 'Sengoku-san', not 'Mister Fleet Admiral' or 'Mister Marine Hotshot', so you don't have to mind your work now. I know what you want to find out the most"

For a fraction of a good second, something flashed in the boy's eyes. Something dark and intense that Sengoku didn't believe it was real as it quickly disappeared.

"About Cora-san"

Sengoku stared at Law. His mind momentarily remembering the clumsy yellow haired boy with a sheepish smile who was too kind for his own good.

Right. He had wanted to know about Rosinante. He was the reason that drove him here in the first place.

Sengoku sighed, rubbing a hand down his face.

He wanted to know. He really did. But now that he had the chance to, he just couldn't bring himself to ask. Was he really that scared to know the reason why his son died?

Sengoku inhaled deeply and steeled himself.

"I had a son," he started. He had the habit of explaining things before getting to the point, having learned the hard way that it would make the people he was speaking to be more attentive in listening, "Well, not by blood, but I raised him like one. He died not long ago..."

And he talked. About Rosinante's one and only lie, about what happened on Minion Island two years ago, and about what was lost on that fateful day…

"Yeah. It was me," Law said, referring to the Boy with the Amber Lead Syndrome who managed to get away and disappeared two years ago. He didn't let Sengoku say anything else as he started to tell the marine about the half a year Cora-san left his post at the navy. About how the man brought him to hospitals after hospitals to get treated. How the man set himself to get the ope-ope fruit. How the man was killed by Doflamingo in the end, letting Law escape by himself.

At the end of the story, Sengoku was… disappointed, feeling betrayed by Rosinante who had—now Sengoku had the confirmation—lied to him. But now that he knew the exact reason his son died, all that was left was sadness, and longing to see his son even just one more time. He regretted those times he chose his job over his son—all for 'justice' and 'the greater good'—but Rosinante had always been a kind and understanding kid, so he would just smile and wished Sengoku luck on his work.

He just couldn't help but think that, abandoning everything to help a single child, was actually something Sengoku fully expected Rosinante to do.

"…We were supposed to escape together" Law said, his voice getting quieter. The unsaid 'but he didn't make it' hung in the air. He gritted his teeth and looked up at Sengoku, "He gave me my life and heart. I owe him everything"

Something sparked in Law's eyes that, had Sengoku not been trained enough to control his every action, the marine would've grimaced and backed away. He knew that look, had seen it enough to hope with all his heart that he would never have to see it again, much less on the people he personally knew.

A look that said someone had seen too much. And lost too many.

A look that should never belong to a child.

It could be paternal instinct, or it could be a habit of consoling a certain blond child, but Sengoku raised his hand and put it on Law's hat, his hold firm but gentle.

The pure surprise and disbelief on Law's face made Sengoku's heart sank even more.

"I see" Sengoku said simply. He didn't say anything else, merely patting Law's head softly. He could see the boy's shoulders tensed at the touch.

"What the hell are you doing?" Law said, slapping Sengoku's hand off his head. Sengoku felt a weird sense of relief when he saw the kid's expression was not that of sadness anymore, just mild annoyance.

"Let's both remember him. That's for the best" Sengoku saw Law glaring at him—the kid could look really vicious if he wanted to—but slowly turning solemn again. Sengoku wanted to end the relatively depressing conversation before Law could start to be more emotional—though he doubted the kid would ever cry in front of him—or something. But he needed to say one last important point.

"You're free to live however you want now. Rosinante would've said that to you" the words were spoken slowly, because he wanted the kid to understand. And Sengoku assumed Law did, as he pulled down his spotted head to cover his eyes.

Sengoku thought he should give some time for the kid to be with himself, so he stood up and went for the door, but Law stopped him halfway through the room.

"I will be a doctor"

The confidence in Law's voice and words almost made Sengoku smile. He did smile when the sentence registered in his mind.

The boy was the sole survivor of a previously-thought-to-be-incurable disease. From the kid's short story, Sengoku also knew that he was rejected by all the hospitals Rosinante brought him to, just because the disease was rumoured to be contagious. Him wanting to be a doctor was both amazing and sad in itself.

"I see. That's admirable" Sengoku nodded in approval.

"And a marine"

"I see. That's also—"

Sengoku whipped his head at Law.

"Come again?"

Law smirked, looking slightly amused, "I said I want to be a marine, Mister Fleet Admiral"

Sengoku had to rid of the thought that Law was mocking him by his title, and focused on the more pressing matter instead.

"You want to be a marine?" Sengoku asked again, more to voice his disbelief than to ask for affirmation.

From the conversation they had, Sengoku was pretty sure that Law hated the navy. That was the reason why Rosinante had hidden his real identity. Now the kid said he wanted to be a marine? Was it something of a tribute to Rosinante, the one who saved his life? Or was it something else?

"For clarification, I hate the World Government. And by extension, I hate the navy, too" Law said, voice stern and cold. Sengoku immediately knew that the kid was aware of what caused the tragedy of Flevance (and faintly wondered how the boy had first reacted at the fact, because it wasn't a normal occurrence to suddenly be told that your home had been reduced into involuntary graves by the organization that was supposed to maintain the balance of the world).

"So I assume you have another reason?" Sengoku asked. The boy nodded

"I want to defeat Doflamingo. That was what Cora-san had wanted to do, after all. I figured being in the marine would help" Law explained.

Sengoku thought about it. He had a feeling that Law was… hiding something. Like the boy hadn't told him the entire story. But he also knew Law was saying the truth about wanting to defeat Doflamingo. Hell, if Sengoku was ill-tempered—and if he wasn't aware of the fact that Doflamingo would be needed to keep the balance of power—he would be sailing to wherever the bastard was at, beating him black and blue.

Still, the navy was closely associated with justice—and it had been its core from the start—but Law clearly wasn't there for any sense of justice. The kid didn't mention Flevance when he said his reason. He mentioned Doflamingo. So the kid didn't want to prevent another tragedy from happening. He wanted murder.

Sengoku didn't know what to do with that realization.

"You're leaving your friends?" Sengoku decided to steer to another direction instead.

"No. We're going together" Law answered.

"And you have been training" Sengoku said it as a statement. Law raised a quizzical eyebrow

"You can tell?"

Sengoku smiled, remembering the two teens at the port "Not many kids play around with ten kilograms ball"

"Thirteen, actually. And I'm planning on adding the weight soon"

Sengoku shook his head at the smirking teen.

"So, are you going to help us, Sengoku-san?"

Sengoku wondered why Law even thought he would say no. He gave the kid a dry look.

"As long as you promise not to send me any messages in old pirate codes ever again"


A/N

Just as a reminder, the flashback at the start of the chapter is from the second timeline.

As always, please consider leaving a review! ^_^