The bar was a very nice, large place. Several crew members under Shanks, the Red Hair Pirates, were there as well, recognizing Luffy and greeting him like old friends. Toshiro tried to find a corner to hide himself away in and work on calming himself down, but Shanks himself was having none of that, Dextra sticking close by like a good friend would if still a little star struck and nervous. Her twin came to join her as he and some other Heart Pirates joined them and a few more Straw Hats at the meeting place. There was a lot of tension at first, but like the Straw Hats, the Red Hair Pirates kept a peaceful, cheerful atmosphere, and before long it was as if they were all great friends.

"Oh! He does come out of your shadow!" Shanks exclaimed, baffled as Hyorinmaru rose from the darkness onto his master's shoulder in a protective stance. "How tiny though, is he a baby?"

Hyorinmaru bared his teeth and ruffled his scales angrily at the comment, letting out an icy hiss that made Shanks quickly pull away the hand he'd been reaching out with to pet him.

"He can change his size, he's much older than anyone here." His master corrected the man. "This is just easier for him to maintain when not in combat or when he is indoors."

"He can get bigger than the ships in his full size." Book added on excitedly, a little more on the happy side for getting to chat with such a powerful figure compared to his more reserved twin sister. "He fishes Sea Kings for us."

"Wow, now that's some good eating." Shanks nodded approvingly, as if he was congratulating the achievements of his own kids. There was already a bit of color on his cheeks, as he'd had several mugs of beer already, so Toshiro couldn't tell if this was him being drunk or normal. He knew someone similar among his fellow Captains, who loved to drink and play around but could sober up in moments if it came to it, so it was never clear if it was the alcohol talking or just the man being bored. "Where'd you find something like him, Snowy?"

"It's Hitsugaya Toshiro." The Nobody huffed, irritated with the name. "And he's my other half."

"Huh, to each their own."

"No! He's literally part of me!"

"Ohhh." Shanks clearly still didn't get it, so Toshiro gave him the basics on Soul Reapers, Heartless and Nobodies as best he could, the one-armed man listening intently as he continued to drink. When told the Heartless were quickly becoming a problem on this world, he definitely kept close attention to what Toshiro explained, as it was his duty as a Captain to be aware of such threats. "Interesting… well, I hope you're able to get that problem fixed, those fits of yours can't be healthy for you. And rest assured any Heartless popping up around me is going to regret it, yours being an exception of course."

"That's good to hear." Toshiro nodded, glad the man believed him with a simplified explanation. He recalled something he heard back when Shanks had first arrived. "By the way… you recognized the name Maleficent… how's that?"

"Ah, well, she showed up in here all creepy like only an hour or so before you showed up, talking about some kind of power she could give me and working together for some bigger purpose, I didn't really care for it." Shanks waved his hand as he talked about it before picking up his drink again, taking a big gulp before continuing. "Told her I liked what I had just fine and didn't need her help, we pirates do things our own way."

"I'm glad you didn't accept her offer… she more than likely would have turned you into one of her Heartless."

"HA! She can try!" He finished his drink in quick gulps before slamming the empty mug onto the table with a satisfied breath. "Told her to get off my island, didn't seem too happy with that. Hope she didn't cause your fit cause of me, kid."

"No… she's after me for a different reason." Toshiro looked away uncomfortably, not willing to share that with everyone as much as he was making sure people knew of the threat.

"Hey Toshiro, I thought you hated being called a kid." Book cut in, saving his friend the trouble of having to explain the issues he was having.

"I do, but I'm learning to deal with it since no one listens to me. I hate the nickname Luffy gave me as well." The Nobody answered.

"You kids like growing up too fast, no need to be stiffs, have fun with your youth." Shanks patted Dextra's head, who looked up at him in awe.

"But Toshiro's actually over a hundred years old."

"…Eh?" The red-head needed a moment to process that.

"Before I became like this, I was a spirit, we don't age as quickly as a living being. I'm likely the oldest person in this building." Toshiro explained.

"Pfft, no way, you're a total pipsqueak!"

"Am not!" Now definitely ruffled, the room gained a bitter chill as Toshiro scowled at the taller figure.

"Look at you, you're barely hip height!" Shanks was laughing loudly as he continued, cheeks more red than before – Toshiro could only assume he was intoxicated at this point, but was still furious. "In that case then, have a beer!"

"I refuse." Toshiro grumbled. Thanks to his Lieutenant, he had a growing disdain for any alcoholic beverages that had become a bias against them. That, and most people never bothered to ask him if he wanted any, though he was perfectly fine with this as he would have declined it.

"Aw, come on, don't be a buzzkill." Shanks jeered as he got another drink from the waitress. He pushed it towards Toshiro instead of drinking it. "You a grown up or not!?"

"I didn't say… grown up… I'm just older than you." This the Ice Nobody said through gritted teeth. The more this topic came up, the more he was being forced to admit that in comparison to his Soul Reaper comrades, he WAS a child. That didn't mean he in any way liked it, however.

"An old brat then!" Shanks laughed as Toshiro gave his fiercest scowl. Meanwhile, Hyorinmaru was examining the beer, taking it upon himself to drink instead.

"Hyorinmaru!" Toshiro exclaimed, surprised.

'Just because you hate it doesn't mean I can't have it.' The dragon snapped back, licking his lips. 'Not quite to my tastes though...'

"Ha! The dragon drinks!" Feeling somehow victorious about this, Shanks cheered and ordered another round.

"Hey, does the place have watermelon? Maru loves it." Book asked the Emperor. The dragon perked up as if to prove this.

"Here, I still have some of these!" Chopper had come to them, pulling out a bag of the watermelon sweets he had made for the Heartless. With little need for invitation, Hyorinmaru gladly snatched up the bag and fished one out, chewing on it in content. Shanks could only laugh, amused by the harmless way the supposedly monstrous dragon interacted with the others.

As time passed, the twins decided to leave the drunk red-head to his own devices, escaping with Chopper, though Toshiro was not so lucky as he and his partner endured some odd questions. At this point the Reaper was mostly ignoring the man, as he would normally do with his fellow Soul Reapers back home upon their intoxication.

"Ya know, his name sounds familiar." Shanks seemed a little less red in the cheeks as he said this, his eyes clearer and looking at the Nobody curiously. Toshiro's own curiosity was drawn out and he gave the pirate an inquisitive look, Hyorinmaru doing the same with a tilt of his head. Being made of ice, it seemed the dragon did not get drunk, so he remained clear headed. "Did you know I was once part of Gol D. Rogers crew?"

"The former Pirate King?" Toshiro questioned, remembering the stories he had been told so far. "The one who left a great treasure behind?"

"Yup! Glad to see you're taking notes." The man chuckled. "Well, on Raftel, the island he left it all at, we found an interesting discovery. I won't say much in case one of the brats here are listening, don't want to spoil their adventure, but there was an interesting carving of a big dragon. Captain Roger was able to read those ancient words, and I think his name was part of it, though it didn't look like him." He pointed to the dragon, a bit amused at how intently the pair was listening to him. "The statue seemed to be guarding some kind of door. Funny thing is, not all of us saw it, it was the weirdest thing. Said we drank too much, ha!"

"A door…"

"Couldn't find a way to open it either, didn't have any handles. Just a big keyhole with no key." Shanks took another gulp as Toshiro went into thought.

"A key… but then…" Lifting up his left hand, Frozen Heavens appeared before him. As he set it on the table, Shanks nearly choked on his drink.

"-the fuck did that come from?" He choked out, trying to clear his throat of any booze he accidently got in his lungs in his surprise.

"It's a Keyblade. It might look odd, but I believe this weapon is the key to your door… it's also of great use against the Heartless." As he explained, Shanks picked up the strange weapon – with Toshiro's silent permission of course – and examined it curiously. "I'm still learning about it myself, but it can reach the heart of the world itself, as well as seal or open a world to other worlds. It's a bit of a picky weapon."

'I also believe the door he found leads to the heart of the world.' Hyorinmaru agreed to his master's thoughts, though they made sure not to say this specific thought out loud to a pirate, friendly or not. 'It's only fitting it lies at the end of this world with another memento of the first world to guard it.'

'Which makes two… it's highly likely these fragments gave this world its power to protect itself.'

Shanks gave another loud curse as the Keyblade decided to finally vanish from his hands and back into Toshiro's. While the Nobody had been speaking to his dragon, some of Shanks's crew had gathered around to look as well.

"Apologies… like I said, it's a picky weapon, and I was chosen as it's master."

"That's a nice anti-thief trick." Shanks said with a bewildered tone. "Guess that's why it was glowing at me, probably didn't like me." His crew laughed at him.

'…glowing?' Toshiro gave the Keyblade an odd glance. It had never glowed in someone else's hands before, and he wondered what that might mean.

Apparently talking about the statue and door was all the one-armed pirate had been waiting to say, no doubt hoping for some clues about their origins, clues Toshiro didn't really have, so the Captain left to go bother the other drinkers, Nami currently drinking Zoro under the table somehow. Now finally given some peace, Toshiro thought about the information he'd been given. There was no doubt the dragon statue was of Hyorinmaru's original form, probably an offering or sign of respect to the spirit before he merged with the first Heavenly Guardian. Like the cave with the music box, it must have been a piece that had been left behind by the first world after the war, and found itself guarding the door to this world. There wasn't really a concise way to explain that to a pirate, especially when a lot of details were still unclear, such as why these pieces happened to reside on the same world as a power that could potentially reverse being a Nobody and Heartless, not to mention why they were directly connected to him, the Heavenly Guardian, who needed that power.

It was all a string of very fortunate coincidences that was making Toshiro's head hurt as his paranoia crept its way up into his thoughts. Maybe, just maybe, these were not fortunate coincidences, but a laid out plan to open up his memories and powers. At the end of this journey, he might not get to become whole, or if he did might not be of his ow control. After everything he'd been through, Toshiro could not for one second believe these happy circumstances would turn out great for him, could not hold on to wishful thinking that he'd finally found his way out of the cruelty and darkness he'd suffered and onto a better path. Whenever things were going TOO perfect, he could only expect his next dose of suffering around the corner.

Hyorinmaru nudged him gently in comfort, his master giving a heavy sigh and trying to calm the stress back out of his shoulders.

The rest of the night continued with cheerful laughter and loud talking from the pirates present, going rather quickly through the bar's stock. The employees didn't seem to mind though, as they knew the Red Hair Pirates were good about tipping and cleaning up after themselves later, even if they didn't pay for the drinks themselves. It was a small price to keep the mighty pirates protecting their island happy, and being a popular city island they got plenty of well-paying visitors regardless, as Shanks and crew were not here often. As midnight came around, the drunks started passing out to sleep, everyone else following suit just because it was too much hassle to drag them all out back to the ships. The Heart Pirate kids curled up next to Bepo for a familiar comfort, but Toshiro kept to his corner, not sleeping.

The only other person not sleeping was Robin. She and Franky had been one of the late arrivals, and was sneaky about refusing drinks while enjoying time with her crew. She quietly made her way over to where the small figure hid away in the shadows, not saying anything even as she sat down beside him, simply opening the book she had brought with her and reading with a light smile on her face. He wouldn't say anything, but he appreciated the silent company.

"Dextra told me about what happened to the music box." Robin finally spoke after some comfortable silence.

He didn't answer but from the corner of her eyes she saw his hands curl up a bit tighter, not quite into fists but definitely a sign of discomfort.

"Did you forget that Brook already learned the song?" She turned to look at him with a soft smile.

"… I did." He admitted quietly. There was a brief pause before he spoke again. "I don't think it was just the music, though. There was… a spirit in it, someone close to my former incarnation. I think… I think she was the one holding back the nightmares, while the lullaby's magic was to ease any suffering and pain and help them sleep. When it broke… they all came rushing back at once. Her spirit could no longer hold them back."

"I see." Robin's smile faded, expression downcast. She hadn't known about the spirit being the source of the magic. The only one who did was Dextra, so Toshiro couldn't at all blame her. "That was the magic in the cave you spoke of."

"Yes… she was the younger sister of my predecessor, lost to a plague of darkness. That cave was supposed to keep her alive until he found a cure, but he wasn't fast enough, and her spirit has been bound there ever since."

"At the least she is free now." Robin attempted to return to a positive note.

Toshiro simply nodded. He couldn't deny he was upset at losing the item that kept back Maleficent's attempts to twist his mind, but now that he knew what it was keeping them away, he felt guilty using her as such. He could only thank her for the help she did give him until the dark fairy destroyed the vessel.

"Well, I was going to say, before we got off track, that you are welcome to come to us if you need to." The archeologist continued. "I'm aware you don't like being considered a child, but despite that, my Captain thinks of you as an important friend, which makes you like a little brother to us all. We may not completely understand where you come from and what you're dealing with, that is your own story to tell, but we will help you while we can."

"I appreciate it…" Toshiro said, and while he meant it, he still sighed sadly. "But it's not like I can stick around. Once Trafalgar figures out how to return Hyorinmaru and I to normal, I need to find a way back to the others."

"That doesn't mean we can't enjoy the journey until that point." She chuckled quietly. The Nobody gave her an inquisitive look. "We've had several temporary crewmates, and we will always consider them our companions even as they take a different path. You will be the same. No matter how far into the stars you travel, if you ever came back, you would be welcome on our ship."

"That's… I don't understand." Robin waited patiently for his question as he spoke. "I've only brought trouble, and unwanted attention. I hurt several of you, got one killed… every minute I sail with all of you I'm being hunted, putting everyone in danger. I just… I don't understand how anyone can have so much trust and caring for someone like that." He laughed weakly. "I was called a freak all my youth because of my HAIR, and here I've brought a force of darkness chasing after me and you're calling me FAMILY."

"Well, don't forget, none of us are exactly innocent." The woman giggled, speaking softly since he was clearly confused and distressed. In a way, she understood where he was coming from, an outcast to everyone for something beyond their own control. Her mother was an amazing person, but she had done something against the will of the government and was killed, marking her own daughter as an enemy of the world as well. Despite that sword to her neck, the lives she had taken and lies she told, her precious Captain risked his life to save her. She only wished to extend that same hand to another troubled soul like herself. She knew how much good it could do.

Toshiro gave another weak laugh.

"To think I spent decades following every rule in the book to the letter, trying to prove I was worth it… and all the people who would stick by me no matter what are rule breakers."

"Sounds like you have some interesting friends waiting for you." Robin smiled.

"Alcoholics and delinquents, all of them… but some of the best people I've ever known."

"We'll make sure you get back to them safe and whole." She reached over and patted his back, watching him relax when before he would refuse the friendly touch.

"Thank you…" His eyes closed, finally settling into a light sleep after their talk.

She remained a moment longer, rubbing his back, until she was sure he wasn't having any troubles in his sleep. She kept a close eye on the ice charm around his neck, the blue harder to see in the dark of the closed pub but still visible enough to know he was stable. Positive he was safe to let be for this night, the archeologist gave him some space before making herself comfortable for her own light nap.

The next morning, some of the older pirates woke and began cleaning up any spills or turned over chairs, greeting the bartender of the day as she arrived. The movement woke Toshiro, who stood to offer his help, to which they waved him off since he took no part in making the mess to begin with.

Shanks finally woke with a sudden jolt, sitting up with a sleepy expression.

"Had a bad dream, Captain?" Ben, a very tall, black-haired man and Shanks's first mate, chuckled at the way the red-head woke up.

"I had A dream." Shanks grumbled, somewhat hungover but mostly grumpy about his restless sleep. "Something about picking a strength and a weakness and all these personal questions, some weird light. Thought I died for a second there."

Toshiro froze while the others jeered at their Captain's strange dream. That dream sounded VERY familiar.

'He can't be…' Toshiro turned to the man with wide eyes, going unnoticed for now.

"…and I reached out to the light like this and-WHOA!" In the middle of explaining how he woke up, Shanks cut off into surprise as a light flashed through the room. Everyone went from snickering to jaws dropping in seconds.

Shanks was holding a Keyblade.

Specifically, he had the regular old Kingdom Key, but a Keyblade nonetheless. Toshiro flashed over next to the man with his own bewilderment on his face.

"You're a Keyblade Wielder." He stated in awe.

Don't kill me please.