Hey everybody,

so here at the moment it's the middle of the night (I wasn't sure if I would have time to upload the next days, so I just decided to go ahead and post it now before finally going to bed^^), so I hope you guys are a little bit more awake than I am while reading this ;-)
I hope you will enjoy this little chapter.

See you next week ;-)

Chapter 16 – A way

"We have to take the right path over there," Law explained, looking up from his map, "and then we will head straight towards the lake. It's not that far anymore."

"That's about the twentieth time you said that," Rosinante grumbled, leaning against a tree.

This was by far the longest hiking route Law had ever chosen in recent weeks. Until now, they had always been travelling one or two hours, but today Law had pushed him out of bed before sunrise and for almost six hours now they were walking up a mountain. Just at the thought that they had to walk the whole way back as well, Rosinante felt sick.

He might have the longer legs, but Law clearly had the better stamina, or he was just better at hiking, whatever it was, Rosinante was fighting for his breath while Law showed barely any exhaustion.

"Should we take a break?" Law asked patiently, smiling slightly.

"No, unless your it's not that far anymore isanother hour again."

"Come on, let's walk together." Law took his hand and together they continued.

Rosinante wasn't that enthusiastic about hiking, he liked a nice long walk, but he saw no point in staggering up a huge mountain, only to wade down on the other side. In addition, the paths were mostly unstable and uneven, Rosinante had already fallen countless times and only Law's quick interventions had mostly prevented worse.

However, he knew that Law liked it, and since he liked to spend time with Law – and that bullhead rarely demanded anything he liked - Rosinante did it for his sake.

In consensual silence, they walked side by side.

Oh, actually, if he was honest, he didn't think the whole trip was that bad. The forest in the early morning had been fascinating, the sunrise over the sea beautiful, and Law's sparkling eyes simply breathtaking.

"It's over there," Law muttered, but all Rosinante could see at the horizon were rough stones and behind them the blue of the sky, in the background a few mountain peaks.

But then he stopped.

"Wow."

"Yeah, right?"

In front of them was the entire inland of the island, framed by the high mountains that flowed into the sea, with the exception of the small village at the harbour, outside the mountain range where they had settled several months ago.

Rosinante just looked over miles and miles from a bird's point of view. To his right a river emerged that flowed into a huge, glittering lake in what seemed just an arm's length away, at the foot of the mountain.

The green of the trees seemed to dance in the gentle summer wind and the dots of countless flowers stood out from the sea of grass. In the distance he could see individual villages, some closer, some further away.

And behind the island was the sea. No, that was wrong. Everywhere around them was the sea, the waves broke in the glittering midday sun. Rosinante thought he could see the shadow of a giant sea cow beneath the water before he spotted the outlines of the spring island Haru and there, little more than a shadow at the horizon, he could recognize it, even from here, the Red Line.

"Cora-san, come here." Surprised, he interrupted his amazement when Law noted him to walk on and led him over to the small stream, which grew only meters below them to a raging river. Between spots of grass, they settled down and unpacked their lunch.

They barely spoke a word, it was not necessary, but looked at the world around them, the small and great wonders of nature.

Even after they had eaten, they stayed, showed each other things they had discovered and talked about this and that, Law beamed happily and laughed like never before, and now Rosinante knew that he could enjoy hiking, at least as long as Law was with him.

Eventually they began their way back again and Rosinante quickly rejected the just-conceived thought.

But then he noticed that Law's smile had faded, his gaze absently directed to the ground.

"Law, are you alright?" He asked, reaching for the other's hand.

"Of course," Law replied almost too quickly. "I'm just a little exhausted. Maybe I haven't slept enough."

It was a lie, Rosinante recognized it immediately.

"You know," he muttered, "you know I just decided it's time."

Law paused for a moment before he went on, his eyes firmly on the way in front of him.

"You saw the Red Line," he simply remarked.

"I did."

Law nodded.

"That's good. I have a very bad conscience for keeping it from Sengoku for so long. I also think it's time."

"As I said, Law, I'd love you to come along. It wouldn't take us longer than one week."

Law shook his head and rushed along the path.

"No, no, I can't leave Ninnin alone with the practice for so long. Also..."

"Law." He stopped, and as he was still holding the other's hand, he forced Law to do the same. "Ninnin is really good by now. She no longer needs a babysitter and hasn't called you once during her last shifts. I don't think she has anything against it if you accompany me. So please..."

Slowly Law looked up, could barely hide his insecurity or whatever it was, before he finally smiled weakly.

"All right," he said, nodding, "let's go together. When do you want to leave?"

They continued their journey more slowly than before.

"Well, I have to discuss it with Sansan first. Liuliu will be able to jump in for me, I think he is doing quite well." He thought for a moment. "It would be best if I spoke to Sansan tomorrow and we leave the day after, okay?"

Law just nodded.

"Hey, you don't need to be nervous. Sengoku will not be angry and I have promised you that I will not leave you behind."

"I know," Law whispered, "but no matter what happens, please don't forget that I love you, Cora-san."

Those words almost frightened him, but he suspected that Law was even more afraid of what was to come.

"As if I'd ever forget, Law," he replied softly, "and no matter what, don't you forget that I love you, little one."

"When will you ever stop calling me that?" Now Law sounded a little more like himself.

"Maybe if you get taller than me."

The other gave him only a roll of the eyes and together they continued their march.

The next morning came quickly.

Today Rosinante would have to arrange everything for their trip the next day and probably have to talk to Law again.

The whole last day the other had been strangely quiet, probably very nervous because of tomorrow's trip. In bed, he had almost clawed into Rosinante's skin, like a small child during a nightmare, something he hadn't done for months.

It unsettled Rosinante, but it also reassured him that they had to overcome this hurdle, the faster, the better, and then they could continue their happy life.

He sat up sleepily. He had to admit that he was also nervous, but it was a rather joyful expectation to see Sengoku again. But he could understand Law well, because he too was afraid of what might come, or rather, of the moment when he would face his brother. But Law was also right, it was time for them to face the past.

To his surprise, Law was no longer next to him. Probably he had not been able to sleep well and had already decided to discuss the next few days with Ninnnin and Mrs. Paipai.

Sighing, Rosinante stretched and also got up. The sooner he would get through the formalities, the sooner he would be able to talk to Law.

But after leaving the bathroom, he couldn't find Law in the kitchen or on the porch. A quick glance into the study revealed to him that the other was not there either.

Confused - and slightly concerned as he was - he also checked Law's former bedroom, which was as abandoned as the last few months, more of a storage room by now, before deciding to call the practice.

To his surprise, Ninnin picked up. When asked, she denied that Law was there. However, he had apparently called her in the early hours of the morning and told her that the practice would be her responsibility for the coming days.

It was meant to reassure Rosinante that Law apparently wanted things straightened out and prepared for their departure, but a bad feeling in the stomach area told him otherwise.

Again he checked the porch, the beach, and the kitchen, but couldn't find Law anywhere and it didn't fit the other to not even leave a note when he went shopping or something like that.

Suddenly Rosinante found himself in the other's study again, unaware of why his feet had carried him there, but then he saw it.

The desk – usually besieged with countless books, transcriptions, piles of paper and what not yet – was completely empty, only the small transponder snail for the on-call service and a small scrap of paper lay there, which was constantly crawling towards Rosinante.

"Law?"

Then he looked up and noticed that the sword, which had slept so innocently on the shelf, was missing.

Panic overcame him and the next moment he ran down the way to the harbor.

But, of course, he knew he was going to be far too late. At the pier, gasping for air, he looked out to the open sea.

Law was gone.

His heart was threatening to break apart, but he forced himself to think calmly, he had to find a solution and he knew exactly what to do.

He rushed back to the house, called Sansan and told him he would be out for a few days because of an emergency. Then he walked back into Law's study and reached for the famous transponder snail. It didn't have a dial, so he just hoped he was doing the right thing.

For several seconds the snail beeped quietly and Rosinante was already about to pursue his plan B, but finally somebody picked up.

A dark, slightly annoyed-sounding voice replied, "Yeag?"

If Rosinante were someone else – and if he didn't have his own problems – that voice might have intimidated him, but right now it just made him angry.

"Is there the ship of straw hats?"

"Hmm?"

"If you're one of the straw hats I want to know!"

For a second it was quiet on the other side.

"You're the one, who called, so you should know," the stranger replied grumpily.

"I'm not in the mood for jokes," he growled.

"I'm not either," the other grumbled just as darkly, "and since we were just talking about not being in the mood for things..."

"Wait!" He grabbed the speaker tighter. "I'm a friend of Law, I need your help."

"Hu?" It came from the other side. "He's in trouble?"

"I think so."

"You think?" The other sounded even more suspicious than before. "You didn't know who you were calling, you don't know who I am, and you just think..."

The other interrupted himself as footsteps emerged and several other voices suddenly grew loud, falling silent at once as if at behest.

"So, once again," said the other, "you think Law is in trouble and want our help?"

"What? Tra-guy is in trouble?!" A loud voice asked in between, which was then silenced by another person.

"Exactly," Rosinante agreed, wondering if he was speaking with the legendary straw hat.

"What's your name?" The main talker asked.

"I can't say that."

"Why should we believe you?"

"You have no reason to believe me. But when Law told me about you, he said that if the Straw Hat calls, we are coming. So now I just hope you come when he needs your help."

Again, the other remained silent, straining Rosinante's patience, before he heard soft voices in the background, apparently the crew members shared their several opinions with each other.

"Okay," said the man with the dark voice again, "why did you call us?"

"I want to know if Law mentioned anything to you the last time you saw him that could give an indication about the problem he's in."

Again, he received no more than a few voices denying this, but then a woman replied, "Well, given his choice of words, we can probably assume that he did not expect to see us again alive."

"What?" Rosinante whispered unanimously with a few other voices.

"Yes, maybe he's dead by now."

"Robin!"

"What?" He felt powerless on his side of the line. "What do you mean by that?"

Once again, the woman talked: "He didn't say anything out loud, but... I recognized this look."

"Great," growled the man who had spoken first, "another one."

"What does that mean?" asked Rosinante, confused.

"That means we're coming," his interlocutor replied, while some loud voices in the background spoke incomprehensibly to each other. "Command of the Captain. Where do we have to go?"

Perplexed by the sudden change of heart, Rosinante looked at the transponder snail.

"To Kaikkien Maiden."

"What a coincidence," murmured the other rather dismissive as the other voices seemed to disappear, "that was our next goal one way or another. Just wait a second..." He could hear departing steps, the banging of a door, silence, and then steps came closer again.

"We should be there in two days and but let me warn you, friend of Law, if this is a trick, you will regret it."

"See you in two days," Rosinante said, hanging up.

For a moment he took a deep breath, then he rushed through the house, grabbed the most necessary things, grabbed his cap, and set off, pulling it deep over his head, almost ripping off the little hearts at the ends.

From the beginning he had known it, had known that Law had been hiding something from him, had excused it by saying that Law wanted to protect him, that Law did not want him to find out who he really was, that Law wanted to forget the past, that Law did not want to face Sengoku, but the moment he had seen the Vivre Card in the study, he had known that all this was not true.

Law was in trouble and Rosinante had done the only sensible thing he could think of. He had called Law's friends, at least those he could contact, for help. Whatever enemy would oppose him, he was pretty sure that the strongest crew in the world would probably be a good ally.

But that didn't change the fact that he had no idea where Law was, still he had a guess who would know the answer, because there was the second infit in Law's behavior.

Just in time Rosinante reached the first ferry of the day to Haru and impatiently lit a cigarette.

Law had deliberately prevented him from visiting Sengoku and his brother, had been reluctant to do so for months, and now that he knew he couldn't stop it without it being noticed, he had left. That meant one of them had to know something and Rosinante would find out what.

Chewing on his filter, he stared out to the open sea, not allowing his feelings to gain the upper hand, because then he would no longer be able to do what he had to do.

"But I swear by God, Law," he growled, "when this is all over, we're gonna talk, you idiot!"