I don't like you!

by BloodyMarryMe

By pure chance and unluckiness Miyako finds herself at the Sabaody auction house as a slave. And of all the people, the one interested just had to be the most smug, egoistical and sadistic pirate she has ever met. So at least she can give him as much trouble as possible, right? LawXOC

55. Forgotten Memories

"I don't like you!" by BloodyMarryMe

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or any of its characters, but I do own the OC Suzune Miyako. This story is rated T for language, violence and suggestive themes.

Note: Here's the next chapter, I hope you like it! I skimmed over it for proofreading so I apologize if there are some mistakes left. When I find enough time, I'll thoroughly proofread the whole chapter. So for now if you find any mistakes while reading, please let me know and I'll fix them. :)

I'm really interested what you think about this one, so without further ado…

I hope you enjoy and have fun reading it!

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CHAPTER 55

Forgotten Memories

Two swords clashed against each other with a loud clang. The force behind it made a gust of wind appear from every direction, but the pair currently battling hardly took notice of it. They were both too focused on the opponent in front of their eyes, but for different reasons.

"Miyako!" Law yelled as he blocked yet another onslaught of attacks coming from the samurai girl. He hoped his voice would reach her and make her come to her senses, but the girl didn't even blink at his shout, and instead only came at him again from the side. The captain gritted his teeth and blocked her sword while quickly trying to figure out a way to stop the girl without hurting her. He raised his hand and used his devil fruit powers as he yelled "Tact." A piece of earth rose up from beneath, right in the middle of the two, separating them and protecting him from the girl who was just about to attack again.

However, it only gave him a second more to jump back and collect his thoughts before the rock got pierced through by her strong attack, and the deadly point of the katana aimed at Law's heart. There was no hesitation in the girl's movement, yet it was also different from the times they trained together in all seriousness. At that time, she wasn't holding back much, but she was still careful not to kill him. Now that worry was completely gone. Miyako was aiming for the kill with every move she made. Even if it weren't obvious from her swift movements or the killing intent, which was seeping out of her together with her warrior's spirit and created high pressure in the air, it was quite evident from her eyes. Her golden eyes were dark and sharp; a look she only saved for her enemies until now. But then again, at this moment Trafalgar Law was her enemy, whether he liked the idea or not.

How did things become like this? That's all Law could ask himself as he continued to fend off the girl's strong attacks with all his might.

~…~

"Land ahoy!" Penguin shouted as he pointed at the rising silhouette of an island before them. There wasn't really any need to point out the obvious since everyone had already been up on deck, while the submarine smoothly sailed through the waves. Perhaps he simply wanted to say those words.

Nevertheless, as soon as the mechanic shouted, the other pirates also ran up to the railing in a B line, and leaned over it, while watching the island they were approaching. They were all wearing their coats already as the weather turned for the colder some time ago. By the flaky snow lightly falling down, it was obvious this island's climate was a winter one. Even so, everyone had excited smiles on their faces, which only widened when they noticed smoke from the houses up ahead showing that the island was indeed inhabited and that of course meant food and lodging for them. Maybe even some night entertainment if the guys were lucky. It was a while since they saw a populated island ever since they started their course for the Marine HQ, which was now newly built in the New World after the Great War two years ago. So it was needless to say that everyone was excited to finally get off the submarine and stretch their legs for a change. As much as they all respected and cared for each other as nakama, having 20 guys inside one submarine could get pretty cramped after a while.

Miyako shared the same enthusiastic smile as everyone else. If having twenty men in one small space was tiring, than just imagine how was it for a single girl to share her personal space with those twenty men. At least for tonight Miyako hoped there wouldn't be any incidents of guys constantly dropping in her room whenever they felt like it, or constantly fighting, using foul language and often even physical strength to prove their point. She barely had any peace among this rowdy bunch, which often brought her to the brink of her patience, so she would try to find her salvation in the infirmary where she would lie in one of the empty beds just to have some peace and quiet for a while.

"I wonder if they have an inn," Josh grinned, already thinking of the refreshing beer he'll order for himself.

"I wonder if they have a brothel," Garry sighed shamelessly beside the other medic, already in cloud nine with just his imagination.

Miyako just rolled her eyes as she already learned to ignore such comments from the young pirate men. It wasn't surprising, after weeks surrounded by only sea and constantly fending off the dangers of the New World. Everyone had to relieve their stress the best way they could, and finally docking onto a populated island usually did the trick for them. Some would head over to relax with women while others did it with drinks and food. Personally, for the girl, just standing on solid ground again and exploring new wonders the island could present her with was more than enough. The samurai who never even stepped outside of Wanokuni before, always found it most amazing exploring all the different cultures and places that she could only read about in books before leaving her country.

"I wonder what kind of cuisine they have here," Ben grinned widely, already licking his lips in anticipation.

"Yeah, I'm so sick of our food lately!" Louis exclaimed, forgetting what his comment might entail if it reached wrong ears.

"What's that suppose tha mean!? What be wron' with me cookin'!?" Munk's offended voice shouted from somewhere behind the group.

The rest of the Heart Pirates stayed quiet but felt cold sweat dripping down their backs, not wanting to comment and bring upon themselves the wrath of Munk and his wooden spoon. He was into some new, super healthy recipes lately, which was supposedly full of vitamins good for the body and gave the men their strength, but even if it was full of healthy ingredients, it was lacking one very important factor; good taste. The latest was what the head chef called 'Munk's special porridge' which ended up looking as a white gooey mass. Unfortunately, it tasted the same as it looked. Even though he had Miyako and the other helping chefs in the kitchen with him, nobody dared to oppose Munk's idea about it. They all knew that when the stubborn old pirate set his mind to something, nobody would be able to divert him from it. And right now, he decided to give the crew the healthiest meals he could think of. The only thing the Heart pirates could hope for was that he loses interest in his new-found cooking obsession, just like it happens with all his other wild ideas that usually pop into the man's head every few weeks or so.

Finally, the girl decided to try and calm the atmosphere that could turn into a storm at any moment. She smiled at Munk innocently, putting her hands up defensively. "No, no, it's just, you know, Munk-san…a change of pace, that's all. We're just wondering about the food the island might offer," her sheepish smile never faded for a second as she started explaining to the large chef.

It seemed Munk wasn't entirely satisfied with that explanation, but didn't press on the matter as they were arriving on the island shortly. He gave one last huff with a skeptical look before sighing and dismissing the whole subject. "Very well, ya kids need diversities anyway so ya might's well enjoy yaselves!"

"Oh, I'll enjoy myself," Penguin commented in a mutter with a wide grin on his beaming face. He obviously wasn't talking about the food.

Cody, who was standing next to him, watched his comrade with a wary stare. "You really creep me out sometimes."

~…..~

The town looked like a mixture of traditional and modern architecture as the buildings were constructed from wood and stone. Some had a more traditional feel with sliding doors and Shōji, while others used stones and brick for their walls. However, everything was covered in deep snow, which only added to the charm of the town. The snow was shoveled from the streets to allow easier passage, but already a new thin layer was covering the paths. Unlike the roads, the rooftops had a large, thick layer of snow that sometimes fell to the ground in heaps. There were patches of ice around and icicles of all sizes hung from the eaves. There were some trees and forests surrounding the wide-spread town, but everything was naked and in deep sleep during the everlasting winter.

Miyako stepped onto the frozen docks, rubbing her hands together and puffing hot air into them. The air turned into mist as she breathed. She scanned around the island, and could see gray, fuzzy clouds in the distance, hiding the tops of large snowy mountains up ahead. The samurai hugged herself tight and rubbed her arms to get more warmth into her body, even as she had her checkered winter coat on. "I just can't get used to cold weather no matter what." Even though Wanokuni had all four seasons and the winter up north was also pretty harsh in the mountains, Miyako was raised near the south where the winters were mild and short. Before heading on the journey with the Heart Pirates she never needed to worry about such cold weather before.

"Ya hoo!" Bepo suddenly zoomed passed her like a flying bullet, making the girl widen her eyes in shock as the bear ran up ahead and jumped into a heap of snow before rolling around in it. "It feels so good," the polar bear almost sang in satisfaction.

Hearing more laughing and cheerful voices behind her, the girl turned around to see most of the crew already in a snowball fight or just enjoying the falling snow. Since most of the Heart Pirates were from North Blue, they didn't mind the cold weather at all; actually they welcomed it as it reminded them of their homes. The girl sweat-dropped and sighed with a frown on her face. "Figures…," she mumbled. Unlike them, she was already freezing, yet they didn't seem in any hurry to leave the open streets and find some shelter from the cold.

"What's wrong, feeling chilly?" She heard a voice beside her and turned to see a grinning Josh staring at her with a smug expression. Since he was one of those North Blue residents, he wasn't affected by this winter island's climate at all. He had his white overall and high boots like the rest of the pirates, which was enough to keep him warm.

Miyako scrunched up her nose in annoyance. "Shut up," was all she could mumble. "You're gloating now, but only a few days ago when we were in a summer climate you were like a gooey ice cream melting on the floor. 'Ooh, it's so hoot…I can't take it anymore…someone give me some ice to cool dooown!'" The girl sarcastically imitated the redhead, even trying to copy his whining tone at the time.

"Tch! I do not sound like that," Joshua responded, gritting his teeth and glaring up at the samurai.

"You're right, your voice is even whinier. But I just can't make mine that girly, you know," Miyako sighed dramatically as if troubled, only mocking him further.

"Of course you can't sound girly when you're more like a man than a woman anyway, Ugly!" The medic commented with a winning grin. It only took a few comments to set them both over the edge and start arguing in the middle of the docks, completely ignoring everything and everyone else around them.

"Uh…should we stop them?" Penguin tilted his head, looking at the shouting pair.

Cody just sighed next to him. "Leave them be. At least she forgot about the cold now." He was already used to the pair's antics and didn't even have the energy to separate them anymore. Let them fight it out and exhaust themselves, at least they'll be calmer later. In that aspect, they were just like little kids.

Law trotted through the snow, ignoring the cold and wet feeling on his trousers. He rested the nodachi on his shoulder and looked around the island. Even though the weather was so cold, the residents didn't look bothered by it as they walked the streets normally. The market was filled with stands and people - buying, selling and haggling for groceries. Everyone was already used to the cold, and they walked around in coats and winter-wear, which was all they needed to keep warm.

"Guys, I found an inn!" Shachi jogged back from the town with a grinning smile underneath his hat.

"That's what I'm talking about!" Penguin exclaimed happily in response to his friend.

"Were there any cute girls there?" Garry smiled in anticipation.

Shachi stayed quiet for a while, but then a wide grin slowly spread across his face. In response, most of the Heart pirates cheered happily once more.

Miyako and Josh stood on the side, shaking their heads in disapproval with their arms crossed on their chest. "Idiots…" the girl commented, looking at the love-struck pirates, even though they hadn't yet met any ladies.

"Yep, definitively idiots," Josh agreed with her for the first time today.

Penguin quickly turned to face them and glared at the pair. "Shut up you two! Go back to your fighting!"

"It seems the log pose will set in a few days, so it'll be good if we can use the inn to sleep there," suddenly a monotone voice behind them startled the arguing group. They all jumped in their spots and turned around to see the young navigator watching them with his usual disinterested gaze.

"Whoa, Sai, don't sneak up on us like that!" Josh complained to the navigator, glaring at the man now that he was over his shock.

"It's not like I was trying to…" Sai answered with the same dry expression, even as the other pirates complained to him.

"Seriously, you're turning into Law with that habit. It's bad enough that we never know when he will come out of somewhere," Miyako sighed, agreeing with Josh once more.

"At least that way I'll keep you on your toes," another sudden voice startled them. This time they saw the captain behind them as he stared at them with an amused smirk. He was really enjoying seeing them jump out of their skin, wasn't he?

"Captain!" Penguin quickly exclaimed and saluted to Law who was approaching the group.

"That's exactly what I'm talking about," the samurai girl commented under her breath, with a frown on her face.

"It's good against slackers," Law continued, piercing Miyako with that smirking gaze as if he was specifically refereeing to her.

"I do not slack off." She crossed her arms on her chest again, this time in an obvious pout from the captain's words. Then her frown turned upside down into an amused smirk as she noticed something behind Law. The gloating never left her face as she pointed somewhere behind him. "Rather than keeping an eye on me, you should keep your crew in check."

Now it was Trafalgar's turn to frown in a questioning stare as he looked behind him to see a group of his men running towards the town already, probably going into the inn to see all the lovely girls Shachi talked about earlier. Law's expression turned into a dark scowl as his subordinates completely forgot to even ask his permission to be excused before going away to have fun. It was probably because the submarine wasn't really low on supplies yet, so the men knew there wasn't that much work to do. Even so, buying more food and medicine along with a routine check of the submarine now that they're docked, should still be their priority. It wasn't helping that the mischievous group running towards the inn was actually led by his head mechanic, Shachi.

He sighed and turned around towards the rest of the Heart pirates who were still enjoying the snow or making sure the submarine was tied down to the docks properly. That's when he found himself face-to-face with a tense Penguin who stared at his captain in complete silence, obviously expecting something. The captain knew exactly what his mechanic was asking of him wordlessly, and somehow he just knew there was a pair of wide, puppy eyes staring at him from the shadows of Penguin's hat. He sighed once more. *Well, they did good at Rocky Port so I suppose they deserve some relaxation time….or however they intend to spend it.* A part of Law didn't really want to know the details of what the Hearts did when in town on their leave. He already had enough scenes when he had to stop a brawl with some drunken pirates or townsfolk in the inn, or rescue his man from the clutches of some okama that they confused with a sexy woman after too many drinks. Not to mention that one time when he found Kai-ya chained to the bed and completely naked…Law shook his head, trying to chase the way the ugly memories. Meanwhile, Penguin was still staring at him silently and it was starting to feel really awkward. "Fine…" The captain sighed and had to move to the side when Penguin joyfully jumped and cheered, before practically disappearing in a cloud of dust and snow.

"It's fine, I can take care of the supplies before I join you in the inn. There won't be that many crates this time." Jean Bart walked over to them, talking surprisingly more than usual. Normally, a grunt of understanding or a nod would be all before the large navigator would go do as he was told. Needless to say, the large man was strong enough to effortlessly pick up and carry at least four large crates on his bulky shoulders.

"I'll help with the medicinal supplies and equipment then," Cody smiled before taking one last smoke of his cigarette that he took the chance to light now that they were finally outside and in a smoking-allowed zone. As the cigarette burnt to the filter, he casually threw it into the snow where it instantly extinguished.

Trafalgar nodded at his two subordinates in agreement. "I'll leave it to you then." He turned around to see his first mate still rolling in the snow like a child, finally able to cool off. The submarine was usually hot and stuffy, especially for the polar bear. "Bepo, let's go to town."

Even though Bepo appeared to be in his own little world of snow and ice, as soon as Law called out to him, the bear's ears twitched and turned towards the sound of Trafalgar's voice. In an instant, Bepo was up and beside him. "Aye, captain!"

Miyako turned to the redhead who was casually standing there with his hands deep in the pockets of his overalls. "Come on, we should go too." The medic didn't argue this time as they also followed their captain and the rest of the Heart pirates, who were already happily exploring the island.

~…..~

When they entered the inn it was already full of men in white overalls, drinking and eating. They could see Shachi trying to sweet-talk the waitress, but instead she just made him order more drinks and spend his money while eluding his advances skillfully. Obviously she already had experience in dealing with men customers here.

Law walked over to the bar, ordering a bottle of rum before sitting down and sipping his drink there.

"Ya must be a pirate crew," the cheerful bartender commented without turning his grin into a frown as he stared at Law. It appeared pirates weren't that ostracized here so perhaps the townspeople were already used to them.

Even so, Law's eyes narrowed as he instantly became tenser and skeptical, ready for any move the bartender could bring next. However, the large man in his forties only laughed wholeheartedly at Law's suspicious gaze. "Not to worry, laddie, I don't mind. But it's just plainly obvious from yer rowdy bunch there. T'looks like ya've been on the sea for a while now," the man commented, drying a glass with a rag that didn't look very clean to begin with.

The captain wondered how much information he wanted to disclose to the friendly bartender, but in the end decided to just give a simple, confirming nod before taking another long sip of his rum. Instead, he decided to find out more about this island. "Is this the only town on this island?"

The bartender put away the now-dry glass and took another one to do the same with it. "There be some smaller villages 'round, but this be the only and biggest town on tis island. We call tis island Snör and the town is called after it Snör Town, since it be the first settlement made 'ere. We have a good ice buinsess goin' on, as we trade it to other islands around 'ere. You'd be surprised how much some summer islands are willin' to pay for simple frozen water. Grahahaha," the bartender explained in short, while laughing.

"It looks like a lively place even with all this cold weather," Miyako commented still unable to get used to all the snow and ice. Luckily, she could already feel her bones getting warmer now that they were inside. There was a large furnace next to the bar that was enough to keep the whole main room heated. The samurai sat on the stool of the bar right next to it, enjoying the cozy feeling it gave off, like a cat sunbathing on a nice spring day. She could almost purr from happiness like one, too.

The bartender smiled in satisfaction, feeling somehow proud that his town was found so likable by the visitors. "Aye, it be a cheerful and busy place even if it's always cold 'ere. But the cold actually makes ye move and be lively to keep warm! Grahahaha!" He bellowed with laughter again, enough to even overpower the jolly music in the room. There were a couple of bard musicians in the corner of the tavern, keeping the lively atmosphere. "But ya should beware now, kids. Don't wander out in tha forest on a dark night."

The pirates shared looks of questioning worry. "Why is that?" Josh finally asked, unconsciously leaning closer to the bartender across the counter. Their first thoughts were about wolves and similar wild animals living in the island's tundra, but the bartender's expression made them believe it was more than that.

"They say spirits live'n these forests 'round town. Tis not wise ta wander off at night. There already be stories of people who did an' never returned. They say those people be spirited away," the large man answered in a surprisingly serious tone. His expression was definitely a warning one as he stared at the newcomers.

A tense and uncomfortable silence fell around the group before Josh's laughter broke it unexpectedly. But somehow it sounded forced and unnatural as if the medic was nervous, but trying to hide it. "Oh come on, there's no such thing as ghosts and spirits. Right?" He gazed at Miyako for support, but the girl just shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know. In Wanokuni, it is believed there are a lot of spirits and demons living in the same world as us, but they usually stay hidden from human sight," the girl answered, unable to give Josh the reassurance he obviously needed.

"Really?!" Bepo's ears perked and he gave her a panicked look. He could already feel his fur stand up from the creepy thought of spirits dragging people away at night.

However, the redhead just scoffed at that. "Please," he exclaimed mockingly. "Those guys here probably got drunk and wandered off, or fell into a frozen lake or something. The terrain is dangerous when it's covered in snow and ice like this. They probably just weren't careful where they were stepping at night and later these stupid stories came to life about their mysteeeerious disappearance. I bet their frozen bodies are still floating around in some river in the woods." He rolled his eyes and waved off any insecurities that might have grabbed at his heart for a bit. *There's no way such things exist in this world, it's just all legends made by panicked people,* the redhead thought as if reassuring himself.

The first mate stared at Josh, desperately wanting to believe his words. Miyako saw Bepo's worried expression and smiled at the bear, giving him a scratch behind one ear. "He's probably right, Bepo, you have nothing to worry about." Even if she couldn't know for certain there was a big chance Josh was right. After all, most stories about ghosts and monsters actually have perfectly reasonable explanations behind them. It's usually just about legends that got twisted after so much retelling from one person to another over the years.

"Tis probably as the kid says, nothin' to worry 'bout," the bartender grinned. "Hope I didn't give ya too much of a scare there. Though whatever tha reason, it be true that people be missing even more than usual in these past few months now. Perhaps the spirits be angry at us recently."

"Nonsense, stop scaring Bepo. And you Bepo, don't get scared so easily by this guy's story! No, wait, who're you calling a kid!?" The redhead turned to the bartender angrily, glaring at the man who dared call him a child. However, the large man ignored his angry protests as he laughed wholeheartedly once again.

"Well then, will ya be needin' a room?" The man looked at Law and then up the stairs that led to the next floor where the inn's rooms were.

"Yeah… we'll need more than one," Law answered, turning to look at the room full of Heart pirates.

Afterwards, as night slowly fell onto the town, the inn got even more crowded with both the pirates and the local folks of the town. The music got louder and even more joyful as some started to dance with a few girls from the area. After a while, Jean Bart and Cody also joined with a few others who had been working on the submarine, and all of them were now enjoying their drinks and hot stew. Some local men tried to beat Jean Bart in a drinking contest while Penguin and Shachi, the gambling duo, instantly made a betting pool out of it. Of course non succeeded in beating Bart and both mechanics easily took money from the betting locals who didn't know the navigator's large tolerance to alcohol.

"Aah, I can't wait to sleep in a soft bed tonight," Penguin sighed in pure bliss at the thought.

"And have a nice shower without you lot constantly complaining to hurry up!" Sam grumbled with a pout as he leaned backwards in his chair.

"That's because you're too damn slow!" Garry hit the stool and poor Sam smashed onto the ground from his chair. The Heart pirates laughed loudly at the mechanic, and the laughing soon turned into cheering shouts as Sam tackled Garry and both men started to wrestle.

"Honestly, these guys don't have any manners, even inside. They're like animals," Cody shook his head in disapproval as he watched from the sidelines.

"You're completely right," Penguin agreed, but just then he raised his voice in the crowd. "Ok, place your bets, who will be the winner!? Our medic team versus the mechanics! Come on, place your bets!" The mechanic yelled and started another betting pool for Garry and Sam who were still wresting on the floor.

The blue-haired medic sweat-dropped as he saw Penguin jog towards the group, already trying to make money out of this. "You're no better…," he commented, although the mechanic was far out of earshot already.

Overhearing their conversation, the waitress put down their next round of drinks and blinked at them; "In that case, if you're interested, there's an open onsen here."

Suddenly, all the Heart pirates stopped with their chatter, and even Garry and Sam paused in their fight as they looked up at the busty waitress. "Onsen?" Even though most of their faces were covered in the shadows of their hats, all the pirates obviously had the same excited twinkle in their eye - that much was obvious.

Even Miyako looked excited now. After all, she wasn't in an onsen ever since leaving Wanokuni where public onsen were a common thing. However, they usually cost a lot so it wasn't something she could enjoy that often after becoming a rounin. It was usually a rare occasion where she would treat herself to a hot spring bath after getting paid for some job on the road.

"Yeah, this island has a lot of hot springs so they built a Ryokan around one. However, you can also pay for just the bath and not stay there for the night," the woman explained onwards, noticing how excited smiles started slowly spreading across the men's faces.

"I love you, waitress lady!" One Heart Pirate suddenly exclaimed.

"A hotspring! Awesome let's go!"

"What are we waiting for?!" Suddenly, shouts from the Heart Pirates started echoing in the tavern.

"Wow, they're really excited…" Josh commented in wonder, gazing at his smiling nakama. He didn't really get what the big deal was.

"An onsen…" The medic heard a whisper next to him and glanced to the side, only to see Miyako with the same delighted expression as the rest of them.

"You too!?" He almost spat out his drink at the shock as he saw Miyako's happy expression.

Suddenly, Law stood up from the stool, finishing his rum in a few swift gulps.

"Captain?" Bepo blinked in puzzlement when Law handed him his nodachi. "Where are you going?" The bear shouted after him when he saw that Law was walking away towards the front doors.

"Ryokan," the captain simply answered back. In truth, Law wouldn't mind a relaxing hot bath either, since he has been under a lot of stress lately. His plans, the preparations for him becoming a Shichibukai, the constant training and battles; it was all very tiring to the body after all. He doubted he'd get much peace and quiet next to these guys, but if the rumors about the healing qualities of the hot springs were true, just taking a relaxing bath in one will be good enough.

"Eeeh? Even Captain?!" Josh called out in disbelief. "What's so great about this onsen place anyway?" He's never been in one before, but the way others described it, it just sounded like a large hot bath. So what was the big deal?

"Tch, Josh, you just don't get it," the all-knowing tone of the samurai brought his attention back to the girl. "It's all about the atmosphere there!" Miyako had her index finger in the air as she stated matter-of-factly.

"The atmosphere? What's that supposed to mean?" The redhead asked rather skeptically.

"Relaxing in the hot water while everything is frozen and cold, covered in snow around you. It's the best. And it's even a full moon today, the perfect time for a dip in an onsen," Miyako explained with a smile.

"I want to try it too!" Bepo exclaimed and got up, determined to follow the captain. Soon everyone left the inn's tavern, in search of the traditional-looking building that was the Ryokan.

Josh could only sigh and follow, still mumbling under his breath. "I still don't get it."

~…~

The group of Heart pirates stopped in front of the Ryokan with satisfied grins, completely ignoring the cold now pooling around their boots. The night had already fallen over the island while they had their fun in the tavern, so now the full moon shone brightly over them, making the snow and ice glisten and add to the charming atmosphere of the town. Now that night has fallen, everything became more peaceful and there were only a few passersby on the streets. It seems the people really didn't like roaming the streets at night; either because of the spirit stories or the fact that temperature additionally fell lower during nighttime. Still, it didn't stop the Heart Pirates from walking around town in search of the hot springs. Not all joined though. Some stayed at the tavern to eat and drink while continuing to party, and others went to explore the town or found some more interesting company - meaning the local girls - rather than spending their night with a bunch of rowdy pirates who snored while sleeping. More than one of those lucky fellows probably won't be returning to their rooms in the inn this night. Nevertheless, a good number of the crew went to enjoy their night in the onsen, and if they're lucky, they'll even get to drink some good sake under the moonlight while relaxing.

As they entered, one of the employees hurried over to them and bowed low to Trafalgar, recognizing him as the leader of the group. Even without knowing that he was their captain, it was obvious from his authority over the others. Unlike the previous inn which had a more modern design and a tavern on the ground floor, this one was constructed in a tradition style with large tatami mat rooms and wooden sliding doors fixed with shoji paper. It reminded Miyako of her home as it looked exactly like the ryokan at her country, and it gave the girl a sense of nostalgia.

"Hey, hey…what if it's a mixed bath?" Penguin nudged Shachi on his side, grinning with a lewd blush on his cheeks.

"Hehe, that would be awesome," the older mechanic snickered at the thought.

"There's no way that would happen," Miyako walked passed them and commented in a blunt tone, completely crushing their fantasies in a blink of an eye.

"Oh come on, I can hope at least! Don't ruin my dreams," Penguin whined at the girl who was already walking away.

"If those are your dreams, that's pretty sad…" The samurai girl commented in a mutter, ignored Penguin's pleading whines and walking towards the back room which was the changing rooms. There was one for men and one for women, as was expected.

Before turning to enter there, the samurai girl spun around and glared at the pirates. "And don't you dare peek!" She turned back and slammed the doors behind her, leaving the Heart Pirates to glance at each other.

"Like there's anything interesting to see, Ugly!" Josh yelled back, unable to hold back from commenting.

~….~

From the changing room, there was a hall that led straight into the onsen. The hotspring itself was divided in the middle by a bamboo wall, which used to separate the women's and men's part. Around the hot, steaming water were warm stones where one could sit and relax. On some parts on the ground there was still snow, which didn't yet melt from the hot steam.

Miyako put a towel around her in the changing room and tied her long hair up in a messy bun the best she could so it doesn't get wet, before she headed for the water, unable to suppress the smile already spreading on her face. Oh, she's going to enjoy this so much.

She could already see a few other women there, sitting on the stony edge in their towels or relaxing in the hot water. The samurai walked up to the rim and laid down her white towel neatly before slipping into the hotspring. She felt the sudden heat as she slowly plunged further down, her cold body quickly heating up. The difference in temperature startled her at first, but she soon got used to it and breathed out a sigh of enjoyment. The samurai could feel her strained muscles relax as the stress simply flowed out of her body. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the silent night.

Alas, things didn't go smoothly when the Heart Pirates were involved.

~…..~

Penguin was sitting in the water with a pouty expression on his face. "I really wanted it to be a mixed bath," he commented in a mutter, unable to forget his disappointment at not seeing cute girls bathing here. He glared at the bamboo wall that was just standing there and separating him from his dream, as if he could burn it down with his gaze! Finally, the mechanic snapped and ruffled his hair in an irritated manner. "Aaah, I can't take this! Curse this wall! I hate it!"

Shachi sighed as he stared at his irritated friend making a scene and scaring the locals beside him. "Just give it up already."

At that moment the pirates heard some cute giggles and laughs from the girls on the other side. They were evidently having a fun time over there.

"I can't forget it! I won't!" Suddenly, the mechanic stood up and pierced Cody with his eyes. "Oy, Cody, you're supposed to be real smart, right? Then figure something out!"

The blue-haired medic felt a vain pop on his forehead as his eyebrow twitched in annoyance. He remembered not so long ago when he almost got killed by Miyako because of Penguin and his stupid, perverted ideas. He vowed never again to he help that pervert! He glared back at the mechanic with such a darkening look that it made Penguin gulp and tense immediately. "I hope you didn't forget what happened last time when you tried something foolish like this. Don't get me involved in your stupid ideas anymore," the deadly tone in his cold voice made it hard for Penguin to argue.

So instead, the mechanic turned towards the redhead. "Oy Josh-"

"Don't even think about it," the short medic cut him off before he even had a chance to finish.

Penguin frowned in disappointment and almost resigned himself before he saw Sam. Even now the mechanic had his thick glasses on, which were so misty from all the steam that it was a miracle he could see anything around him. An idea formed in his mind and Penguin grinned widely. Jumping over to the other mechanic, he put a hand over Sam's pale shoulders. "Hey, Sam, you're gonna help, riiiight?"

Even though his big glasses were hiding most of his face, it was still visible when Sam made a worried expression. "Help?"

Penguin snickered. "You know... you also want to see, don't you?"

"See what? I can't see anything right now, though…," Sam admitted. However, when Penguin's grin got wider and the mechanic pointed his thumb at the wall behind his back, he understood perfectly. He gulped as his cheeks suddenly got red, and it wasn't because of the hot water.

"If we can just make a hole," Penguin started, dragging Sam with him. The other mechanic was still a bit uncertain because of the consequences, but the idea of seeing naked young girls obviously clouded his judgment for the better part.

"How do we do that? I don't have my tools with me," he asked and shrugged his shoulder in anxiety.

"If you want a hole, isn't there one over there?" Sai suddenly appeared behind them, scaring the wits out of the pirates again. He didn't really get what the big deal is so he just pointed at a small hole in the far side of the bamboo wall. Perhaps there was someone with the same voyeuristic intentions as Penguin before.

"Whooo, Sai, you're the best! I was always a bit concerned for you because you never had any girls with you, by my opinion about you has completely changed now!" Penguin exclaimed in sheer delight before he, Sam and Shachi rushed over to the small hole in the wall.

"Somehow I don't find that flattering at all," the navigator responded in with a sweat-drop, unsure if he should take Penguin's words as a compliment or an insult.

"Guys…you shouldn't…do that…" Bepo commented for the first time. He was sitting in the water, but he looked awfully dizzy and sick. He wanted to try the onsen since everybody else were excited about it, but the hot steam went right to the polar bear's head. After all, he wasn't used to such heat and he soon became dizzy from it. Even his black eyes appeared hazy.

"You be quiet and get out of the water if you're so sick of the heat," Penguin commented in annoyance, barely sparing Bepo a glance.

"How did they even let a bear inside?" Shachi muttered in wonder.

"S-sorry…" The bear barely responded, not even having the strength to bow his head in gloom as usual. His large body was swaying now. Finally, Jean Bart seemed to take pity on the bear and helped him out of the water. He led him to a patch of snow and seated him there, where Bepo could roll around and cool his head a bit.

"Stop pushing, I can't see," Shachi whined as Sam kept blocking the way.

"See what? Hey, let me-" Garry joined them and leaned forward to try and take a peak as well.

They could hear the giggling of the girls from the other side and all of the men now had grins with saliva dripping down their chins, and red blushes on their cheeks.

"Let me see too!" Kai jumped into the forming crowd, leaning onto the backs of the rest.

"I said to stop pushing, dammit!"

"Wait your turn!"

"Move to the side."

"I can't see."

The group of men got bigger and bigger as more of them got interested. Now, even some other guys who weren't even part of the crew joined in, wanting to have a part in the action.

Law, who was resting on the side, opened his eyes and gave a glance at the group of pushing men. His expression stayed unreadable but serious as he watched them, though he didn't comment on it...yet. He hardly had the time to warn them as the wall suddenly tipped over. It seemed the men put too much weight onto the bamboo wall and broke it as they pushed at it. Part of it broke down and splashed into the water on the other side, making the girls scream in shock and guys scream in surprise, as they fell forward into the water on the other side.

"Ouch…" Penguin pulled himself up on his arms and knees, and gazed up at the scene. The girls around were running for their towels and into the changing room, screaming in a startled voice. That's when he noticed a dark shadow looming over him. He looked up to see a pair of legs and his gaze continued to travel upwards until it soaked up the whole sight. Miyako was holding a towel in front of herself to cover herself up the best she could and hide from the men's view. She was standing right before the large clump of entangled limbs and men who were struggling to get out of the water or at least stand up. The samurai was having an expression of mixed anger and embarrassment as she glared down at him and the rest. Her other hand was raised high in the air while clutching something; it was a wooden bucket used to pour water on yourself, Penguin realized. That was his last thought before the hand suddenly came down with a force and bashed Penguin right in the face with the bucket.

"Gyoah!" The mechanic made a weird sound as his bashed head flew back into the water.

"You jerks! And I even warned you not to peak! You're unbelievable!" Miyako screamed in fury at the pirates who were now desperately trying to entangle themselves and escape her wrath. She raised her hand back in the air and was just about to give them a lesson they'll never forget when she noticed something at the far end of the onsen, on the men's side. A pair of piercing gray eyes was staring right at her with an unreadable glint in them.

Miyako's eyes met with Law's, who was still sitting in the water with his elbows resting on either side of the edge. He didn't have his usual uninterested expression, but instead an amused smirk playfully drifted on his lips. It was unclear whether he was enjoying the show before him or the view.

Even though there was a towel hanging before her and hiding her important areas, Miyako felt completely exposed all of a sudden. In her anger, she forgot herself, but now her usual self-consciousness returned and it was stronger than ever. She felt her cheeks get incredibly hot and she was sure she was completely red in the face by now. Perhaps if she was lucky, the others would think it was just because of the heat in the onsen. But even if others think that, she knew Law knows better than that. The thought made her both angry and even more bashful. *Unbelievable! I was supposed to have a relaxing hot bath and enjoy the night under the full moon! How did it become like this! This is all these guys' fault, those idiots! Can't they behave for one moment!?* Angry thoughts raced through her mind as she threw the bucket away, which once again hit poor Penguin in the head. But now, all she wanted to do was escape Law's gaze and this situation. She wanted to be as far from them all as possible.

Raising her now free hand again, Miyako straightened out her fingers as if her arm was a sword. She called forth some of her haki and swung down towards the water. It wasn't any haki force that could actually injure someone, but as she slashed the water, it rose up into the air. It wasn't only the water that rose from the hit, but some of the haki hit the pirates who were in the entangled mess before the samurai. The force hit them and made them fly into the air, finally releasing the men from each other in the process.

When the water finally splashed back down into the hotspring, showering some of the men, there was no sign of the samurai anymore. She escaped with the commotion while their vision was obstructed by the water blast.

"Penguin? Penguin!" Shachi called out to his friend and finally found the half-unconscious mechanic floating in the water, face down like a corpse. He turned him around and helped him out of the water. "Hang on, buddy!"

Penguin took a deep breath, his mind still hazy from the hit with the bucket. He almost drowned as he fell into the water unconscious. The mechanic barely raised his one hand, his lips trembling as he tried to speak softly.

Shachi leaned closer, trying to hear his friend's dying words. "What? What is it?!"

A sudden trail of blood appeared from Penguin's nose as he grinned lewdly, while blushing. "I regret….nothing." Those were his last words before he fell back into unconsciousness.

"Penguiiiin!" The other mechanic yelled dramatically into the night towards the full moon, while holding his friend in his arms.

Josh just stood there and watched the foolish scene with a blank expression. "Idiots…"

~….~

Miyako stomped through the snow in her knee-high boots and the plaid winter coat. "Unbelievable!" She kept muttering angrily under her breath, completely forgetting about the cold and darkness around her. She wasn't even watching where she was going as she just kept on, needing to let off some steam and just walk it off. *I can't even have one peaceful night with those guys! What's their problem, the big perverts?! And why was he staring at me like that!?* A flash of Law's smirking face came back to Miyako's mind as she saw his piercing eyes on her. What was with that look? It made her feel…weird and awkward, and slightly uncomfortable.

The thoughts heated up her cheeks once more and she didn't even realize that she had stopped walking. She shook her head to try and chase the thoughts away, while clutching her hands into fists and closing her eyes shut. She started walking again, but then finally noticed her surroundings. She went far beyond the outskirts of town, where the forest starts.

The samurai blinked a few times and looked back where the houses were. *Whoa, I wandered off so far without even realizing it. They really made me mad this time…I better get back even though I really don't want to see those idiots yet.* She scowled at the thought, but suddenly a small light in the corner of her eye got her attention. She looked back in the direction of the forest and noticed something glistening. The small speck of light would disappear and then appear again momentarily. *What is that?* Suddenly, Miyako remembered the bartender and his warning about spirits in the island's woods. She took a step back unconsciously, feeling tense all of a sudden. *No, but Josh was right…Being spirited away; such a thing is impossible. I'm sure…well probably...* Somehow she didn't feel as certain anymore, but the light in front of her was dancing almost as if calling out to her. *A spirit? That little thing?*

Curiosity got the best of her and Miyako took a step forward cautiously, putting a hand on her katana just in case. She moved slowly through the snow as it made soft, crunching sounds beneath her feet. As she moved deeper into the woods, the light seemed brighter, but it almost seemed like it was slowly moving away from her. She quickened her step and went on forward a bit more, already in the forest. Behind her, the houses of the town were slowly shrinking, but the smoke rising from the chimneys was still visible even in the night. She took a glance behind her at the town. *I won't get lost if I don't go too far.* Still keeping a hand on the sword, the samurai moved on and followed the light that disappeared behind some trees.

The girl swiftly followed, moving away some bushes to get through and jumped into the clearing, ready to catch the evasive light spirit or whatever it was. That's when her demeanor changed into a puzzled one, and the samurai blinked a few times. "Huh?"

Before her was a small clearing with a lake which was completely frozen with ice. The snow and ice around glistened under the moonlight, appearing like small crystals. Everything was decorated in white, glimmering in the night magically. The sight was so beautiful it made the girl hold her breath without even realizing. But what made her so stunned was something else.

There was a tall figure in the middle of the clearing. At better inspection, she could see it was a man, even though he had long ghostly white hair and similarly pale face with such gentle features it almost made him look like a woman. The handsome man was wearing a yukata in light blue and white colors, which only made him fit in more in the whole winter scenery. He raised his hand with one finger pointed up, and the light glittered over to him, resting on his finger.

Only now did Miyako realize that the light wasn't actually a will o' whisp, but a firefly bird. It was a small, blue colored bird with a long tail that shone brightly and lightened up the dark path for the small animal. It was also used as bait for insects that would get attracted to the light and fly over, not noticing the rest of the dangerous bird, which would then swiftly catch and eat them. There were more of those lights around the man as firefly birds playfully flew around, unafraid of the mysterious person.

As the girl quite abruptly stepped forward in chase of that light, the man turned towards her with a puzzled gaze. That questioning stare soon turned into interest as he pierced her with bright blue eyes that reminded Miyako of pure ice. "Hello," he called out in a calm voice. He didn't seem worried or afraid by the sudden newcomer who barged in the clearing.

"H-hello…" Miyako wasn't sure what to say at the sight, but she found herself responding to the greeting out of impulse. Her manners worked even in her startled state, it seemed. "I'm sorry if I scared you," she proceeded, slowly getting over her original shock.

The man smiled gently. All his movements were slow but graceful, as he turned to face her and stepped forward. "You didn't scare me. Besides, this little fellow already warned me that someone was coming," he turned back to the firefly bird resting on his index finger.

"Oh…" She didn't really know what to say at this point. "Wait, you can understand it?!" Realization suddenly hit her, a second too late.

The man laughed, amused by her reaction. "In a way, yes. I understand from the intonation of his chirps; whether it's a tone of warning or danger, or a lot of other things…Is it that odd?" He tilted his head and his silky long hair fell from his shoulder. It reached all the way down to his thighs.

"Well, I wouldn't say odd...rather, it's pretty amazing," the samurai girl answered, unsure how to describe it. She believed having such knowledge and understanding of an animal's nature was pretty impressive.

He laughed softly. "Why thank you…" He paused and gave her a questioning stare.

"Oh, it's Miyako!" She realized she didn't even introduce herself properly. "Suzune Miyako."

"I see...With which kanji do you spell that?" The man tilted his head in interest.

Miyako thought about what she could use to write down her name and then got an idea as she crouched down into the snow. She used her fingers to draw down the kanji of her name, explaining it to the man. "For Suzune are the kanji for 'Bell' and 'Sound', while for Miyako it's the kanji for 'Beautiful', 'March' and 'Child,' though it's only read as 'beautiful child'. I was born in March, which is probably how I got that name." She smiled as she got up from the crouching position and looked at the drawn kanji of her name in the snow.

"It's a lovely name. Mine is Shiroshi, with the kanji for 'white' and 'spirit'," he explained, drawing lines of his kanji in snow just like Miyako did.

"Shiro…shi." The girl let the name roll off her tongue as she repeated it. Then suddenly, her eyes went wide and she stared at the ghostly white man in shock. "White spirit?! A spirit! Just like the bartender guy said!" She exclaimed in shock, completely forgetting about her manners.

At first the young man blinked a few times, looking as surprised as she was with his eyes open wide in puzzlement. But then it seemed he understood what the girl was thinking about and Shiroshi burst out into laughter. "Oh, don't worry, I'm completely human!" Still chuckling, while trying to suppress it, he looked back at Miyako. "I'm not a spirit and neither am I kidnapping anyone like those townspeople seem to think. Don't tell me you also believe people are getting spirited away around here?"

Somehow, hearing the guy who looked more like a ghost than anyone else, making fun of her for believing in spirits, made Miyako burn in embarrassment. "I do not believe it either," she tried to defend herself. Her pout disappeared momentarily as another question popped into her mind. "What are you doing here anyway? Are you from this town?"

Wiping the corner of his teary eyes with the rim of his yukata sleeve, Shiroshi finally managed to calm down enough to answer. "No, I live a bit further away on the other side of this forest." He then gazed at the beautiful clearing and walked over to the beginning of the frozen lake. "I come here because I enjoy this place immensely. Don't you also find it beautiful?" He looked back at the samurai with a questioning smile.

The girl walked over next to him and looked down at her reflection in the clear lake. "Yeah…I do. It's really magical."

Shiroshi nodded. "I think so too. Sometimes I just need some peace and quiet so I come here to rest my mind and be alone with my thoughts. I think it is very important to do that sometimes for your mind's balance."

She nodded, completely understanding what he meant. And she also understood what it meant not having that peace when needed, because someone is constantly around you and interrupting you. As much as she loves her Heart Pirate nakama, living with the guys in one submarine can be exhausting. She needed her space and they just wouldn't take a hint. Ever.

"Oh sorry, so I intruded on your alone time," now she felt guilty as she glanced back at the man. Only then, standing next to him, did she realize how tall he actually was. He was at least two meters high and she had to strain her neck to be able to even look him in the eyes. Those icy eyes fell down to lock with hers, but they didn't really look cold as one would think.

"That's quite alright. I do not mind your company, Suzune Miyako." he gazed at the sword strapped to her side. "Are you a swordsman…or should I say swordswoman?"

The girl smirked. "I don't mind either way, it's not surprising that there isn't an actual name for it…there aren't many swordswomen out there after all, especially where I come from." She shook her head slightly, showing that she wasn't offended.

"And where is this young swordswoman from?" Shiroshi questioned on.

Miyako stayed quiet for a while, not sure how much information she wanted to disclose to this mysterious man. However, she decided that telling him her home country couldn't really do damage, and he seemed pretty nice anyway. "Wanokuni. But I'm…traveling now." She added, not really sure about telling Shiroshi that she was in fact a pirate. It might scare him off or, even worse, make him hostile. Perhaps it was better to keep that part to herself.

"A samurai from Wanokuni, hm? How peculiar. That country is mostly closed to the outer world so I never met one before. How lucky." An amused, playful smile appeared on his lips.

Miyako smiled back, but then remembered an important detail. It was in the middle of the night already and she just stormed off in her anger, not bothering to let anyone know where she was going. They could be worried and already searching for her, since she didn't come back to the inn yet. Law will get angry too if she disappears and gets into trouble again. At the thought of her captain, complicated feelings arose inside her, but she pushed them back down. She didn't want to think about the embarrassing scene from before at the moment; not when she finally calmed down. She realized that she completely cooled off her head in this place; it just had a calming effect on her as she admired the scenery. And Shiroshi made her calm as well - he was easy to talk to. "I should probably get back, but it was nice talking to you, Shiroshi-san." She bowed her head respectfully to the man.

"Please, Shiroshi is just fine. Such formalities aren't necessary," the exceptionally tall man smiled and shook his hand slightly. The long robes of his yukata rustled with the movement. "Perhaps we will meet again soon, Suzune Miyako," he nodded to her in goodbye as he watched the girl leave through the forest.

When the girl was out of sight, Shiroshi walked over to the written kanji names on the snowy ground. Crouching down he looked over at Miyako's full name and put a hand gently over the letters. "We might meet sooner than you think, young Miyako," he whispered with an amused smirk. Before him, the kanji of the girl's name glowed in bright light before completely disappearing from the snow. Shiroshi turned his hand to look at his palm and a small light appeared on it. The letters of Miyako's full name glowed in his palm before settling like a tattoo on the skin. After a while, the name disappeared and his palm turned back to its ghostly white flesh as before. His skin was so pale it almost appeared translucent. His hand clenched into a fist almost as if trapping something invisible in it. The smile never left his lips as he stood upright again and turned to leave the clearing. His shadow soon disappeared from the forest as he was led down the path by the glowing firefly birds.

~….~

Miyako opened the doors of the inn where they paid for their rooms. It was already late at night and the moon hid behind some murky clouds, so it became even darker than before. She felt exhausted from the entire day, just wanting to lay in her bed and sleep. Since they were sharing rooms to cut down the costs, she was probably sharing the room with Bepo, but right now she didn't mind despite the fact he usually snored loudly.

As soon as she opened the doors, a group of pirates in white overalls swarmed over her, almost tackling her to the ground.

"Miya-chan!" Bepo, as the biggest one, hugged the girl and the whole group around her.

"Where were you?" Cody asked with a worried expression from fretting over her disappearance.

"Um, I just went for a walk. Sorry, I was so angry at the time, I simply walked away without even realizing it," she gave them a sheepish smile while answering.

"You've been gone for three hours," Shachi sighed, resting his hands on his hips. He looked like a worried brother, reprimanding his younger sibling.

"Sorry," Miyako shrugged, not really sure how to react.

"Miya-chaaaan!" Another voice startled her and she peered at the back of the group to see Penguin running over. He had tears and snot all over his face, making Miyako scrunch her nose in disgust.

"What happened to you?" The samurai asked with a tilted head, still carrying that slightly disturbed, questioning expression.

Shachi exhaled as he answered first. "He's been like that ever since you disappeared on us," he explained. It seemed the rest of the guys weren't surprised by Penguin's appearance at all as they had to put up with him for hours now. They were all used to it already.

"I'm soooo sooorry, please don't be mad anymore!" The mechanic hugged Miyako a bit too tightly, rubbing of his snot and tears onto her shoulder. "It's all my fault you went awaaay!"

She went tense with the disgusting wet feeling on her right shoulder as Penguin cried on it. She wasn't even angry anymore, she just wanted the mechanic off of her - as much as she appreciated he felt bad about what happened in the hotspring. "Alright, alright, I'm not mad anymore. Seriously, it's fine Penguin." She tried not to push the mechanic off of her so she just stayed there with a tense smile, waiting for him to let go.

"Really?" The mechanic sniffled a few times, staring right at her with his big, teary eyes.

"Yeah," it was the truth, she wasn't even angry anymore. The nice talk she had with Shiroshi calmed her down and the winter air helped her cool her head. More importantly, she got some of her highly-needed alone time now and was ready and rejuvenated to spend her time along with the Heart Pirates again.

"That's good," a sarcastic tone of a deep voice interrupted the mushy atmosphere as Law walked towards them from the back. "Now can you explain where you were for all this time?" He had a serious expression, obviously not liking the idea that his crewmember just disappeared all of a sudden with no prior notice. Well, Miyako guessed as much. She knew she'll have to deal with Law when she comes back. However, maybe telling him that she went to the woods, even though the bartender told them not to might not be best for her defense.

"Just… on a stroll," she shrugged. Well, that wasn't a lie technically. She really did go for a walk…that took her far beyond the outskirts of town.

"We looked everywhere for you. Penguin felt so bad after you disappeared, he ran around like a maniac," Cody explained, pointing at the head mechanic who was finally calming down now that their samurai was back.

"Yeah, I went pretty far, to the outskirts of town. I didn't even realize how far I've gone until I calmed down a bit," she admitted.

"Well, next time how about calming down somewhere where I can keep my eye on you so that you can't get in any unnecessary trouble," the captain warned, not amused.

A small pout appeared on Miyako's expression. "I just needed some alone-time to think and have some space. I can't do that if you're constantly looking over my shoulder. Besides, I didn't get in any trouble did I?" She stared him straight in the eyes, challenging him with her words.

The captain didn't look impressed, though. "This time," he pointed out, reminding the girl of all the times she did get into trouble after disappearing like this.

Miyako did get his point and knew he was also responsible for everyone as their captain, so he had to keep an eye on them. But they were pirates, not a daycare! She wasn't a child and could take care of herself. And sometimes, she just needed to have some private time for herself, which was impossible when sharing space with the other Heart Pirates all the time. *Easy for him to talk, nobody just barges into his room every day with stupid or crazy ideas because they're suddenly bored. And nobody goes around stealing his underwear or trying to take a peak when he's in a bath! What's more, Law has a whole private bathroom on the submarine while I have to get up extra early every day to take a shower before a bunch of guys barge in! He just doesn't get it! * Miyako didn't want to get into an argument with Law right now, especially in front of the whole crew, so she stayed quiet. She was too tired for that anyway. "I'll just go to sleep now," she muttered, both from exhaustion and irritation she was starting to feel again.

"First one on the right. Bepo has already gone up," Law called out without even turning to look at her as he went to sit back at the bar where he was previously to her arrival.

~…..~

Miyako flopped onto her bed, ignoring the big bear that was already sleeping in the other one while snoring happily. His ears perked and twitched a bit when she came in, probably hearing her footsteps, but he just mumbled something that sounded like "Welcome back" before turning around to get back to sleep again. He could probably recognize her scent and the sound of her footsteps without even looking at her, which she had to admit, was pretty impressive. Animal instincts were really something else, even without Kenbunshoku haki.

The girl plunged head first into her pillow, barely having the strength to take off her boots and katana first. But as tired as she was, sleep just wouldn't come as numerous thoughts started swirling around her mind. As always, they came at the worst time.

The piercing gray eyes of her captain just would leave Miyako's mind. *I should probably apologize to Law tomorrow for causing trouble. Even though he didn't have to be such a jerk about it… it's partly his fault anyway! * She remembered the mortifying scene at the onsen, seeing Law's eyes all over her body. *At least look away will you! * The girls' eyes narrowed a bit as she kept her troubled expression.

Just now at the tavern, even though Law was inside, she noticed fresh snow on the shoulders of his black coat and hat. What's more, her sharp eyes easily noticed the subtle changes in Law's tan face, which had slightly reddish ears and nose from the cold. He must've been outside in the cold night weather for a long time if even the man from North Blue got affected by it. He was definitively outside searching for her with the others and probably just came back to the inn a few moments before her. That made Miyako feel even guiltier about the whole thing. *If you were so worried to go look for me, then just say so.* She kept her head buried deep in the pillow as a pout formed on her lips. Simply thinking about it all exhausted her, and the girl slowly fell into darkness before she realized.

~…..~

When the samurai opened her eyes, the sun was already high in the sky. Even though it shone brightly, the air was still chilly, but at least the temperature significantly rose since last night. It wasn't enough for the snow to melt, but the sky was bright and clear without any thick clouds over the town.

It took Miyako some time to open her eyes and get used to the bright sunlight coming into the room from outside. When her still tired eyes fluttered half open, the girl barely recognized a large, round form above her face. "Mmm'" She hummed in question, but then her eyes opened wide in surprise when she realized something was right in front of her. "Wha!" She exclaimed in a startled voice, quickly sitting up in her bed, only to bang her head with someone's forehead and yelp in pain, falling off the bed and onto the hard floor.

"Whaa!" The other person also yelled out in the same panicked sound as the girl scared him to death and then even head-butted him. The bear fell back onto his ass and started rubbing his slightly sore forehead.

The girl blinked, still lying on the floor entangled with the sheets that now made a perfect constraint around her legs. "Bepo?" She blinked a few more times perplexed before frowning. "You scared me to death!"

"Sorry, I was just trying to wake you up," the first mate whined with his head down in an apology.

Miyako was still holding her painful forehead with both hands, as she rolled over to her side, trying to get free from the bedsheets. "What kinds of a wake-up was that?" She groaned in pain while managing to sit up on her knees.

The bear's ears pulled down against his fuzzy head, as if he was a scolded puppy, making her feel guilty for yelling at him. Still, she didn't expect such a fierce wake-up call from the polar bear.

"Sorry," the bear muttered again, still feeling down.

The girl couldn't do much but sigh as she put a gentle hand on the bear's head. "It's ok, I was just startled. Now come on, help me up." She grinned at him while reaching her hand for Bepo to grab it.

The bear seemed to brighten up instantly as he quickly stood up, effortlessly pulling the girl on her feet with him. The bedsheets stayed on the ground, finally untangling from her legs and pooling around her. Just then a knock sounded at their door and Bepo's ears twitched again before he took a few sniffs of the air. "It's Cody," he simply stated.

That proved to be spot on when they both heard Cody's voice from the hall. "Bepo, Miya-chan, are you two up? Can I come in?"

Miyako looked down at herself, making sure that she was decent, but then realized she was so tired last night that she fell asleep in her clothing. "Yeah, it's fine," she answered back.

The blue-haired medic entered with a refreshed look on his face. At least someone had a good night's sleep. "The breakfast is ready downstairs so come when you're ready."

The girl looked at her clothes again and the boots and katana waiting for her on the side. The coat was hanging next to the doors on a coat hanger; at least one thing she managed to put away neatly. "I'm ready, just let me get my stuff," the girl answered.

"Me too," Bepo commented and sniffed the air again. "This is why I woke you up, I could already smell the food," he turned and smiled at Miyako happily. "I think there's even meat!"

Meanwhile, Cody blinked a few times while still staring at the girl. She gave him a questioning frown, silently asking 'What?'

"Are you sure, you're ready?" He was trying not to laugh as he pointed at the top of Miyako's head.

The girl gave him a puzzled glance before trying to see her reflection in the window's glass. Her hair was still tied with her ribbon in a messy bun since she completely forgot to release it after storming out of the Ryokan, but now it was even messier than before. There were strands and curls everywhere, tangled into one big mess. It was the worst bed hair she had in a long time. "Damn…" She frowned again.

"Just don't let Josh see your bed hair like this or you might never hear the end of it," Cody snickered, unable to restrain his amusement either.

The girl looked back at Cody with a startled stare. "Who?" She blinked a few times in wonder.

Now it was Cody's turn to be confused as he gave her a skeptical look, as if there was something wrong with her head. She didn't quite understand why, though. "Uh, Joshua? You know, the temperamental guy you argue with every time you see each other?" He reminded her of the medic with a gaze that clearly stated 'Isn't it obvious, who?'

As if a spark reappeared in Miyako's mind, her eyes shone a bit. "Oh…right." She gave the tall medic a slight pout. "We don't fight all the time."

He snickered again, smirking at her. It seems he got over the bizarre moment quickly since things quickly turned back to normal. The girl must've still been half asleep. "I bet you two would even argue in your sleep." He turned around, closing the doors behind him. "Hurry up for breakfast before Ben eats all of it!" His footsteps echoed in the distance, then disappeared completely.

Miyako sighed and watched the closed doors for a moment before turning back to her reflection in the window. There really was a War going in her hair right now, but what was she supposed to do about it? It looked like a bird's nest.

Bepo came next to her and stared down at the entangled, dark blue mess on her head. "I think it looks fine…" The bear received a strange look from her.

~…..~

The smell of fresh food reminded her just how hungry she was. There was everything from sausages and vegetables, to scrambled eggs and freshly ground coffee. She was a bit surprised that such an old-looking inn had such a variety of food for breakfast, and everything was delicious as well.

Even Munk had to admit so, even though at first he pouted and commented "It was nothing special" after hearing all the Heart Pirates so in awe with the food here. Perhaps he was still sulking about the way everyone dismissed his newly-found recipe of 'Munk's porridge,' but even he couldn't mope for long after tasting this meal. Ben was already on his third helping, explaining that the breakfast was the most important meal of the day, but everybody already knew that for Ben every meal was the most important one.

The samurai was also enjoying her scrambled eggs with fresh bread and butter, helping it down with a large cup of green tea. She even managed to do something about her hair, though it took her twenty minutes to entangle and straighten it out, before tying it in the usual high pony tail. Unfortunately, she had to work it with her fingers since her brush was back at the submarine.

Just as Miyako finished her meal with a satisfied sigh, taking slow sips of her cold tea, she took notice of their captain sitting down next to her. She glanced at him, seeing that he didn't look much more refreshed than last night. *I bet he wasn't able to sleep again…or did he go to work and stayed the whole night awake again without realizing it?* The girl glanced at the Dark Doctor who was sipping his black coffee and pinching the bridge of his nose as if trying to chase away a headache.

Her eyes softened a bit, surprisingly feeling bad for the always hard-working captain, as she lay low and observed him behind her cup. "Um…sorry…" She started, not sure if it was wise to start up a conversation now when Law obviously got up on his bad side today.

He glanced at her wordlessly, silently asking what she meant by that.

Deciding to explain further, Miyako continued. "About last night; I worried everyone. It was my bad," she honestly apologized. It's true she blew up a fuse in the onsen but that didn't mean she didn't cause trouble for Law and the others who got worried and searched for her.

However, the captain just sighed and closed his eyes, as if too tired to have this conversation right now. "It's fine, just think before you act once in a while. I always tell you that." He took another sip of his coffee as their table enveloped in silence. After a while, Law broke it. "How come you're so good at calculating your moves when in battle, but not in your everyday life?" It sounded more like just him complaining than expecting a real answer out of her.

But she gave him one, nevertheless. "It's because you guys always catch me by surprise. I don't expect it...I…have never really had to deal with stuff like this before, you know. Since I never had nakama before nor was I this close to others, I'm not really prepared for their constant shenanigans," the girl answered truthfully. There was just a hint of sadness in her voice, but a small smile spread on her lips without her realizing.

Law observed the girl in silence with a straight face while she talked. Taking another sip of his coffee, the captain turned towards the group of Heart pirates laughing at a nearby table. "Well, things sure are eventful around them. They never make it boring, that's true. But pirate life isn't supposed to be wonted, anyway." A small smirk appeared on his face.

Miyako chuckled, looking at the Hearts around them. "That's true, I suppose. But to be honest, even though it can be startling at times, being with these guys is….fun," she admitted, glancing back at the captain with the same satisfied smile from before.

He raised a questioning eyebrow. "Having your underwear stolen and being peaked during a bath is fun?" He knew she didn't mean that, but he just couldn't help teasing her at such a perfect opportunity.

The girl almost spat out her green tea in shock. *Why are you looking at me like I'm Pengu-I mean, a pervert?!* "That's not what I meant and you know it!" The girl exclaimed, completely horrified at the implication of his words.

The Surgeon of death couldn't help but chuckle at the blushing girl. He ignored the deadly glare she was giving him along with a pout on her features. "I know what you meant," he finally admitted, closing his eyes again. He felt the same way, actually. These guys were a whole world of trouble sometimes and there was hardly ever a relaxing moment with them, but being with them was always fun and exciting. Their journey and adventures were never boring and they were all good people that could be trusted and relied upon in times of emergency. Law never regretted recruiting any of them….including the samurai girl who was sitting beside him right now. He glanced at the Wano girl who was laughing with the others and watching the scene of Eli trying to take down the bartender in an arm wrestling match only to lose miserably. *Well, she doesn't necessarily need to know that,* Law thought as he observed his samurai.

"More importantly, you should worry about yourself. You ran out into the snow yesterday, it'll be a miracle if you don't catch pneumonia. You just got over one cold, didn't you?" The captain continued, bringing Miyako's attention back to their conversation.

The girl blinked in confusion. "Did I? When?"

Law tilted his head in question, furrowing his eyebrows in the process. "You got sick after leaving the island with the doppelganger. Did the cold affect your memory too?"

For a while, Miyako stayed still with a frowning expression as if trying to remember. Then suddenly her lips formed a silent o as it dawned on her. "That's right. Silly me, I totally forgot about that." She smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of her head.

"Hnn..." Trafalgar didn't comment on it, but kept his eyes on the girl for a while longer as if searching for any signs that something might be actually wrong with her. Perhaps she really did get sick because of yesterday; after all, she stormed outside into the cold without even cooling herself off first or drying her hair. In this winter temperature, that could be enough for someone to fall gravely ill. For now everything seemed fine, but perhaps it would be wise to keep an eye on her for at least today. It would be bad if she wandered off again and then collapsed somewhere in the snow.

"Hey, hey, Miya-chan!" Penguin suddenly called out to the girl, bringing her out of her daze. "Josh found this cool shop where an ice maker master is crafting everything out of ice. I bet it looks really awesome, let's see it!"

She smiled at the enthusiastic group before her. Penguin, Shachi, Josh, Cody and Sai all wanted to see the amazing ice sculptures and other crafts in the shop. It was art that some people paid big money for. Such handmade ice peculiarities were especially popular on summer islands.

"Sure," she smiled, standing up. Just before they went off, she turned towards the captain. "Want to join us, captain-san?" She asked jokingly, but not out of disrespect, which was clear in her light tone.

Law just took another long sip of his coffee, lazily resting in his chair. "That's fine, you go on ahead. I'm perfectly fine here," he answered with a smirk, showing that he wanted to enjoy his relaxation time while it lasted.

She smiled back and nodded, giving him one last wave of her hand in a quick manner before leaving with the others.

~…~

"Whoooa, amazing," Shachi gaped at the sight while staring at a whole sword made out of ice. Of course it wasn't for actual use, only decorative, but the craftsmanship was so skilled and detailed it left them all in awe.

The pirates looked around, their reflections dancing on the icy surfaces around them. The whole room was glittering as sunrays bounced off the ice. The room had to be kept cold enough so the sculptures wouldn't melt, which made the pirates' hot breaths let out steam every time they would open their mouths to marvel the crafts around them.

Penguin gazed at his distorted reflection in one of the crafts, his head pear-shaped. He grabbed at Shachi, pulling him closer, "Oy, Shachi, look at me!"

The other mechanic snickered, then moved to another sculpture that made his reflection a thick, spherical shape. "Check me out!"

Both mechanics laughed, marveling their own crazy reflections rather than the sculptures themselves.

"I'm almost afraid to move so I wouldn't break anything," Cody admitted as the whole shop was filled with ice statues and figures of various kinds and sizes.

Miyako was amazed like the rest of them, but it was hard to show it as her weariness took the best of her. She let out a big yawn, trying to cover it up with her hand.

Joshua nudged at her side, looking up at her with an expression mixed with puzzlement and slight worry. "What's with you? You have bags under your eyes and look paler than usual? Didn't you get any sleep last night?"

The girl frowned, rubbing her head in thought. "I did…Or at least I tried. I kept having weird dreams, though," she admitted trying to remember last night.

"Nightmares?" Sai walked over with question in his eyes.

"Um…No, I wouldn't say nightmares...I don't remember much, to be honest. It was like I was talking with someone…or like someone kept whispering in my ear." She tried her best to explain, even though she barely remembered it. Rather than a bad dream, it was just a strange feeling.

"Somehow that sounds kinda creepy," Penguin admitted, scrunching up his nose as if thinking of something unpleasant.

"Maybe it's just because of all that stress yesterday," Cody proposed, giving Penguin a reprimanding stare for last night.

"Sorry," the mechanic whined, shrugging his shoulders.

"Nah, I'm sure it's nothing. I'll just go to sleep earlier tonight and everything will be fine tomorrow morning. You'll see," she reassured them.

That's when a flash of light caught her attention. She stared behind Joshua, where an item shone more brightly than the rest. It was a small figurine made with such clear ice that it looked like a white crystal. The lighting was moving on its surface when the sun shone its light on it, making the figurine shimmer. "Is that also made of ice?" Miyako asked, passing the pirates and walking towards the figurine, still amazed by the beautiful texture of the small statue.

"Oh, you have a good eye there," the shopkeeper, who was the ice craftsman, answered. He came closer and smiled proudly at the figurine. "This is made out of ice crystal"

"Ice crystal?" The group repeated in questioning unison.

"Aye." The ice master nodded. "It's a very rare crystal that can sometimes be found deep within the ice mountains on winter islands, but it's extremely rare. It is said that this island had whole ice crystal mines in those mountains there, but their veins depleted a long time ago. We still have a few items made out of it, but it's all mostly decorative relics from older times."

"It's beautiful," the samurai whispered, almost enchanted by it.

"Indeed. The ice crystal is so rare that it's ten times more worth than gold," the man answered, crossing his arms on his chest. "But this one here is for decorative purposes only, not for sale. I doubt you'd be able to afford it anyway," he grinned teasingly.

"Tch, don't think so light of us," Josh felt a bit offended by the man's remark.

"Now I really have to be careful where I'm stepping," Cody commented in slight worry, careful not to bump and break anything that he wouldn't be able to afford.

"And don't you dare try and steal it pirates," the man warned, more serious now.

"Hey, don't insult us," Shachi replied, feeling offended as well. Then again, it wouldn't be the first time they stole something either…

"Was that a challenge? That was a challenge," Joshua whispered excitedly to Miyako and Cody at his side, already grinning about the idea, but both his friends just gave him a warning frown so he wouldn't try anything stupid while they're here. They still had some time on this island and they doubted Trafalgar would like it if they had to spend it fighting against the authorities or an angry mob. That's how it usually ended when the Hearts got another 'good' idea.

When they finally got out of the shop Penguin couldn't stop talking about the ice marvels he saw. "I'll definitively buy that ice sword!"

"And do what with it? It will melt even if you don't use it and break if you do," Shachi shrugged, not understanding his friend who would just waste money.

"But it looks so cool~!" The other mechanic whined relentlessly like a child asking for a toy.

"Hey, if he wants to waste money, just let him," the navigator shrugged.

"Yeah, listen to Sai and let me waste money!" Penguin argued with his friend, but then blinked in confusion and stared back at the navigator, "Wait, what?"

While they were still bickering on the busy street, Miyako noticed something swaying near the rooftops. She looked up to see a blue bird with a shining light following it around. It wasn't that impressive now that it was daylight, but Miyako could still recognize the small firefly bird dancing around in the air. She looked back at her friends who were already in another argument and gave them a quick wave with her hand, "Well then, I'll be leaving now!"

"Huh? Wait, Miya-chan?!" Cody called out, but didn't have time to go after her or ask where she was headed since he was trying to force Penguin and Shachi apart, while persuading Joshua not to steal the ice crystal statue that he was still going on about.

Miyako took the chance to slip away, heading through the busy streets and following the small bird. As she walked on, the path became less populated and only a few people walked beside her. Once again, she was headed for the outskirts of town before struggling through the high snow and into the woods, towards the clearing she found yesterday. Somehow, even before she pushed aside the branches, she knew she'll find the tall man there.

As expected, she saw Shiroshi in all his tall glory standing near the frozen lake. The firefly bird flew towards him, flying in circles around a few times before setting on his shoulder.

"It really likes you." Miyako commented on the bird's actions before even greeting the man. Today he was wearing snow-white robes with red accessories and markings on the fabric. The clothes only accented his pale skin and ghostly white hair, but also showed off his handsome features.

Shiroshi smiled at her comment and nodded his head politely as a greeting. Miyako did the same in return. "He likes you as well. Otherwise, he wouldn't call out to you. They don't usually go into town like that, especially during daylight…too many people that might try to harm them," he explained.

She blinked in wonder. "I thought you called for me," she said bluntly, but then realized that sounded strange. *Why would I think that…? And why would I come suddenly, leaving Penguin and the others behind like that? * Suddenly, she couldn't understand her actions anymore. They somehow seemed out of character. As she thought about it more deeply, she felt a throbbing headache starting to form in her temples. The girl frowned and closed her eyes tightly, grabbing her head.

"Suzune-dono, are you alright!?" Shiroshi was beside her in an instant, his long strides taking him over the high layer of snow effortlessly. He put a hand on her shoulder, trying to peer into her pained expression with his light blue eyes.

"I'm…fine…Sorry, I didn't get much sleep," the girl stood upright again, her headache suddenly gone. But she wasn't thinking about unnecessary things anymore either.

"Perhaps you should rest for a while. Here, let me help you." He led her to a large log and quickly helped her sit down before sitting next to her. Miyako let him lightly push her down until her head was resting on his lap.

She wanted to move and go back to Law and the others, but somehow she just felt too tired to do it. She didn't have the energy for it. *No, that's wrong…I…don't want…to go back…stay…I'm here to…stay…* Her thoughts got muddled and hazy as she was unable to keep herself from slowly falling into unconsciousness. Sweet sleep was just too tempting right now.

"It's alright, just rest." Shiroshi talked in a soothing voice, lulling her further into the darkness. "Stay like this just like you always had," he continued.

"Yes…just like always…" The girl mumbled before closing her eyes.

~…~

"Oy, she's here!" Shachi rushed over and grabbed at Miyako's shoulder, trying to shake her awake. He found the girl lying on a log in the middle of a snow-covered clearing in the woods. Thankfully, she didn't get far.

"Thank god, so she didn't get spirited away after all!" Bepo rushed over with relief written all over his face. The mechanic handed the girl to him and he lifted her up in his big arms.

"She's ice cold though! She must have been here for some time." The head mechanic felt her frozen, pale cheeks. The girl wasn't waking up from her slumber either.

"Miyako!" Cody shouted in panic and ran over with Josh right by his side. The blue-haired medic felt for her pulse and sighed in relief when he felt it. He searched for any frostbite or injuries on her body, but luckily found none. "She seems ok, but we need to get her inside and get her warm immediately."

The rest of the Heart pirates agreed and quickly rushed over back into town. They ran all the way into the inn where the other pirates worriedly awaited their return. The girl has been missing for hours without a sign, but fortunately Cody saw the direction in which she went. After that, Law separated them into groups and formed small search parties until they found her. Bepo hurried with the girl inside, laying her onto the bed in the inn. Even the barkeep helped, bring them buckets of hot water and towels that they wrapped around the girls freezing skin like bandages, trying to keep her from falling into hypothermia.

"We found her asleep in the woods." Josh explained as he helped Cody and Law work on the girl to get her warmed up. The medic was rubbing her back and shoulders, trying to get her circulation back and running.

"She seemed somehow out of it since this morning, but I never thought she would just wander off and collapse like that." Cody shook his head with a pained expression. "I should have gone after her when I saw her leave," he admitted guiltily.

Josh just shook his head to reassure his friend. "It's not your fault, there's no way you could have known she would do this. What was she thinking?! Bakaonna…." There wasn't any real anger in the redhead's voice since he was too worried and focused on helping her to get angry about her strange actions right now.

~…..~

Miyako groaned as her glazed eyes fluttered open. Her mind still felt a bit hazy and she could barely stay awake. The room was dark with only a single candle near the bedside to illuminate the whole area. The moon was already in the night sky and fresh snow was covering the streets.

She turned her head to the side and saw a shadow sitting beside her bed. She didn't flinch away as it reached for her, putting another warm towel onto her forehead. Miyako had to focus her vision to be able to see through the darkness who it was. "Law?" She whispered, seeing the pirate doctor looking down at her. He didn't look upset; just kept his usual expressionless face as he brought a glass of water near her lips and made her drink some.

"Go back to sleep," he simply ordered in a blunt tone.

"Where?" The girl started, ignoring his advice. She was trying to say something. It wasn't unusual that the girl was confused at the change of location; the last thing she probably remembers what the woods, and now she was suddenly back at the inn in a dark room. But Law realized his guess was wrong when the girl asked again, "Where is…Shiroshi-san?" Trafalgar frowned in confusion, not recognizing the name. Was she still half asleep or perhaps she was hallucinating from the fever? He wanted to ask about this Shiroshi person, but when he looked down the girl was already fast asleep again.

*So sleepy…* Miyako thought, her thoughts getting muddled again. *Ah, I troubled the crew and Law again, didn't I? I need to apologize…Tomorrow. I need to…sleep now, but everything will be fine…tomorrow.* Once again, Miyako's consciousness disappeared.

~…~

Everything was completely quiet in the dark room of the inn. The moon was still high as the cold winter night went on. Law was leaning against the wall, still sitting in the chair as he fell asleep in a rather uncomfortable position. He gave his room temporarily to Bepo so that Miyako could have some privacy to rest and the doctor kept a check on her condition the whole time after they brought her inside. Josh and Cody helped out at first, but everyone was exhausted so he sent them off to sleep and said he'd take care of the rest.

However, the exhaustion eventually built up inside the captain. They kept searching for the girl yesterday night and today as well, and he barely got any sleep last night. And now he had to spend another night nursing the girl. When her state finally stabilized and her temperature returned back to normal as her body warmed up, all stress and exhaustion washed over Law at once, attacking his tired body. He pretty much fell asleep as soon as he leaned against the wall and closed his eyes.

That's why the man was in too deep of a sleep to notice when the samurai girl stirred and sat up in bed. She had her eyes open, but as she slowly looked around the room, it appeared as if she was sleepwalking. Even when she stepped out of bed onto the cold floor and dressed all the way to her coat, tying her katana to her waist quietly, Trafalgar didn't wake up.

And even when the doors of the room softly closed behind the exiting girl, the whole inn stayed quiet in its slumber.

~…~

Trafalgar groaned and his eyebrows furrowed as he tried to wake up. There was a stiff feeling in his neck since he fell asleep in an uncomfortable, sitting position. It took some time for his eyes to adjust to the light in the room, but as he remembered the events of last night, his gray eyes shot open. *Miyako!* He remembered that he was taking care of her, who was found nearly frozen in the snow by Shachi and the others.

At that moment Law realized the bed in front of him was empty, with the sheets tossed to the side. The doctor's eyes suspiciously narrowed and he shot up from his chair, hastily walking into the hall and downstairs towards the tavern. Perhaps she just got hungry and went downstairs to eat; but somehow that thought didn't seem believable to the captain. He was just trying to rid himself of the bad feeling that was slowly pooling in the pit of his stomach.

He took long strides down the stairs, skipping two at the time, and quickly looked around the tavern. As expected, there was no sign of the samurai girl. Seeing some of his crewmembers there, Law turned to them. "Did any of you see Miyako?"

The Heart pirates shook their heads, all having the same confused expression. "No, not since you brought her here last night," one of them answered and the others nodded in agreement.

The doctor clicked his tongue in annoyance. *Where did that woman go now?*

"The lass is missin'?" The innkeeper came from the kitchen wearing a worried expression. "This is just like the others…," he mumbled, more to himself as he rubbed his chin.

However, Law heard him just fine and came closer to the large man with a glowering gaze. He had a bad feeling about this. "What is?"

For a moment, the local stared at Law as if deciding whether to tell him or not, but finally he sighed and spoke up. "The other townsfolk who disappeared…they all started actin' strange first an' then just vanished without a trace in tha morning. Ya said yer girl was actin' strange an' going on her own…even fallin' asleep in tha cold woods. Perhaps the spirits were really after her, callin' her out, but weren't able to take her away 'cause ya'all found 'er. So they came back for 'er at night and took 'er….she was spirited away just like the others!" The man had a genuinely worried look on his face as he explained, like he really believed that story.

Trafalgar, however, still had his doubts. Spirits? There must be a better explanation than that; perhaps she was hallucinating from the fever and walked out at night, or she sleepwalked back into the woods. Whatever the reason was, the fact didn't change that the girl was missing.

"Spirited away?! What are you talking about?" Josh suddenly appeared behind them as he overheard the conversation between the innkeeper and his captain.

Law turned to his medic, not really wanting to confirm the theory that Miyako was 'Spirited away' as the large man called it. But one thing was certain. "Miss Miyako is missing."

"Missing?!" This time it was Bepo who exclaimed in panic. He was holding his head in his paws while staring between Josh and Law with wide eyes.

*We also can't rule out the possibility that someone took her away.* At that thought, Law remembered Miyako's words while she was still half-asleep in the bed. She said an unfamiliar name; Shiroshi. Perhaps she was just dreaming about the past but if not, this could be their only clue so far. He turned to the local man again. "Bartender-ya, did you hear of the name Shiroshi?"

The man frowned while thinking, letting the word repeat on his tongue. "Shiroshi?" He hummed in thought. "That name sounds familiar. I think there be a young man who came tha this island a few years back. I remember the lad because he be havin' a very peculiar appearance; he looked like a ghost with 'em white hair an' pale skin," he explained. "He came tha this island in a wrecked ship, without tha others. They had been caught in tha storm an only the lad survived."

As the man explained, it only made Law frown more in confusion. Why would Miyako know someone like that? *Might as well start with that man then,* he thought and gazed back at the local. "Where can I find this Shiroshi?"

That's when the bartender's expression changed into a troubled one. "You can't…Shiroshi was the first man who got spirited away. He's disappeared an' is probably no longer livin'. He was always searchin' for somethin' on this island and one day he just didn't come back. He be gone already, laddie."

Trafalgar stared at the man as if trying to decide whether the bartender was lying or not. No, there wasn't really any reason why he would be lying, but it didn't make sense. None of it. How did Miyako even know the name of a man who disappeared years ago? Did she hear the story from someone else? Law still stared at the other man with an obviously surprised look, not even trying to conceal it. But before he figured out this mystery, there were some other things he needed to attend to right away.

He turned to his first mate. "Bepo, take Sam, Louis, Garry, Ari, Eli and Munk with you and form a search team to go look for Miss Miyako. I'll take Joshua, Cody, Jean Bart, Shachi, Penguin and Sai. We'll go look for her in the woods, while you go to the other side, towards East. She couldn't have gone far on foot in this snow and weather. Tell the rest to join the others who are on watch duty at the submarine and wait there in case something goes wrong."

"Aye, captain!" Bepo saluted and was running towards the others to inform them of the situation.

Trafalgar put on his black coat and fixed his fuzzy hat before clutching the nodachi in one hand.

"If she be spirited away, there be no helping 'er. Till now we formed numerous parties for tha lost ones and not once did we find any of 'em," the man called out behind him, warning the pirate captain.

Trafalgar half-turned towards the innkeeper, not bothering to give him more than a sideways glance. "It doesn't matter if it's humans or spirits as our enemies…we don't leave our nakama behind." With that, the pirate captain turned and left the inn, stepping into the cold morning air.

~…~

The gang of pirates led by Law went searching through the woods while the other one in Bepo's care went the opposite way. The island was in no way small and they had a lot of ground to cover, but the girl couldn't have gone far on foot anyway.

"How do we find her? Snow fell again last night so any footprints that might have existed are already gone," Joshua stated, not feeling too optimistic about their chances.

"I'm using my Kenbunshoku Haki to the best of my abilities. I can't cover a lot of ground, though, so we'll have to keep moving, but if we get close enough, I'll sense her. Bepo might be able to pick up on her scent, in case she went the other way." Law wasn't all too happy about the probability of finding the girl in this winter tundra either, but they didn't have many options right now.

"She might freeze to death if she collapses again." Sai muttered with his straight expression.

"Don't get all negative like Bepo, Sai and don't say creepy things like that! We'll find her!" Penguin argued, not wanting to even thinking about all the horrible things that might happen to Miyako while she's alone out there. "Besides, she's strong so she can take care of herself. She took her coat and the katana too, so I don't think she just wandered off aimlessly. It's almost like she had something in mind," the mechanic answered. In the distance they could hear the howling of snow wolves and a shiver ran down his spine.

"Penguin-ya is right. It's almost like it was planned from the start," Law agreed. If the girl had just sleepwalked away, he doubted she would prepare herself so well by taking her weapon and warm clothes before heading out. But then, why would she just disappear on them without telling anyone? The captain remembered yesterday morning as the girl apologized with a guilty look for storming off. She knew she caused the crew to worry and she regretted it, so why would she do the same thing all over again? Not to mention that this time she didn't have any reason that set her off, unlike last time in the hotsprings.

Just then a sound brought everyone out of their thoughts and they looked up at the mountains to see that a part broke off and a small avalanche slid down the icy mountain. They were too far from the mountains to be in danger, but the sight was enough to warn them to keep away from the sharp cliffs up there. If they would get caught up in one of those avalanches, however small it might be, they could get buried deep within the snow and suffocate in a matter of minutes.

"Captain, a village!" Jean Bart pointed as they finally reached out of the woods and came to a small village on the winter island. They had been searching for at least three hours without stopping to rest and were finally out of the woods, but they found no traces or clues of Miyako whatsoever.

"Finally, we'll be able to ask around," Shachi commented, walking behind the rest of the group.

"Maybe somebody saw something," Josh grinned as they seemed to finally get a stroke of luck on their side.

They ignored the suspicious and strangely piercing stares they were given by the villagers as they asked around, describing the missing samurai girl. However, their stroke of luck didn't seem to last long as they only got negative answers and shakes of heads. Did nobody see anything? Granted, the girl was traveling in the middle of the night and it appeared that most of the people stayed indoors during that time.

Jean Bart sighed in disappointment. "Nothing, huh?"

"We'll just have to continue looking then," the blue haired medic answered while clenching his fists. He had a determined gaze in his dark eyes, not ready to even think about giving up.

The large navigator stared back at the medic for a while, but then silently nodded his head in agreement. Jean Bart wanted to find the samurai girl just like the rest of them.

"Psst," a whispered voice brought their attention down and they saw a boy standing at the beginning of a narrow alley. His clothes were torn in place and his shoes were slowly falling apart. He had a coat on him, but even that looked worn out and old. The Heart Pirates gazed down at the kid who couldn't be more than 12. He had dark blond hair and light brown eyes. He was most likely homeless or perhaps from a poor family. "You're looking for a samurai girl, aren't you?"

The pirates gave each other an interested glance before staring back at the young boy. "What do you know?"

"I've seen her last night while I was… uh…. taking a walk," obviously a lie, but the pirates didn't care in what shady business he was dealing with as long as he was helpful. "My memory's a bit blurry, but for the right price I might remember…" The kid smirked mischievously.

However, his smirk was wiped off his face when Joshua grabbed him by the collar of his coat, lifting him up so they were eye to eye. Granted, that wasn't that far from the ground, knowing the medic's height. "You little shit, who do you think you're dealing with?! Now spill it already!"

"Wait, Joshua-ya," Law stepped forward and nodded to the medic who was waiting for captain's orders. Silently but with a dark scowl on his face, the redhead put the kid down but kept his hold on him so the boy wouldn't run away.

The village boy stared up at Law in interest, feeling tense all of a sudden. Even he knew the Surgeon of Death as his name and face appeared in numerous wanted posters in the papers. However, the pirate captain simply took out a coin from his coat pocket and tossed it to the boy. The kid caught it with ease and looked it over to make sure it was a real golden Beli. Indeed it was. The kid's face brightened up and he looked up at Law again. "Thanks mister!"

However, Trafalgar's cold expression didn't relax as he pierced the kid with his gaze. "Now talk."

The kid nodded. "I saw this girl with a katana walking through the village last night. She had dark blue hair in a ponytail and golden eyes just like you said. She must be who you're looking for." Then he turned away from the village and looked up at the ominous snowy mountains in the distance. "She went in the direction of the mountains," he pointed. "I dunno why anyone'd want to go there though. The wilds here are dangerous; full of wolves and other animals. She must be crazy to go out there alone."

Joshua grabbed the kid by the collar again. "If you're lying to us…"

But the boy cut him off before he could finish his threat. "Oy, oy, I've no reason to! Now let me go you brute!" The kid got loose and quickly dashed away, out of their sight.

"Oy!" The redhead called out to him, followed by a few curses, but the boy was long gone. Finally, he turned back to his captain with an irked expression. "That kid…So? What do we do captain?" The medic looked up at Trafalgar with a questioning gaze.

Law was silent for a long while. Going up those mountains will be a dangerous task. They might all be strong, but without any proper equipment, all they could rely on was themselves and their own powers. Rather than dealing with human enemies, they would have to deal with nature this time; and nature can be far trickier sometimes. Luckily, most of the Heart Pirates here were born and raised in the cold winter islands of North Blue so they're prepared for it; that's all Law had to rely on. Reaching his decision, the captain finally turned to his crew. "We're going to check it out."

It seemed that was the answer they were all expecting or at least hoping for as they grinned in response. "Alright."

~…~

Law put his unsheathed nodachi in front of him as a guard just in time to block a bite attack from the leaping dire wolf. The animal jumped at him with open maws, but was only able to bite into the sword before the captain swung it away. The wolf fell down and slipped away onto the snow with a yowl and a whine. Just as he turned, another wolf leapt at him from the side, but was kicked away by Shachi who appeared from the left.

"Room" Trafalgar exclaimed as a blue sphere encircled everyone.

The wolves stopped in their tracks as if sensing something was amiss. They growled viciously at Law who kept his straight face without any worry in his expression. Saliva was dripping down their jaws filled with sharp teeth, and the fur on their backs stood up in a sign of aggression. Meanwhile, the pirates just jumped back to Law's side, as they watched wolves surround them from all sides. It appeared that the animals were getting ready to leap and attack them again. Some were already tensing their leg muscles for a straight jump. Even so, Law stayed calm as he slowly moved his nodachi into position. Just as some of the dire wolves jumped towards them with their maws opened, the captain swung his sword and slashed the air in quick motions.

The wolves whined and yelped with surprise and pain as their bodies separated into pieces, left floating around inside the blue sphere. "Shambles," Law called out again and started spinning the pieces, attaching them all together in a shambled mess. Front legs were added to their backs, while their heads got stuck to their lower bodies. When the sphere disappeared, all that was left were messy pieces of what were once wolves. The animals keened in panic as they tried to run away, dragging their disfigured bodies with what little legs they had left.

"Piece of cake," Penguin commented with a smirk.

"Come on, let's hurry before we encounter more unnecessary obstacles on the way," Trafalgar announced already turning his back on the wolf corpses on the ground, and climbing upwards where the path went from the woods and towards the mountains.

They encountered some wild animals on their way, but most left them were alone. Some were, however, more dangerous than others, such as dire wolves or large snow lynxes that the pirates had to fend off on their way through. They trotted through the deep snow as they went up the path that led high into the mountains. The forest slowly thinned out until only a pine tree was left here and there on their path.

However, that made them lose any cover from the possible attacks and wild animals, or the snow slides that were quite often in these parts. It also made the wind blow right in their faces, making their eyes tear up and haze until the pirates had no choice but the put their hands up as cover. As they went further up, the harsh wind that bit into their already cold skin only got stronger, until they could feel resistance pushing them backwards with every forward step they took. Even so, the Heart Pirates went on, glad that they all at least had their winter clothing to protect them.

"It's hard to see the path!" Cody had to yell to overpower the strong wind. It was blowing up the snow and made it swirl around them in a cloud that slowed down their movements and impaired their vision further.

"We'll just have to keep going forward!" Jean Bart answered, his loud booming voice overpowering even the sound of the howling wind. Unlike the rest, the large navigator had it a bit easier to walk through the snow since his big frame and strength allowed him more freedom to move.

"Maybe we should find a place to take cover from the wind and concoct a plan?" Joshua suggested, having to shout to actually be heard.

"Look, there's something over there!" Shachi pointed at a large gaping hole that looked like a cavern from the distance.

Law stared at it silently before ordering a loud "Let's go," to his men.

They climbed up further towards the cavern, finally able to take some shelter from the cold and the wind. Looking around the rocky area, the pirates noticed it was deeper than they originally thought. It wasn't just a cavern inside the mountain, but a passage - a tunnel, leading inside the mountain.

"I wonder where it leads," Penguin commented and walked further inside.

"Penguin-ya, don't go too far. We can't get separated in this place," the captain warned as he watched the mechanic explore their new hideout.

"Whoa, but look captain!" The said mechanic pointed at something in the darkness as he watched the path go upwards. The rocky ground looked dangerous as it was slippery from ice and water, but as it went ahead, it turned into a set of stairs that spiraled upwards through the mountain.

"Stairs?" Jean Bart commented, barely able to fit though the tight passage.

"Where do they lead?" Cody muttered in amazement. The stairs had to be made by humans, but they looked so old that they seemed like a natural part of the mountain rocks. "They must be here for ages."

"They appear to be leading up the mountain from the inside," Trafalgar noticed, as he saw the stone stairs spiraling up above them.

"Should we check them out?" Sai suggested, readjusting the rifle on his shoulder that hung there by a strap.

The pirate captain thought about it for a second. Indeed, it seemed strange that such stairs were here inside the mountain. They might be just a remnant of an older time, made by the locals of the island, but perhaps they really led to some clue to where Miyako is. They didn't have any information beside a shady boy's testimony and this was the first suspicious clue they found. The captain nodded. "Alright, we'll follow them up."

"Be careful, it looks really slippery." Cody warned, taking the first step forward.

"If you slip and fall from that height, you'll break your necks," the younger navigator commented in a matter-of-fact tone. He looked up high above at the stairs that led onwards.

Nevertheless, without another word, Law stepped onto the first step and begun to climb up. The others soon followed and the Heart Pirates started their dangerous climb towards wherever this path led to.

It appeared as if they had been climbing for ages, but it was only because the path became more dangerous and slippery as they went, while the height continued to rise. They had to move slowly if they didn't want to plummet down to their death. At one point Penguin slipped and almost started falling backwards, but luckily Jean Bart stopped his fall with his large body. The big navigator went last so that he might stop the falling people in front of him with his strength if it comes to that. The mechanic could only sigh deeply in relief and nod in thanks to Jean Bart, before bracing himself and continuing his climb with cold sweat running down his back.

When the Heart Pirates finally reached what seemed to be the top and were on level ground once more, they all stared in disbelief at the sight before them. The path was forked into three other paths that led onward. Luckily, there weren't any more stairs to climb but the rocky ground was still mainly covered in ice, which could be dangerous while they walk.

"Which way do we go?" Sai looked around trying to find any hint that could help them decide the path.

"At this point we can just pick a way and leave it to luck," Shachi sighed. There was no way of knowing which path was the right one or where the other ones led to. They could be filled with traps or end up in a maze without finding their way out of it ever again. There was just no way of knowing even for the strong pirates.

Trafalgar clicked his tongue in irate and looked at the three separate paths. They could split up, but who knows if they'd be able to find each other again inside the mountain after that. Finally, he turned to take the far right path and started walking along it carefully. "Be careful, there might be traps," he warned. His whole body was tense and ready to use his powers or his sword at any given moment if necessary. The others were in a similar state, carefully observing their dark surroundings.

~….~

A small den den mushi followed the movements of the group of pirates that walked through the rocky passageway. It stared at them, transporting picture back to the other den den mushi in a control room, which then showed a video screen of the Heart Pirates.

A person sat on a chair in front of the video, observing the pirates that didn't notice they were being watched yet. "Hmm…this is quite a persistent lot," a man said in a calm voice not sounding bothered by it at all.

"They even found the secret entrance into the mountain," another voice commented somewhere behind the sitting man.

"Gyehehe, persistent, persistent!" A screechy, high pitched voice from another one yelled out.

"We should show them that they are not welcome here," the man watching the video said, keeping that same calm expression. However, a smirk appeared on his lips as soon as he got an idea. "Take her with you too."

"Are you sure?"

The man in the seat didn't turn around towards the two people behind him. However, even in the dim light they noticed his smirk widening. "Yes, I'm sure. It'll be a good test...of loyalty," the man chuckled.

~…~

It was after a while of walking that Law felt a flow of cold air hitting his skin. The change in the temperature was minimal, but as they proceeded, soon everyone could feel that it was getting colder. *We must be reaching an exit,* the pirate doctor concluded as he walked on, prepared for anything when they finally reach outside.

Once again the Heart Pirates found themselves outside in the open, but they soon noticed they were a good height away from the ground, and up on the mountain now. They could see the peak above them as the point curled downward. They still hadn't reached the high top of the mountain, but they were getting pretty close. Surprisingly, the wind wasn't as strong up there; perhaps because they were on a lee, protected by the high top that still stretched high above beyond them.

"I guess the paths inside lead to various places on the mountain," Cody concluded as he walked to the edge and looked down. He could see the snowy slope below them, which led downwards back towards the foot of the mountain.

Suddenly, Law's eyes narrowed and only seconds later the rest of the pirates felt it too; a presence. Someone was coming. Trafalgar gazed up at the rock that spread above their area like a small eave to the exit of the cavern where they just came out. Three shadows appeared on it, standing there in the wind and looking down at the Heart Pirates.

"Gyehehehe! Persistent! Persistent bastards!" A small figure which was actually crouching in the snow jumped up and down in its slouched form.

Another sighed in annoyance, as if they were exasperated all of a sudden. "Is that the only word he knows? He sounds like a child that just learned a new word," a woman's voice answered in a cold, slightly irritable voice. She was the only woman in the group as her long hair tied in a ponytail danced in the wind.

"Let him be, you know Mar'ak isn't quite right in the head," a deep voice coming from the largest and bulkiest figure stated.

"Not right in the head! Gyahahahehehe!" The smallest creature laughed in a high-pitched tone.

The pirates had to narrow their eyes to sharpen their vision, but soon it became blatantly obvious that there were three people standing above them. Everyone's eyes widened in surprise when the three newcomers jumped down before the pirates and stood there for all to see.

The smallest one that was still crouching looked least bit human and more like some impish creature from storybooks. Even though it was so cold out there, he was only wearing cargo pants and military boots like the marines wore, while his torso was only covered in bandages. Even his arms and most of his face were covered in the white cloth of bandages. The part of the skin that wasn't covered up had purplish marks that looked like bruises. His twisted spine as he crouched was protruded upwards with every vertebra completely visible as it outlined on the skin. On his face, only one bloodshot eye was visible, which stared at the group completely wide open to the point that it looked unnatural. Even though his mouth was also hidden by the bandages, it was obvious that he was grinning widely underneath as his muffled snickering continued. Four metal claws were strapped on each of his hand, and looked dirty and rusted, mainly with blood.

The next man was the biggest among them. Even though he wasn't as big as Jean Bart or even Munk, he was clearly bulky and toned underneath the heavy armor he was wearing. He had full body armor in a black color with dark golden insignia decorating it, and his helmet was completely covering his face, hiding it in the shadows. There were spiked knuckles on his gauntlets and a large greatsword strapped on his back. It was a mystery how the man even managed to walk in this heavy armor without falling deep into the snow.

However, what brought on the shocked expressions to the Heart Pirates weren't the two strange men, but the last of the trio - the only woman in the group. She stood there glaring at the pirates in the same outfit as the last time they saw her; the plaid winter coat, her knee-high black boots, everything down to the red ribbon and Yawarakai-Te strapped to her waist.

"M-Miyako?! What's going on?!" Penguin was finally able to speak, stuttering in all his confusion.

"Where have you been!? Why did you just disappear like that, everyone was so worried, bakaonna!" The redheaded medic added in an angry shout, missing how the girl's eyes twitched in annoyance by his words.

"Miss Miyako, what's the meaning of this? Who are these people?" After a while, Law demanded in a grim tone. He could sense something was amiss. Something simply didn't feel right. This whole situation was weird.

The girl was silent for some time, glaring at the pirates before tilting her head to the side and raising one questioning eyebrow. "Who are you people?"

The Heart Pirates gaped stupidly, unable to utter a word after her statement. They were too surprised and perplexed to even react.

"W-what are you talking about Miya-chan? It's us…don't you recognize us?" Shachi answered in a shaky voice and a nervous smile. That bad feeling in the pit of their stomach was getting worse as they all realized it was right on the money.

The girl frowned as if she had no idea what the mechanic was talking about. "I have no idea who you are, but would you stop talking to me so friendly. I don't like it," she scowled, keeping the same cold tone in her voice she always reserved for her enemies.

"Miyako, do you know these guys?" The man in the armor asked in a deep, muffled voice.

"Never met them," the girl deadpanned. She shrugged without a care before putting a hand on her katana and opening the tsuba slightly with her thumb. "More importantly, Dezzen, we're here to take care of the intruders, aren't we? Let's hurry up and do it already. It's cold out here." Her expression darkened as her sharp golden eyes pierced Law and his group.

"O-oy, wait, Miya-chan!" Penguin yelled out and reached for the girl as she went for her sword. "We're your nakama, please remember! You were brainwashed or something!"

The girl stopped and Penguin let out a relieved sighed. Did the girl finally remember? Suddenly, the samurai girl smirked darkly. "Brainwashed? Are you an idiot?" With that, she took out her sword from a battojutsu stance, slashing at the air in the same instant. Penguin's eyes widened as the slash of haki flew towards him, but before it could hit the confused mechanic, Law appeared right before his nakama and stopped the slash with his own sword.

"Prepare for battle!" He yelled, but even without him ordering it, everyone prepared their battle stances to charge at the strange opponents, despite how perplexed they were.

Before they could reach the trio, the heavily armored man named Dezzen raised his fist high in the air before punching into the ground with all his strength. "Grhrrraaaa!" He delivered a mighty hit to the frozen rock beneath.

A loud cracking noise sounded around them and suddenly the small cliff started to break away from the cavern exit where the trio stood. The Heart Pirates started to lose their balance as they found themselves on the falling side of the cliff that begun to break off. They couldn't even jump forward because that would be jumping straight onto the enemies' weapons; a suicide for sure.

"Roo-" Law went to call out his devil fruit powers, but before he had the chance, Miyako slashed the air again aiming for him. He had to stop summoning the blue sphere to block a series of haki attacks coming from her sword. It was already too late; they were falling down onto the snowy surface below.

"Whaaa!" The pirates cried out in panic as they tumbled down; pieces of ice, rock and snow falling with them.

Law turned sideways in the air to examine the ground and was finally able to call out his Room. "Shambles!" In an instant, some of the snow on the ground was switched with the pirates.

They blinked in confusion as they found themselves safely onto the ground. The large amount of snow that was switched with them fell from the air and onto their heads. Josh narrowed his eyes in sheer annoyance as he felt the cold wetness on his neck and clothes. "Great," he mumbled sardonically.

Shachi sighed in relief. "We're saved…"

"Well falling down into all this snow probably wouldn't be that dangerous anyway," Cody shrugged, dusting himself off.

"Ung," Jean Bart grunted in agreement.

"But seriously, what was up with that?" Penguin looked up and noticed the three figures still staring down at them from above.

"I can't believe he was able to break off a whole frozen rock like that," Sai commented in slight amazement, though it was hardly visible on his stoic face.

"You bastards!" Joshua yelled back at the trio who simply silently watched them.

Then Miyako moved. She took her katana and looked up at the mountain top with its peak curled downwards. She took a battojutsu stance and sheathed back her katana. Ittouryu; Kiritateru! The girl swiftly unsheathed her katana again in a quick slash. In the next instant, the mountain top started falling down along with tons of snow and ice. The sounds rumbled and the ground vibrated as a large avalanche started; avalanche going right towards the Heart Pirates, which will bury them alive under meters of thick snow. It was to become their cold grave. The samurai gave the group one final glance before she and the two men turned their backs on them and walked inside the cavern.

Trafalgar couldn't keep the surprise off his face, seeing the massive avalanche quickly heading towards them. The snow was swallowing and destroying everything that stood in its path while it moved towards the group.

"Whoa, what do we do!?" penguin shouted in sheer shock.

Luckily, the captain still had his Room around them, and acted quickly while the rest of the crew was still staring at the incoming doom. "Tact!" He moved his fingers upwards and made the ground before them rise high into the air. The snow blasted upwards like geyser streams and soon the rock of the mountain followed. Only seconds later, the avalanche hit the makeshift blockade strongly, and it shook under pressure. The rumbling sound continued as snow piled up on the other side of the wall Law had created.

"Everyone, run and find some shelter!" The captain yelled, his strong voice overpowering even the thundering noise of the avalanche. He could tell his wall made of devil fruit powers won't last long under the weight of all that snow, ice and rock that was piling up on the other side. It was only a matter of time before it overflows over the wall or simply breaks the whole thing. When that happens, the Heart Pirates needed to be as far away from here as possible and find a strong shelter from the avalanche.

"Move!" Sai warned the others when he noticed the snow started overflowing from above and falling down onto them.

The crew quickly turned around and started running from the scene as fast as they could, but it was hard to do so when treading over a thick layer of snow. It rose all the way to their knees, as if grabbing at them, and slowing them down immensely.

*We won't make it!* The captain realized as he saw the avalanche coming their way again, nearing them quicker than they could get away from it. What's more, it was already sliding down from both their sides since he couldn't make the wall so wide as to stop the whole wide mass of snow falling. So now they were closed from both sides and on the path right in front of the quickly moving tons of snow.

He tried to look around for any shelter since there were some rocks and trees around, but there was nothing that could withstand the heavy avalanche when it finally hits. All Law could think of now is to give his crew some time before that happens. He stopped and turned around, unsheathing his nodachi and taking a stance in the snow to secure his foothold.

The large navigator noticed his captain stopping and turned to look at Law with questioning eyes. "Captain?"

"Go on and continue running, I'll buy us some time!" Trafalgar shouted back to Jean Bart, urging him to continue his retreat without looking back.

"But captain, that's suicide, you won't make it!" Joshua answered in panic, realizing what Law was planning to do.

However, Law didn't even turn around at his nakama's shouts, concentrating on his next task.

Finally, Jean Bart put a large hand on Josh's shoulder, giving him an urging look of reassurance. 'The captain will be alright,' is what he was trying to say.

At first, the medic didn't move, unsure about seriously turning his back on his captain and running away. But it wasn't like he could do much to help anyway. Law was doing this for them so there was no point if Josh stayed and died here. Sighing heavily, the redhead nodded and silently cast one last glance towards his captain before running away.

"Room" Law muttered quietly, his eyes showing nothing but determination. He won't lose here; whether it's marines, pirates, or nature itself…he won't lose until he reaches his goal. He grabbed his nodachi with both hands, clutching it tightly as the look in his eyes darkened. He saw the mass of snow going towards him at an incredible speed and raised his nodachi into the air. "Haaaa!" With a mighty shout, the pirate captain slashed down just as the avalanche was about to hit. The power of his devil fruit sliced vertically at the snow, splitting it into two sides. Trafalgar held firm with his sword in the middle, using his powers to keep the avalanche split. He could feel the heavy weight of the snow trying to break through and form back into one entity, but he couldn't let that happen. He didn't know if his crew was well, but they should be ok if they keep on running on this path, which was still safe for now.

Even so, there was no way he could turn and check on them because losing even a bit of his concentration could cost him to lose focus on holding off this massive avalanche, which would then overpower him in an instant. So he kept firm, focusing solely on his task. It reminded him of fighting with a logia user as he tried to cut its elemental form and prevent it from forming itself back together. Law's eyes twitched at that thought. *That's it! If I could just use my powers to permanently change its shape…I should be able to do it with my ope ope powers.*

However, a dark thought strayed into his mind. *But to do that I would need to cut this entire avalanche, that could prove problematic…can I do that?* He remembered when he cut a good part of the volcano at Rocky Port, slicing it in half. However, even though that also required a lot of power, the volcanic rock was a solid, constant substance. This snow was different. Even if he cut it, it wouldn't disappear, it would just rush forward and fuse back together at one point; just like a logia. Law's eyes narrowed as he made up his mind. *No... I need to succeed. If I can't do at least this…*

He concentrated his ope ope powers. *I need to cut this whole thing and stop the ends from reattaching. A clean cut that closes the wound….like a radio knife!* A dark look of determination made Law's gray eyes even fiercer than before as he stared at the avalanche with a tense expression. Finally, he cut down with the nodachi, focusing all his devil fruit powers in that one slash. A shot of electricity traveled through his sword as he swung with it.

The slice traveled through the air and the snowy mass, separating it all the way to the back and lifting the snow in the process and it created a vast snowy cloud in the air. The avalanche separated into smaller parts, but instead of forming back together, it stayed split, which consequently made it smaller and easier to control. The ends weren't focusing in one direction anymore, but went separate ways, diminishing the avalanche further. Law sighed in relief and exhaustion, but tensed up as he saw one of the smaller parts still came in his direction. It wasn't deadly anymore, but the force still hit him hard when it swept him off his feet and downwards along the mountain. He didn't have time to use his powers before the snow hit, so all the captain could do was clutch his nodachi in his hands and be swept away by the heavy snow.

The rest of the Heart Pirates were still running down the mountain towards the foot of it, when they heard loud thundering noises behind them. It took some time before everything calmed down, and finally Shachi dared to slow down a bit and look backwards. He wanted to at least make sure the captain was alright. As he glanced back, he noticed there was no sign of Law, but there was a smaller avalanche ready to hit them at any moment as it closed on them quicker than they could escape. They couldn't outrun it. "Guuuys!" The mechanic yelled in a warning, seeing that the others were still running in front of him without noticing anything.

When the avalanche hit them, it wasn't a bone crushing force. Neither was it so much snow that could bury them deep into a dark grave beyond the surface. Luckily, Law made sure such a thing doesn't happen. However, it was still enough to sweep the men off their feet and rush at them, burying them in a thick layer of snow as it brought them to the ground. The mechanic could hear surprised shouts of his friends as they were knocked down by the small avalanche. He also fell down and had a mouthful of snow in his mouth, as it buried him face down into the soft but cold layer beneath.

When the avalanche finally passed, everything calmed down. It was eerily quiet, with no sign or sound of life around. All the animals either escaped or were buried deep within the snow where they'll freeze to death.

Trafalgar could hear ringing in his ears as he tried to get up. His stiff fingers twitched as he realized he was still holding onto his sword. He didn't know how long he was lying in the snow, but it took him a while to realize that someone was calling him.

"-ain! Captain!" Bepo's familiar panicky voice finally reached Law's ears and the captain blinked a few times, trying to focus his mind. He was still in a slight state of confusion, but his memories of what happened earlier quickly came back to him, rushing through his mind. Miyako, the avalanche, the strange people she was with…. she tried to bury them in the snow. Miyako was the one who created this avalanche that almost killed them all. That thought only made Trafalgar feel more bewildered as more questions arose in his mind. Why? Did she betray them? Suddenly, he felt weightless as his body was being lifted and strong light attacked his vision. He looked around, realizing that Bepo had helped him up from the snow, unburying him from the white layer.

"Bepo? What are you doing here?" The captain was definitely glad that his first mate was before him, but the bear wasn't supposed to be here.

"We waited for you back in Snör Town, but when you didn't come back and so much time passed, I got worried and took Munk with me to go look for you. We even encountered some snow lynxes on the way that attacked us. When we finally got near the mountains, we noticed this big avalanche and some people running from it," the bear explained as quickly as he could, wearing a distressed expression.

Law nodded and look down in front of him where Munk was helping the others get out of the snow. Sai already managed to dig himself out and Jean Bart was so big that he was hardly covered with it at all. Luckily, nobody got seriously injured by the mass that hit them. The captain sighed from relief despite himself.

"We're saved!" Penguin cried out in relief as he took a big breath of fresh air.

"I thought we were goners for a second there," Shachi exhaled, deeply relieved.

"What had happen' here, cap'n?" Munk finally asked as he effortlessly pulled Josh up on his feet with one hand and Cody with the other.

The group silently exchanged troubled glances as they stayed quiet for a while. They focused on dusting off the snow from their clothes as it uncomfortably fell in their collars and chilled their backs. Finally, Law decided to explain. It took them some time, but the Heart pirates finally reorganized and explained everything that happened with Miyako and her strange two companions.

"For lassie to do this…What can tis be 'bout?" The chef let out a troubled sigh as he slowly shook his head in disbelief.

"Could it be she really was brainwashed?" Sai asked as he watched the others.

"Maybe she's being controlled!?" Penguin suggested.

There wasn't one person among them who truly believed Miyako betrayed them. Such a thing just wasn't possible - not after everything they went through together, it just wouldn't happen. They all remembered the last time they all thought she had betrayed them with the Tenryuubito, only to realize she was actually protecting them the whole time.

"Did she…really forget all about us?" Bepo asked softly with an uncertain look in his eyes.

"Don't worry, Bepo, we'll get her back for sure!" Cody grabbed Bepo's arm reassuringly and nodded at the bear with determination.

Josh frowned as he dusted off his black cap. "Aaa, this is pissing me off! Those bastards having the last laugh on our account just leaves a bad taste in my mouth," the medic commented, remembering the trio who overpowered them with so little trouble on the small cliff. Granted, it was more by using their smarts and territory than actual strength, but it still frustrated the medic that they got the best of them like that.

"They seem to know these mountains very well, which means their base must be nearby," the younger navigator commented as he gazed around the mountain.

It must have been later afternoon as the day wasn't as bright as when they set out to look for the girl. The sun was already well passed its zenith and dusk was nearing now. Soon, night will fall, which meant it well get colder and the territory will become even more dangerous for them. They needed to find Miyako and get her back soon or at least find the secret hideout of those people.

Law looked at the group of Heart Pirates before him. Bepo, Jean Bart, Munk, Penguin, Shachi, Josh, Cody and Sai. With him it made nine people; that should be enough to overpower their foes and get the samurai back. He could work with these numbers.

"Are we goin' capn?" Munk called out and brought Law's attention back to their conversation.

The captain gazed at all his men who were readily awaiting his orders. It was obvious what they wanted to do; they wanted to find Miyako at any cost and get her back. Law nodded in agreement. "Let's go," he simply said and they started walking back towards the cavern entrance where they exited the inside of the mountain.

However, they soon realized luck still wasn't on their side. "It's blocked," Josh pointed at the place where the cave was before. Now it was completely buried and snowed in. The avalanche did its work. "What do we do now?" The redhead asked angrily.

"Captain, can you use your devil fruit powers to get us to the other side?" Cody turned back to his captain.

However, Trafalgar just sighed as he stared at the thick layer of snow in front of the entrance. There was probably a few meters of snow standing between them and the opening of the cavern. "At this point I can only use it for myself so I can't take you in with me, it would take too much stamina out of me and we still don't know what's in store for us here," he explained. "We should find another way in." Though that might take them hours and they didn't have that long before nightfall - they all knew that already.

"Captain, you should go," Shachi said suddenly.

Law gave him a puzzled look, but the others nodded in agreement. "We'll find another way in and join you as soon as we can. You saw that there are many other paths inside so there has to be more ways to enter this mountain," Sai explained, agreeing with the mechanic.

The captain stared back at his crew, still uncertain if that is really the best option to take. However, he knew as well as they did that he should use this chance to get inside and find Miyako. Besides, they were all strong and could take care of themselves. There wasn't any point in having nakama to have your back if they needed to be babysat all the time. Finally deciding, the pirate captain nodded once. "Then, I'll be going ahead."

The rest of the group all smiled in apprehension, watching their captain turn towards what was once a cavern exit and call out his Room. In the next instant, Law disappeared, reappearing on the other side of the snowed-in entrance.

When their captain disappeared, Cody turned back to his crewmembers. "Well then, let's go around the mountain and see if we can find that hidden cave where we entered before," he suggested to the others and they all gave him determined grins.

~…~

Miyako frowned in her sleep as she kept tossing and turning in her bed.

The samurai girl sniffled and wheezed as she shivered in bed, burning from a high fever. Suddenly, a cold hand rested on her forehead, making her feel cooler a bit.

"I guess that's what she got for fighting that Mayumi chick in the rain," a voice echoed inside the room.

"How is she?" Another, deeper voice asked. It sounded calming and familiar but as much as Miyako strained, she couldn't see anyone's faces. Who were these people around her?

"Still with a high fever, but better than before. It will be alright," a third voice answered gently.

Suddenly someone sat beside her bed. She could see a black cap with mean eyes staring down at her…no, not from the face but from the cap. The eyes looking down at her were…forest green. The person was frowning at her, reprimanding her, but there was actually a gentle worry in the eyes that observed her. "I was actually surprised you got a cold…what do they say again; about fools getting colds?" The person beside her asked thoughtfully.

Miyako closed her eyes and raised an index finger in the air as if educating the man; "It's 'fools don't catch colds'-" Her eyes snapped open when she realized what he just did. She clenched her fist and turned towards the man angrily; "Hey, did you just call me a fool!?" However, her angered voice was soon extinguished and replaced by a series of coughs and more wheezing sounds.

"Are you an idiot? Don't strain yourself further," that deep voice warned, more harshly than before.

"Law…" Miyako whispered out in a soft voice.

"Law…" The samurai girl repeated in her sleep before turning to the side again and frowning as if in pain.

"Why can't I go to!? You said it yourself; my skills can rival any man here! So why not use me!?" Miyako slammed down her hands on the kotatsu table in front of her.

However, the much older man in front of her wouldn't even hear of it. He shook his head fiercely and slammed his own hand on the same table. "No! War is completely different than just training with me in the dojo, you don't understand! You are far too young and inexperienced!"

"That's rubbish!" The much younger Miyako argued back, forgetting her respectful side towards her master for a moment. Then suddenly her gaze became darker as she stared down at her knees. "It's because of that stupid law, isn't it?" She stared back up at her master, piercing his eyes with her own golden ones "Because I'm a woman, I'm not allowed to fight side by side with you and the others!"

"It's exactly that kind of thinking why I tell you you're not ready-"

"But master-!" The girl tried again, cutting him off.

"No! No more discussion! You need to learn your place, girl!" The man took the katana in his hand and slammed the sheathed sword down onto the tatami floor. It was a sign that the discussion was over.

All young Miyako could do was stare back at her master silently with hurt in her eyes before bowing her head down in gloom. She bit her trembling lip, not wanting to cry in front of her master. The master who was already old enough to retire his position as one of the four samurai of Wanokuni, yet still had to go to another war to fight against the revolution. A civil war that will have no winner; because only the people of Wanokuni will suffer. And there was nothing Miyako could do or say to stop him or change the fact that he will be leaving tomorrow morning; she wasn't even able to support him with her own katana because of the trivial fact that she was a woman and women weren't allowed to wield swords, let alone fight in wars.

The girl stood up, still keeping her gaze firmly on the ground. She gave her master a quick bow and excused herself, hastily rushing out of the room. She even ignored him as he called out to her, heading straight to the dojo to continue her practice, which will hopefully calm her down as it always did in times of trouble. But what was the purpose of all that training if she wasn't allowed to wield this katana when it was necessary?

"I'm….I'm sorry…Master…" The girl, older than in her dreams, turned her head to the side and furrowed her thin eyebrows again as she whispered in her sleep.

"Find a reason to wield your sword…then you will find true strength," she could still hear her master's words echo in her mind. "When you find something you wish to protect!"

"We're nakama!" A new and cheerful, but unfamiliar voice suddenly broke through her thoughts.

"Who…?" The girl mumbled in her sleep.

"Believe in us more!" The deep voice from before yelled at her, but she just couldn't remember whom it belonged to.

"Miyako…" Suddenly, a girl opened her eyes in shock but was once again in dreamland instead of reality. A familiar and gentle voice was calling for her. A voice she hadn't heard since she was five years old.

"Mother!" The girl called out but was unable to see anything from the bright light surrounding her. Then she felt a gentle stroke on her head as somebody combed through her hair with their fingers. No, not somebody…it was her. Mother. Miyako tried, but couldn't see her face; all she saw was the gentle smile on the woman's expression and the same long dark blue hair that pooled around the small girl. A red ribbon was tied loosely in the woman's hair, scooping some of the upper part and the sides, and pulling them back. "Mother," the girl called out again, staring at her mother's gentle smile.

But as the person leaned in closer to the girl, they changed form. She blinked in confusion when the person's face came into view, but it wasn't quite what she was expecting. The person still had that gentle expression, but the long hair suddenly changed color into ghostly white. It wasn't her mother, yet a man with such gentle and delicate features he almost did look like a woman. "Miyako," he called out to her in the same soft voice as always and stroked her hair. That's when she realized, she wasn't a small child anymore, but a 21 year old woman of today.

"Shiroshi-san…" the girl mumbled, still a bit confused, but feeling calmer than before. Suddenly she was so sleepy. The man reached for her and she noticed he was holding a red ribbon in his hand. The ghostly white man took her long hair in his hands and tied the red ribbon in it before smiling. "It suits you, Miyako."

The samurai couldn't help but smile back. She let herself be laid down in his lap and closed her eyes as Shiroshi kept gently stroking her hair.

"Don't worry, Suzune Miyako, I won't let any harm come to you. You can just stay by my side like this…forever."

"Forever…" Miyako mumbled in her sleep before turning on her side and slowly opening her eyes. She was breathing hard and her face was covered in cold sweat. Her eyes brightened up to their usual color for a second before darkening again into a dim golden hue. The girl reached for her hair and felt the red ribbon tied in it…the red ribbon Shiroshi-san gave her.

~…~

Miyako walked down the decorated stone path of Shiroshi's castle. It was deep within the mountain, with a couple of stories high. The stone walls even had electrical lighting on the side, as wires of all kinds traveled up the ceiling all across the mountain. In some places the ice managed to get in and frost collected on the walls, but even though the temperature was a bit lower it was still bearable. The rooms seemed to be heated by hot dials for the most part. Miyako climbed up the spiraling stairs towards the control room where she expected to find Shiroshi. She soon found herself in front of the metal doors and knocked on them before entering.

"Come in," she heard the muffled call on the other side and opened the doors. They gave a bit resistance as some frost gathered near the handle, but then opened with a screech. The girl could see the tall white man in his usual red and white robes, sitting on a large leather chair in front of numerous monitors.

"You wanted to see me, Shiroshi-san," the samurai girl simply asked.

Shiroshi turned in his chair and gave her a smile before standing up. His upper body rose seemingly forever as he stood there before her, in all his 7'4'' of height. "Ah yes, Miyako, come in. I hear you took care of the intruders."

The girl frowned. "Yes, they were an…odd lot. Who were they?"

"Pirates, my dear," Shiroshi gave her a saddened, troubled look. He saw the surprise in the girl's eyes and continued, "They must have discovered about our plans and came to stole what we are working so hard to obtain. Sadly, such people exist in this world...ones who will only use others for their own goals."

Miyako's gaze darkened at that. "Well, you don't have to worry about it; Dezzen, Mar'ak and I took care of them."

He nodded. "I knew I could count on you." He then urged her to follow him out of the room and down another hall. "Come, let me show you something." He led her towards an elevator made entirely out of glass. Miykao took a step forward and gasped in surprise as they headed up, as if flying. She was a bit worried that it would break, but the glass must have been much thicker than it looked, because it took them all the way to the upper floor without any problems.

As the doors opened and they stepped out Miyako entered a room of glistening beauty. The room was filled with frames, figures and jewelry made out of pure white crystal that glittered under the fake lighting in the room. "Ice crystal!" The girl exclaimed. She didn't know how she knew about it, nor remembered where she heard it from, but somehow she just knew what the substance was.

"That's right," Shiroshi laughed. "With this we will be able to bring prosperity to the whole country...not only this island but to others as well. This material is much more valuable than gold and its worth will help many," the tall man explained. Then suddenly he scowled. "But there will always be those who will want such high priced source for themselves, to get wealthy. These pirates are one of those kinds of people."

The girl nodded fiercely. "Do not worry Shiroshi-san, I will surely protect you and this place."

The man chuckled. "As you always had, Suzune Miyako." They stepped back into the elevator and headed downwards. "Now, I have some business to attend to…" He stroked the girl's hair as a kind older brother would, and left her in the hall.

Miyako watched him leave before turning back and looking at the video transmission in the control room. She noticed a person walking in the mountain's halls, nearing the main entrance of their base. She frowned as she recognized that fuzzy hat from before. *So they survived…but he's alone. Did his friends die so he came back to seek revenge?* The girl furrowed her eyebrows as she remembered what Shiroshi said. *No, I should give him no pity. He's just a pirate trying to rob the mines and steal the ice crystal for himself. He should have left when he had the chance.*

She turned from the den den mushi that were projecting the video picture and hurriedly left the room with one hand on the hilt of her katana. "I'll deal with him once and for all."

As the girl turned from the room and exited, she didn't notice when the picture on the den den mushi video changed again. This time it showed an opposite side of the mountain. In the cold outside, where the strong wind was howling, there were large caves that were actually a mine. In and out, people trotted one after the other in the snow, carrying materials and ice crystal in large quantities. As one man in ragged clothing fell to his knees from exhaustion, one of the guards who were standing watch, raised his hand with a thick whip in it and beat the poor man's back until he was lying on the floor motionless. The other miners, if they could even be called that as they were more slaves than anything, watched in horror before scurrying off to quickly get back to their work before they meet the same fate.

~….~

The Heart Pirates walked through the snow in the mountain, trying to shield their eyes from the strong wind blowing in their faces. It was slowly getting darker and colder outside as they walked along the mountain, climbing towards the top where the temperature dropped from cold to freezing. They were surrounded by small hills and large heaps of snow, which additionally obscured their vision of the terrain.

"How are we supposed to find anything out here?" Josh grumbled, feeling his cheeks go numb from the cold. Even for the North Blue men, staying outside in this weather for so long - after they were already buried in the snow once - was hard on their bodies. They needed to find an entrance soon if they didn't want to turn into popsicles out here.

"We just need to find the entrance to the cavern we found last time," the younger navigator shouted back, glancing behind at the redheaded medic who was trying to keep up.

The only one who didn't seem bothered in the slightest by this weather was Bepo. The polar bear was treading through the snow without difficulties even with his large, heavy body. "Where did you say it was? Around here?"

"Yes, it should be…uh…around-" Cody started talking, but then stopped when he noticed something rather unusual. Did the hills that surrounded them just move? And isn't that a shadow there? "Uh…guys?" The medic called out for the group to stop.

The strange tone in his voice must have alarmed the others because they stopped and turned to look at the bluehaed, only to follow his gaze with their own. What was he looking at? That's when the pirates noticed strange, large shadows rising over the snow and surrounding the men.

"Snow ogres," Jean Bart growled as he stared at five large figures that were slowly approaching them. "I read about them before in books about winter islands, but this is the first time seeing them."

The ogres weren't all the same size, but were all at least 19 feet tall. Their skin looked ragged, with bluish or greenish colors. They had some leather armor on their bodies, though they didn't look like the cold bothered them anyway since they were all barefoot. In their hands they had large axes or clubs made into weapons. Their bodies were massive and heavy-looking as they moved slowly, observing their prey before them. Their fully black eyes looked sharp as they glared at the humans, opening and closing their maws full of large sharp teeth. They could bite a person into two without a problem or even swallow them whole. Drops of saliva kept dripping from their mouths and down onto the ground, as they moved closer to the humans with heavy footsteps.

"Tis be some troubl' 'ere, lads," Munk warned, preparing himself. He still had his wooden spoon tucked in the belt of his overall pants and his usual jacket of a chef's traditional uniform. But instead of taking out the spoon that he usually used for reprimanding and hitting his nakama when agitated, the man brought his fists together and bumped them loudly against each other in preparation.

Just then, another shadow rose behind a snow hill, but this time, the sight left the Heart Pirates gaping in disbelief. This figure was much bigger than the other snow ogres as it stood before them. The pirates barely reached its ankle, with Jean Bart and Munk just a bit above. It had gray skin and some metal and leather armor around, with white fur pelts on its waist and neck. In one hand full of sharp, strong nails, it held a large warhammer made out of stone and metal. On its head there was a thick, brown mane going all the way to its back, and two large horns on its forehead. As it stared at them with completely white, small eyes, foggy mist puffed onto them with every breath the giant creature took.

"A s-s-snow giant!" Bepo grabbed his head and screamed in panic as the large giant towered over them.

The snow giant roared so loudly it made the mountains tremble with its voice. At the same time Penguin and Shachi started screaming in tune with the roar. "Kyaaaa!" They put their hands on their cheeks and stared with teary eyes at the giant in front of them.

"How are we supposed to fight that thing!?" Joshua yelled in shock, looking at the wild giant.

"Don't forget the five ogres as well," Sai glanced at the five creatures surrounding them in silence. They reached a bit above the giant's knee, but they didn't escape when they saw him. Perhaps the giant was actually their leader. The ogres made a few grunting noises, coming closer to the humans as they raised their makeshift weapons or bare fists into the air.

The taller medic smirked darkly. "Sorry captain, it seems we'll be a bit delayed," he muttered as the ogres rushed at them. They were slow and heavy, but one hit was enough to break a few bones in a human's body.

"More like; 'Sorry captain, we'll be dead!'" Shachi yelled back in a panicked voice, as tears still streamed down from beneath his shades.

"Then we better do something about it," Sai answered and took his rifle from his shoulder, aiming at one of the ogres and narrowing his eyes to focus. The gun shot and hit right into the ogre's forehead, making its head jerk back as it stopped. However, it didn't do much good as the ogre only got angrier, roaring in rage as it started running towards Sai again.

At least the snow giant wasn't making a move yet; perhaps it was content only examining the peculiar humans they encountered, for now. But even without it, the pirates had quite enough to deal with.

"Here's where all our train' comes tha view. What ye reckon lads; let's see how strong we became, ey!?" Munk shouted to motivate the crew as he secured his footing and prepared for one of the ogres that came running at him. The ogre was bigger than Munk and bare handed, as it charged through the snow at the pirate. However, the chef didn't run, but instead prepared for impact and put his hands in front of him. The snow ogre collided with the pirate and both grabbed each other's hand in a wrestling match. Veins popped out on the pirate's arms as his muscles strained under the pressure.

"Ghaaaa!" With a mighty cry, Munk swung with his arms sideways while putting all his weight in his kick, right into the ogre's kneecap. The snow creature growled angrily, but wasn't able to keep its balance as it fell down onto the ground. Before it could stand up, the chef executed a series of strong punches into the ogre's head, crushing its face with every hit.

Another snow ogre ran right past him, wielding a large club filled with metal spikes, aiming at Jean Bart. The ogre jumped in the air towards the navigator and slammed down its spiked weapon. As big as Jean Bart was, he was surprisingly swift for his size. He jumped to the side, dodging the club which smashed into the ground, making ice and snow fly around them. Before the ogre had time to turn, Jean Bart grabbed the back of its head with his big hand and slammed the creature down into the snow with all his strength. However, the ogre was still holding onto its weapon and swung it in the air, hitting Jean Bart in the shoulder with the spiked club. With a pained grunt, the navigator lost his balance and fell off the ogre. He rolled to the side to dodge when the creature attacked again, slamming the weapon towards his head.

"Jean Bart!" Penguin yelled in surprise when he saw his crewmate in trouble, but he was having a hard enough time dealing with his own opponent to go help the navigator. Instead, the mechanic jumped to the side just as another snow ogre tried to bury him beneath its stone axe.

Behind the creature, Shachi jumped in the air and delivered a high kick to the back of the ogre's head. The creature stumbled forward, but stayed on its feet before turning around and swinging the battle axe at him.

"Bring it down to its knees!" Shachi yelled as he dodged another attack. They needed to get some leverage by making the ogres fall.

Penguin nodded before leaping forward in a couple of quick steps. In an instant, he appeared behind the ogre and roundhouse kicked it in the knee to make it stumble forward again. At the same time, the ogre swung its axe down at Shachi again, but the mechanic dodged and jumped onto the stone weapon, before lunging forward again and kicking the ogre right in the face. The creature swayed and fell to its knees with a grunt. It tried to swing at the two mechanics that surrounded it, but was too slow as they moved out of the way and leaped for another attack.

Penguin and Shachi both joined forces to deliver a final kick to the creature's chest. They hit at the same time. The ogre grunted in pain as it lost its air momentarily and coughed some slime and blood out of its system. A popping sound was heard as something burst inside its chest, perhaps its lungs, and the snow ogre fell down onto the ground with a final groan.

Meanwhile, Josh grunted in surprise as one ogre slammed its bare hand into him, sending him flying into the snow. It was good there was a soft surface to break his fall or the crushing pain in his stomach would be just one of his many problems.

"Josh!" Cody yelled as she quickly pulled out a set of throwing knives and set them between his knuckles in his right hand. The medic jumped forward to dodge a fist, which was coming down at him, and rolled forward in the snow. As she crouched up, he threw the knives, but the creature blocked them with its other hand. The weapons lodged themselves deeply into the ogre's forearm and the beast growled in anger. It towered over the medic and opened its filthy maws as it roared in rage at him. It brought its foot up, trying to trample over the pirate, but stumbled backwards when a shot pierced through the air and hit the creature in its open mouth. Behind Cody, Sai reloaded his rifle and aimed again, trying to find a weakness in the ogre's thick skin.

Just then, the redheaded medic appeared behind the beast as he jumped onto its back, holding on while the beast tried to pull him off. The ogre reached backwards to try and grab at the medic, but Josh swiftly dodged to the side, still holding onto the ogre's back. A sharp scalpel appeared out of his overall sleeve and the medic brought it down to the back of the snow ogre's neck as hard as he could. "Let's see how well you work without a spinal cord!" He dug the scalpel even further in the back of the ogre's neck, stabbing it over and over with force. The beast growled in pain, but was unable to throw him off.

Cody jumped above the ogre and somersaulted forwards in the air, bringing his heel down onto the creature's head. At the same time, Josh finally jumped off its back, giving Cody more freedom as he smashed his heel strongly into the top of the ogre's head. The large beast swayed, making rumbling noises in its throat before falling down onto the snow, face first. Both medics landed back onto the ground, sighing in relief as they finally brought the beast down.

Meanwhile, Jean Bart was still wrestling on the ground with the snow ogre. The beast swung at his head again, but this time he caught it with his one hand while fending off the ogre with the other. He grabbed the wooden club even with the small metal spikes stuck in it. The metal dug into the navigator's thick skin, but the man only grit his teeth and growled as he clutched the club harder. With one last groan from the navigator, along with one final squeeze with his full strength, the weapon smashed in his hand with pieces of metal and splinters flying into the snow. The navigator punched the beast and pushed it off before grabbing a hold of the its head with both hands. Much like he did with the weapon, the navigator squeezed with all his might and crushed the ogre's skull, ignoring as it tried hitting him on his side and flaying its arms around weakly. With a few more twitches the ogre stopped moving completely, its head crushed under Jean Bart's strength.

Another shot echoed as Sai pierced the snow ogre right into the eye. The creature roared in pain, but continued running straight at him. The younger navigator took out another set of bullets. They were different from the usual bullets used in holster guns; they were led and instead of a round shape, they were a shape of the cylinder with a pointy tip. They were much stronger and faster than the regularly used bullets and were specifically made for Sai's special rifle by Eli, the master gunner. The navigator reloaded his rifle, aimed at the charging snow ogre, and fired at the other eye. Blinded, the beast raged yet continued forward, unable to stop its charge. The navigator moved to the side with ease, only taking a few steps. The ogre ran head-first into an ice-covered rock, before collapsing to the ground, unmoving.

Then the navigator noticed another ogre charging at him from the side. Sai's eyes widened in surprise as he realized he wouldn't make the shot in time. Just before hitting its target, the snow ogre was knocked to the side by Bepo who appeared out of nowhere and kicked the beast in the ribs. "Hi-ya!" The polar bear exclaimed before leaping into the air and delivering a spiraling kick to the beast that tried to defend itself by putting its hands up. The bear easily broke through the defense, but was caught by the ogre that grabbed his ankle and swung him to the side, trying to throw him into the rocks. Bepo twisted his body in the air and landed with his feet on the rocks, before leaping off of it and towards the ogre again. "Aya!" The bear shouted and prepared a punch that hit directly into the creature's stomach. The force of the hit sent the ogre flying backwards despite its size, but before it fell to the ground, someone caught it.

Jean Bart grabbed the ogre from behind and snuck his arms under the ogre's armpits before locking his hands behind the creature's neck. The wrestling move made the ogre unable to use its arms or even escape the full nelson hold. It struggled, but both the ogre and Jean Bart were similar in size and strength, so the large navigator had an advantage in that position. Just then the ogre looked up as someone jumped into the air in front of it with both hands together in a makeshift hammer. Munk yelled out as he let all his body weight come crashing down with his fall and his locked fists hit the head of the ogre with all his might. A crack was heard as the ogre's neck broke, and the creature limply fell onto the cold ground. With that, the last snow ogre was defeated.

"We did it!" Penguin panted and grinned at the same time. The Heart pirates celebrated their victory, momentarily forgetting about the danger that still lurked nearby. They were soon reminded when a large shadow fell over all of them. What little sun remained was blocked, which made the pirates look up in wonder. They saw a large stone warhammer falling down towards them as the snow giant swung at them with full force, roaring all the while.

The crew stared at the quickly approaching weapon in shock and disbelief, as it was large enough to squash all of them in one blow.

"This might be a bit of a problem," the young navigator commented in an eerily calm tone, watching the falling weapon with a troubled look.

"Ya think!?" Penguin cried out in horror.

~…~

Law walked further into the inside of the mountain, trying to decide his next step by following the faint stream of air he felt on his skin. Not only that but as he went on, it was slowly becoming warmer. There was definitively something nearby and he was approaching it. He noticed wires and cables started appearing out of the rocky ceiling of the mountain halls, with dim electrical lights hanging off of it now and then.

The pirate stopped as he felt a familiar presence up ahead with his haki. A shadow came from around the corner and stepped out of the darkness, closer to Trafalgar. It was none other than the samurai girl, glaring at him with those cold, darkened gold eyes. "Miss Miyako," the captain called out in a simple greeting, hoping that the girl would somehow respond. If she really was brainwashed, then his best chance was to try and bring her out of it by making her remember him and the rest of the Heart pirates.

"You again," the girl answered with a frown.

Trafalgar was actually a bit surprised she even deigned to answer. He thought for sure the girl would simply attack him without warning. Perhaps, even though she's being controlled or manipulated somehow, her humanity is still intact. She wasn't just some doll that was used against him. But if that wasn't the case, what was making the girl act like this? He felt interest rising inside him as a puzzle that needed to be solved appeared right before him.

"You should've turned back before, while you still had the chance." The girl stepped closer again, taking a hold of her katana. "Because I won't let you off so easy this time!" She lunged forward and unsheathed her sword, attacking the pirate from the side. The hallway was pretty narrow so it didn't give a lot of room to maneuver, but Law still managed to unsheathe his nodachi and block the attack. Even so, it would be hard to use his long sword here so he'll have to rely on his devil fruit abilities instead.

The girl, on the other hand, didn't seem troubled by lack of space at all as she moved swiftly. He tried piercing at her with his sword, only to miss as Miyako leaped sideways to avoid it. She jumped up where the walls and ceiling of the cavern met, then quickly pushed off from there, gaining the advantage as she was right above the pirate, and slashed at him. Law called out his Room and made a small stone blockade form the ground, shielding from her attack. But the girl used haki and effortlessly slashed down the stone wall, aiming for Law's head. He gritted his teeth and dodged backwards, before jumping again rolling forward to avoid a series of haki attacks flying from the girl's katana. As he dodged, he found himself behind the girl and quickly slashed with his sword again, using his ope ope powers in the process.

If only he could stop her or slow her down. It would be ideal if he could use his powers to incapacitate her long enough to figure out what is wrong with her and get her back.

~….~

And that's how they ended up in this situation; both Law and Miyako panting as they fought with each other equally. Every move Miyako made was to kill the pirate captain, while Trafalgar used his devil fruit powers to try and disable her from fighting on.

"Why are you doing this? Do you really not remember anything?" The captain asked while they both stopped to catch their breaths for a second. Trying to beat the samurai, yet careful not to hurt her was more tiring than he thought.

"You're the one that's delusional; I remember everything just fine," she answered with a glare, leaping forward again to pierce him with her sword. Law moved at the same time towards her and both swords filled with haki clashed together before their owners ran past each other. Once again, they were tied. But the pressure Law was feeling with every strike she threw at him was getting stronger. She was slowly raising her haki force through the battle, testing his mettle. She didn't go all out at the beginning, trying to figure out his limits, observing him. It was a smart move on her part and it left Law slightly irritated as it gave him the feeling he was being played with.

"We are your nakama. I don't know what you think you remember, but you're wrong," he tried to reason with her, seeing that she wasn't just a controlled puppet. She seemed to still possess a mind and a will of her own, yet that meant she was also doing this of her own accord.

"Shiroshi-san saved my life and took me in. I have been with him for a long time, so there is no way I was ever a pirate with you! I would never stoop so low to become a pirate!" She argued back, and slashed with her sword a few times to deliver slices through the air.

Trafalgar blocked them one by one, gritting his teeth as he felt the force behind each one all the way to his shoulders. "Shiroshi?" Again with that name. The guy that's supposed to have disappeared on this island years ago.

"I owe him a lot after master Kuroda died!" Miyako yelled back. Once again she slashed the air.

Law took a few steps forward, using his nodachi to block the air slices. He blocked two more and took another step, then blocked one more that made him stumble backwards, but soon recuperated, taking three more steps towards the girl. He clenched his jaw from the power of her attacks. "I don't know what's going on….but he's….lying to you." He forced out, still fending off her attacks. "You are a pirate and you belong with the Heart Pirates! That is your place as a kenshi in our crew!"

"Liar!" The girl yelled back and lunged forward, aiming for Law's head.

He blocked it with his nodachi, taking on her haki force. "Then tell me how do I know your sword is called Yawarakai-Te!?"

The girl hesitated for only a second, surprise suddenly alive in her eyes. "Where did you get that sword, tell me!?" Law pressed on.

Her gaze soon turned into a glower as she defied him, "Shiroshi-san gave it to me!"

"Wrong. You got it from a swordsmith named Takahashi Muso," the pirate captain simply stated without batting an eye.

"L-liar, I have no idea what you're talking about!" Miyako defended, her eyes losing focus every now and then as she felt more uncertain than before.

"And that red ribbon is really important to you. Why?!" The captain was relentless as he went on.

"Shiroshi-san gave it to me too so of course it's important!" The samurai girl defended and attacked again.

Law leaned backwards to avoid a slice at his neck, then blocked the one coming from his side towards the head. "It was given to you by your mother, you said so yourself," he tried again and stepped forward.

"Y-you have no idea what you're talking about, it's all nonsense!" The girl shook her head and rained another series of attacks at Law.

The captain had to clench his teeth and clutch his nodachi to withstand the incoming strikes. Finally, he swung fiercely with his haki active, breaking Miyako's next attack and pushing her sword away with his own. She was evidently so riled up and full of emotion that she became too careless - his plan worked. The usually cold and collected warrior that was Miyako during a battle was slowly slipping away. He instantly took the opportunity to strike and called out "Tact!" while raising his arm.

The ground from beneath suddenly shot upwards and crashed into the girl, sending her flying backwards along with her sword. The samurai gasped as air quickly rushed out of her lungs and numbing, hot pain spread through her stomach. She clutched her abdomen on the ground as she tried to get up as soon as possible. She was careless and it cost her.

"Then why aren't you even fighting with everything you've got!?" Trafalgar suddenly shouted, piercing her with his sharp, knowing eyes. It was like he could see right through her and the girl found herself staring back at him wide-eyed. "I know your abilities better than anyone, I've seen how you fight. You're not fighting with your full strength because you still have doubts." Law narrowed his eyes as he watched the girl with his fierce glare. He could read her like an open book right now.

Miyako's jaw went rigid in frustration and she slowly got up, propping herself with her sword. "You….don't know anything. You just want to steal the ice crystal for yourself….Shiroshi-san will use this crystal to make the whole island prosperous, and not just this island either! He will share this fortune with everyone. He's doing something noble and you're just trying to take it away for yourself," Miyako responded darkly, her eyes hidden behind her long bangs. She swayed a little as she stood up and raised her head to glare at the pirate. Her eyes were back to their cold stare as the color of her eyes became darker than before. She was back to her deathly cold self, no sign of her previously flustered state.

Law's eyes narrowed in interest. *Ice crystal? I heard something about it from the bartender at the inn, but there shouldn't be any left on this island.* Meanwhile, the girl's aura was rising along with her killing intent; it was clear she definitely wasn't messing around anymore. *This could be dangerous.* That's when Law realized; it was no use trying to get to her like this. He needed to go directly to the source and figure out what was going on around here. He needed to meet with this Shiroshi. He saw Miyako lunge at him with stunning speed, her katana in front of her.

Ittouryu; 8 gates of the Dragon! Miyako rushed forward at the pirate captain, intent on killing him. Then her katana abruptly stopped inches from his neck when a metallic sound bounced of the hall's walls. The captain discarded his nodachi and stood there completely motionless, staring right at Miyako with confident eyes. The girl instantly fell out of her zone, startled and confused by his actions. "What are you doing?" She gave him a gaze as if he was completely out of his mind. If she hadn't stopped in time, he would have been long dead by now. He was lucky she possessed such skillful control of her body and sword to be able to stop such a powerful attack in a split second.

Law understood that this was getting them nowhere and his mind instantly devised another plan. He'll be taken prisoner and meet with that Shiroshi, finding out what the bastard did to his samurai. However, his whole plan rested on one premise; that Miyako won't kill him. He knew the girl; she wouldn't attack a defenseless opponent who surrendered. He needed to believe it right now - that she won't kill him. Even if she was his enemy at the moment, he needed to believe in her. "I surrender, so go on, take me away," the captain shrugged with a monotone look in his eyes.

The girl blinked, uncertain how to respond. "What?" Just a few seconds ago he was fighting her and they were at each other's throats. Now he surrenders?

Without even blinking, the captain stared straight back at her. He gave her a 'what are you waiting for' look as he simply stated, "I thought I was perfectly clear, but here, I'll repeat it; I surrender. Just don't make me repeat myself for the third time."

Miyako's eyebrow twitched in annoyance despite herself. Even if he was surrendering, he didn't sound like that at all. Should prisoners really sound so cocky and bossy about it?!

"Or you can just kill me here…while I'm unarmed…" Law pressed on, agitating her on purpose.

Her look darkened, but for a different reason than before; she was suddenly feeling insecure. "I….I can't…do that to an unarmed person who surrendered…." She mumbled and stood up from her stance, still keeping her katana close to his neck. Even though he surrendered, she wouldn't relax around this one - he was too unpredictable. She stayed tense, observing his every move. Yet he just kept staring at her blankly, without any intention of tricking her. He really was surrendering. "In that case, you're coming with me!" She stated fiercely, giving him a warning look in case he was planning to try anything suspicious. "Move it!" She took his nodachi and sheathed it back, before grabbing it in one hand while still holding her katana on his neck with the other.

~…..~

Trafalgar scanned around as they entered the main hall of the inner mountain castle. It was filled with hallways and staircases, with cables and wires going around while everything was dimly illuminated by the electric lights. He could see frost collecting on the walls from the chilled air.

Suddenly, both the captain and Miyako felt a presence behind them and turned at the same time. The tall armored man stood before them. His face was still hidden in the shadows of his armor, as small misty clouds came out of his mouth with every breath; the only indication that he was indeed human. "What's this, Suzune? Why is this man here?" Dezzen asked in his usual deep voice.

"He surrendered, I'm taking him into the pits. There's no other safe place to put him," the girl explained with an icy stare. She didn't particularly feel comfortable around Dezzen and Mar'ak, but they both also served Shiroshi so there was no other option than to cooperate.

For a long while, the armored man stood there in silence, observing the pair. "We don't need any prisoners," with that he started taking out the large sword from his back.

Before he had the chance to take it out, Miyako stepped forward in front of Law and clenched the hilt of her sword tighter. "We are not killing him, I told you he surrendered," she answered forcefully. "Let Shiroshi-san decide his fate." She trusted Shiroshi-san and knew he would make a proper and reasonable decision.

Dezzen stood there silently, not liking that his authority was challenged openly. Finally, he slowly put his sword away without a word, but kept his gaze firmly on Law and Miyako as the girl took the captain below.

"Waaait!" Suddenly a girl appeared, running towards them. She was wearing an old-style maid's uniform with a high collar and long dress, with black and white corset strings. As she ran towards them, she slipped on some ice and fell down right on her face. "Whoa!" The girl yelped in surprise first and pain later.

Miyako and Law blinked down at the young woman with a sweat drop. "Moni-chan, are you ok?!" Miyako exclaimed as she gazed down at the groaning girl, before leaning down to help her. "Here," she helped the girl up by her hand, only to notice the girl was holding handcuffs.

"This guy is a devil fruit user, right? He's dangerous!" The maid girl exclaimed and came closer to Trafalgar. "Put these kairoseki cuffs on him." Even as she said that, she was the one already putting the handcuffs on Law. The captain didn't struggle as the cuffs clicked in place, instantly starting to drain him of energy. "Excuse me," the maid girl looked up at Law's face with an obvious blush and dreamy eyes.

Miyako sighed and waved her hand dismissively, "Oy, oy, don't fall in love with the enemy," she warned, but it sounded exasperated.

As they started walking again, she could see Dezzen and Moni both staring at their backs; though for obviously different reasons. Miyako could feel Dezzen's hard glare on their backs, while Moni only stared at Law in a blushing daze.

After a lot of staircases, they finally arrived at the bottom part of the mountain. There, the temperature was much lower and Law could feel the chill on his skin, along with seeing the fog created by his hot breath. The caverns here didn't look as arranged as the rest of the mountain castle, and there was ice and snow inside here. The lighting was scarcer as well, Law realized, as he scowled at the cold, dark and damp place Miyako was leading him through.

"We're here," the samurai finally said as she led him to what looked like the dungeons with rock walls. The cell was small with metal bars guarding it.

Law looked inside, unimpressed by his temporary lodging, but there wasn't much he could do about it. He needed to meet Shiroshi and find a way to fix Miyako, and the only way to do it was to infiltrate the enemy's lair. He stepped inside the cell and lowered his head at a low part of the ceiling, before he could stand upright again and walk inside the cell completely. Miyako went after him with a frown on her face, examining his moves suspiciously. "You will wait here until Shiroshi-san arrives."

The captain's eyes narrowed at the order. She might have forgotten about him and his personality, but it still irked him how she held authority in her voice when speaking to him. She had him as a prisoner only because he allowed her to, in the first place, but she seemed to be ignoring that fact. So the captain decided to taunt her back with his wit instead of actions, as revenge. "Cozy…" The pirate muttered sarcastically as he looked around, shrugging off the glare she gave him in return. "So tell me, what's the real reason you didn't kill me when you had the chance?"

Miyako glanced at him while furrowing her thin eyebrows. "What do you mean? I told you already, I wouldn't kill an unarmed opponent who surrendered. That's not right," she reminded him in a cold voice. She could tell he was getting at something with this conversation, but didn't know exactly what he was planning yet.

"Is that so…" He smirked and gave her a knowing look. "Or perhaps it was because deep down you know I am your nakama instead of your enemy." The captain pushed on, curious where it would take him.

She sighed in irritation. "You're going on about that again? I already told you, I don't believe your lies. You're just trying to confuse me."

"The one who is lying to you is your precious Shiroshi-ya," Law answered in an icy, more serious tone than before. "You're just afraid to admit it. You are a pirate whether you like it or not, and you're afraid of that fact. Just like you were in the beginning when you first joined us."

"Tch," Miyako scowled at the man and turned away from Law on her heels, trying to storm out of the cell. Smirking as she came up with her next remark, the girl started, "Those are some big words for a guy who just got capt-" She was cut off as she forgot about the lower part of the cell, hitting her forehead on her way out. She crouched down, holding her painfully throbbing forehead and trying not to wince in pain. *That was so lame…,* she thought pathetically, afraid to even glance at the mocking expression with which the pirate must be looking at her right now.

But rather than a scoff, the pirate captain had a mixed expression of confusion and surprise on his face, unsure what to make of the scene either. If he didn't already know that this girl was actually a skilled samurai, he wouldn't be able to take her seriously right now. Finally, his expression settled into one of resignation as she tried not to sweatdrop again. "Aah, I guess you're the same Miyako as always, after all..," he finally concluded.

She back at him with teary eyes from the pain. "Somehow, when you say that it doesn't sound positive at all!" She caught herself getting too heated again and quickly calmed down, returning to her icy glare. "I mean, be quiet, prisoner!"

Law's eyebrow twitched. *Is she trying to act tough?* But it was already way too late for that now.

The scene was interrupted by a den den mushi as it started ringing from inside the girl's coat pocket. Miyako finally stood up again, momentarily forgetting about her pain and answered the transponder snail. It was snow-white with icy blue eyes as it stared back at the girl with a serious, relaxed expression. "Miyako, I heard you caught the captain of those pirates," Shiroshi's calm voice traveled through the den den mushi."

The samurai nodded, glad to be the bearer of good news for Shiroshi-san. "Yes, I brought him in the pits down below so Shiroshi-san can personally decide what to do with him."

The den den mushi was quiet for a while but then finally, the man spoke up again. "You did well, Suzune Miyako. I will be down there in a minute so keep an eye on him. I hope he is well restrained and in kairoseki cuffs?"

The girl nodded, before remembering to answer since Shiroshi couldn't see her response. "Yes, Shiroshi-san!"

The man on the other end of the line chuckled. "I'll be right there, Miyako. Good work." With that, the den den mushi made a clacking sound and closed its eyes as the line ended.

She turned back to Law with a satisfied smirk. "Shiroshi-san will be dealing with you, pirate," she spat out the word in clear contempt.

"Hn…" Trafalgar simply hummed in interest as he analyzed his situation. The girl closed the cell doors behind him so he was locked in a cell right now, with kairoseki cuffs draining his energy and preventing him from using his devil fruit powers, while his weapon was still in Miyako's hands. *This will prove to be a challenging situation…* Yet, a hidden smirk appeared, barely visible on his face. *No matter, it just makes it more interesting.*

It took some time before Shiroshi finally arrived down to the icy caverns. As they waited silently, the temperature seemed to get colder or perhaps it was just from standing still in that damp place for so long. On the other hand, Shiroshi didn't mind the cold at all as he walked closer in his usual white and red robes. "Ah, Trafalgar Law, known as Surgeon of Death…I heard so much about you," even though his voice was soft, it sounded mocking.

"And you must be Shiroshi-ya," Law answered with a rather bored expression as if he expected more from this person and was clearly disappointed by the sight.

"Hey Law, don't disrespect Shiroshi-san!" The girl frowned at the look Trafalgar was giving her master, but then stopped in her tracks in realization. *Law?* Why would she address this lousy pirate with his first name, and why did it sound so natural for her to do so? After all, they never met before today. A glint flashed in Miyako's confused eyes and for a moment they burned brighter.

Shiroshi realized something was wrong as he saw Miyako's perplexed gaze ad turned towards the samurai girl. He gave her a gentle smile and called out for her "Suzune Miyako," as soon as she heard that the girl turned to him almost robotically and he continued, "You must be fatigued after your fight, so why don't you go back up and rest."

She blinked in surprise and instantly argued. "But Shiroshi-san, this man is dangerous!"

The man in white simply shook his head. "He's in kairoseki cuffs and you have his weapon, he won't be able to do me any harm. Don't worry." He put a hand on her shoulder, lightly urging her to go, and nodded in reassurance. "It's fine, go, Suzune Miyako."

She blinked again and her eyes returned back to their dim color. "Alright," she nodded and gave a final warning glare towards Law before heading upstairs. As she came around the corner, she felt a presence hiding in the darkness of the caverns. A frown formed on her face as she stared at darkness, unable to see the hiding figure. Her haki told her exactly who they were and where. "Why are you lurking in the darkness here?" She questioned with a scowl. She didn't like Mar'ak as he always snuck around and appeared when you least expected it. Besides, he was just creepy altogether.

"Lurking, lurking! Gyehehehehe!" As usual the man didn't give her more than a repeated word like a dull parrot. Though this 'parrot' could be more dangerous than it appeared.

Miyako's frown deepened. *Well at least he'll be around to protect Shiroshi-san if something happens.* With a sigh, the girl turned and left up the stairs.

~…..~

Shiroshi and Trafalgar stayed there staring at each other in silence for a while. Finally, Law decided to break it along with this whole charade. "So? What did you do?"

The taller man smirked, which looked twisted on his usually gentle features. His icy blue eyes stared at the pirate in front of him. "Oh, I'm sorry, am I supposed to tell you all about my evil plans now like those petty villains in books?" He mocked, remembering how in stories the villains always revealed all their evil plans before killing the main character; of course they never succeed and usually died in the end anyway.

Law tilted his head to the side, giving Shiroshi a rather disinterested look. "I don't care about your evil plans," the pirate explained mockingly. "But I will have my samurai back," his gaze darkened dangerously as he stared back at the other man.

The killing intent behind Law's gaze didn't escape Shiroshi either. He narrowed his eyes at the pirate on the other side of the cell bars. "And what do you plan to do about it? You're completely powerless like this in here. You are in no position to threaten me." Even as his voice remained soft and collected, there was an icy edge in it now. His stare also turned more into a glare as he observed Law. "Your fate was sealed the moment you stepped onto my mountain. Mar'ak!" He finally called and a creature came closer from the darkness. Trafalgar wasn't surprised by the newcomer since he could feel another presence in here all along.

"I never intended for you to get out of this alive in the first place, I can't risk anyone knowing about us. As far as Suzune Miyako is concerned, you will be sent away to the first marine base…" Shiroshi smirked. "But you and I both know what will happen in reality," the man continued in a low, gleeful tone.

On the man's surprise, the pirate simply returned that smirk with his own. "Because nobody can know about the ice crystals?" Law didn't have much information about it since Miyako only mentioned it during their fight so most of this was just a bluff. But his logical mind could pretty much make out what exactly was going on in these mountains. Shiroshi was somehow obtaining ice crystals; a very rare and valuable material, so he couldn't let any outsiders discover it. Law still couldn't understand the most crucial information he needed, though; how was Shiroshi controlling Miyako?

The pirate captain enjoyed the stunned expression Shiroshi gave him. "How do you know about that?" A question came in a form of a dangerous hiss and the tall man stepped closer to the cell.

Law hid his satisfaction at pushing the right buttons and Shiroshi falling for his bluff. So he was on the right track after all. The captain decided to push him further. "The only thing I don't yet know is how a man who was presumed to be dead for years is here, and survived the cold mountains?" A mockingly thoughtful expression on Law's face was replaced by a smirk again. "Let me guess, you didn't really disappear and die in the mountains…nor were you Spirited away like all those fools in the town think. You made yourself disappear so you could work here in peace, without anyone suspecting you," another bluff from Law, but the puzzle was slowly becoming clearer as he spoke. He was sharp enough to realize the truth on his own at this point. And Shiroshi's expression was only confirming his suspicions; a mixture of surprise and anger, which meant Law hit right in the mark with his every word.

Shiroshi grinned back, but there was a glint of nervousness in his eyes along with a drop of cold sweat on his brow. Law's perceptive eyes didn't miss any of it. He was sure the man's heart rate sped up as well. Shiroshi was nervous. "Well...I don't know how you know all about that, but it won't matter anymore. Mar'ak here will make sure that you take all that knowledge to your grave," he nodded to the strange man who still walked around in a crouch, with his clawed hands dragging on the ground.

The tall man turned to leave, but then stopped and looked back at the pirate captain. "But here, let me fulfill your one final wish before you die. See, I am a merciful man after all," Shiroshi grinned evilly, with a twisted expression. "I ate the Shimei Shimei no Mi. As long as a person gives me their full name, I can take control of them; I can alter and manipulate their memories. The only weak point is that they have to write their name themselves, but once they do…they're mine, and that's what happened with your precious samurai...Now she's my precious bodyguard," the man laughed in satisfaction as he saw Trafalgar glare at him. "I altered her memories so that I am the most important person to her, who has saved her from the slavers that were to take her and sell her in Sabaody Archipelago. I gave her the katana and I gave her the ribbon. I am her everything! On the other hand, she never met you…she forgot all about you and the Heart Pirates. You are nothing in her eyes anymore." Shiorshi's expression twisted even more as he spoke, gleefully grinning at the pirate in the cell. "There…now you know, and you can die with that knowledge, knowing that there's nothing you can do to save her because she doesn't care about her nakama anymore! Wahahaha!" The man laughed while gloating, before turning on his heels and leaving out of the pits hurriedly, with his robes dragging behind him on the ground. The long white hair danced around him as he walked away, still laughing to himself.

Trafalgar was quiet the whole time Shiroshi spoke, only glowering at the man darkly. He followed the leaving man with his gaze, the coldness never leaving his darkening gray eyes. While Shiroshi rambled on, he was already thinking of a plan to end the man and save his samurai in the process. But before that, he needed to get out of this cell as his first obstacle and get his nodachi back.

He looked up at the approaching enemy. The man called Mar'ak was snickering and making weird noises as he stared at him with his one good eye while the other was hidden under the bandages. It was hard to tell what happened to the man so he became like that, but Law didn't care anyway. He just stood still, observing the snickering man as he slowly came closer to the cell before swinging at the bars and cutting them in pieces with a few swift moves of his claws. That made Trafalgar's eyes narrow as he observed how skillful the guy really was.

"Gyeheheh…kill…Gyehe…kill kill kill!" Mar'ak jumped up and down before leaping forward with both clawed hands towards Law.

The pirate captain jumped forward, rolling onto the ground and out of the cell. He turned swiftly back towards Mar'ak who screamed out in surprise and disappointment as he slashed nothing but air in his attack. He turned back towards the pirate, looking angrier than before. He glared at Law with pure killing intent. "Ghnnn…kill... gnnh!" Mar'ak grunted out and went to attack again.

Trafalgar could feel the kairoseki taking effect, draining his energy. Even such a simple thing as dodging took so much out of him. He knew he needed to finish this quickly; the longer he waited, the more effect the sea stone cuffs would have on him. But without his devil fruit powers or Kikoku, he could rely solely on his own body ability and wit - and one of them was quickly running out because of the kairoseki.

*However…* Law dodged one more time as Mar'ak lunged at him, stepping to the side. The other man went for his neck to pierce him with the claws, but Trafalgar put his chained cuffs in front of his face to block. The chain went through the space between two metal claws and stooped the hand from moving. Mar'ak used his free hand to slice at Law, but the captain jumped up and over his attacker, landing behind him. He swung his leg just as Mar'ak was turning around to attack him again, and kicked the smaller man right in the face, sending him flying into the rock wall. The force behind was enough to smash the other man, with ice and rock flying around from the small crater his body created. *I trained with kairoseki cuffs every day for weeks on end. There's no way this would be enough to put me down.* The captain narrowed his eyes as he saw Mar'ak jump out of the wall's hole and glare at him with pure hatred.

"Gyaaah!" The man shrieked and went after Trafalgar again, slicing the air with both hands as he quickly moved.

Law kept dodging and avoiding the metal claws, but knew he wouldn't be able to keep doing it for long. He waited for his chance, stepping away do dodge another one of Mar'ak's attacks that went upwards towards his chin. The other hand was already approaching from his left. Law stepped forward and blocked the other's uppercut by grabbing the other man's inner elbow with both hands and stopping the claws inches from his left eye. He used all his strength, head-butting Mar'ak and sending him towards the floor.

"Hya!" The man yelped in pain as he saw stars. He shook his head like an animal trying to get rid of the startling feeling. That's when he noticed Trafalgar already delivering his next move from above with an elbow, but this time Mar'ak was faster. He kicked Law's legs, making the pirate stumble and fall backwards. At the same time, he quickly lunged with his claws, trying to pierce the pirate's head.

Law managed to move his head backwards in time, but a stinging feeling appeared on his cheek as the claws ripped some of the skin off, making three red marks on the spot. Blood dripped from Law's left cheek right beneath the eye, yet he paid no heed since he was still falling and didn't have time to think about minor injuries. Instead, he twisted his body in the air until he could use his cuffed hands to land on them and leap into the air backwards, to land back on his feet. At the same time Mar'ak tried to attack him again, but was unable to as Law's legs almost hit his chest in the process.

Law landed in a crouch and leaped forward just as Mar'ak did at the same time. The smaller man jumped high in the air and went to slice the pirate with both hands, but Law once again put up the chain of his cuffs to protect himself. He entangled the chain tighter around the artificial claws, before twisting his arms sharply to the side. The movement caused Mar'ak to slam back down onto the ground with force, making the man screech in surprise and pain again. Law didn't waste time, jumping behind Mar'ak while the other tried to get up and slice at him.

The captain used his chain once more, swiftly putting it behind Mar'ak's neck and entangling it there. He kept strengthening his hold on the chain until it was completely biting into the bandaged skin of the other man. Mar'ak started twitching and releasing suffocating noises, trying to pry the chain off with his claws but was unable to. So instead he tried swinging behind him to pierce Law, but the captain swiftly dodged the clawed hand and tightened his grip even more. With one last strong jerk from Law, Mar'ak's head twisted at a weird angle and a small cracking sound was heard, before his whole body went limp. Trafalgar exhaled in relief and let the smaller man fall down onto the ground. He gazed down at his cuffs that were now really taking a toll on his strength, then glanced back at the metal claws Mar'ak was holding. He might be able to pick the lock with one of those. A smirk appeared on Law's features as he got an idea and reached down for the clawed hand.

~….~

Miyako sat back on the bed in her room, examining the nodachi in her hands. It was heavier than her katana and the balance in her hand felt strange since it was so long. She wondered if the sword had a name, like Yawarakai-Te does.

Kikoku

She blinked in confusion as a name naturally came to mind. She shook her head and closed her eyes tightly, trying to chase away the doubts creeping inside her mind. *No, no, no. So I just thought of a name because it looked like it might be called Kikoku, that's all! It proves nothing!* A sharp pain attacked her temples, making the girl yelp and double over in agony.

Miyako hummed happily while sitting on the submarine's deck and cleaning her new katana with a cotton pad. She finally had her new sword, and not any sword, but one of the legendary Masamune katana; Yawarakai-Te. The girl just couldn't stop smiling in satisfaction as she continued cleaning it carefully. "Don't worry, I will definitively not lose you. This will be a good partnership," she said to the katana as if it was her dear friend.

"I doubt it can answer back. Though if it does, I would ask you to come to the infirmary for a check-up," a voice behind her commented in amusement.

She turned to look at the pirate captain towering over her from behind. He had an entertained smirk on his features, as usual. The girl narrowed her eyes with a gaze saying 'Isn't that obvious?' before turning back to her task. "I'm well aware of that." She answered in a nonchalant tone with closed eyes, but then opened them again and smiled at her new sword. "Even so, I believe you need to make a relationship with your katana in order to get 100% of its power. It's not just the quality of the katana nor the skill of the samurai…but both, and how they work in accordance with each other." She gazed back at Law who was holding his nodachi in his hand. "Isn't it the same with your sword?"

Law glanced at the long sword in his hands and thought about the girl's words for a moment. "This is a tool that helps me fight and use my ope ope powers more precisely. It would be troublesome without it," he delivered his point of view on the matter.

Miyako smirked at his pragmatic words. This guy… always so practical. "Doesn't it even have a name? That would be a shame - good swords should have a name, after all." The girl nodded as if agreeing with her own statement, or in this case her master's words from long ago.

"Oh, it has a name. Kikoku," Law answered instantly. "Though I wasn't the one who named it, this nodachi existed long before it got into my hands," the captain explained in short. "Still, I doubt a name makes the blade any better or worse…It would be the same even if it didn't have one," he added bluntly, not really seeing the point in naming swords in the first place. This nodachi only had one because it was so even before Law obtained it.

Miyako was interested how the nodachi got into Law's hands to begin with, but right now, she was even more fascinated with the name. "Kikoku?" She repeated, as the word easily rolled from the tip of her tongue. "Cry of the Demon," the girl whispered in wonder. The name sounded ominous, completely different than her own Yawarakai-Te.

That's when she noticed a smirk spread across Law's face. "It's a cursed sword," he explained with a strange look in his eye.

"Hyaaa!" Miyako screamed in pain that was still burning in her temples, while her flashback ended as suddenly as it begun. *What….was that? What's happening…to me!?* Before she had time to think about it deeply, the ache got worse and pictures started appearing and disappearing in front of her eyes. Pictures of people she never met and places she never visited. She panted loudly, clutching her head with both hands and letting the nodachi fall on the floor. It clattered and the sound rang in her ears. Her mind felt hazy and muddled, as if she couldn't discern fantasy from reality anymore. Past, present, and scenes she didn't even know where to place started attacking her mind, swirling inside and mixing with each other. She fell onto the bed and gathered into a ball, still clutching her head until the tips of her fingers turned white. Her eyes were shut tightly as she winced from pain and confusion.

"Miyako, we're nakama!" A picture of a large smiling bear came into her mind.

"Be careful in the future, Bakaonna!"

"Miyako!"

"Oy, Miya-chan!"

"We're crewmates! We're pirates! Heart Pirates will always prevail! Hahahaha!"

Different voices kept echoing through her mind.

"Suzune Miyako" Suddenly Shiroshi's gentle voice called out her name and the girl opened her eyes widely. The color in her golden eyes went from brighter back to a darker shade.

"'Cause this ship's goin' down

All on account of tha weatha

Though we'll drown

There's na need ta frown

'Cause we all goin' togetha

An' I won't say "Woe is me"

As I disappear inta tha sea

'Cause I'm in good company

As we're all goin' togetha! Harharhahrhar!" A bellowing singing voice and humming entered Miyako's thoughts again as she heard a thick accent and a hearty laugh after it. The song, the voice, it sounded so familiar yet far away as if lost in her mind. Somewhere in the darkness, where even Miyako couldn't reach.

"Then why didn't you kill me?" Suddenly, that pirate captain's question echoed in her mind.

Miyako's eyes that were returning to their dark color again brightened up just a little. "I…told you…" The girl panted in between her words. "-I can't…I can't kill an….unarmed…you…surrendered…"

"But that's not the only reason, is it? Admit it! Stop lying to yourself and admit it, you already have doubts. You couldn't kill me, because you know me. Because you don't want to hurt me," even though the man never actually said those words to her, they echoed inside her mind in his voice. "Miyako," Law called her name inside her mind.

"Why do you wield your sword?" She heard Muso's questioning voice in her head all of a sudden. But wait…who is Muso?

"When you find something to protect, then you will find your strength," The voice of her master said.

"Someone to….protect…" The girl repeated while still clutching her head in pain. "Something….important…" No, not something….someone…Someone important enough to want to protect, a reason to wield her katana, someone she was ready to die for if needed…

Miyako stomped onto the deck with a scowl on her face. She just bickered with Law again and had enough of his high and mighty attitude. "Honestly, that guy…," she muttered under her breath.

There was one more person on the deck, a blue haired medic who was now looking at her with a pitying gaze. "You had a fight with captain again?"

"That guy's just unbelievable!" She exclaimed back, trying to keep her irritation at bay, but failing miserably.

Cody sweat-dropped, but then looked up at the bright blue sky above them, thoughtfully. "Can I ask you a question?"

The girl blinked and stared back at the medic questioningly. It was unusual for him to be so subtle; usually he was straightforward when talking to her. "Sure?"

"You seem to fight with captain Law a lot, but…you like him, right?" Cody have her a sideways glance and saw the girl blush instantly. She kept quiet, but the medic continued anyway. "It just seems very contradictory. How can you like someone and still be at each other's throats so much?"

The girl got over some of her embarrassment and stared at the horizon in thought. Her gaze seemed distant all of a sudden. "He constantly challenges me, makes me think outside of my norm, makes me get out of my comfort zone…Yet I still feel I can trust him at the end of the day; I wouldn't exactly say he is…safe, but he makes me feel that way. He got under my skin and broke down my walls before I even realized it; he just keeps surprising me."

Cody's eyes widened when he saw the girl's expression while she talked about the captain. Even though she was frowning only moments ago, she was now smiling honestly with a gentle gaze in her golden eyes. The medic closed his eyes and turned back to look at the sky. "Ah…I think I get it now. That's how it is…" The man smiled as well.

"Miyako!" Suddenly, Law's shout tore through her mind and the girl felt piercing pain in her skull, as if thousands of burning needles were piercing her brain.

"Gyaaaaahhh!" The girl screamed in sheer agony.

~…~

"Jump!" Shachi yelled and jumped to the side to avoid the large hammer that was once again coming towards them from above. All the pirates jumped in separate directions, away from the hammer's aim. The blast from the hit alone was enough to make the whole ground crumble and the blast knocked the pirates off their feet, into the nearby rocks, even as they weren't directly hit.

"How do we fight this guy? All we can do is dodge!" Joshua yelled in desperation as he watched the snow giant give them another ear shattering roar.

"Can this guy even feel our attacks with his massive body?" Shachi muttered with an annoyed click of his tongue. "And you stop messing around and help out already!" He abruptly turned towards Bepo with an irritated scowl. The polar bear was on the ground, pretending to be dead with his red tongue sticking out, so he wouldn't attract any attention to himself.

"Ya be right, we need a plan!" Munk answered, breathless from all the dodging he had to do. He wasn't one to usually dodge much in fights, but take the enemy head-on, however this time such a thing was nearly impossible.

"I think I have one," Sai said bluntly.

"Oh, he has one…" Penguin pointed behind him with his thumb, but then swiftly turned around towards the navigator in shock. "Wait, you do?!"

"What is it? We need to be quick," Bepo warned, suddenly getting up from the snow as he stopped feigning death.

Others huddled around and Sai quickly explained his plan to them. They all nodded in understanding and separated once again, just as the snow giant used one arm to try and sweep everything standing in front of him. The pirates jumped onto the ground to avoid the large hand and grabbed the ground the best they could so they won't be swept away by the created gust of wind. The giant didn't wait long before raising his hammer again to try and kill the humans, but luckily he was as slow as he was big. The pirates had enough time to stand up and put their plan into action as they started running towards the large creature.

The snow giant went to swing down at them with its hammer again, but right at that moment Bepo jumped into the air right in front of the weapon with one clenched fist. Accumulating all of his strength into that one point, the bear swung at the hammer. "Hiya!" He yelled out as his fist collided with the enormous stone weapon. For a while, everything appeared to be at a standstill as both powers collided with one another and battled which one will prevail. Then the hand with the hammer jolted backwards as Bepo's fist won over. At the same time, Munk and Jean Bart charged towards the giant's legs, before ramming straight into them with all their might. The giant stumbled backwards even more.

Cody jumped into the air too and Joshua leaped after him, landing on the other medic's leg. The bluehead kicked with Josh on his leg, sending the redhead flying onwards and right onto one of the giant's hands. "Go!" Cody yelled along with his kick.

The redheaded medic ran up the muscled arm towards the giant's head. He ran towards the face, taking out his scalpels in the process. The giant flailed its arms while falling, so the medic had to jump forward, then threw his scalpels. The sharp objects lodged themselves in the giant's eye, making the beast scream in pain and close its eyes. The giant swatted at Joshua in angry panic, who was still in the air.

With no means of dodging, the redhead turned his head to look with wide eyes as a large hand approached him. He put his hands in front of him to block the impact, but he was still hit and sent flying back down into the ground with great force. He flew through the air and crashed into the icy ground with such force that it created a crater, chunks of ground flying everywhere.

"Josh!" Cody exclaimed in worry and ran up to his friend to check on his condition.

The redhead sat up while swaying, the side of his head bleeding. There was a stream of blood in the corner of his mouth, probably from puking up blood after the hard impact with the ground. "I'm…alright…." He answered in a hoarse voice, groaning in pain as he put a hand on his ribs that were probably broken.

Meanwhile, their attack wasn't done yet. Munk and Jean Bart rammed into the giant's legs again, their muscles straining and veins popping out, as they started to get red in the face. The two pirates grunted and groaned from exertion, but they didn't stop pushing at the giant's legs for even an instant.

Shachi and Penguin appeared from both sides of the giant as they climbed the nearby hills and jumped into the air. Reaching all the way to the two large horns on the beast's forehead, the two mechanics kicked at them with all their strength. The blast was enough to jolt the giant further backwards, and one of its horns actually broke and fell back into the thick layer of snow below its feet. They finally tipped the scale with the last attack and the monstrous creature started falling backwards. The ground vibrated and clouds of snow shot into the air under the weight of the huge snow giant. The ice and rock crumbled under it, cracking. The giant's one good eye was wide open as it roared again.

At that moment, the last pirate appeared on the giant's forehead as he climbed on top. Sai aimed for the one good eye of the giant and shot at a small distance, without changing his blank expression. The shot eye split open and started bleeding and oozing liquid out of it. The younger navigator quickly jumped off of the beast, letting out a breath of relief.

"Woohoo! We did it!" Penguin yelled, both cheering and panting from his previous exhaustion.

The rest of the Heart Pirates also grinned in satisfaction, but their expression soon changed when they realized there was a shadow over them again. The snow giant roared in pain and fury while blinded. Nonetheless, it was getting up and swung with its hammer at the cheering voices. The weapon was so wide that the giant hardly had to aim at the humans anyway. The group looked up at the quickly approaching hammer, but it was already too late. The stone weapon hit them with force, sending all the Heart pirates flying back into the mountains.

They could all feel the air escaping their lungs and scorching pain replacing it. Their bones cracked at the impact and the snowy hills stopped their flight behind them, before the pirates all fell back down onto the ground. They were at least lucky to have the snow around them cushion the fall a bit, but it didn't help much after being hit with a large stone warhammer. The pirates groaned, trying to get up on their shaky legs, the ears ringing from the blow.

Penguin looked up at the giant again and his expression changed from pained to shocked in an instant. He saw the giant rise one leg in the air and lower it down with force. "Guys!" He tried to warn the others, but it was too late as the snow giant started trampling on the ground with both feet. It looked like a gigantic child playing in a puddle or stomping onto an ant colony. The ground vibrated and trembled under every stomp. The beast growled loudly, still blinded and hurt, but angry more than anything else.

As the giant finally stopped, it tilted its head as if trying to hear any sounds. Below, next to its feet, eight bodies were lying in the snow, deeply buried in the thick layer. There were deep holes and wide footprints scattered on the ground.

Then a cough was heard as Jean Bart tried to stand up, using his knees and arms to prop himself up. His shoulder and one hand were bleeding from before, but now he was coughing up blood as well. He wasn't the only one either. Bepo rolled on his side, wincing and groaning in pain. Shachi puked blood and saliva as he stood up, still trembling from the attack. The other Heart Pirates also started standing up on shaky legs, all beaten up, with even their clothes torn in some places.

"Like…we'll…give up and die…that easily," Penguin panted, still giving the giant in front of him a defying smirk.

"Heh, that damn giant is….underestimating...the Heart Pirates," the other mechanic answered, feeling for his sunglasses to make sure they survived the rough treatment of their owner. He sighed in relief when he found them in one piece.

"Keep that talk….for when we defeat it," Sai warned, clutching his rifle again.

"At least we blinded him, it should be easier now," the polar bear added.

"Leave it to me," the older navigator said with a grunt.

"Let's kick tis blighter in da buoys already, lads," the head chef spat some blood and dusted the snow off of his big beard.

"I'm not done….quite yet," Joshua grinned and glared up at the snow giant, still holding his sore sides.

"Yeah, we need to get going to captain Law soon," the bluehaired medic nodded in agreement and wiped the blood from his brow.

"Let's go!" They all yelled just as the snow giant went to swing down at them with their warhammer again. The weapon was just about to hit and squash everyone, but instead it stopped in midair, a few feet from the ground.

"Graaaah!" Munk and Jean Bart groaned in unison as they both held the warhammer from below, preventing the giant from hitting with it. The creature grunted in confusion as it tried to pull its weapon away, but it wouldn't give as both pirates held it with all their strength.

In the meantime, the giant was still leaning forward and was closer to the ground now, while trying to get back its hammer. The rest of the Heart pirates took the fallen horn from before, trying to lift it, while Bepo jumped onto the giant's knee and started running up its body.

"Eat this, shitty giant!" penguin yelled as the Hearts not only lifted the horn, but threw it into the air and sent it flying towards the monster. However, it was too heavy to be able to fly for long as they weren't able to throw it all the way towards the beast. As gravity started taking its toll, Bepo leapt from the giant's body and into the air right behind the horn. The polar bear kicked the flat end of the horn with all his power and sent it flying at full speed the rest of the way. The horn pierced the air like a bullet and hit right in the giant's forehead, piercing its thick skull. With a powerful roar, the giant collapsed backwards onto the ground. It shook from its fall. The giant stayed down, with its own horn lodged deep inside its forehead.

The pirates stayed completely tense and motionless for a while, expecting to see the giant move and stand up again. However, this time it didn't happen and the large beast stayed on the ground, limp and dead.

"We…we did it!" Shachi smiled happily from ear to ear.

Joshua sat back onto the ground, needing to rest. It was painful to breathe, but he still laughed out loud from relief.

"Come on…we still need to find captain Law," Bepo warned, limping through the snow.

"Yeah…in a minute," Penguin answered while he was sprawled on the snowy ground, taking shallow breaths from exhaustion. "Ok, maybe more than a minute."

The Heart pirates took some time to rest, lying and sitting on the ground to catch their breaths while enjoying their victory.

~….~

"Are you sure it's here?" Penguin's voice sounded skeptical as he asked Josh who was walking in the front.

"It has to be here somewhere," the redhead muttered.

"We're lost, aren't we?" The mechanic commented back in a deadpan tone.

"We're not lost!" We're-!" The medic started, but was unable to find the right words to finish.

"We're at the mines," Cody answered instead of him, staring at something around the hill.

"Yeah, we're at the mines! Wait, what?" His satisfied expression turned into a confused one as he looked back at the medic with a questioning eyebrow raised.

"What mines? There weren't any mines when we found the entrance the first time," Bepo added, trying to see what the blue-haired medic was staring at.

"See, I knew we were lost!" The younger mechanic exclaimed angrily.

The group jogged to where Cody was and gasped at the sight. In front of them was a large clearing that was holed in and surrounded by mountains and hills from almost all sides. It was hidden and would be barely visible unless someone actually climbed up where the pirates were standing, and looked down. There was a large entrance into one of the mountains with tracks heading inside. It looked like any other mine with a mineshaft inside. There were people in ragged clothing, walking through the snow and working, as they went in and out of the mines, carrying bags and large crates filled with shiny white stones. The people all looked sickly and pale, beaten up and in a horrible condition as they barely had any winter clothing on their bodies.

However, there were others who had thick winter jackets and other winter wear, but those men weren't working at all; they seemed to be supervising the workers. The men all had whips in their hands and holsters or swords tucked in their belts. They yelled at the workers, pushing them to work faster, or kicking and whipping them when angered by their slow pace. There were even children there, no older than 14.

"What is this place?" Penguin whispered, mortified by the sight.

"They look like they're mining, but I don't think they're doing it voluntarily," the smaller navigator commented.

"Maybe it be good we got lost, an' found 'em," Munk added, gazing at the pitiful workers below.

"We're not lost!" Joshua bit back, but the rest simply ignored him.

"This must be somehow connected to Miyako's disappearance and those strange guys in the mountains, right!?" Shachi pointed at the scene. Indeed, it couldn't be just some wild coincidence. Those guys below must know something.

"Should we go down there?" Bepo tilted his head, unsure whether to get closer to the suspicious people or not. They needed to find Miyako and captain Law, not get themselves into even more trouble. They were all already injured from the fight with the snow giant and should take it easy until they find the two strange enemies from before. There might be some more strong foes lurking around and the Hearts had to be prepared for them.

"I don't think we can just go there and ask for directions, Bepo. Those supervisors don't seem very friendly," Cody answered the bear.

"Ah, I was wrong…Sorry…" Bepo winced darkly as he apologized.

"This is no time for your gloominess, Bepo!" Penguin yelled back, annoyed at the polar bear.

"So-" the bear went to apologize again, but the glare he got from the mechanic made him stop mid-sentence instead.

"Look, I'm not some goody-two-shoes to go help strangers in distress, but this might be our way in to where captain and Miyako are. If not, they'll still be good for getting some info on the situation," Joshua shrugged.

"I agree," Sai nodded simply in agreement.

"Then, let's go!" Jean Bart ran down the hill towards the people.

"Hey, Jean Bart, I'm the first mate so I'm in charge here. You can't give orders!" the polar bear argued, complaining to the leaving navigator.

"Shut up, Bepo," Shachi stopped the polar bear's objections, as he also headed down with the others.

"Sorry." The bear bowed his head in depression again.

Bepo soon got out of his dreary state and followed the rest of the crew while shouting, "Guys, wait for me!"

When the crew came down, everyone stopped working and only stared at the newcomers with shocked expressions. The supervisors were the first to snap out of their confusion and glared at the pirates, aiming their guns or swords at them. "Who are you?! What are you doing here, you bastards!?"

"They don't look like a new group of these sorry workers," another added mockingly. "Heh. Though they look pretty beaten up themselves."

The men grinned evilly. "Well, never mind, cause you are now a part of the miners. Welcome to the group." They stepped forwards towards the pirates, still aiming their weapons at them.

The Heart Pirates gave each other a quick glance before turning their attention back to the approaching men. They all silently agreed on one thing.

~….~

"Bwe're breally sobby…." One of the supervisor men said as Josh lifted him from the ground by his collar. The rest were in a similar state; either dead or pretending to be. Those who were still alive were beaten to a pulp anyway, barely able to move. It didn't take more than a few minutes for the Heart Pirates to beat them, even in their weakened state. These guys were nothing more than small fry. The guy in Josh's hands was also black and blue with bumps and bruises all around his face and body. The man's face was hardly recognizable anymore. Around them, the workers just stared in silence and fear of the newcomers, not daring to move or run away.

"Keep your lame apologizes and tell me what's going on here?" The redhead demanded, glaring at the sobbing mess in front of him.

"Tbis is…Shiroshi-saba's mbines…we look abfter the worbers here," the man explained the best he could with his swollen lips.

"But what are you mining here in this freezing weather in the middle of nowhere?" Cody intervened, gesturing at the horrible conditions they were forced to work in.

"Ice cbystal," the man answered instantaneously, afraid to get beaten again.

The pirates looked at each other in wonder. "Ice crystal?"

"What about you guys? You are free so you can just return home," Bepo turned to the sickly workers.

However, the people just timidly looked at each other with troubled expressions. Finally, one of them dared to speak. "This is our home…"

Once again the Heart Pirates gazed at the people in startled confusion. "What do you mean?"

"We worked here for as long as we remember….we don't remember anything else. If we have some other home…we don't remember it at all," a woman spoke up, keeping her tears in.

"That can't be. There's something fishy going on here," Shachi frowned as his eyebrows furrowed. There had to be something they were missing.

"For now, let's just send them below to the town. The townspeople will take care of them," Bepo suggested.

Jean Bart shook his head and grunted in disapproval. "They'll never survive the trip in their state." He looked at the thorn, old clothing these people were wearing, and they were already beaten and weak. There was no way for them to survive the mountains that were cold and full of wild animals. The night was already falling with the last rays of sun slowly disappearing from the sky. The sun was diving behind the horizon and the temperature would only get colder.

"So what do we do with them?" Penguin asked with a shrug.

Munk stepped closer to the people. There were at least 50 of them, yet even though they exceeded in numbers, they didn't rebel against their supervisors and the harsh treatment they were receiving. The chef wondered why that was? The people spoke as if it was completely natural for them to work here and be treated like that; it was their home, they said. "Do ya good people know how tha get inside dis mountain?"

Once again, the group of miners glanced at each other before giving him a nod. Munk smiled, satisfied with the new information. "Swell! In tha case show us tha way an' stay inside. 'T least it be warmer in da mountain. They can wait t'ere till we find captain' an' tha lass," the pirate chef explained.

The other pirates looked at each other, mulling over the idea silently. Finally, they grinned and nodded. "Yeah, that's a good idea. Let's do that."

"In that case, show us the way!" Josh let go of the supervisor's collar and he fell back onto the ground with a thud, and a whine of pain that followed.

The miners gave each other uncertain glances, but then stared back at the beaten overseers, deciding it was better for them to do as they were told and show them the way.

~….~

Trafalgar walked through the empty halls, climbing up the stairs in search of Shiroshi. Before he runs into Miyako, it would be good to kill that man and break the hold his devil fruit powers had on Law's samurai. However, he was unable to find the tall man nor anyone else he could use for information. Wasn't there some maid girl around here before? Suddenly, a chill went down his spine as he felt something approaching, and the captain quickly jumped to the side, avoiding a large piece of a metal pipe which broke off from the wall. But who had enough strength to do so? Law's eyes narrowed when he saw the armored man standing above him on the upper floor. With one leap, the human tank jumped down and landed before Law, creating a hole in the ground from his heavy body.

"Trafalgar Law…you escaped. I presume Mar'ak is dead, then," it was a simple remark rather than a question. The man didn't seem emotional by the loss of his comrade at all.

Instead of answering, Law gave the man a troubled smirk. "How lucky, I was just looking for someone to guide me to Shiroshi-ya," he said mockingly.

The man in black armor took the large broadsword from his back, holding it easily with only one hand. "You will not get out of here alive," the low voice said blankly as if stating a simple fact. With that, Dezzen charged at the pirate captain.

"Room," Law used his hand to create a blue sphere around them. Just as Dezzen was about to swing down at him, he twitched his fingers. "Shambles." Instead of the pirate, a simple chair appeared in his place and Dezzen smashed it to bits with his weapon.

Law appeared further from the armored man. "Tact!" The ground moved upward from below Dezzen, aiming for him. The bigger man simply swung his sword again, destroying the rock coming at him, before he turned to Law and charged at the pirate again.

Trafalgar kept using his powers to rise stone pillars from the ground, but Dezzen either sliced at them with their sword, or just rammed into them and smashed them with his armored body. It hardly even slowed him down as he charged forward. "Tch!" Law clicked his tongue in annoyance as his opponent proved more troublesome than the previous one. That armored body was barely affected by the obstacles he put before Dezzen with his ope ope powers.

Finally, the armored man arrived before Tragalgar and raised his sword, about to cleave him in half, but he used his powers again. Suddenly, Dezzen disappeared and reappeared away from the pirate just as he sliced down, cutting nothing but thin air. The man grunted in confusion as he found himself in a different place than before.

The pirate took that opportunity to jump him from the back, using his bare hand as a weapon. "Mes!" Dezzen turned around in time, surprisingly quick for his mass, and dodged Law's attack before countering with his own. He used his sword to try and pierce Law while he was still in the air, unable to dodge, but once again the pirate disappeared and Dezzen pierced nothing.

Trafalgar appeared a few meters away, trying to catch his breath. *I've been using my powers too much. I already had to use them while fighting Miss Miyako and then I was drained by kairoseki. If this goes on, I'll soon reach my limit. I need to find a way to deal with this guy quickly,* the pirate captain gritted his teeth, feeling his devil fruit powers taking a toll on him. Suddenly, Dezzen charged at him again and Law narrowed his eyes as he prepared himself. "Room!"

~….~

Miyako ran through the halls of the mountain, clutching Law's nodachi in one hand while holding her katana strapped to the waist with the other. A sudden loud crashing noise caught her attention and she looked up to see two figures fighting on the upper floor. The inner mountain area was full of open floors, connected with staircases so it was easy to see most of the lower and upper levels. The girl narrowed her eyes and recognized the two men; Trafalgar and Dezzen. A blue sphere would encircle them every now and then before another blast would be heard. *I have to stop them!* She was just about to call out to them, when someone called her name behind her.

"Suzune-san?!" Miyako turned to see Moni, the maid, staring at her with big, frightened eyes. "What's going on?"

"Moni-chan," the samurai girl exclaimed. How was she supposed to explain it to the other girl, though?

Miyako had awoken after the piercing pain made her lose consciousness, her mind still hazy and confused, but most of her memories back. She could still feel the constant pressure that was Shiroshi-san's power in the back of her mind, but now that she was aware of it, she was struggling to keep it at bay. Some of her memories were still missing and changed by Shiroshi, and there were some holes in her past, but she remembered the most important parts. She knew Shiroshi did something to her to modify her memories, making her forget important parts of her life or remember them wrongly.

However, if she was able to remember, maybe Moni-chan will be able to as well. It was obvious they were all being controlled by Shiroshi's power. He must've tempered with Dezzen's, Mar'ak's and Moni's memories just like he did with hers.

"Listen, Moni-chan! Shiroshi-san tempered with our memories, he isn't what he seems to be! It's a bit hard to explain, but I need to stop Dezzen and find Shiroshi-san," Miyako tried to explain in haste.

"Eh? I-I see…then we should hurry!" The girl said with a worried expression, her mocha-colored eyes wide.

Miyako nodded and turned her back on her to look at the upper floor where Dezzen and Law were fighting. She needed to find the quickest way up there and stop them. Dezzen was only fighting for Shiroshi because he was being controlled much like she had been. All of a sudden, she felt something coming from behind and quickly turned around, using Law's still-sheathed nodachi to block whatever was approaching.

A chain flew her way and wrapped itself around Kikoku instead of her neck. She followed the chain with her eyes, and they widened in surprise when she saw the one holding it was Moni. Her green hair danced as she moved, tightening the grip on the chain even more. Her other hand held the end of the chain, manipulating it.

"Why?" Miyako gritted her teeth as she kept a strong hold on Law's nodachi while the chain tried to force it away from her.

"I can't let you interfere and help your captain." Moni stated bluntly. "The truth is, Suzune-san, we were never under the control of Shiroshi-sama's devil fruit powers to begin with. It's just that he made a deal with Dezzen, Mar'ak and me to share a part of the profit," the girl explained.

Miyako's eyes narrowed. "Profit?" Suddenly, it hit her. "Ice crystal that they're mining…" She gritted her teeth in anger.

Moni smiled sweetly, still speaking respectfully, even as she was trying to kill Miyako. "Indeed, you are right." She grabbed the chain in the middle and jerked her other hand, sending the other end of the chain towards Miyako's feet.

The samurai jumped, but at that moment Moni pulled on the part of the chain which was still entangled with the nodachi, sending Miyako down and slamming her into the ground. The samurai girl yelped in pain, but didn't let go of Kikoku. The other end of the chain wrapped around her ankle tightly and her eyes widened in realization of what was about to happen. With surprising strength, the maid pulled on the chain, sending Miyako flying into the wall before slamming her back down onto the ground. The samurai kept gritting her teeth, enduring the pain, but still unwilling to let go of the nodachi in her hand.

The next time Moni sent her flying towards the wall, Miyako threw her katana at the maid, but the girl dodged it with ease. "It's useless, Suzune-san," she said simply, before pulling on her chain again. She went to slam the girl in the opposite wall, but Miyako turned in the air this time and landed on her feet on the wall.

Moni narrowed her eyes as she strained to keep control of Miyako's body, pulling the chain towards herself again, to prevent the samurai from acting. However, even as she pulled, the chain wouldn't budge. With a startled gaze, the maid noticed that the katana was lodged in the ground, pinning the chain down on one part and preventing her from manipulating it further.

Miyako didn't waste time as she leapt from the wall towards the maid, using the nodachi in her hands. She unsheathed the long sword, still in the air as she swiftly flew towards the surprised maid.

*Kikoku, I know I am not your master, but please lend me your strength for now!* She unsheathed the long sword, feeling the unusual heaviness. In a swift move, the samurai passed by her opponent, slicing at her in the process before landing onto her back and rolling on the ground forward. As she stopped in a kneeling position, Miyako slowly sheathed the nodachi back into its scabbard.

She felt the chain going limp and finally falling on the ground beside her with clinking noises. Behind her, Moni's blood sprayed from the slice that went from the beginning of her chest to the end of her stomach. The woman's body twisted backwards and she made gurgling, surprised noises from the pain before falling onto the ground, limp and lifeless.

Miyako's eyes burned brightly with their golden color, completely back to their usual gleam. She stood up with a determined look in her eyes, then ran up the stairs, towards the two battling men that were making a mess of the upper floor. She could see the open level right in front of her from her staircase and noticed Dezzen charging at Law, who was already panting from constantly using his devil fruit abilities to fight back.

Trafalgar cringed as he saw the human tank running towards him with that large sword, easily destroying all the obstacles Law was putting in front of him. The pirate captain could only dodge or use his ope ope powers, which was slowly tiring him out. If only he had his nodachi. Not only could he use his powers easier, but he could take a break from using his devil fruit abilities until some of his energy returns. This, right now, was the worst scenario for him.

He opened his right hand again, "Room!" The air spiraled in his hand, creating another blue sphere, but this one was clearly smaller than the one before. By his estimations, he could use his Room maybe four or five more times at this pace before it runs out completely.

"Law!" A familiar but unexpected voice called out to him and Law's eyes darted to its source. He saw his samurai standing on the staircase, not far away from his floor level, clutching his nodachi in her hands. She looked dusty and bruised, with a small trail of blood running down her forehead. What happened to her?

*This is bad…if she attacks me now too…* Law gritted his teeth, but then noticed the glint in Miyako's eyes. Suddenly, the girl tossed his nodachi at him with all her strength. His eyes widened as he saw his sword flying through the air. Meanwhile, Dezzen was almost in front of him in his charge.

The nodachi turned countless times while flying in the air until it finally reached Law's tattooed hand. The captain caught it with ease just in time as Dezzen appeared before him with his sword high in the air. He unsheathed it and leapt forward, slicing once with his sword in the process. The other man had no way to dodge and nowhere to run as the slash came, and the nodachi sliced him in two with ease as Law used his ope ope powers. The armored man split in two as his torso separated from his legs, before both parts fell onto the ground. Law stood upright and sheathed back his sword, then turned to look at Dezzen.

"You…what did you…?" The armored man asked in confusion as he saw his own body parts beside him, yet was still alive.

Footsteps echoed through the mountain castle as Law walked closer to the human tank. He raised both hands, still operating in his Room. "Shambles." Instead of answering the man, he manipulated Dezzen's body parts. He stuck the lower part to the wall, while sticking the torso to a nearby barrel before sending the barrel plummeting down below. A loud smash was heard when the barrel finally reached the ground.

Seeing the fight was over for sure, Law's body and mind finally relaxed. He could feel the exhaustion hitting him after overusing his powers, and he knew he'll have to refrain from using them for a while. Even so, he was pretty satisfied with the outcome. That thought reminded him of another urgent matter before him.

The captain turned around, feeling the presence of the samurai girl behind him. He could see her standing there, only a few steps away, with her head bowed down so that her bangs covered most of her face. She appeared the same as always with her plaid winter coat and knee-high boots, the red ribbon tying her hair in a ponytail and the katana strapped to her waist. Just now, she called him "Law" didn't she? Not a pirate, or Surgeon of Death, but Law; just like she always used to. What's more, she helped him by tossing him Kikoku.

But how? Did she get her memories back? Did something happen to Shiroshi? Numerous questions started swirling inside his mind.

He saw the girl step forward and tensed instinctively. He still wasn't sure what state Miyako was truly in, or what her intentions were. As she stepped closer, the captain opened his mouth to speak. "Miya-" He was cut off and completely taken by surprise by her next action, leaving him speechless and with eyes wide open from both shock and confusion.

At first he thought she was going to attack him, but when she didn't pull out her sword yet came at him, it only made him feel perplexed. Even he wasn't able to predict what she actually intended to do. The girl wrapped her arms around him, tightly grabbing the back of his coat with both hands as she buried her face in his chest. The force with which she came at him made his weak body stumble and almost fall, but luckily he managed to stay on his feet.

He stared down at her dark blue hair with a stumped expression. She hugged him. Miyako was suddenly hugging him. He opened his mouth to say something, but no sound came out as he had no idea what to say or make of this situation. His hands twitched as he raised them slightly, still unsure what to do. For the first time, he really had no idea how to react as the girl took him completely by surprise with her actions. Why did she always have that effect on him? Just when he's certain that he is pulling all the strings, she turns around and does something unexpected like this. What's more, the girl wasn't saying anything. She was completely silent and motionless, making him slightly nervous.

"Miyako?" He called out, his hands waiting in the air as he still hadn't decided what to do with them. "Did your memory come back?"

A small nod came from the girl while her face was still buried in his chest. Law frowned as more questions attacked his mind.

"How? Did something happen to Shiroshi?" He didn't even bother putting the usual honorific at the end of that guy's name.

"I don't know," a soft, muffled sound came from his chest.

He furrowed his brows at the answer. He needed to find that man in white; he still had a score to settle with him. He put his hands on Miyako's shoulders, intending to slowly pry her from himself, but stopped when she started talking again, grabbing the fabric of his coat even tighter. "I thought…" She started in a soft voice that made Law strain to hear her words. "I thought I forgot you forever. I forgot everything….all of you. I even tried to hurt you…I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," there was obvious guilt in her tone.

"That guy has a Shimei Shimei no Mi powers that allowed him to temper with your memory and change it. It couldn't be helped," Law answered bluntly, in his usual nonchalant tone.

"I know, but…I forgot all the fun times, and sad times, and important memories…everything I shared with you guys. It's cruel. I never want to forget about you guys again! Josh, Bepo, Cody, Shachi, Penguin, Munk…everyone! I even forgot you! I don't want to forget about you ever again!" The girl shook her head firmly, still buried in his chest.

The captain's eyes widened again from her last statement. He still kept his hands on her shoulders, but wasn't trying to push her away anymore. He could feel her shoulders slightly shaking and even without seeing her face, he could tell…she was crying. "But you remembered, didn't you?" He closed his eyes, trying to put on a casual expression he usually wore, but somehow he found it difficult this time. He didn't show he noticed her tears nor did he have any intention of mentioning it to the girl - he knew it would be a blow to her pride.

"Un," the girl nodded, still attached to him like a frightened child. He wondered was it his sadistic side acting up since he rather enjoyed having the girl seek him out in tears like this. Other people would probably say he was a bad person for it, but Law didn't really care; he was already a bad person by other people's standards anyway.

The captain sighed. "Come on, we still need to find the others," he gently urged the girl to let go.

The girl tensed in his arms. "The others are here too?" There was guilt and excitement mixed in her voice. She probably remembered how she almost buried them in the avalanche before.

Trafalgar nodded. "So don't let them wait." Even though he didn't exactly mind this, he knew they were still in enemy territory and needed to move on soon.

"Law?" Miyako asked, her voice still muffled from his coat.

"Hnn?" The captain simply hummed in question, looking down at her. She seemed to have calmed down since she wasn't shaking anymore. Her voice, although still soft, sounded steadier now.

"I'm hungry…I want to eat Munk's cooking. Even if it's that disgusting porridge," the samurai admitted, surprising him with the topic.

Trafalgar's eyebrow twitched as a sliver of annoyance entered his mind. *Hungry?! Weren't you crying only seconds ago?* And she was so cute for just a moment there…

~…~

"So there's a passage that leads from the mines to the inner part of the mountain?" Josh asked, wanting to confirm what the workers had just told them. The people led the way through the barely lit mineshaft, following the tracks of the railway used to transport large amounts of ice crystals.

A child walking beside the redheaded medic nodded. "Yes, the overseers usually used it to get from the mines to the mountain castle easier."

"Hmm…The one who did all this sure planned everything out," Penguin commented, looking around the mineshaft.

"Well the ones who constructed most of this was us," a woman said weakly before coughing. "Though the one who made all the blueprints and plans was Shiroshi-sama," she added.

"Most of these people look really sick," Cody whispered to Jean Bart who just nodded silently.

The group entered a room which almost blinded them with bright and shiny crystals in crates. "This must be where they store the mined crystals before carrying them out." Sai gazed at the area filled with glinting rocks. The unnatural lighting reflected off of them, making them sparkle even more.

"Whoa…this must be worth a ton," Shachi commented in awe. The pirates exchanged grinning looks.

~…~

"So not all of your memories returned yet," Law stated after hearing Miyako's explanation. They were climbing up the stairs towards the top of the mountain, before heading into a glass elevator. That was the only way to get to the highest room.

"Yes, I can still feel that guy's control in the back of my mind. But I know where he is." She shut the doors of the glass elevator, letting it carry them upwards.

When the doors of the elevator opened, both pirates narrowed their eyes as they saw the tall man in white robes putting all the items made of ice crystal into one large bag. In the corner, there were large cages with his trained firefly birds in them.

"So you're here after all," Miyako commented, glaring at Shiroshi.

The man slowly turned, piercing the duo with his ice-blue eyes. There was no gentleness from before left on his handsome features. "So I am." He smirked mockingly, but there was a glint of nervousness in his eyes. "I was planning to take all the ice crystal I could carry and escape, but….I knew I shouldn't have showed you this room before. Then again, it was fun deceiving you, I just couldn't help it," he continued with an evil grin.

Miyako's eyes sharpened as her expression darkened, the dark aura starting to swirl around her. "You won't get away with it," she hissed dangerously. Beside her, Law already prepared his sword.

"Oh, I beg to differ…Suzune Miyako." After Shiroshi said her name, the girl frowned and her eyes dimmed a little, as her mind became fuzzy again. "I still have a hold on you since you gave me your name, Suzune Miyako, I control you!" He repeated her name with glee. "Now…kill him!" he ordered and pointed at the pirate captain.

"Gn…" The girl grunted in pain, holding her head as she doubled over. "L-law….I…can't…control…"

"Oy, Miyako!" The captain narrowed his eyes, tense at her sudden change. He gritted his teeth, glaring back at Shiroshi. He needed to kill that bastard before he did any more damage. Law rushed forward, aiming to pierce the man as his sharp eyes calculated to hit him right through the head. "Injection!" He went to attack, but was blocked and had to jump backwards as the samurai girl stood in his way. Law's eyes narrowed as he saw the blank look in her dark golden eyes.

Before he had time to call for her in hope to get her senses back, Miyako attacked. Luckily, Law took the time before to rest his powers a bit and was once again able to summon his Room. The blue sphere enveloped them and the captain momentarily disappeared, reappearing behind her. He was between Shiroshi and the samurai now.

Miyako turned to face him again, preparing her katana for another attack. Her hands were shaking along with her sword as she tried to control herself, but it was proving useless. "Law…" The girl said softly and Law's eyes widened as he realized something. He gave her a determined look in return as he watched her struggling form.

*No, you won't kill me,* he stared at her as she went to pierce him. He didn't move even when her sword was inches away, believing that the girl won't lose to Shiroshi's powers again. It was her will against Shiroshi's and Trafalgar knew how strong this girl's determination really was. She won't hurt him. He stayed on the spot as the girl came at him, but then passed right beside him.

"Haaaa!" With a cry that helped her break through to her own consciousness, she managed to control herself long enough to pass by Law and stab at Shiroshi instead. His eyes widened in utter disbelief as he stared down at the girl's burning golden eyes that pierced right through him, just like her steel.

Shiroshi coughed up blood, even paler than usual. "Im…possible." He barely managed to let out his voice as he stumbled backwards, gripping at everything and anything on his way. He clutched at the bag full of ice crystals, but wasn't able to stop his body as it stumbled backwards into the glass wall behind him. The wall broke under his weight and Shiroshi lost his balance. He fell from the highest point, pulling the ice crystal items with him, as they all fell down below into oblivion.

Miyako sighed in exhaustion from her mental strain and stumbled forward, starting to fall to the ground, but Law caught her before she could hit the floor. "That…was dangerous…I could've…killed you…" She mumbled weakly, barely keeping her eyes open. The pressure from Shiroshi's powers that was at the back of her mind was completely gone now; that man was finally dead.

Trafalgar smirked. "Killing your own captain? You wouldn't dare," he answered with a grin, though Miyako was too exhausted to tell if he was joking or not.

~…..~

The group of pirates finally entered the grand hall, which was the ground floor of the castle, with the workers right behind them. Jean Bart and Munk both carried a big bag over their shoulders. Suddenly, a woman screamed as she stared up and soon everyone followed her gaze to see what was happening. There was a body with completely white, long hair falling from above. It hit a staircase and turned in the air before falling right at their feet, splashing blood everywhere that sprayed at their feet. The pirates glanced at each other.

"I'm guessing, Captain?" Joshua raised his eyebrow with a calm expression.

"Captain!" Bepo exclaimed with a wide smile on his face.

"Yeah, I just said that," the redhead rolled his eyes, but then noticed everyone was staring at something behind his back.

"No, look, " Cody pointed up at one of the staircases. They could see Law helping Miyako walk as they went down the numerous stone staircases that spiraled down towards the ground floor.

At that moment, the pirates noticed the workers behind them stirring. Most of them looked confused as they stared at each other in wonder.

"Eh, why was I working here all this years? I don't belong here!"

"Shiroshi-san was using us!" A woman screamed.

"Ahaha, I finally remember! I'm from Snör Town!"

"And I'm from Halken village up North! I finally remember my wife and kids!" Another man cried out in happiness.

"Mama!" A child cried out and went to run into the arms of a crying woman.

Everyone was getting their memories back, finally putting things in perspective now that Shiroshi's powers didn't have any influence on them. In the meantime, Miyako and Law came down, with the rest of the Heart Pirates coming to help them. The group looked even more beaten up than the duo, though. Quickly they exchanged information on everything that happened. Miyako bowed down in apology to the other Heart pirates and Penguin sheepishly smiled, saying it was ok, while rubbing the back of his head with a blush. That is until Shachi gave him a slap on the back of his head and warned him to "Get serious."

"Let' get out of here," Law finally ordered his men, smirking in satisfaction.

It was already dawn when they stepped outside of the mountain and made their way back to Snör Town. They all looked beaten, except Law who was only tired and paler than usual, but without serious injuries. Miyako looked like she received more mental damage than actual harm, but the rest of the Hearts were in a particularly lousy condition, as they held their sides and bloodied body parts while limping down the mountain. It made the rest of the Heart Pirates who stayed behind in town panic once they saw them, but the medical team quickly took care of it together with Law, bandaging the men up.

Talking with the townsfolk and the ex-miners, the pirates slowly pieced together what exactly happened in the mountains. It seems that Shiroshi never really disappeared, but probably found out about the ice crystal mines in the mountains and greed got the best of him. Using his devil fruit powers, he played with people's minds and made them work for him, using the legends of spirits kidnapping people to his advantage. The one kidnapping people was actually him and he used them to mine the crystals for him. He even used trained firefly birds to lead the people towards him in the night; that's probably how all the rumors about the spirits started. All the people that were thought to be spirited away over the years were actually taken by him with his powers. He made his home there in the mountains, using bodyguards to make sure nobody finds out about the ice crystal mines. Once he had enough, he would be rich enough to buy a whole country if he wanted.

"We be only able ta take two bags, tho," Munk said as he put down a bag of still rough, ice crystals. The stones were very heavy and with their broken bodies, it was surprising that they were able to carry any with them.

Law didn't seem disappointed at all, though. Even with two bags, it was enough to buy a whole ship if they wanted. Once they sell these, they won't have to worry about money for a long while.

~…~

"Well, we're ready whenever you say the word captain," Sai tilted his head to both sides, stretching his neck as it cracked slightly under his ministrations. They were on the deck of the submarine, the vessel ready to set off now that they bought all the needed supplies and equipment, then prepared everything before their departure.

Law nodded and gave one last glance to the winter island they were leaving, before turning his back to it. "Let's head out," he gave the ordered and the Heart pirates responded with an "Aye captain," instantly hurrying to their stations.

Josh rummaged through the pockets of his overall and finally took out a shiny item.

Cody gazed at the item and blinked in surprise. "When did you-?" He started, staring at the small ice crystal figurine they saw at the ice craft shop in Snör Town before. The one that was not for sale and for which the clerk specifically warned them not to try and steal. It seems Josh really did take that as a challenge and couldn't resist with his sticky pirate fingers. Giving up on his question, Cody just gave his friend a deadpan expression. "You're unbelievable…" It wasn't a compliment.

The redheaded medic simply grinned, tossing the figurine in the air before easily catching it with one hand.

The yellow submarine sailed away, becoming nothing but a small speck on the horizon for all the islanders.

~…~

Miyako yawned, stretching her hands high in the air as she stepped out onto the deck. It was already nighttime, with the moon high in the air, but she wanted to get some fresh air before bedtime. It was rare to have such a peaceful evening outside in the New World, and the girl wanted to enjoy it for a while.

She was startled after seeing a figure before her and stared at them with interest as she noticed she wasn't the only one on the deck. Somebody else preceded her.

As waves slowly rocked the submarine, Law sat on the metal railing up front, staring at the dark horizon showing the endless sea that appeared pitch black in the night. The moonlight shone down on him, making his dark skin look paler than usual. He either didn't notice her or chose to ignore her, because he kept gazing at the distance with a distant look in his eyes.

He must've been deep in thought, but his eyes weren't sharp and piercing as they usually became when he thought about his next move in the New World. He appeared more serene than that as he gazed ahead, perhaps remembering something from a distant past. It reminded Miyako of her own expression when she would remember her time with Master Kuroda, or the vague and distant memories she had of her parents. Somehow, it felt a shame for her to disturb him and break him out of his daze, but she couldn't leave either because her legs just wouldn't move.

The girl kept her eyes glued to the calming sight of Law, almost as if she was enchanted by it. She didn't remember ever seeing that side of him or that expression on his face. She wanted to know what he was thinking of - she wanted to ask so much it hurt, but she just couldn't. Something was stopping her. A feeling that she couldn't simply go and ask him what he was thinking about, no matter how much she wanted to. Not because she was afraid of his reaction, but because it felt wrong to do so right now. So instead, she just stood there silently and observed him, slowly sinking into her own thoughts.

So much had happened these couple of days on that winter island. Miyako came to a realization and even though she was sure she already knew it before, it never felt so real as it did now. The realization of how much this crew honestly meant to her. Her nakama. And this person before her, more than anything else, had such an important role in her life now.

Miyako watched as Law sat there, staring into the horizon with his hands resting on his knees, the fingers intertwined, while the moonlight illuminated him. *I already realize it, even if I don't admit it outright...This man's existence is already too big for me to ignore.* She took a step forward, as if pulled towards the man in front of her and slowly walked towards her captain. It was as if something was guiding her forward, making her forget about everything else. The world around them, her pride or embarrassment, nothing of that mattered in this moment, except the existence before her; existence called Trafalgar Law. She felt her chest throb, suddenly incredibly hot, as if she will burst if she doesn't say what she wanted to say right now.

Still walking towards him, the captain finally noticed her and turned to acknowledge her with his usual blank expression. It seemed he noticed she wanted something and gazed at her questioningly, but something about the clear look in her eyes made him stay quiet.

She gazed down at the man with a completely earnest and determined expression. The Dark Doctor opened his mouth to break the silence, but she was quicker. "I love you," the words came out so abruptly and naturally that Miyako didn't even have time to be surprised about what escaped her lips. But she didn't look baffled or panicked at the moment. She gazed right into Law's eyes, even if there was a slight blush on her cheeks. It seemed she was well aware of what she was saying.

Her captain, on the other hand, wasn't quite sure if he heard her right. The girl who was so proud and stubborn all the time, actually admitted her feelings so honestly? There wasn't any of her typical stuttering, getting mad or defensive, as she often did when admitting something embarrassing. She just stood there before him, calmly. "I really love you, Law," she said again.

Trafalgar cursed at what stupid expression he must carry on his face as he was completely dumbfounded by the totally unexpected confession. He stood up, suddenly bowing his head down so his expression was hidden under the rim of his hat. A heavy hand landed on Miyako's head as he put his tattooed hand on the top, while keeping the other in the pocket of his trousers. "Tch…" He clicked his tongue as if annoyed. "I thought you wanted to make me say it first...the one who says it first loses, isn't that how it goes?" He got no response as the girl bowed her head in silence with a serious expression, hiding her eyes beneath her bangs. "So why do I feel like I've lost right now?"

He took his hat and suddenly put her on the girl's head. Miyako blinked in surprise and reflexively looked up in wonder only for her eyes to widen when she felt Law's lips on her own. His lips were warm…even though they were still sailing in the winter climate.

When did the rules of this game change without either of them realizing?

---

Glossary of terms:

Shōji - In traditional Japanese architecture, a shōji is a door, window or room divider consisting of translucent paper over a frame of wood which holds together a lattice of wood or bamboo.

Ryokan - A ryokan is a type of traditional Japanese inn that originated in the Edo period. Since Snör Town is a town that has a combination of modern and traditional architecture (where traditional is meant as traditional Japanese style), I tried to set the difference by using Inn (a modern one) and Ryokan (a traditional one) words separately.

Onsen – hot springs

Kenshi – A swordsman

Shimei - Name or Identity

Radio knife - A surgical instrument that uses a high-frequency electric arc to cut through or cut away tissue and at the same time sterilize the edges of the wound and seal cut blood vessels. (Yay for putting Law's new techniques from cannon in my story! :D I also added the Injection one.)

When Miyako and Shiroshi are talking about their names, Miyako writes her name with the kanji 美夜子 (Miyako with the kanji for beautiful, March, and child) and 鈴音 (Suzune with the kanji for bell and sound). She is a bit freaked out by Shiroshi's name because it comes from the kanji白 (Shiro; white) and 死(shi; death), so the meaning would be White death, plus he already looks like a ghost anyway.

The snow giant in this story is a bit smaller than Oars. On One Piece Wiki you can see the difference in height of regular giants, humans and Oars so I hope that helps you put the snow giant's size in perspective.

With that, I think I covered all the terms that might be unclear in the story. I hope I didn't miss anything...if I did, feel free to ask about it. :) So anyway, wow, this one was a long chapter that surprisingly didn't take a lot of time to write. But it will to thoroughly proofread it... ^^' I know it might be a bit too long but I just didn't want to separate it into two chapters, because I have this strong feeling that this one just has to stay fluent as one part from the beginning to the end. As always, my worry is about making Law ooc, so hopefully that didn't happen (I know I'm dangerously playing with the border there :P). So yeah, next chapter Law is becoming a Shichibukai!

Thank you everyone for your wonderful comments!

Lucy Jacob: Thank you, I'm glad you liked it so much. I'm sure you'll catch up soon, I'm a slow writer. XP

yumi sawamura: hehe Maybe you have a sadistic side just like Law. ;D Yep, Miyako is showing her trust! Haha The Heart Pirates really never learn, I think they'll actually pretty similar to the Straw Hats in some troublemaking aspects.

Bizzy: I think it will be hilarious for Miyako to watch Law trying to handle Luffy and the others. XD

ThexWhitexPhoenix: Yeah, it was a good way to see Miyako progress in strength since Catarina is one of the Blackbeard pirates, so she's definitely not an easy opponent.

Onepiecelawfan: hehe Thanks, Penguin will never learn ^^'

Akai Uzu: It probably was something big since it's called the 'incident' by the marines. Yep, I hope I'll make the cannon story with Miyako interesting. :D

Guest: Thank you!

Hitoshirezu Ryu: I'm glad you liked it. I wanted to make something that was big enough to cause a commotion in the New World for the Rocky Port Incident, so hopefully I succeeded. I'm also glad you noticed the fact that Miyako stepped out for Law, which was indeed a big sign of trust. I hope you enjoy the next chapter as well. :)

Shiningheart of ThunderClan: hehe I know what you mean, I like calculating Law too. I'm glad you didn't miss it and you didn't read too much into it, because I indeed intended it to be a sign of trust towards Law and for Miyako specifically to show it. It's a sign of progress, I think. Heh yep, Akainu won't be so easily convinced.

Zecrea: hehe Indeed we are! :D And I'm glad you like Miyako, I really want to make her into a character people will like.

Iluvninjas: Fight scenes are my favorite parts! They're always fun to write. :D I don't really have a secret for them, though. I just imagine it in my head and write it down. I'm sure watching battles in anime helps, too. :D

angryHarlequin: Thanks ^^ Hopefully, it will get even more interesting now as it approaches cannon.