Humdrum

Ace ducked the rock aimed at the back of his head, dodged the staff his opponent was wielding and blocked a kick with a Reinforced palm, all his attention focussed on not losing track of what he was supposed to be doing. After his birthday party and naming –he was now addressed by all and sundry as 'Homusubi-dono' and was mostly resigned to it– Fox had presented him to the leader of her temple guard and asked that he be integrated into their training so as to improve and refine his control over haki alongside his staff fighting skills. The grizzled old warrior had looked delighted and immediately made the flame Logia's life hell; for the past week he'd had rocks thrown at him and been bashed over the head and tripped and bruised by the startlingly spry man and his minions, all of whom used Busoshoku haki in order to actually hit him. Ace had improved quickly after initially losing his temper and subsequently being scolded like a child, which had been embarrassing. Now he'd got into the swing of things he didn't mind the harsh training too much; it was certainly better than what Fox was doing and the shitty old bastard at least explained what he wanted done before resorting to violence, unlike Garp.

Fox was spending her days listening to every disagreement, grudge and family feud that had surfaced since her previous visit and that Sako had not been able to resolve, blessing children, performing health checkups –the latter two often at the same time– and being appealed to as the voice of authority by everyone old enough to articulate their requests, no matter how trivial. The flame Logia could see his lover didn't mind being called upon to judge who had won a fishing contest or a swimming race, but she had little patience for the two older men who had come to blows several times over who exactly had greater rights to a particular grove of trees. Then there were a few paternity disputes she'd been asked to resolve, a number of criminals to be sentenced and some pirates who'd tried to loot and pillage to make an example of.

With a workload like that, Ace wasn't surprised that Fox insisted on being given the afternoons off and spent her limited free time alone in her rooms above her temple, enjoying the solitude. While she wasn't quite as reclusive as her father, his lover was not what you could call a social butterfly. He wasn't surprised that she tried to keep visits here at a minimum: Mystoria's inhabitants were incredibly welcoming, but it was all too much for someone like Fox for whom a conversation with four people in it was 'crowded'.

He agreed however that Sako was the right person to leave baby Moth with once Fox and Zoro had to rejoin Luffy in a year and a half; the man was very sharp and a good parent to his sons and daughter. His partner agreed: he'd felt Asura watching from behind his eyes regularly so as to get a good feel for the locals and the situation and the younger man had slowly and grudgingly come to the conclusion that Mystoria was as safe as his daughter was going to get. Yes, the New World was dangerous, but with her there Ace could reach her quickly if things went really wrong and the Temple Guard were very competent. The flame Logia ducked another staff blow, hit back and lost his weapon to a well-timed twist and kick that he almost managed to avoid. Rolling through the dust Ace bounced back to his feet, stretched cautiously and got hit on the back of the head with a rock.

"Oi!" he shouted, waving a fist at the grizzled warrior behind him. "The hell?"

"You lost your focus Homusubi-dono!" The shitty old bastard reprimanded him in his creaky voice. "More dodging practice!"

Ace cursed as all the other warriors stopped their drills to turn and throw things at him; it wasn't his fault he sucked at Kenbunshoku haki! His Busoshoku wasn't great either, but he was better at it despite having been training it for less time and he had been forbidden from using his Haoshoku haki until Tempest had taught him how to do so properly. He didn't use it deliberately, but sometimes he got so pissed off it came out anyway, which inevitably got him bonked on the head for losing control. He was much, much better at noticing when he was actually using it than he'd ever been, but he still wasn't any closer to controlling the damn stuff. Tempest had written back and promised to meet them at Redrock Reef within the next two weeks, so hopefully he'd get a chance to train his Haoshoku to the point he was allowed to use it in spars.

As she listened to yet another round of petty bickering, Fox was reminded why she tried not to visit Mystoria more than once a year despite several of her favourite people living there.

"So the problem is not who owns the trees, but that you both feel the other is getting more out of them than you are," she said, interrupting the men attempting to justify their covetousness and jealousy. "So I feel the best solution is to grant land ownership to a third party so that neither of you has access." She waved to the warriors on guard, who instantly stepped forward to escort the shocked petitioners out of the temple; it seemed she was not the only person tired of hearing them bicker. "Sako, don't the young couple whose fathers insisted on disowning them live near there? I'll entrust the trees to them for their firstborn."

"A most excellent solution, Rokuseizon-sama," Sako murmured. "I have heard that argument rehashed so many times I could probably recite it in my sleep."

"You wife would not appreciate it," Fox reminded him, face bland. "Now that is finally dealt with, I believe I have a few children to grant an audience to; something about a dispute on the nature of family?"

Sako smiled fondly. "Ah, yes: they petitioned properly and everything. I'll fetch them." She could tell her friend thought the children's official petition was rather adorable; not that she disagreed when the oldest of the group was only just five.

Upon mooring his submarine at the long jetty that hit land amongst a small collection of huts just visible amongst the trees, Trafalgar Law realised that he wasn't sure how to go about finding his patient. On all previous occasions she'd been the one to come to him; the role reversal was slightly surprising.

"Greetings!" The pirate captain turned to see a man in his twenties climbing out of the sea a few yards away, a small net full of pearls hanging from his belt.

"Greetings," Law said, noting the developed muscles from a lifetime of heavy work as well as those that could only be a result of combat training. "I was asked to come here by a pregnant woman with very long white hair. Have you seen her?"

The man's face lit up. "You were invited by Rokuseizon-sama? Please come ashore; I will send a runner at once! Do you need provisions? Food? Anything else?"

Law waved Bepo over. "Bepo, see to the reprovisioning," he said calmly, watching the pearl fisher to see how he reacted. There was, in fact, no reaction.

"I will ensure you are given the best we can offer," the man said happily before turning and dashing down the jetty at a dead run towards the settlement. Law ducked his head thoughtfully. How intriguing.

After leaving the island the following morning, Law shut himself in his office next to the operating theatre and laughed out loud, leaning heavily on the desk for support. He'd known from the outset that Fox was interesting, that she likely had all manner of fascinating secrets squirreled away alongside all manner of useful knowledge, but he hadn't expected anything quite like this.

He chuckled again into his hand. "A goddess… who'd have thought it?" he mused, dropping into his chair with a sigh. "A whole island of loyal followers, willing to leap to her assistance at any time." It was an incredible asset. True, most of the locals had never left the island before but the entire population worshipped her unquestioningly and would leave in a heartbeat if she asked it of them. He'd also noticed a surprisingly high proportion of haki users among the otherwise primitive community and learnt that was her doing as well: all children were taught to access and use their haki from the age of five, with advanced lessons available for those who joined the Temple Guard or the priesthood. This standard had only been in place for seven years but the result was a community of potentially very dangerous people that was just reaching the point where those with the benefit of early training were starting to filter into active adult roles within their society. In another decade the entire island would have a greater concentration of haki adepts than anywhere else on the Grand Line.

Haki adepts Fox could call on whenever she wished and for whatever purpose she desired. Yes, agreeing to become her doctor had been a very good decision; he'd have to find a way to prolong the alliance.

Homusubi is one of the names given to Kagu-Tsuchi, which I appropriated. Law hasn't seen Spadille yet, though he's probably heard about him from the locals.