Law yelped as Nami's fingers nearly closed around her flag and ran towards the house, the others following.

"Get back here!" Nojiko shouted as she tried to tackle Law's legs but Law nimbly dodged.

The house came into view and she clutched the flag tighter only to yowl when Killer dropped down to start a ferocious brawl for the dirt-stained cloth. Getting free before Kid could nab it, she bolted as Penguin held the line, Cotton tackling Killer with a shout.

Crashing into something, she looked up at a surprised Corazon before glancing back to see Kid coming. Yelping, she scaled the mountain that was her father to his shoulders, flag held above their heads as she propped herself on the man's hood.

"Cheater!" Kid exclaimed at her and she hissed back. "Bitch—" He began to climb the bemused man as well. "Give me the damn flag!"

"Come get it pipsqueak!" She laughed as she used Corazon as a platform to leap to the roof.

"Who the hell are you calling pipsqueak you overgrown field mouse?!" Kid shouted as he followed.

She just laughed and leapt back into the trees.

"Hey! We said you gotta stay on the ground!" Nojiko exclaimed in annoyance as Killer tackled Law off the branch.

"Street rules!" She exclaimed. "Penguin, catch!" She tossed him the flag wrapped around a stick and the boy caught it, bolting. Everyone switched targets and she gave them a minute before joining.

Only while she wrestled Kid to the ground, Nami leapt onto her back to smack her neck, Kid escaping as Law went limp. "Dammit…"

Corazon crouched beside her, amused. "What are you playing, Law-chan?"

"A mix of capture the flag and freeze tag." She replied, pillowing her head on her arms. "We gotta get the flag to the couch to win and anyone that doesn't have it can 'freeze' the other team by grabbing the back of their neck. If you're frozen you gotta wait for someone to 'melt' you by touching your shoulder." She licked the mussed up mink on her arm. "I've only got Cotton and Penguin on my team so they'll be too busy to melt me right now." She peered up at him curiously. "What're you doing home so early?"

The man looked towards the house and rubbed his neck a bit sheepishly. "Tou-san sent someone to expand the house to properly contain six people."

What? "Why? It's a bit crowded but not that bad."

"He insisted." He shrugged. "We'll be knocking out the wall of the office to expand you boys' room, adding on a bit for another bathroom."

"Oh, okay."

Corazon smiled and picked her up to pull onto his lap. As he pet her, she began purring loudly and melted against him.

Penguin shouted from inside the house, "We win!"

Law couldn't bring herself to care as she drifted off with the smell of his cigarettes and the tea he'd spilled on himself at some point reminding her she was home.

—rdp—

She was excited to find the new bathroom had a bathtub. With Penguin on guard duty, she lowered herself into the warm water and while it felt good, the weakness immediately overcame her.

Penguin hummed and entertained himself by playing with her shoulder-length hair, brushing and braiding it.

Half an hour later, there was a knock on the door. "Are you alright in there?" Bellemere asked.

"Sencho's taking a bath, Belle-san." Penguin replied, trying to pin the braids in place but they were short and causing problems.

"With you in there?" She demanded, opening the door.

"Hey!" Penguin exclaimed, pulling the curtains to hide her. "She's not decent!"

"Why are you in here with her?" She demanded, hands on her hips.

"To make sure she doesn't drown and to keep perverts away." He huffed. "Now please get out!"

After a moment, she complied. "Dinner'll be done in a bout twenty minutes. You two start getting ready."

Penguin pulled the plug and as the water drained, helped Law sit up, pulling her out and onto the rug as she recovered. Standing under her own power, she accepted the towel he handed her and started drying off.

Since she'd been dozing more than listening, he told her, "We should really tell Belle-san you have boy parts." He helped her get dressed despite her trying to wave him off. Honestly, they weren't servants! "She doesn't approve of us being alone with you when you're not decent."

Law hummed, not interested. "She'll take this to Tou-san, let him deal with it."

Agreeing easily, he helped her settle the hard-to-reach areas and a few minutes later they headed downstairs.

"—n't tell me five months ago?!" Bellemere was shouting.

"I don't see what the big deal is." Corazon said in confusion.

"Your daughter is your son!"

"Actually—"

"Order isn't important!" she snapped angrily.

The man laughed. "I don't see the problem. Law-chan is Law-chan."

"How could you let him dress as he does? It's perverted!"

"Hey now, you better watch your mouth, Bellemere." Corazon said sharply. "That's my child no matter how they identify themselves and we have no business telling them how to act or dress."

There was a long moment of silence. "…It's just a bit much to take in…I mean, he's got breasts! But he's thin as a twig!"

Law felt insulted. She tried to eat, okay?!

"How? Is it his Devil Fruit?"

Corazon sighed. "No. there was an incident on Zou that forced Law-chan to replace part of his brain with a female Mink's. The side effects were numerous."

"What are you doing?" Kid whispered as the group joined them at the door.

"Tou-san's explaining I'm a boy to Belle-ya."

"You're a boy?" Nojiko asked curiously.

"You're a very pretty boy." Nami told her and Law purred.

"Thank you."

"What if I asked hm to give the girls their baths?! I need to know things like this, Rocinante!"

"She wouldn't." He brushed off. "Law-chan's not a pervert, she would've told you no."

"You don't know that!"

She felt insulted again.

"Yes I do." His chair scraped as he stood up. "Maybe you should take a few days to think this over. Let me know by the end of the week if you no longer wish to care for my family."

"Shut up." She huffed in annoyance and whistled shrilly. "DINNER!"

They waited a moment before letting the girls rush in, Penguin hurrying after and the rest of them taking their time.

Cotton leapt off Kid's head once he sat and went to her own seat. "I'm so hungry! Thank you, Belle-san!"

"You're welcome, Cotton-chan. Dig in!" she ordered and they all did, dinner continuing like normal.

—rdp—

Law noticed Bellemere watching a lot more often but paid her no mind. She'd never said she was a girl so whatever the woman was dealing with, she could deal with on her own.

And nothing changed. They still played with the other kids in town or alone, still trained together. They taught the girls how to play like a Mink and some of the games from their homelands. Though the kids didn't really have interest in the games native to Flevance since they were more brain teasers or anatomy driven. Though they DID like to play doctor. She did her best to teach them proper wound care under the guise of pretend.

After six months though, they were most known for their stories. Of the King, of the Grand Line. They told stories of their battles and adventures in the wild ocean. About Flevance and Mangrove and Ohara, of Saboady and the slave traders. They filled them with both awe and fear.

A downside that cropped up as she recovered from the ordeal were the people that started trying to court her. They'd come up while she was buying cigarettes and ask her out on dates. Gave her gifts to try and bribe her, but she always turned them down. The gifts became more elaborate and the suitors more forceful—taking her hand in theirs, wrapping their arms around wherever they could reach, touching her face. Even breaking their wrists didn't deter them and she resigned herself to gifts and physical violence whenever she was out alone.

When they started coming up to her when she was with the kids, she let her friends do what they wanted.

"Leave your gifts with us and we'll let you know within five days if you make the cut." Nami would tell them.

"They'll never make the cut." She warned.

Nami giggled. "We know, but free stuff!"

Some things never changed,