Chapter 7: The Things You Can't Remember

(Hello all. This is my very first published fanfic. Please feel free to leave any comments at all and have a great day.)

Disclaimer: I do not known any of the One Piece characters. This is a non-canon work of fiction.

Warning: I do realize that Kairee comes off like a Mary Sue, yes. Haha, I suppose I just ended up writing her that way. Whether that retracts from the experience or not is entirely up to the reader. I do hope you all enjoy the story, though.

….

Law was sitting at a small circular wooden table, where two identical wooden chairs were placed, and a pitcher full of purple drink, two glasses, one empty and one filled halfway, a small leather bound book, and her backpack were waiting on the surface. If she hadn't known any better, he'd set all of it up as though he knew this was going to happen. But he couldn't have possibly known…

Could he?

His expression didn't help much, either. He looked up when she arrived, almost expectantly so, and she could tell her mouth had been hanging open when he took a sip from his glass and gave her a teasing smirk.

"Why don't you take a seat for a second?"

She snapped out of her stupor and blinked repeatedly. She realized that the gut feeling had gone, rather, it was lessened to a low intensity hum inside of her. It was as though a voice told her, "Well, I know this is important to you, so you can wrap this up first before you have to go."

To both that voice and Law's suggestion, she could not help but say "Thank you," with an incredulous breath, and she took the unoccupied seat as her heart thumped loudly, but not unpleasantly, in her chest.

They looked at each other a while, and Law's smirk was replaced by his pensive, contemplative stare. Kairee wanted to say something, but under the scrutiny of his gaze, she couldn't figure out exactly how to start the conversation.

As though having finally decided, Law picked up the pitcher and poured her a drink while saying, "I'm not fond of drinking alcohol. I don't believe you are, either."

She muttered her thanks as she picked up the glass and drank, peering at him curiously.

"Penguin seems to like you a lot."

Kairee nearly spat out her drink.

"Wha- Why are you-?"

"It was just an observation. Anyway, what are you going to do about it?"

"I- I don't know," she spoke with her mouth trembling.

Feeling flustered, she retorted. "What are you doing out here anyway?"

He leaned back, and his face betrayed no emotion.

"The crew won't miss me for more than a few minutes, so I'm taking a rest. Besides, it's a beautiful night to be watching the stars."

He looked up, and following suit, Kairee gasped at the scene above her.

The black inky sky above her served as the canvass for millions of stars, all twinkling at different intensities, each complemented by the serene and comforting glow of the full moon. It was truly a breath-taking sight.

"It's beautiful," she breathed.

"Kairee."

She was jolted from her trance and turned to Law, who was looking at her intensely. He suddenly sighed.

"I'm sorry for how I treated you while you were with us. Please accept my apology."

Out of all the things he'd said to her that night, this had surprised her the greatest and left her sorely confused at how strangely and differently he was acting.

"Ah… It's alright, Law. I understand," she answered, and attempted a reassuring smile.

He smiled very wistfully at the sky. "Sometimes, you meet people in the most unexpected ways," he said softly, mostly as thought to himself. Kairee was about to ask what he meant, but her beat her to it.

"I still remember you telling me that a long time ago."

"Law… What do you-"

"Kairee, you are Shingle, and I can prove it to you without a doubt."

Their chairs were positioned close to each other, so it was an easy ask for the Heart Captain to lean over and whisper in Kairee's ear. He'd done it in such a non-threatening manner that she hadn't realized what was happening til he had already backed away, and the words he'd spoken left her completely speechless.

Law seemed to be waiting patiently for her response, and after a long moment, she spoke. "You know my real name," she said slowly, a non-question, and her expression told him that she had a million questions buzzing in disarray in her mind.

"You told me that I could only use it if I needed to convince you of anything. You know my true name as well. Or rather, you should."

Kairee turned these words over and over, with even more questions popping up in her head. Not just anybody knew her true name. Law was obviously someone she had trusted, at whatever moment they happened to meet. She breathed deeply, looking at him with thorough confusion.

"Law, when and where exactly did we meet?" she began.

He did not look at her as he replied, but kept his eyes on the starry sky, reminiscing. "We met on one of the mountains of Minion Island. There was a severe blizzard and you saved my life. That's also where Grave and his crew had been mountain bandits and I took his left hand. That was around 11 years ago now."

"What?! Law, that's impossible!" Her voice rose up in outrage and desperation. "Eleven years ago, I was only 5."

"So I'm correct to assume," he interjected calmly, "that you're 16 right now?"

"Well…. Yes," her outburst fizzled out on the face of his quiet contemplation

He gave a short chuckle, sounding both amused and tired. "I thought so."

"What do you mean…?"

"When I met Shingle, she was 19 years old."

These words seemed to sink in slow motion, as though someone had dropped a rock into a tub of jelly.

"Law, that's…." She found herself dumbstruck. Nobody could believe something like that. But despite the outrageous declaration, there was no hint of trickery or malice in the captain's voice, and what's more, he seemed to be on the verge of understanding some enigma.

"Don't get me wrong," he said at length, "It's not like I understand what's going on. I'm only taking the facts as they are. And, I know for a fact that when we met on the ship, you were not the same Shingle that I knew several years ago."

"I don't understand. I thought you said you were sure that I was Shingle?"

"I knew that you and Shingle are one in the same person, but I could also see that you are not exactly the one who I met and came to know. You both look and mostly behave the same, but there are several small differences that tell me that the Shingle I knew had lived longer than you have. There are subtle differences in your personalities, as well."

"So basically, it seems that…. You first met me when I was older than I am now?"

"That is how it seems, yeah."

Kairee's head felt like it was spinning around and so she fell silent. All the while, around them, the stars continued to shine, and she envied the simple and unaffected light that shone from them. The calls of insects from the forest lulled the marshlands, while the sounds of merrymaking from the party nearby could be heard just above a whisper.

Suddenly, a song filled the air, and Kairee blushed and listened transfixed when she realized that Law was singing, his voice low and soothing. He sung a few verses, and when he stopped, Kairee could not help but praise his performance.

"You sing very well," she remarked timidly.

"It's a song you used to sing all the time," he said with a small, sincere smile.

She couldn't quite place it, but she realized she had heard it before. "It does sound familiar, yes…" Because of it, she thought up an important question.

"Law, if we really did meet such a long time ago, why do you still remember me?"

At that, Law's expression suddenly turned grave, as though he had recalled a painful memory.

"You and I lived together for a short while," he explained. "You were taking care of me while I was ill, and during that time I kept a journal." He cast his eyes for a second on the book on the table. "I've kept it and your letter ever since you disappeared."

"Wait what? Letter? Disappeared?"

He let out a strained sigh. "One day, when I woke up, you were gone. I realized you'd left for good when your back pack was nowhere to be found, and you left me a letter and some money. I ran around the town searching for you, but when I asked of anyone had seen you…" He looked at her strangely, a mixture of frustration and sorrow.

"Not one of them could remember you, not even the people you worked for or interacted with every day. It's as though you had never existed."

Kairee swallowed the hard lump in her throat as she listened on. She couldn't even begin to imagine how he must've felt at the time.

He stopped speaking for a moment, and his expression softened slightly. He started again, but with a milder tone.

"If it wasn't for the letter you left me and my own journals, I believe I could have forgotten you as well."

"So that must be why you were so shocked when you first saw me…" She voiced at length, more a statement to herself.

"It's also the reason why I treated you the way I did. I realized that yelling at each other wasn't going to give me answers, and there was no way for me to explain my relation to you with the crew if I continued insisting that you were Shingle, so I treated you cruelly, as a prisoner, to get rid of my crew's doubts on my behavior. I can't deny, though, that I was influenced by my own anger and confusion. Again, I apologize."

"No no, I understand…."

Kairee stared at her hands. She didn't want to look at him, her thoughts muddled over the recent developments. She did realize, however inappropriate it seemed, that she felt ashamed over walking out on Law without warning, whether it was really in the future or not. And though he was harsh, she couldn't bring herself to find any fault in him and his actions.

"If anything, I think I should apologize for what I did, even if I don't remember doing it."

Law let out an amused chuckle. "Sounds just like something you'd say."

He looked at her, then at the backpack on the table.

"Go ahead and take it back. And don't worry, I never opened it."

"Really?" She was thoroughly surprised and ventured to ask. "Why?"

"I'm not sure, really," he shrugged. "To be honest, I'd always wondered why you were so protective of it, and I was curious about what you kept inside. But over time, I realized you trusted me enough not to snoop through it even when I had the chance. Even back then, I never touched your bag. I knew it was your second most prized possession."

"… Second? What do you mean? What was the first?"

He was silent while looking at her, as though he was struggling to put the thoughts into words.

"Show me your hands," he finally said.

Kairee placed her hands on the table with the palms up. Law stared at them for a long time, as though he was searching for her destiny on the thin, cracked lines. It made her a bit uncomfortable, til she began to think ridiculously that he might be diagnosing some dreadful disease by looking at her hands.

She said hesitantly, "What's the matter? Is there something wrong with them?"

He leaned back and remarked uninterestedly, "There's nothing interesting on them."

Kairee's face fell comically. "Then why did you keep staring at them for so long?"

"You'll find out some day," he said nonchalantly, like the train of conversation took a boring turn. The young girl sighed tiredly, and realized that trying to pry anything more from the Captain was going to lead to a dead end.

"Anyway, I brought your bag out since I realized you would be leaving soon," he continued like it were the most natural thing to say.

She did a double-take. "How could you know I would be leaving soon?"

Law simply shrugged with a smug smirk, "Lucky guess. It has happened before, after all."

When she really thought about it, it was almost scary how much Law knew about her, and it was clear as day to her that he knew much more than he let on. She also felt sorry for him, to a point where even she couldn't believe it. Had she really abandoned him at some point in time? And had they been so close that her presence would cause him to react in such a way? What had happened in his past and her future, if such a thing was even possible?

"You probably have a lot more questions, but I'm not going to answer any of them. You and I both kept a lot of secrets back then, so I don't think I really could if I tried. Though I could easily tell you everything that happened while we lived together, but if you do somehow end up meeting a younger Trafalgar Law in the future, you would know exactly what was going to happen and what to do. Since I'm sure you can't give me the answers that I want, it seems a little unfair on my part, so I would rather give you a hard time of bearing with the unknown."

Kairee heard both teasing amusement and genuine contemplation in his words, and she herself couldn't understand how she could feel both flustered and gladdened by their conversation and their time together thus far on the deck.

"Alright, I can't really blame you for that. If it's all true, then I'll find out sooner or later." She got her bag and held it close, appreciating its great weight in her arms.

"Thank you for taking good care of this, though. I should also be thankful since nothing bad happened to me the whole time, and now that I think about it, I'm sure you've been trying your best to take care of me in your own way."

He cocked an eyebrow at her.

"You could've refused to feed me, or thrown me into the ocean." She said this while getting up and slinging her bag over her shoulders.

"Hmm, true."

Law watched her through silent eyes, as though shown what he knew to be inevitable.

She honestly wanted to spend more time here, with them, with him. Whether it was to get to the bottom of everything or just to get to know these people she's been living with for 3 days, it didn't matter. There was a sinking feeling in her heart and she looked at him, but the gut feeling was back and stronger than ever, and she knew that no matter what, she must go.

"I have to go," she told him.

"I know."

She walked out to the edge of the deck, the cool night wind hitting her face as she turned to look at him one last time and raised a hand in farewell. "Please tell the others I said bye."

"I will."

Before she let the flow of the forest breeze engulf her, Law spoke up.

"I forgive you."

She turned to him with surprise, which turned into a large smile, all while blinking back some unexpected tears in her eyes, "Thank you."

Then the wind picked up and swirled around her, and she with it.

In a blink, she was gone.