The sun was rising happily above to the completely ruined Wano Kingdom, for the first time after many years. The snow that fell at night, combined with the smoke rising from the ruins, turned brown in places, was covering the earth of the what remains of the country gently and was giving it a damp, penetrating cold. On the other hand, there were laying a lifeless body of a dragon without caring for the snow gently covered it at the otherside of the country, where exactly deep down at the pit of the hill where Oden Castle once stood.

The war was over. The great invisible walls of Wano were destroyed, and this country, which has been closed to the world for more than a thousand years, was in a deep sleep without caring about the cold and the country's infrastructure in need of a good repair.

Except for two men. One was the seafarer X-Drake, who was reporting in a hurry about the epic war that happened in the country, and the other was Trafalgar Law, who was planning to leave the island and disappear before the country awakens.

The Heart Pirates had already recovered, and some of the crew had begun to fill the Polar Tang's boiler room with coal. Bepo, in turn, was applying security checks to people entering the boiler room, was checking overalls and leakage possibilities, and Penguin was preparing a quick breakfast in the kitchen for the whole crew. The captain, on the other hand, was watching the smoke from the deck of his tiny yellow fish over the land of Wano, as quiet as possible, waiting for all his orders to be followed.

While not sure if he wanted to see this country again, he wanted to enjoy the scenery and the sweet twilight of the newborn morning. And the silence, specifically the silence. There were very few times when he could really enjoy silence and tranquility in his life, which he spent at times fighting for money, sometimes for revenge and sometimes for his own life. Especially after the Straw Hat alliance, eventhough he still wasn't sure if it was the right decision, he was definitely sure that he had been subjected to much noise far above his own standards. It was not because he did not like this crew, who made this crew uproar as if there were no tomorrows and found a subject to quarrel all the time, but from time to time, whether he seemed happy or mean, he could not get rid of that inner feeling of alienation and isolation. Even if he could distill the Straw Hats' joy like a drug and inject it into himself, he would not have been able to achieve that eternal euphoria. Those dark feelings gnawing through his brain and his heart never let Luffy glimpse that purity that would warm even the sun when Luffy looked at him through his thick, crusted skin. He couldn't let his own restlessness overshadow the pure joy of the Luffy's. Especially since their alliance reached its goal, every extra minute with them, even a simple goodbye, would both hurt them and will be too much for his self-eating soul.

He took out the pipe that Nekomamushi had barely persuaded to give him as a gift when they were leaving Zou, filled it with some tobacco and some greenery, and then set it on fire. In those rare times when he could find peace in his own solitude, he liked to make such getaways.

"Are you really leaving this early?"

An unexpected sound suddenly spoiled that perfect moment. When he controlled the deck with swift movements, the only stranger thing he saw was a head just two steps behind him, bloomed like a flower from the ground. Nico Robin's head. The head continued to flow from the ground up and to complete the whole body from head to toe of this woman, whose reputation had reached every corner of the world.

"Yeah." He answered this question as coldly as he could. "Since this alliance has achieved its purpose, I have no reason to stay any longer."

"I see." She spoke softly under her gaze, veiled with sadness and disappointment. "Still, you had an obligation to say goodbye to us."

"Maybe, who knows. Where's your main body, Nico-ya? "

"In the Kuri. We are all at O-Tsuru's house. " The tone of her voice suddenly changed. "Don't change the subject. At least you should wait for Luffy to wake up. Do you have any idea how upset he might be? "

"I'm not changing the subject, Nico-ya, I'm ending it." The tone of the surgeon's voice changed involuntarily. "Then, go back to wherever your body is, please."

"I will. But you have to give me a rational reason to say ours. Otherwise, you know that I wouldn't be able to convince Luffy not to follow you. "

"Isn't it reasonable enough that the alliance has achieved its purpose?"

"Nope. At least not for Luffy. He sees you not just an ally, but as one of the crew. "

"That's exactly why I'm leaving. I can't be one of the crew, Nico-ya. " Law's gaze dropped slowly, taking a deep breath as he flaring up the chamber of the pipe with his hand. There was a brief silence as he focused on the pipe in his hand.

"I didn't know you were smoking."

"Rarely. I hope you didn't expect me to smoke seven twenty-four like your cook? " He raised an eyebrow and fixed his gaze on Robin, as if to say when are you leaving.

"Hahaahahahah." Robin chuckled. "No."

"The thing is, Nico-ya, if you need a logical explanation at least, first of all, I have a crew of my own and a responsibility to them." He continued to speak in a slightly loosened tone, with the effect of nicotine and cannabinol filling his brain folds and veins. "As such, sometimes some requests have to be remain one-sided."

"One sided?" As Robin's eyebrows rose involuntarily, Law noticed that he had drop a brick with his last sentence. Robin continued. "One-sided for whom?

"What is one-sided for whom?" Although he disagreed, she was not Chopper, whom he could entertain and send, but Robin, who thoroughly analyzes the data she encountered. And to be pretending like he is already high probably wouldn't work either. Still, he could not escape giving the reaction that made him look like an idiot. "What is one-sided for whom?" Really?

"Are those one-sided requests belong on your part, or are those on Luffy?" Robin continued with a wicked grin on her face. Law's ears were blushing under his fluffy hat. "I thought you were too smart to ask that?"

"You have to be frank, Nico-ya."

"I speak very frankly, Torao-kun." Smiling with a soft expression on her face, she stared her curious gaze at the captain of the submarine she popped up from its deck.

"Pfffffff." He grabbed his forehead with his other hand which he bent forward with a deep sigh. "Whatever, anyway?"

"Nico-ya." He pulled his hand from his face and frowned and turned to the woman. "It will make everything difficult for me to stay with you, even enough to wait for say goodbye."

He paused for a moment, lit the reservoir of the pipe again, took a long breath, and continued.

"And by the way, you asked the question insufficiently. One-sided for both of us. He will do anything to keep me, and I will go into an incomprehensible paradox."

He stopped for a second and continued.

"I can't resist this."

"I know." Robin responded, grimly.

"What do you mean you know?"

"Torao-kun, I know. Us women don't need concrete evidences to understand."

Law's completely discolored face turned right over his shoulder and began to peek across the harbor of the island where they were preparing to dive. Twilight was gone and the sky had already surrendered to yellows and oranges. In the distance, bird chirps rose from the enchanted forests of Wano.

Then he turned his face back.

"But you have proof, right? You were there when I shouted at Cavendish." He was shaking his head bewailing.

"Not really, actually." Robin's strained face suddenly relaxed. "We are used to people being attracted to Luffy's charisma and rushing to death for him without thinking. In fact, we do it first. He can jump to death for us without a single doubt. That's normal, that's why we all see you as a crew member."

She took a short breath and continued.

"What I saw is different. Torao-kun, why did you carry Bellamy up to Kyros' hut when we were leaving Dressrosa?"

"Mugiwara-ya told him he was a friend of his?"

"Then why didn't you let Bellamy at least thank you later, and attitudinize him that he could die wherever he wanted to? The man had no harm to you."

Law, on this fixation, stretched tightly and began to gnaw the funnel of his pipe discreetly. Robin continued.

"But Bellamy was actually a threat for you, wasn't he? Torao-kun, any smart woman could catch the jealousy in your voice and attitude."

This man, whose notoriety reached every corner of the world just like the other, suddenly frozen to death, whether is caused by the air or because of this archaeologist woman is colder than the air. He pulled the pipe out of his mouth, and looked at the other completely uncomfortable.

"Then you can understand why I have to go. Nico-ya, what exactly are you here for?"

"Isn't it obvious?" She answered, keeping the same calm. "Even if you were going to go, I intended to say that it would be very offending to leave without saying goodbye. I did not know that the issue would be drawn here." She chuckled bitterly. "Luffy doesn't deserve this, Torao-kun."

"Neither do i!" He replied, recovering his usual facial expression.

Then Bepo's voice from inside reached the deck.

"The cruise is ready, Captain!" Then he showed up on board after his voice.

"Oh, Robin-san, are you coming too?"

"Fufufufufufu." Robin laughed. "No. This is just my clone, I'm not even here actually."

Then the captain of the ship turned into this naive hearted bear.

"Would you excuse us for a second, Bepo? We're diving in 5."

"Aye aye, captain!" Law turns back to Robin as Bepo returns as he came.

"Who knows this but you?" He could feel his face starting to blush again with his brows furrowing.

"I am not that quite sure. I only opened my doubts to Nami. When I opened my detection to her, she didn't even think it was possible, she even made a book on it, but it seems that I became rich."

The captain of the ship closed his face again with his hand.

"Anyone else?"

"I haven't had the opportunity to share it with anyone else yet. I don't think I'm gonna share it from now on."

"Why?"

"Because I got my answer. The rest is not that important."

There was a short but deep silence between the two as the sky was turning slowly to the lightest tones of blue. Law lowered the visor of his hat over his face and kept his gaze completely on the floor. His lower lip was trembling involuntarily, with hardly swallowing and breathing. When Robin noticed this, she knew it was time to bloom again and wipe off the clone.

"Take care, Torao-kun."

The Heart Pirates had already disappeared under the sea as the flower petals swept the deck where no one was left.