A/N: This is a bit late bc my power went out and I lost focus. It's not Peak Fic Writer Excuse, but I'll take it, lol. Also, I might skip the rest of August for posting purposes. Haven't decided yet.

Seven

When Baby 5 got to the top of the rope, Viola reached her hand out and hauled the other woman out herself. There was a huge commotion in the square, with citizens and toys alike panicking about not only the explosion that had gone off, but the fact that there were people coming out of a hole in the ground.

"We need to get to Antonia," Baby 5 said quickly. "If we don't get to her in time—!"

"It's too late," Viola replied. "The toys have reported that Antonia has already been left to dispose of Law. Doffy's somewhere out there with the rest of the Elite Officers and we've got major trouble if we don't shake this thing down."

"…and how are we going to do that?"

"Oh! Hey! You must be the lady Viola was talking about!" Baby 5 looked and suddenly there was a teenager in a straw hat grinning in her face. "Hi! I'm Monkey D. Luffy, and I'm gonna be King of the Pirates!"

…a D…?!

"She said you knew Torao," Luffy continued, "but that you also both work for Mingo? He doesn't really seem like that good of a boss, is he?"

"You're right, he's not," Baby 5 frowned. "Who is Torao…?"

"Oh, I can't say Torao's name, so it's Torao now!" the boy beamed.

"Luffy is the one whose crew brought Law to Dressrosa; they are allies." Baby 5 stared at Viola, then Luffy.

"This kid?"

"Apparently."

"If you don't like Mingo, why do you work for him?" Luffy wondered.

"…because, if I don't someone close to me will be in danger," Baby 5 replied. "Antonia and I grew up together—she's like my sister."

"Shishishi! Then she's lucky to have a sister like you! Like I have my brothers!" The smile then faded from his face as he thought for a moment. "How come she and Torao hate each other so much? The way he made it sound when we were coming here was like they hated each other before they'd even met."

"That's the thing," she said, "they don't." Luffy tilted his head and she shook hers. "That's not my story to tell. We just have to get to them before she does something she'll regret forever. Will you please help us?"

"If it means I get to kick Mingo's ass, I don't care what I gotta do first," he grinned. Luffy then noticed the others who were coming up from the Scrap Heap. "Oh, hey, Cabbage! I didn't know you were down there!"

"Straw Hat!" Cavendish gasped in disgust. "How did you escape the Coliseum?"

"Oh, it's a long story, but I'm glad that I was able to get you guys out!"

"You what…?" King Riku marveled. "Don't tell me it was you who caused the explosion!"

"Sort of…?" Luffy folded his arms and tilted his head. "I kind of redirected a bomb one of the military guys tossed at me before they became occupied…"

'This guy's a monster,' Baby 5 thought. 'He's perfect.'

"If that's the case, then do you want to help me get my sister back?" she grinned. His smile matched, then quickly surpassed hers.

"Yosh!"

The blade at Law's cheek was uncomfortably close as he stared at Corazón, for once not knowing what to say. He had spent over a decade being the one with all the answers on the crew—the one who had at least five different plans before anything began to start let alone go sour—and this was new territory for him. His parents had been the only ones to have ever seen through all his plots as a child, and now that his mother was glaring back at him again after so long… it was disarming, to say the least.

"Answer me, Trafalgar," Corazón hissed, pinning him tighter to the wall. She pulled the knife slightly and sliced a small slit on his jaw, the fresh pain stinging brightly against his other established aches. "Why is your face so familiar?"

Shit… he needed to think fast… what could he do to stall? To give him time? To get more information out of her? To get her to realize what was going on…?

"Can…" he exhaled heavily, "…can I ask you a question first? There's something I need to know before I take your threat as seriously as you want."

"Depends; what is it?"

"Do you ever feel like things don't add up?" He shivered as her brows furrowed; fuck, he was not used to this. At all. His stomach felt like it was going to all come up at once and he had to swallow to hold it down. Licking his lips did nothing to wet them and his throat felt raw. "Do you feel like everything in your life makes sense or is something… off…?"

Corazón took the knife from Law's face and put it back in its sheath. He was trembling as he stared at her, about ready to pass out from nerves alone. Seas… of all the people, it had to be Lami… it had to be his baby sister! She studied his face for a moment, as though looking for cracks in a mask, and frowned tightly.

"I have a recurring dream," she said. "It's the day my mother died, before Papa and I went to live with Uncle Doffy in Spider Miles."

His breath hitched—memories?! How did she have fake memories?!

"We were sitting down to dinner when a bomb went through the living room wall and killed her. Papa ran with me far as he could—we didn't bring anything with us. There was no time to pack, let alone bury her." Corazón licked her lips as she stared at a bit of wall past Law's shoulder. Fuck… how did she not notice they did that the exact same way? "There's always something that seems… something that doesn't quite fit."

"What… is it…?"

"I don't know; you were the one who asked me." She then looked him dead-on, her expression steely. "What did it look like?"

"What…?"

"If you think you know so much, then what did the kitchen look like?" she repeated. "Don't make me say it again."

"Alright, fine," he agreed. Law closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, trying to bring his memories back to a happier time without risking it having him break down further. He was already so out of his element, so overtaken by his emotions, that he didn't know how long he was going to last. "Almost everything sparkled white, because of Amber Lead's refined state favoring that color, but our kitchen had touches of deep, dark blue. It was the bluest blue, which was in the curtains and part of the tile pattern on the floor. The walls behind the counter had that blue as well—Flevance was actually famous for it before the Amber Lead, and…"

Corazón snarled and suddenly a punch cracked Law's skull against the stone wall and smashed his nose at the same time. She let go and he sagged to the ground.

"Don't fuck with me, Trafalgar," she hissed. His vision was blurred and partially whited-out; fuck, he was not equipped to deal with head trauma of all things. She kicked him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him.

"We always kept five chairs in the kitchen!" he gasped through the blood spurting from his nose and the ringing in his ears. "Sometimes Mom and Dad hosted visiting doctors and old colleagues—why would there be five chairs if there was three of you?! The extra one was always against the wall when we weren't using it!"

She paused mid-kicking motion and thought. How many chairs were in their kitchen? It was easy to guess their kitchen was blue and white—lots of Northern homes had blue and white kitchens—and yet…

…there were five chairs in the kitchen, one off to the side and four at the table.

"You sat across from Dad," he continued. "You needed two volumes of the old encyclopedia set to sit on in order to reach properly. The stove never lit unless one of our parents did this thing where they wiggled the knob while twisting it. You hit your head on an open cupboard door the day before your sixth birthday, splitting your right eyebrow open!"

Inhaling sharply, Corazón kicked Law in the stomach again.

"My mother died when I was five, you piece of shit!" She rolled him over onto his back and placed her foot on his shoulder, pressing down so hard he wrenched his eyes shut in pain. "That could not have happened because she was already gone. The world took both my parents before I was eight and Uncle Doffy promised me the world in return! None of this makes any sense!"

"What's not making sense?!"

"Why do you know about my eyebrow?!" Law opened his eyes and looked up at her, seeing that there were tears in her eyes. "I always keep it covered with my mask or makeup! How the fuck do you know about that?!"

"I helped stitch it!" Silence settled between them, the only sounds being that of his heavy breathing and far-off fighting. His voice was quiet as he stared at her and asked, "How old are you…?"

"Twenty."

"What… what did he do to you…?" he breathed. "He took your memories, he took your personality, he took two whole years of your life away…" He closed his eyes and tried to look away, attempting to hide his tears and grit teeth against the patio stone as he curled inward on himself.

Somehow Doflamingo knew this was going to happen. Law realized that this was just a sick joke by an even sicker man, who was ready to torture him long before he even put his plan into action… before he had considered becoming a Shichibukai to further his goals. His former boss, former groomer, former abuser, had done everything he couldn't do to him, except to his little sister instead. He barely recognized her, and all for what…?

In the end, he was a bad brother, wasn't he? Why didn't he press further? Leave for his pirate career earlier? Pay closer attention? Out of all the doable things he'd promised his parents' corpses, protecting Lami had been such a big one, and now… fuck… he was so tired. He couldn't go on. Frankly, how could he? Law sighed in resignation and looked Corazón in the eyes.

"Go ahead. Kill me."

"Wait, what…?" Corazón knelt down and stared at him, trying to understand. "You just spent so much time trying to get me to not kill you, and now you want to die?"

"I thought you were dead for so long, and now that you're here, after all this time… that bastard won. He knows that I can't live in a world with you like this, even if I avenge Cora-san."

"Cora-san…? You mean…?"

"The Second Corazón, Donquixote Rosinante." Huh… that didn't make sense…

"…but why would you avenge Papa…?"

"…because he's not your father; I keep trying to tell you, but you're just as stubborn as when you were little. Cora-san helped save us and I think… I think he would have gone back for Bee and fled with the three of us if he survived long enough."

Corazón gaped. "Bee…? You know Bee…?"

"I thought I did, but if you truly are like this, then I guess she just was another of Doflamingo's pawns after all…"

"…which is something I'm beginning to rethink with each passing moment." Law and Corazón both tensed as they realized they were being watched. Doflamingo hopped down from the roof and frowned at the youngsters. "Antonia, dear, why haven't you drowned the rat?"

"Uncle Doffy, why don't I remember him?" she asked. Corazón stood upright, staring him down with the ease that came from being his protege for a decade. "The things he's saying… none of it adds up."

"That is because he's lying," he replied. He stepped close enough to grab her face with one hand and tilt it up as though she were a petulant child. "After all this time, he's still jealous that it was you I chose."

"Don't touch her!" Law shouted, his efforts to wriggle out of his cuffs renewed. "Get away from her!"

"You failed this test, Antonia," Doflamingo said, ignoring Law. "Here I was thinking I could give you some more responsibility around here and instead you disappoint me."

"Uncle Doffy, I…!"

"Now how am I going to punish you, hmm…?" He lifted her up so that he stood straight, her legs dangling as she tried to break free of his grip. "I have not had to punish my darling niece in oh so long… I don't even know what's age-appropriate these days…"

"Let me go!" Corazón demanded. She let out a burst of Haki, only for Doflamingo to unleash his, dropping her so as to give the full effect of his crushing, oppressive presence.

"Don't think you're going to get off easy, Corazón," he sneered. "Now what are we going to do? No dessert for a week? Take away your toys?" He watched as she tried to get back on her feet and grinned at her struggling. "Ah, yes; I believe I'll send you to your room for a time out. That will teach you to not be naughty and disobey…" He held out a hand and twitched his fingers, Corazón feeling her limbs jerk into place as he caught her in his web.

Oh no…

Just then, a shishishi was heard as something whizzed towards them, landing a punch on Donflamingo's left side. The blond flew into a wall and the strings holding onto Corazón snapped.

"He's not gonna stay down for long," their rescuer grinned. Corazón stared in confusion, while Law…

"Strawhat-ya!" he snapped. "What the fuck are you doing?!"

"Her sister said I can't beat up Mingo until I get you two to safety," Luffy shrugged. He hefted Law under one arm, threw Antonia over his other shoulder, coiled his legs into springs, and jumped.

Holy fucking shit.