Hope you enjoy!

"We're all broken, that's how the light gets in."

- Ernest Hemingway

Sad was an understatement, but she wasn't exactly depressed either. She felt alone mostly. Or was it lonely? There was a difference between the two, surely. But she wasn't exactly lonely either, she made friends: Erin and Penguin mainly, and she could always count on having Nori. But she wanted… more? She was making no sense, thoughts jumbled and random. Maybe she was depressed. Just not as severely as some other people. But wasn't that normal? People feel things differently, so naturally, they would get depressed in their own particular ways. Her 'depressed' was bordering on this weird feeling of being alone in the world. People die alone, and so will she. And she wouldn't really want it any other way, would she? Why drag anyone else to death? Death. The black letters spelled in her head on the captain's tanned fingers. A different pair of fingers snapped in front of her face and brought her out of her rambling mind.

"What the hell are you wearing?" Cara was standing in all her glorious beauty before her. When had the lights been turned on in the kitchen?

"Huh?" The blonde wrinkled her nose in disgust as her baby blues sized Thesa up and down. Hands on her hips, the woman lowered her head to her level and whispered, voice dripping with repugnance. What was her problem?

"Are you that desperate to get attention?" Was Cara complaining about her clothes when she was clearly the one begging for eyes to turn her way? She wore the custom boiler suit, but the top part was hanging behind her suspended from a belt, revealing a low cut skin tight shirt. Or maybe it was a bodysuit. Thesa couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the woman's hypocrisy.

"No. Wh-"

"Oh, please. If you think playing the victim is going to work on the captain you're a long way coming." Cara pulled at her hair a bit, dragging her face closer to her porcelain one. "Tears will get you nowhere, little mechanic. Not with him." Thesa didn't realize the tears on her cheeks were still wet until then. But what the actual heck was the blonde bimbo implying? That she'd been weeping to get Trafalgar's attention? He hadn't even… He barely crossed her mind! And that was probably because he pestered her mere hours ago. If Thesa wasn't feeling so low, she would've been more aggressive towards the accusations. Instead she just brushed the woman off.

"Think what you may. I really couldn't give a damn." She sighed and pushed the pale hand out of her hair. Cara folded her arms, eyes still glaring daggers at her as she exited the kitchen.

Thesa was tired. But she couldn't sleep. Well, if she tried, she would easily fall into dreamland. The problem? She didn't particularly enjoy the things she would doubtlessly dream. The same plaguing memory started playing in her head as soon as he closed her eyes: her home in flames and the vivid sound of burning flesh that would ring in her ears for hours after she awoke. So, instead of going to bed, she made her way to the engine room. Keeping busy was one of her favorite ways of not dealing with imminent problems. Not that she had a problem, she was fine.

She got lost several times, but she wasn't exactly paying attention to her surroundings either. Spacing out wasn't helping very much, but it wasn't a ting she could control. After maybe 20 minutes of aimlessly wandering the halls and nodding her head to the few pirates she met, the door to the engine room finally appeared in front of her. She pulled it up and was annoyed to see Sunglasses already there. What was his name? Hachi?

"What do you want, woman?"

"Do my job? I'm the mechanic in case you forgot."

"There's nothing for you to do right now, so scurry away." She scoffed. Nothing to do? The place was a mess! The submarine was in good condition, she wasn't saying it wasn't. But there was no order to it: wired mixes together, plugs jumbled in inappropriate sockets and tools laying around randomly. It something did break in there, there was no way of finding the problem, not to mention the tools required to fix it. She was 100% sure the guy couldn't get her a screw if she asked for one.

"I'd appreciate it if you left and let me work." She didn't wait for his consent. She just started sorting though the piles, back towards the insufferable pirate. He may even be more obnoxious than the creepy captain and that meant a lot.

"And leave the fate of the submarine in your hands? I don't think so."

"I'm good at what I do, so don't worry."

"Oh, I was not implying you are… incapable. I just don't trust you." That made her turn to face him, brows furrowed in disbelief. Not that he was not trusting her, that he would think she would intentionally sabotage the vessel they were on, leagues below surface. There were escape pods, she saw them a few days back, but she was fairly certain she's be dead before she could even think of boarding one.

"I'm on the freaking submarine. Wouldn't damaging it place me in danger also?"

"Better safe than sorry. What are you doing there?" Thesa lacked the strength to fight him. She felt drained. So she just explained to him how the different modifications she made helped with the flow of the current and the fuel reduction. Of course he had to question and counter her every suggestion. But she just inhaled and done things her way. At some point she just agreed with him, but did her thing anyway. Sunglasses didn't seem to notice. If he did, he was too proud to admit that she had been right: the engine's heat level decreased considerately.

Thesa loved tinkering. She enjoyed the simplicity of it, the lack of feeling it required. It was pure logic and physics. Things either worked or didn't. Fixing things usually gave her a peace of mind, a clarity of thoughts, she couldn't acquire otherwise. But she found herself more tired than ever, having to constantly explain the reasoning behind every move to the hard-head looming over her shoulder. It was also frustrating she couldn't use the tolls in her hand and had to keep looking for different sized wrenches every five minutes. She let out an exasperated sigh and rolled her shoulders. Her muscles were sore; she felt as if she tumbled done several flights of stairs. When she stood up to leave, the pirate protested.

"Where are you going?" She turned and eyed him carefully.

"Why?"

"You said you were going to upgrade the fueling system, give us speed." Well, he'd been listening to her, but apparently only to half of it.

"Yes, but for that the power has to be shut down for a little while. We'd have to surface, even if just to be safe." Powering down for a couple of minutes wasn't that dangerous. But what if the power didn't start back up? Or if she messed up other systems in the process like the life support or the engines? The scrubber would stop removing carbon dioxide and adding oxygen and they'd run out of air in a matter of hours. That if the pressure from sinking too deep wouldn't crush the walls of the submarine and they'd drown instead of just suffocate.

"Well, you're in luck. We should be arriving on Amazon Lily any minute now." Only one thought came to mind. Fresh air! It might help with her mild case of depression.

"Uh, cool. I'll still take a break, though. See ya!" She bolted trough the door before he'd complain. The guy should make up his mind: first he wants her nowhere near the hardware, then he almost doesn't let her leave.

Thesa felt the slow ascent of the submarine as she tried to remember where her room was. She wouldn't have if she weren't aware they were harboring soon and was looking for a tell. Amazon Lily. She had a vague idea of what the island was supposed to be, or rather of who was said populated it: beautiful warrior women. Only! An island filled with dames… what a nightmare, imagine all the cat fights.

She found her room with relative ease, due to the fact she only had to climb one flight of stairs and turn left once. She was greeted by her trustworthy companion with a purr. Thesa petted her for a few minutes, already feeling a little better. She was definitely not even depressed; she just missed her furry friend with deathly razor sharp fangs.

It was probably a good idea to take a shower and change clothes. But the submarine surfaced with a little jolt and she decided to explore the island first, get a glimpse of those amazons men fascinate about. Nori behind her, she followed the crew outside. The pirates were all excited, the men more than the women. Thesa couldn't help roll her eyes. Men! She swore they were all the same.

Feeling the sun on her powdered skin after so much time below surface was a nice. Extremely nice. She had the sudden urge to sunbathe and go for a swim, the water calling to her with every ebb and flow.

The captain was talking with a woman, and Thesa finally noticed several more flanking her. He amazons did not disappoint, she had to admit. They were exactly how she had pictured them: beautiful and barely dressed. Also appeared to be quite the fighters, muscles tight beneath their tanned skin. She didn't pay attention to the conversation, she was wondering if taking one shoe off and felling the sand between her fingers would feel as good as it sounded in her mind. Best not freak everyone with her random actions.

The women organized quickly, bringing food to the pirates and building a little perimeter for them not to cross. Apparently men were not allowed on their island. The only reason they were allowed to stay on the beach was Straw Hat. The crew lounged around and gawked at the women, while the captain went back inside, probably to check in his patients. At some point the Fishman woke up and joined the men outside. No one approached her, not even Erin, and she was thankful for that. She liked being alone. Maybe because for so long I had been just her and Nori and all of a sudden she was part of a crew. She remembered starving for a conversation, for someone to tell things and listen to. She could have all that now, but somehow she felt like she wasn't ready.

Thesa strolled around, passing the little wall that kept the men near the submarine. She was not restricted to it, or so she hoped. She made her way through the jungle, not really paying attention to where she was heading. She must have sighed a hundred times during her little trek. The jungle was, well, green. She never was an outdoors person, but perhaps it was because her home was a frozen wasteland. The fun happened indoors.

Home.

She felt the tears burning in the back of her eyes. No, she was over that, it happened so long ago. No more tears, she'd shed them all long ago. But with all her protests, she broke down in a sobbing mess, dropping on the cool ground and resting her back against a boulder. Nori brushed her head against her leg and sat there with her, letting a strangled sound out of her throat.

She missed it. Not the place that he used to call 'home', but the feeling, the family that loved her unconditionally, the warmth and acceptance, the security. How long had it been since she lost everything? 12? 13 years? A lifetime ago! She could barely remember their faces. They'd look different now anyway, if death hadn't taken them away.

"Do you want to talk about it?" The captain was leaning against a tree, hands folded, eyes glaring daggers at her. What was his problem? And how long had he been staring like a complete freak?

"You're not supposed to be here." She brushed the tears away, but more kept streaming down her cheeks. At least she wasn't subbing anymore.

"I'm sure they won't mind me as long as I don't bother one of theirs."

"Oh, but you can pester me?"

"I'm your captain." For a second there she thought he was going to say something obnoxious like 'I own you'. It sounded like something he'd say. Damn bastard was probably thinking it anyway.

"Well, I still don't feel like talking about it."

"Okay. Something else then." He pushed himself off the tree and took a few steps closer, crouching right in front of her. "I noticed a particularly interesting thing about your leg. Care to expand that thought." Pursing her lips, she pondered on the idea of telling him more about herself.

On one hand she thought he should know. Not only was he her captain, but also a surgeon. He might need to know the details about her body. On the other hand, she was sure he wouldn't look at her the same. He already watched her with suspicious eyes wherever she went. The last thing she wanted was for him to see her as 'less than human', She heard those words so many times, she wasn't sure how many more she could take.

"Okay. You got me; my left foot is also mechanic." He lifted an eyebrow and his lips turned into that infuriating smirk of his. She wanted to punch it right off his gorgeous face.

"Is that all?"

"Not really, no." She eyed him. He was a strange man. His gaze never left her, watching her every reaction. It made her self-conscious and she pulled her knees closer to her chest. "My eyes and hair are synthetic. Tough you probably figured that out." He confirmed it with a nod, the amusement never leaving his smile.

"Anything else?"

"A lung." She saw his eyes slightly widening at the information. She knew she should've stopped there, not freak him completely, but she didn't. The words just kept pouring out of her mouth, disregarding the voice in her head that screamed at her to stop. "It's all connected to the brain trough small wires that run along the bones. It's how I can use everything in perfect sync with my thoughts and instincts."

It was silent for a few minutes. Thesa saw the gears turning in his head, but it was not disgust that showed in his eyes. He was genuinely curious. Either from a medical point of view or simply because he wanted to know his crew; she didn't know which it was. But she welcomed it. It was a change from the usual shaming she got from the outside world.

"I get the hair and eyes. But what's with the face and clothes?"

"Oh, it's just regular makeup." He frowned. Oh, he probably wanted to know why she did it, not how. "I had four older sisters. We used to play dress up, masking ourselves as different characters… I guess I just never stopped." She didn't know if she wanted to smile at the joyful memory or cry again at the loss, at the hollowness in her heart.

"Had?"

"Yes. They're dead. All of them. My parents had a lab at home. Something must have gone wrong because one moment we were playing and the next there was smoke everywhere."

"I'm sorry…"

"I passed out. The next thing I remember was wakening on the operating table, metal joined with flesh. Actually, about 21% of my body is made of metals, wires and silicon." He looked surprised and she almost smirked at the small achievement. "I thought you were curious."

"I always thought I'd have to ask."

"You did, in a way" She sighed and petted Nori's head. "I come from Karakuri Island. Cyborgs are not so rare there."

"Are they also relentless killers?" Ouch, that stung.

"No. Just me I think. People don't usually leave the island."

"Why you, then?"

"I had to. How was to stay there when everything reminded me of what I once had, what I had no more?"

"So you just packed and left?"

"Hell no! I was nine." She didn't look at his face; didn't want to see the pity in his eyes. "I spent six years feeling miserable, learning about my new body. When I though there was nothing left to discover, then I packed my things and made my way off that blasted island." Trafalgar was looking at him suspiciously, trying to sort out her story.

"And the seastone? Was that an addition you woke up with or added later?"

"Oh, this happened only a couple of years ago. I was already infamous. Where do you think I got all the money?"

"I was curious about that, too. How did you become a mercenary?" It was a legit question. Her first line of work was definitely not one in which she had to kill people for a living.

"It happened only five years ago, two years after I left home. It had been so hard up until then, just scraping enough food for the day was nearly impossible. I couldn't even become a whore. I tried! People were just too scared of me and I had no money to travel to another place. It didn't help that I was trailed by Nori everywhere I went." She sighed, smiling sadly at the memory. "One day, a man came up to the alley I was hovering in with Nori. He was close to shitting himself at the sight of me, though really, I was less than a street urchin. He proposed I do him a favor and he'd give me enough money to feed myself and buy medicine for Nori. Oh, yes, she had twisted her back paw. I was close to murdering someone for medicine anyway, so I accepted." She paused a second, reliving the moment she first pulled that trigger. "It was… so easy."

The silence hovering over them was not awkward. It held understanding. He knew how frail life was, how fast a soul left the body. One second you're laughing with a person, the next you're starting in the cold, lifeless eyes.

Still, somehow, she was still alive. How unfair this life was. She was a murderer, someone no one would ever miss. Some may even cheer at her death. Yet, she still walked the earth wreaking havoc, while good people hit the bucket. People like her parents and sisters. Like some of her very victims. Like Ace. While she knew her captain understood the fragility of human life, she doubted he left like he was somehow unworthy of every breath he took.

She didn't know what demon had possessed her to spill her life story to him. She was thinking of telling Erin some of it, but Law? It may have been the timing he picked to question her, of the fact that he struck her like different. Different from the rest of the world, but perhaps similar to herself. It was foolish hope, but it didn't change the fact that she longed for someone to understand and accept her as she was: a not completely human killer.

"The offers kept coming after that So did the stories. It's really beyond my comprehension how people can spin so many stories."

"None of them are true?"

"Eh, some, maybe. I don't know them all. I obviously don't steal souls and don't eat newborns. So… yeah. It was pretty dark for a while, I guess… I was angry at the world for not even giving me a chance. Angry at my family that abandoned be, though I see how it wasn't really their idea. I was furious I was still alive when they were not. But, I had my lucky moment after that. Law of averages maybe. I met some great people, Ray-san and Ace. I decided there was more to my miserable life. I decided I wanted to start living."

It was a sad excuse to keep going. One she used mostly for herself, a reason to wake up every morning. Because, in truth, she hadn't changed much, she had been killing people up until the moment Law took her aboard his yellow submarine. The only thing she did change was the people she murdered: no more innocents. When the captain spoke she almost jumped out or her skin; his voice startling her as much as the meaning behind his words.

"You realize I could replace every metal part with flesh, right?" Her eyes must have enlarged quite a bit as they landed on his calm face. A breath cough in her throat. She could hear the frantic beatings of her heart, hammering against her ribcage. "You'd only have to ask."

"But, you'd need… to get the parts from somewhere…"

"From someone, yes. I suspect it wouldn't be too hard." There was something dark in his eyes, the smile completely gone. The idea didn't please him too much. And if she was completely true to herself, it didn't sound too good to her either. She touched her metal hand with her flesh one, the synthetic skin barely distinguishable from the real deal. As much as she hated the lifeless prosthetics, they were a link to her past. The only thing she had to remind her where she came from.

"Can I… think about it?"

"The offer stands for as long as you want." If she knew any better, she'd think he looked almost relived. Surely crippling a woman to harvest a hand and leg didn't distress him so bad; she saw how she treated the marines at the auction house, how he jumbled and plaid with their bodies. She couldn't deny, though, that it was really generous of him to offer her such a thing. Thesa saw him in a slightly different light. Maybe the crew was onto something when they said he was a great man. They stood there, eyes locked for a few minutes, but she wasn't exactly looking at him. She was lost in thoughts. What has his life story? Where did he start from and how rough had been his journey? Why pirate? What were his plans for the future?

"We should head back, Thesa." Oh, how nice her name rolled off his tongue. Wait, he said something to her, she should answer.

"Umm, yes. We don't want the amazons finding you trespassing." He smiled at her stupid attempt of a joke and extended a hand to her. She took it without a second thought, the grip on her fingers like an anchor. She dusted her white pants and walked besides the captain, Nori between them.

"Another random fact about me: chocolate is like fuel – it gives me a surge of power in the metal limbs, makes them seem lighter." Thesa mentally slapped herself as her cheeks started burning. Way to go, Thesa! Weird the guy out till the very end!

A/N: In case you thought otherwise, let me specify one thing - I have no clue about mechanics. If the things you read may seem random and unrealistic, it's probably because they are. I do a little research [ All hail Google! ] before I write, but if I do mess something up, please let me know. I myself get annoyed when people write dumb shit in fiction [ like that one time the OC was supposed to be a fighter/ boxer something... and she held her thumb 'the right way', inside her fist… yeah, do that… IF YOU WANNA BREAK IT! ]

Anyways, there's gonna be a lot more Law from here out. Let me know what you think so far.

*hugs*