A/N: So, I was hoping to get this done within the month of August, but that's not looking like it due to chapter numbers alone, but that doesn't mean that I'm not going to keep trying. This one is also early due to me needing to be away from my computer that holds all my fic resources, so here ya go.
Six
Fourteen years earlier, in an entirely different ocean…
"I don't know why you do it, Baby 5," Señor Pink scowled. They were headed between parts of their current hit job, with the child carrying a large sub-machine gun and the adult sauntering along next to her in the dark alley. "Are they really worth the effort?"
"Is who worth the effort?" she asked.
"You know who I'm talking about," he scoffed. "The Flevench brats. I know why the Young Master keeps them around, but you…"
"You wouldn't understand," she replied. Baby 5 shifted the weight of the gun against her shoulder and tried to ignore his irritation. "We're siblings; that's it."
"You should be causing havoc with Buffalo, not fussing after a couple of sick waifs."
"Yeah… you really don't understand." She glanced at him as they stopped just short of the alley's mouth, waiting for their cue. "They need me to be their sister, so that's what I'm doing."
"This is the first mission we've gotten you on in three months—you're getting soft."
"If the Young Master is allowed to be soft for Cora-san, then I'm allowed that for Law-nii and Lami-chan," she replied. He was about to respond when an explosion happened down the road, causing her to smile and readjust her gun. "Looks like we'll have to talk later."
…and for what it was worth, she hoped they never did.
It was a familiar yet unwanted sensation as pain woke Law for what was not the first time that day. The entire week had been a particularly bad one, so bad he was forced to stay back from another job, not because of Lami but his own Amber Lead instead. They could barely scrape out a good two or three days between the two of them, making things rough when they were the only two left in headquarters.
Groggily, he opened his eyes and looked on the other side of the bed. Lami was still snuggled into the blankets, but there was a new plush toy in her arms as she slept. Baby 5 was also asleep, slumped over in a chair with an open book in her lap.
'Huh… they must all be back,' he thought. Law looked over at his nightstand and saw there was a tray with water and pain medication, along with some cookies, an empty mug, and a thermal flask. He went to grab the medicine when he realized there was a weight on his legs, restricting his movement.
Books.
Law didn't know where they came from, but there were books laying atop his side of the bed, making it a bit more difficult to move. He took one and pulled it close to him, looking carefully at the title: Flevance at A Glance. It was old and warped from water damage, but that didn't stop it from having the first page be a glimmering photo of the hospital, the early morning sun glinting off the stone facade in a way the lad never realized he missed until that moment. Looking at the other books, he saw that some were medical texts, others were different guides to Flevance and Flevench culture, and one was even the latest copy of Sora, Warrior of the Sea. He took the comic along with the first book, nudging the rest of them gently towards the end of the bed, and took the medicine still sitting silently on the tray.
With some tea poured and cookies being munched, Law nestled back in as he read about his homeland and did his best to not cry.
"Oh, come on… don't you want to play pranks on Cora-san?" Buffalo whined. He and Dellinger were trying to goad Law, Baby 5, and Lami into going with them, the trio instead staring at them blankly, having instead been in the middle of a board game.
"I dunno…" Lami frowned. "It doesn't really seem like fun."
"Come on! You know how easy it is!"
"Easy! Easy!" Dellinger chirped from Buffalo's shoulder.
"Yeah! And Baby, you used to be real good at it before they got here!"
"It used to be fun, but I guess I've found a better time with something not playing pranks," she replied. Buffalo pouted.
"I thought you two wanted chaos!"
"We do… just…" Law trailed off, avoiding eye contact with the other kids. "Messing with Cora-san like that leaves a bad taste in my mouth."
"Pussy," Buffalo sniped. As he lumbered away, Dellinger repeated the word from his perch. The siblings continued their game before the echoes of "pussy" had even faded; Dellinger's voice was getting shrill.
"If you do still want chaos, what do you plan on doing?" Baby 5 wondered. Law simply continued with the game, rolling a pair of dice and moving his piece forward on the board.
"Give our story to the people who write Sora, I think," Lami said. "We talked about it a lot… and… the World Economic Journal seems like the kind of people who'd publish it."
"So… you're gonna write it down?"
"Yeah." Lami took the dice and rolled them; her piece got to be moved across the board, then backwards. "Bee-nee…? If… um… we don't find something in time, will you make sure it gets there?"
"Of course," Baby 5 nodded. It was her turn to roll the dice, grabbing the small cubes. "I'm not a Trafalgar, but I'll make sure it gets told."
"Thank you," Law said quietly. Baby 5 rolled the dice and they fell off the table, skittering across the floor. "It means a lot."
She was sure it meant more than she could understand.
Baby 5 hopped down from the stepstool and dragged it across the kitchen to the other end of the counter, using it to reach where the sugar was kept. She got it and pulled the stepstool back to where she had the tray sitting and nestled it amongst the varying things that she had piled on. Buffalo lumbered into the kitchen as she was pulling it from the countertop, nearly scaring her in the process.
"What are you doing?" he wondered. Baby 5 rolled her eyes—unlike her and her siblings, Buffalo was neither smart nor clever.
"I'm bringing lunch upstairs," she explained. "Law-nii and Lami-chan don't feel good—it's a really bad day."
"Ah, they're just faking, dasuyan," the teen chuckled. He grabbed a banana from the fruit bowl and began to eat it without peeling first. "They move fine."
"You just don't get it," Baby 5 huffed, leaving Buffalo alone. She carried the tray up the stairs and over to the bedroom that all the kids shared, where Lami had crawled into Law's bed and the pair were curled up together, whispering things at each other. "Middageten!"
"You can just say lunchtijd," Law groaned.
"Or itenstijd!" Lami added. "Our neighbor said itenstijd!" She and Law shuffled slightly so they weren't too close as Baby 5 put the tray on the bed and crawled in after it. "Oh! You have onigiri today!"
"Yeah, I've been practicing with Giolla and Gladius when they cook."
"It's ya, remember?" Law chided as he accepted a plate of onigiri. "Giolla-ya. Gladius-ya."
"That makes you sound old," Baby 5 sniped. Once the onigiri were distributed, she began to pour tea into their Sora, Warrior of the Sea character mugs. She passed Law his and put sugar in Lami's before she handed it over as well. The younger girl held the steaming mug under her face, humming contently as the sweet, fragrant vapor soothed the lesions there. "Is that better?"
"Yeah, it is," Lami nodded. "You're really good at knowing what to do."
"It's my job to take care of my little sister and big brother, isn't it?" Baby 5 smiled. "I gotta be good if I'm gonna help you stay comfy until Law-nii finds a cure."
"You're talking nonsense, Bee," Law muttered. "The Young Master can't even track down that Devil Fruit he was talking about."
"We still got time," Baby 5 insisted. "Cora-san will eat that Devil Fruit and then he'll be able to cure you both! Then nothing will stop us!"
"No… we're gonna die and all that will be left of Flevance is a Kuentan who can't even get her vocabulary down and a story no adult will believe," he replied sourly, avoiding eye contact.
"…but Law-nii!" Lami frowned. "You don't know that!"
"Think logically! We barely have a year left! Any treatment is going to need time to work!"
"You're so depressing!" Baby 5 huffed. "We're going to find a cure and we're going to get to go on all sorts of adventures together once we're old enough! I'm sure the Young Master won't mind!"
"Yeah!" Lami agreed. "It'll be like that one time in Sora when he teamed up with those other Marines! We can go around like that! Brother and sisters! No one will stop us!"
"Germa 66 defeated them," Law pointed out. "Stealth Black murdered his allies and then Sora was alone."
"Germa might be real, but Stealth Black's just something they made up for the comic," Baby 5 scoffed. "You know what she means."
"I guess." Law put his unfinished onigiri and tea back on the tray and tried to get out of bed, only for his limbs to lock up on him, sending him face-first into the floor. Baby 5 put down her own lunch and went to help him stand, keeping him resting on her shoulder. "Shit… how come I'm the big brother, but you're the one taking care of me?!"
"…because I'm not the smart one," she replied. "You need to concentrate on figuring out how to get better, and while you do that—"
"We're not getting better!" Law snapped, tears in his eyes. He pushed away from Baby 5 and balanced himself by grabbing the nightstand. "I don't know how to fix this, Bee! Medicine doesn't know how to fix this! The adults aren't helping because it doesn't concern them and that means that we are good as dead! You keep saying you're stupid, but you should be smart enough to understand that!"
Turning on her heel, Baby 5 ran from the bedroom, completely oblivious to her sister's shouts. She ran out of the house, through Spider Miles, finally finding herself in the garbage dump that the Young Master had found her in… the same one that Law-nii and Lami-chan claimed they were found in… born of trash, only to stay trash… that's all they really were…
Angrily, she kicked a can and sent it flying. She was so upset that she didn't know what exactly her emotions were doing. She loved Law-nii—he was her brother in a way that Buffalo or Dellinger never could—but he was so mean and it made her want to scream! She hated it, she hated it, oh she hated it so much and yet there was nothing she could do!
…because Law-nii was right: she was at least smart enough to understand that her siblings were dying. Baby 5 collapsed on a squished cardboard box and began to cry hysterically—she hated this so much! She was so caught in herself that she didn't realize she was alone until it was too late and a large, shaky hand rested along her back. Recoiling, she took the knife she hid in her skirt and pointed it at…
…at Corazón…?! Panic began to take her as she realized that she had drawn a weapon against the Young Master's beloved younger brother. Against Cora-san. She began to back away when he reached out with just as much fear in his eyes as she had, shaking his head.
Please! Don't leave!
Baby 5 cautiously lowered her knife as she watched Corazón dig in his coat for something. He pulled out a pad and pen, writing.
What happened?
"Law-nii's being mean," she sniffled, sheathing her knife. "Lami-chan and I try to stay positive about their Amber Lead, but he…!" She choked up again and released a shuddering sob. "Cora-san, he says the adults aren't doing anything! Why are the adults letting them die?!" Corazón paused before letting out a long sigh.
I don't blame him. I'm sure if things look bad to me, they're worse to him.
"I don't want to lose my big brother and little sister! I love them! If I lose them, I can't get them back like you got Young Master back! I'm scared!"
You're right to be scared.
Baby 5 stared at the pad of paper for a moment before moving her gaze up at Corazón. The man was looking at her with something she never knew was there. For all the times he threw her out the window or tried to scare her into leaving, there was something… kind about him.
"Do you… do you think you can help me?" she asked. He stared at her, not nodding but also not shaking his head. "Maybe… if you help… then Law-nii will say I can have their names too."
You want to be a Trafalgar?
"Not just that. All of it." Corazón tilted his head and Baby 5 sighed. "Trafalgar D. Water—that's the rest of Law-nii and Lami-chan's names. Do you think maybe I can… uh… Cora-san…? What's wrong? You're shaking."
Don't tell anyone, okay? She stared at him. PLEASE. TELL NO ONE. I'll explain later.
"Cora-san…?" Baby 5 flinched as he jabbed the paper again. I'll explain later. "Okay. Promise?"
He held out his pinkie finger and she linked it with hers, knowing it was as close as she was going to get.
They carried the initial D.
Fuck… there was an entire family—children, even—with the initial D. that had been living right under his nose.
They were Ds.
Well, at least two of them were. Rosinante didn't know if the middle child wanting to potentially adopt it for herself made her one of them… one of the Enemies of the Celestial Dragons, but the Flevench kids… fuck. They were beginning to run out of time and there was little that could be done… little he could do under his brother's eye.
"I'm taking a quick leave." The transponder snail in front of him narrowed its eyes warily.
"Concerning?"
"Some outstanding business that would otherwise blow my cover."
"What is possibly more important than our mission?"
"You'll understand in-full once the mission's done," Rosinante replied. He took a drag of his cigarette and watched the smoke curl upwards towards the sky; he had to act tonight. "I'll be back before you know it."
"Be careful, Commander Donquixote."
"Of course I will."
"I love you, son."
He stared at the snail, unsure how to respond. It wasn't the first time those words had been said over the course of the mission, yet at the same time… he wasn't entirely certain what they really meant anymore. He hit the button on the snail to hang up, allowing the mollusk its rest.
Needless to say that later in the evening, the kids didn't all react to his ability to speak with the same sort of vigor. Lami nearly had stars in her eyes, Baby 5 hid behind Law, and as for the lad himself…
"What the fuck is going on?!" the tween hissed. Corazón's heart threatened to burst as he watched Law try to put the girls behind him, being the protective big brother he was born to be… that he wished Doffy acted a little more like. "Since when can you talk?!"
"Always." Corazón snapped his fingers and suddenly the world around them went extra-quiet. The crickets from outside were gone, the distant thrumming of the factories had vanished, and even the buzzing of the overhead lamp was silent. "No one else knows about it other than you three—it's part of a special mission I'm on."
"…but the mission is not for the Young Master…?" Baby 5 wondered. Corazón shook his head.
"Doffy thinks I am mute, when it's really my Devil Fruit power that lets me stay silent," he explained. "I've decided to set that aside for the time being, however, because there's something more important for me to take care of."
"…and what might that be?!" The look on Law's face broke the man's heart—so angry while so young… it wasn't fair.
"I'm going to be the adult who helps."
The kids stared at him cautiously, not sure what to think.
"Law, Lami," he continued, "I'm going to get you two out of here and we're going to find a cure. We will not stop until we get one."
"…but, what about Bee-nee?" Lami asked, moving out from behind Law. Corazón stared at the trio and bit his lower lip. He didn't want to split them up, but…
"Listen, Baby 5, I need you to be a big girl for me, okay?" he said, voice threatening to crack. "You have to stay here with Doffy and not let them know anything about what we're doing or where we're going or that I can talk. Do you understand?"
"…but… but… I have to take care of them!"
"I'll do that, don't worry," he assured. "You've been a very good, very brave girl for making Law and Lami your siblings, but the more of us traveling, the slower we'll move, the worse it'll be. Besides, someone needs to hold down the fort."
"…but Cora-san!" Lami gasped. "We can't leave Bee-nee alone!"
"Either both my sisters go, or I tell the Young Master you've been lying to him," Law growled. He shifted so that he was standing between Corazón and his little sisters. Baby 5 stared at him, her eyes wet with tears.
…both his sisters…
Both!
"Fuck… I don't have time for this," Corazón groaned. He muttered something under his breath and grabbed at Law, who instantly made no noise, hefting him up under one arm. "Come on, Lami-chan. The window's not going to be open for long."
"…but what about Bee-nee?"
"I'll be fine," Baby 5 lied. She hugged Lami tight and gave her the biggest grin she could. "Cora-san will help make you better! Then we can be a real family!"
"It won't be the same!"
"Just come back to get me once you're better—I don't care," Baby 5 insisted. She let go of Lami and pushed her towards Corazón, who was struggling to hold onto Law. "Just go!"
"…but Bee-nee!"
"Cora-san's right! Just come back healthy, okay?!" Lami clung to her in a hug, with Law joining once he could bite down on Corazón's arm in order to be dropped. Baby 5 knew it was okay to cry, because they all were. "Get healthy and then we can be like Sora and his friends!"
"In the meantime, Baby," Corazón said, "I have an important job for you."
Law and Lami sat together on the examination table, a doctor and nurse going over the paperwork that Corazón had forged for them. The little girl held onto brother's shirt as he kept an arm around her—they were both terrified.
"From my initial examination, your children don't seem to be sick, other than seeming a little pale," the doctor frowned. "I can understand your concern about vitiligo, but it's nothing to be worried about."
"That's not what we have," Law said, voice sharp and clear.
"So… you've already been diagnosed…?"
"Please," Corazón insisted darkly, "I've brought my son and daughter all over the North Blue trying to find someone that will cure them. No one's done it."
"What did the other mean doctors tell you?" the nurse crooned. She reached towards Lami, her hand not making it as the girl replied.
"Amber Lead poisoning."
Both the nurse and doctor flinched in fear, panic, and disgust. Law held Lami tighter as Corazón's face began to twitch and he prepared himself for the worst.
This was going to be the next hospital to burn.
