The young angel fruit user was tense with worry, watching the witch she called her boss standing across from a fierce looking man. Maleficent was scowling, but the one opposite of her, Xehanort in his young form, had a grin on his face as if he had won the lottery. Like his encounter with Toshiro, his form was not completely there, fading in and out. It was for this reason only that she did not cast him out immediately.

"I have not been putting so much work into that boy for you to come and snatch him up now." She growled at the phantom.

"Your interest in him is superficial at best, and only because of knowledge leaked by my subordinates." Xehanort responded calmly with a sinister chuckle. "My goals have been centuries in the making… you will not take the key from me now."

"What is it YOU want with Kingdom Hearts?" The dark fairy snapped, bristling at her efforts being dismissed.

"Kingdom Hearts?" Tebliel questioned, unfamiliar with the term.

"Silence." Maleficent's voice was harsh, making the angel shrink away in surprise. Up until this point the older woman had treated her kindly.

"You seek a mere kingdom. Noble, but ultimately pointless. A Kingdom is never in power for very long, it will always trade hands." Ignoring the Devil Fruit user, Xehanort chose to just answer the fairy. "I seek to USE Kingdom Hearts. To bring back the ancient powers of yore and restore the darkness, the true power of these worlds. And for that, I need the key attached to the soul who crafted the light that contains it."

"And you're calling my cause pointless?" Maleficent scoffed. "I am not blind, you idiot, there is no purpose to erasing the worlds. Is it not better to control them?"

"Your Heartless would only devour them anyway." Xehanort seemed to find this arguing pointless, beginning to turn away, expression one of an irritated man. "This world is too well protected for your intentions to begin with, the Heartless will not survive, not when it holds powerful pieces of history long passed. I have already set the pieces in motion to bring the key to me…" He turned back to her with a sneer, beginning to fade. "I do appreciate your assistance."

And with a flare of darkness, the image of young Xehanort vanished into a dark portal.

"What a nuisance." Maleficent huffed, displeased. She had ideas about what pieces Xehanort had set into play, however, and frankly did not want to deal with the trouble of being in the middle of it. Perhaps she would interfere once more, as she had in The World That Never Was against the organization, but it would be from well in the shadows this time. It was a setback for sure, but as long as HE didn't get the Soul Reaper, she could make it work. "There is quite a bit of work to do now…"

She started moving off, not bothering to check on her follower. Tebliel took a nervous gulp before following, having finally seen a different side of her savior than she had come to expect of the woman. Remembering how Thursday had mentioned only hearing bad about Maleficent… she was starting to wonder if she'd picked the wrong side. Maleficent wasn't going to help the children… so she would have to do something on her own, when the dark fairy's eyes weren't on her.

This chance came quick enough, and the angel took off, seeking out Marines first and foremost as the ones who helped people and stopped pirates. If she said the children were in danger, held against their will, she could maybe convince them to leave the children alone, and she could get them away from the dangerous Nobody. Her wings had grown strong doing errands for Maleficent, and they carried her far away from the island the dark fairy had chosen to reside in. She could only hope to spot a ship before she reached her limit… falling into the ocean was not appealing.

An hour passed, her flight slowing down as her wings ached from fatigue. If she rode the wind currents she could basically glide for another hour, but after that she HAD to find a landing space, and sadly there were no islands in sight, not even an outcropping of rocks. She might be in trouble…

As if knowing of her plight, a small Marine fleet came into sight.

"Oh thank goodness." She breathed out heavily in relief, summoning what energy she had to reach them.

A pink haired Captain gladly let her land and rest, hearing her out, even if the blonde man with a visor looked less than pleased. Interested, he agreed to find the two allied crews, though he did have some heavy words for her.

"You do know those kids were adopted by Trafalgar Law, right?" He spoke softly to the tired Mink-Human. He had given his name as Coby, a young man proud of his profession and always eager to assist, he was one of the better examples of Marines. Besides the bright pink hair held back by a bright green headband, he had his glasses up on his forward, a white coat hung over his shoulders, and a scar above his eyes to show he was not as soft as he looked.

"Adopted?" Tebliel looked confused. "Not… not kidnapped?"

"Definitely not." Coby shook his head. "They sail with him willingly, rumor has it he saved them years back. We've recently connected one of them to being a dangerous Devil Fruit user that used to be controlled by Donquixote Doflamingo. One of the reasons Trafalgar uprooted Doflamingo from his kingdom was apparently to get her back."

"That can't be right, they're just kids." The angel user looked stunned. "And… and even if that's true, there's someone with them that's really dangerous!"

"Are you talking about the new kid seen with them recently?" The blonde, a Lieutenant Commander named Helmeppo, questioned. "Hitsugaya I think was his name?"

"Yes! He's connected to all the Heartless that showed up recently, he has a powerful one as his pet! He'll get them killed!"

Frowning, Coby and Helmeppo shared a glance as they mulled over this information for a moment. From what they had heard of Admiral Fujitora's reports, this Hitsugaya Toshiro was an odd child that was fully capable in a fight and possessed some kind of ice ability not related to a Devil Fruit. There was nothing about controlling a Heartless, though. Perhaps it had not been present when Fujitora and his fleet came across them? In reality, Fujitora had asked his men not to mention the dragon, his only other favor to Toshiro for the valuable information and the liquid weapon against the darkness, which meant no one else besides his fleet knew of it.

Concerned about the doubt on the Captain's face, Tebliel used a slight bit of her ability, just enough to get the young Marine to agree to help her and accept that Toshiro was a threat to the children. Coby's own natural instinct to help others was an easy target for her skill of persuasion, a skill angels used to prey upon doubts and set one on a better path, whatever the angel thought that might be.

"We'll just have to take care of him then." Coby spoke firmly so his men could hear. They seemed to be in agreement, though Helmeppo frowned. "If he's hiding something like that, he's likely a danger to more than just the children; he'll bring harm to everyone."

Tebliel breathed a sigh of relief, glad he agreed.

The fleet wasn't too far away from the allied pirates, either. It only took a day to catch up with them after their last suspected sighting on the island occupied by the Red Hair Pirates.

By now, Toshiro had given up on his plan to leave, especially after seeing how close Law was to a new technique that could fix him. The Surgeon of Death was getting better at manipulating the shadow 'bodies' of the creatures, and after restocking the Heartless available to him when another pair of Heartless ships tried to come after them, he had more leeway to mess around with ideas and see which one held them together best. It was not the most pleasant to watch, but it was positive progress, and during observations Toshiro got to learn a little more about Law. Once Trafalgar learned how to contain the heart without losing it, he could work on transferring it back to the Nobody half it belonged to.

Despite this good progress, Toshiro still had issues with nightmares, as they had expected after losing the music box. In the two nights before their encounter, he'd covered parts of the deck in ice again, barely able to sleep at all. Chopper, Bepo and Dextra all decided to huddle outside with him, the reindeer doing so out of concern as a doctor. Bepo just wanted to help and Dextra, having had many a nightmare herself after her past traumas, thought this would help the best. Her Papa had done the same for her. The three smallest huddled against Bepo's fluffy fur as the bear slept just fine on the submarine's deck.

"He can sleep anywhere, can't he?" Toshiro directed this question to Dextra. It was the early hours of the morning, and they should both be asleep, but despite their companionship and efforts, he couldn't. Chopper was out as well, curled up against a sleeping Hyorinmaru, safe from the icy cold body thanks to his fur.

"Yeah, Bepo's great at sleeping, probably how he makes up for not hibernating." The eagle responded quietly. "Papa tends to use him as a pillow when he doesn't want to go on the island."

"I can see why." Toshiro shifted slightly to be more comfortable up against the large Mink. "Compared to his first mate, Trafalgar never seems to sleep, I can hardly blame him for sneaking in a nap or two with Bepo."

"You can probably relate."

"Ah…"

They went back into silence for a moment. Hyorinmaru stirred drowsily, dragging himself over to rest on his master's lap like a big icy cat. Sleeping buddy gone, Chopper rolled himself over so he was huddled up at the Nobody's side. Toshiro wasn't quite comfortable with everyone crowded so close to him, but since one was his dragon and the other also soft, he let them be.

"Hey, Toshiro." Dextra was the one to break the silence. He made a small noise to show he was listening. "It's about what you told us back at the island… you told me before that the person close to you was hurt by Aizen, not you, and that she was recovering."

"If you're wondering which one is true, they both are." Toshiro's tone had become a bit distant. He was tuning out of his emotions to answer her. "He betrayed her first, and once she recovered from that, tried to help in the war, he used her again, turned me against her because he knew I would want to be the one to run him through. He knew that once I saw her hurt by my hand I would be an easy target. I would no longer care about rules or those around me, I would just want to kill. And it worked. Fortunately, she made it through, and she's back in the job… but the damage was done."

"He wanted to hurt you the most…" Dextra picked at her shoes, unsure what else to do as he told her all of this.

"Yes… I thought it was over, that I could forget it all… but then the darkness dragged me away from my home and preyed on my memories every chance it could, digging deeper and deeper past whatever I thought was right and turning it upside down. At the end of it all… I lost to it, and now I've hurt even more people."

"We really are similar." The eagle sighed. Toshiro looked her way, confused, as last time they had shared stories she had seemed closer to the girl he spoke of rather than himself. "When Papa came to stop the pirate who made me this way, after I was already confused about who I was and what to believe… I was both so relieved and so devastated. I was happy he came to rescue me… but after everything my former master did, I didn't want my Papa to go through the same things. For a while… I… I thought the best way to save him… was to kill him…"

"Well, at least neither of us succeeded at that." Toshiro responded.

The blunt response actually made Dextra laugh a slight bit. She wasn't quite sure if it was him being a Nobody or just a practiced indifference to such situations that made him say it, but it was actually somewhat of a relief to not hear an outpouring of concern or shock. She'd had her time to deal with it, Law had long since forgiven her, in fact had been the one to help her get over it, especially after he realized her intentions and what she had gone through to come to that mindset. Talking to someone who'd gone through a similar trauma was eye opening for her.

"Yeah… I guess that is the silver lining."

"I still blame myself for what happened to Hinamori… but she's always there to remind me that it was beyond my control. I saw her crying about it once… and it reminded me that I'm not the only one suffering about it. She was absolutely blind-sided by someone she trusted completely, more than any of us, and yet she still gets up and smiles and takes care of everyone else. I wish I could be a fraction as strong as she is…"

"If you remember that, why do you still blame yourself?"

"Because of how easy it can happen again." He looked towards her, teal eyes full of shame. "My biggest weakness isn't fire or anything simple… it's how easy I let myself get angry and charge without thinking."

"Seems to work for Luffy."

"Yeah… and it works for a few others I know… but for me, everything just falls apart. I don't have their luck and charisma."

"Sure you do; you found Papa."

Toshiro nodded his head slightly, since she had a good point, and paused to pet Hyorinmaru. Petting ice felt odd, but the dragon seemed to like it, purring in his sleep.

"I really do appreciate what both these crews have done for me… I don't think there will ever be a way to pay everyone back."

"How about not dying?" Dextra offered with a nervous shrug.

There was a small twitch at the corner of his mouth, but otherwise no reply. He didn't like to make promises he couldn't keep.

"You made sure we were prepared for everything coming, even though you said doing so was really bad for you, so I think we can call it even." She tried instead.

"I only did so in the first place for my own benefit. Once it spiraled out of control… I had no choice."

"You still protected us, and even got us past a Marine Admiral!"

The Nobody gave a tired sigh. Dextra frowned, concerned, but had run out of ideas to try and make him feel better, to help him understand that they weren't expecting something grand in return. He was practically a part of the two crews now, and they knew he had nothing to give but everything to lose. They weren't going to make him lose more.

There was the sound of footsteps, the pair looking over to see Thursday exit the submarine. She looked tired, clearly having just woken, but nervous as well.

"Morning." Dextra greeted the older girl, somewhat relieved for someone else to break the awkward tension.

"Mornin… I hope you didn't stay up all night." Hands going to her hips in a trademark motherly pose, Thursday frowned at the eagle child.

"The night kind of flew by…" Dextra used for her excuse, looking away to the ocean with the face of a child caught doing something wrong.

Deciding to let it go, Thursday rolled her eyes and ruffled the younger girl's hair before turning to Toshiro.

"Hey… there's something I want to tell you." The eldest looked nervous again as she spoke.

The Nobody tilted his head in question, but before she could continue, Dextra suddenly shot to her feet and leaned over the railing, looking surprised.

"Marines!" She shouted, looking back to them, expression shocked. How were they found so fast? The last island they had gone to was a Pirate Emperor's, and surely the Marines couldn't have been tracking them after their meeting with Fujitora.

"Uh-oh." Not wasting any more time, Thursday hurried back into the submarine to wake everyone. Toshiro had already shaken the three around him awake, picking up a startled Chopper and Fast Stepping over to the Thousand Sunny to let them all know, Hyorinmaru hurrying through the air after him.

Dextra kept an eye on the Marines while everyone else was alerted, taking in their numbers, speed, anything she could tell them to get them prepared. There were only three ships, a small fleet and therefore unlikely to belong to an Admiral, though this also let them close in faster. There was some damage, suggesting they had recently dealt with a different enemy, either a small pirate crew or the more recent Heartless ships roaming around. That would mean they might be low on supplies, perhaps even a weakened crew, maybe easier to scare off. The sky was beginning to lighten, so there was no more chance to escape into the night. Another morning bout with Marines… hopefully this one was less trouble, she wasn't allowed to go out for the last one since they had been submerged, and with Fujitora on board she couldn't blame Law for wanting to hide her; the purple clad Admiral knew who she was.

Noise on the Sunny let her know that the Straw Hats were up and ready to go, the door of the submarine opening at the same time for a few of the Heart Pirates to come out, a worried Bepo pointing them in the right direction to look.

"How does it look, Dextra?" Jean Bart questioned, spotting their young look out.

"Small fleet, possibly injured, compared to the last one they shouldn't be too much trouble. There are one or two strong people, but not too much for all of us." She listed off, still watching their approach.

"Finally some good news, maybe we can nick some supplies off of them." Volpe grinned, cracking his knuckles.

"I'll go tell Captain." Bepo volunteered, hurrying inside.

On the Sunny, Usopp had determined pretty much the same information as Dextra, the Straw Hats hardly concerned. The sniper suggested they still try to get away, as they did have a way to do so, but Luffy refused as it would leave Law's crew behind. Toshiro wanted to ask what special system the Sunny had to go so fast, but figured now was not a good time.

"Hey, that pink hair looks familiar." Nami's comment got their attention, all turning to where she had her binoculars held up and observing the three ships. The one in lead she of course scanned more, as that was the one the fleet leader would be on.

"What? Let me see!" Curious, Luffy was first to snatch the binoculars with his rubber arms, Nami just scowling at the theft and the others wanting to see as well. "Oh hey! Coby!"

"You know a Marine?" Toshiro looked between them all in confusion. The last fleet they had run into had a man ready to tear Law and Luffy apart, and they had only escaped thanks to said man being a reasonable one and willing to negotiate and look the other way. He had not expected, however, for them to have a friend in the Marines.

"Yeah, Coby's great!" Luffy responded with a huge grin. "Sucks he's not a pirate but he's an awesome guy! Helmeppo too, he's over there."

"Was a whiny, scared brat when we first saw him." Zoro said with a snicker. "And Helmeppo used his dad's name to get away with anything."

"Yeah, that was fun! They grew up fast with my old man training him!"

"Your grandpa is terrifying; you HAVE to grow up fast with a guy like him training you."

"So then… your grandfather is a Marine?" Toshiro was even more baffled at this.

"A highly decorated one too, though not an Admiral." Nami explained. "Even better, Luffy's dad is THE most wanted criminal on the planet, leader of the Revolutionary Army that's trying to take down the World Government."

"You… have an impressive family history."

Luffy just laughed like it was the best joke ever.

"It'll be nice to see Coby and Helmeppo again, if they're not here to take our heads." Robin stated, bringing their attention back to the current problem at hand and away from Luffy's family. It was a complicated line that they didn't have time to think about, and Luffy had made it clear he didn't really care what his dad was, and he continued to be a pirate half for the One Piece and half to spite his ruthless grandfather.

"Oh yeah, I guess we can't always expect them to just say hi." Chopper said in realization. They might know Coby and Helmeppo well, but they were still enemies at the end of the day. "Ah! What if Law's crew attacks first!?"

"Oh, that might be problematic if we want to avoid unnecessary conflict." Brook put a hand over his mouth in a show of concern.

"I can speak with them." Jimbei offered. He didn't know the Marines as well as the others, being newer, but he had seen the young Marine's bravery before and held respect for him. If conflict could be avoided, he would do his best to obtain that goal.

As the fishman jumped over to the submarine to let them know of their connection to this particular fleet, Coby himself was standing by and observing as they caught up with the two ships.

"Are you sure you want to approach with such a small group?" Tebliel asked him shyly, uncertain of this bold move. "After those Heartless ships, your ships aren't in good shape to go up against them."

"Oh, we won't have to fight them." Coby turned to her with a reassuring smile.

"W-we won't?"

"Straw Hat Luffy is actually a good friend of mine, he helped me reach for my dreams and get this far, and his grandfather was my mentor. I'm sure if we let them know about the danger of that boy Luffy will agree and hand him over, maybe even help us."

"What… what if he doesn't? What if they're convinced this boy is good?"

The Captain frowned at that, choosing not to answer. If it came to that, then he would have to choose his duty over friendship and pick a fight. The safety of civilians depended on it. Helmeppo still looked uncertain, as Coby had never been this serious towards Luffy and his crew before unless higher ranking Marines were around.

Behind him, his men got their new weapons ready. Vegapunk had worked quickly, taking the single vial he had been given and creating a mass amount of weaponized serum, using the bird system to deliver it to various fleets. Coby's group had been one such fleet to receive the new weapons, and after the attack from the Heartless ships a few hours ago, they had proved that they worked very effectively.

If the mysterious child did have a Heartless helping him, they would take it out.