Hey everybody,

so here we go again! Another chapter and I hope you like it ;-)
There is not much more to say, except for: enjoy and see you next weekend!

Have a great time!

Sharry

Chapter 21 - Dying

"What do you mean?"

Beneath the table, Rosinante grasped Law's folded hands with his, and with the other he pounded on the table.

She had just told him what he wanted to hear. There was a way to avert Law's fate and whatever it took, Rosinante would do it.

Yet the boss no longer looked at him but had placed her sparkling gaze on the captain of the straw hat crew.

"His name is Keiyaku Ihan."

"What?"

"Bring him here, into this room, before my claim to Trafalgar is due, and I will cede my right to eternal life."

For a moment, everyone was calm.

"Who is this Keiyaku? A former love interest?" The chef grumbled, lighting a cigarette.

"Oh, by no means," she replied, but for the first time she sounded dismissive. "He was once a business partner who deceived me."

"And why should we do the dirty work?" The swordsman growled. "If you are as powerful as you claim to be, then drag him here yourself."

"I'd like to do that - believe me, you have no idea how much I would like to do it myself - but because of our contractual arrangements, I can't. I can only talk to him when he comes into this very room."

"And what do you have planned for him?" The navigator asked.

"I just want him to meet the contractual obligation he's been pushing for years. But that doesn't concern you at all. The main thing is you bring him here."

"And why can't I do that?" Rosinante asked.

She looked at him unimpressed.

"Oh, sweety, but now you're disappointing me. I said that..."

"You said you can't trade with me because you've influenced my life, but..."

"How rude to interrupt me. Believe me, I know guys like you, my dear, and you won't get far with your arguments and your negotiating skills facing Keiyaku Ihan. You won't be able to convince him no matter what you do. He will not come here voluntarily, but only by brute force, and for that you do not seem to be the right person." She grinned again. "You pirates on the other hand..."

"We'll do it!" The Straw Hat stood up. "And I will make the contract with you."

"What?"

"Did you even understand how this works, Luffy?"

He shook his head.

"Not really. But I understood that she lets Tra-guy go if we get this Ian, so..."

"I can't ask you to do that," Rosinante replied, also standing up. "Boss, you said you can't waive your claim because the contract has to be fulfilled. But can't you just reverse it? No contract means no claim and no due date. "

She withstood his gaze, her face serious.

"No eternal life and no resurrected dead, do you mean that?"

"No!" Law jumped up and reached for his arm. "I won't let that happen! Do you think I would want...?"

"I actually do not care right now about what you want and what you don't want, Law." He didn't even look down at the other but kept his eyes on the boss. "If the straw hats agree to this contract and can't bring Keiyaku Ihan here by the due date, you'd have to cover your liability and die."

Law wanted to interrupt him, but Rosinante didn't let him.

"Or you refuse and we both die. Either way, who knows where this guy is and you probably negotiated a year with me on your deal. That means we would have little more than a month to find this guy and bring him here, which may not be possible, and if we fail, not only you and, if necessary, me will die. If Keiyaku Ihan does not appear in this room within the due date, the one who enters this contract will also die." One or the other in the room uttered a surprised sound, but he saw only the appreciative smile on her face, not that it would do him any good. "As a matter of fact, the cheapest option is to reverse the contract between you and her and compensate her for the one year she let me live, after all, I shouldn't be alive at all."

"But Cora-san, you..."

"But this intellectual game is idle, because it is not possible, is it?"

Now she tilted her head slightly and showed him a pure smile.

"So, quite apart from the fact that Trafalgar could hardly afford such compensation, it is not possible to reverse a contract concluded with my ability. And given how interesting this negotiation here is, I'm almost sorry to have to disappoint you."

"Sure," Rosinante grumbled sarcastically.

"I don't care!" Now the Straw Hat stood up. "We're doing this deal and we're getting this Ian. We'll be fine."

"Are you stupid?" The navigator growled, slapping the back of his head. "Didn't you listen? We barely have a month and who knows where this guy is hiding."

"So actually," the boss remarked with her index finger raised, "it's only a week. It was not enough for a whole year. But I always know where Keiyaku Ihan is, and I can assure you – gladly as a precondition for the conclusion of an effective exchange agreement – that he is currently at the Sabaody Archipelago."

"Wait a second." The navigator stared at the other woman seriously. "That doesn't make sense. Why is a single meeting with some guy worth as much to you as eternal life? And if both things were worth exactly the same to you, why are you helping us in the first place? You don't give the impression that you're just helping us out of the goodness of your heart. You probably don't care if we all drop dead as long as you get what you are entitled to. So why do you give us the opportunity to change the treaty in the first place, even if that means you could end up losing eternal life? Could it be that meeting this guy is perhaps even more important to you than eternal life?"

"You're not bad, sweety," the boss nodded, and immediately her cheeky smile was back in place. "Well, I admit it. Of course I want eternal life, but guys, how many people do you think are willing to sacrifice some of their lifetime for something they really want?"

Her gaze lay unmistakably on the captain of the straw hats.

"I've lived for more years than you all have together and I'm going to live more years than you all together and at some point Trafalgar will die one way or the other, there will be a new user of the Op-Op fruit and I'll get my eternity." She was still smiling. "But when Keiyaku Ihan dies..."

"He can no longer fulfill his obligation," the chef concluded the sentence.

"Exactly. Therefore... do we have a deal?"

"A week to bring some bastard from the Sabaody Archipelago here or Law, Luffy, and possibly Corazon will die?" The swordsman grumbled.

"But since we're going to make it, it sounds like a good deal to me," the captain said with a broad grin.

"You are welcome to retreat to Trafalgar's premises. If you need anything, call Nana, but don't bother me. I have to work."

Loudly slammed the heavy wooden door shut behind the boss as she left the conference room.

Barely a minute ago, the straw hats had left.

The contract that the captain had concluded with the boss was conceivably simple and had taken barely ten minutes of further negotiation.

Rosinante had decided not to accompany them. On the one hand, he was pretty sure that this crew of strange figures would be more than fine without him, and on the other hand he was needed more urgently here.

He followed Law through the door through which the other had previously entered, into an adjacent room and closed the door behind him.

"You were rather quiet just now," he said as Law stood in the middle of the room, "usually you don't let others decide your fate so silently."

The other did not respond. If Rosinante didn't come up with something soon, the next few days would be pretty awful.

"Law, no matter what happens in a week, the next seven days you and I will be in these... generously equipped rooms and..." He hesitated; however, he knew exactly what to say. "… as you can imagine, I would prefer any form of conversation to days of silence."

The trembling of the other showed him that he had said the right thing. He didn't like taking advantage of Law's guilt towards him, but he doubted he would succeed otherwise.

"Would you at least turn around and look at me when I talk to you?"

Law finally responded. Very slowly, he turned around.

"Thank you, Law." Rosinante tried his best at a faint smile. "And now tell me how you've been. You look awful, you probably haven't eaten much the last few days and you haven't slept properly. I've told you so many times..."

"What the hell...?" Now Law looked up, his voice trembling, his hands clenched to fists. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I ask you how you've been. I've been very worried about you."

"What?!" Law took a step back, obviously confused. "No, that's not right."

"What's not right? That I was worried after I woke up in the morning and you were gone? Sorry, I don't know what you expected, but that's how..."

"No," Law muttered, shaking his head, "why are you so calm? Why don't you yell at me? Why aren't you...?"

"Angry?" He ended the question, after which Law nodded only silently.

"The truth is, Law," he sighed, and began wandering through the room, "I was angry, unbelievably angry, and I had vowed to rip you a new one after all of this here would be over. But when I finally saw you, unharmed, I was just so grateful and about to cry, it really took my all to stay composed."

He paused and tried to fight the same fight again.

"I'm so glad nothing happened to you." Then he looked over to Law, who stared to the ground, his face hidden under his cap. "So no, I'm not angry and I'm not going to yell at you. I'm just thankful I didn't lose you."

Law's shoulders trembled and glittering drops fell to the ground, silent witnesses of him crying.

"And what could I have accused you of, Law?" He whispered. "That you lied to me? That you wanted to protect me? That you thought you had to go through all this here on your own? How can I blame you if I was the one who made you believe that this is the way you treat people you love?"

Law was still crying, not looking up, sobbing softly.

"The truth is, I did the same back then, Law. I lied to you, knowing that my brother would kill me. I knew I could save either you or me and I didn't hesitate for a second because I wanted to protect you, and I haven't even been honest with you. You did exactly the same thing. You were ready to buy my life with your death and to protect me, you lied to me and came here all by yourself, to face death on your own." He approached the other and placed a hand on his shoulder. "And that's why I was hoping you were still alive, Law."

Suddenly the other looked up and Rosinante couldn't stop a single tear when he admitted the one thing, he hadn't even allowed himself to think.

"Because I, too, had hoped until the very last second that someone would come and save me."

"Cora-san?"

He took Law's face into his hands, brushing his thumbs over those tearstained cheeks.

"I know exactly how you feel, Law, and I know why you traveled here days before your dept was due, why you so obviously kept me from visiting Sengoku or my brother. You told yourself that you did all this so that I wouldn't interfere, so you would not have to see the sad look in my eyes after you would have told me. Just as I only told you the truth when I knew I wouldn't have to face you anymore. But the truth is, just as I had looked at this barrel of the gun and hoped for a miracle, you hoped that I would add two and two together in time and find you."

Although they were so different, Law so serious and grownup, Rosinante rather stress-free and lively, in the end they had chosen exactly the same path. Perhaps because Rosinante had shown it to Law, but perhaps also simply because they both had such strong feelings. They were both willing to do anything to save the people they loved, and apparently, they were both unwilling to live in a world they hadn't been able to.

"Don't worry, Law. I don't want to die and I never wanted to die. But I also don't want you to die and I want that you don't want to die either. You saved me, Law, and that's why I came this time to save you."

Law's lips trembled and new tears found their way.

"I don't want to die, Cora-san," Law whispered, lowering his head through tears. "I don't want to die!"

He embraced his little one, allowed himself to cry unseen, and held Law firmly against his chest.

"You're not going to die, Law. You have great friends. They will come back, and you will live."