"... ago now. You took your mother's name and rose up in the pirate world as captain of the Spade Pirates with your immense speed and power. That was when we noticed-" the Fleet Admiral's breath hitched, as if disgusted- "that Roger's blood still flowed!"

It took all Strauss had to still her trembling hands. To hide the tsunami of sheer rage coursing through her.

How dare he! Ace didn't… he didn't deserve this!

Yes the news of his parentage had been a surprise. Part of the reason she and Ace managed to become so close over such a short space of time was because neither asked about the other's past. It was as if they'd made a mutual agreement to only look forwards with each other instead of back. And to hide their pain unless absolutely necessary.

But still!

"But Whitebeard also noticed it at the same time. And to make you the next King of the Pirates, he let the son of his own rival onto his ship."

"YOU'RE WRONG!"

Shit! She almost shouted it with him. With the slightest movement she could allow, a flick of her eyes, she glared at her knuckles. Offensively white and threatening to break the staff. She… she… this wasn't good!

Breathe! Breathe!

If she got caught now she was dead. That was it. Dead. There would be no saving her in the slightest. nd then she'd be of no use to anyone. So she had to sit there. And wait. And wait. And wait.

Her lips tensed into a fine line. So taut that veins began bulging in her neck.

JUST CALM DOWN DAMMIT!

"I GOT ON THAT SHIP TO MAKE POPS THE NEXT KING!" Ace was roaring. Louder and more furious than anything she'd ever heard out of him before.

But Sengoku just stared down at him, cold, dark, and imposing as ever. "The only one who believes that is you."

His shoulders drooped. And even though she couldn't see his face, Strauss could almost perfectly picture that pained expression. In a strange fit of recklessness she was hit by the urge to slug the Fleet Admiral in the face.

Oh if Law could see her now. So much for keeping a 'cool head'.

"In fact, it made it that much harder for us to catch you," Sengoku continued. In that same seemingly professional tone that completely defied what he was saying. "You were protected by Whitebeard."

Ace was shaking now. She wasn't sure if it was in shock or anger.

"If we let you go free, we know you'll use your abilities to become the next Pirate King." The Fleet Admiral dipped down his head. "That is why it means a great deal to execute you here today." And then he turned back to address the crowd. "Even if it means risking an all-out war with Whitebeard!"

"WOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

All that screaming… As each and every single one of the assorted marines bellowed like a herd of starving beasts.

She was so close to throwing up. To be so close to this wave of savage noise… At least she didn't have to cry out too. Since she genuinely didn't think she could. The only other person in her eye line wasn't making a noise at least...

But even then she had to physically stop her stomach from roiling.

"F-Fleet Admiral Sengoku! I have a report to make!" The cry, almost too quiet over the roars of triumph, came from somewhere out of sight. "The Gate of Justice is opening without being ordered to! And we can't make contact with the control room!

"Wha…" The imposing man froze in place. "What!?"

Silence.

The cheering stopped. As if everyone finally realised that the war was closing in. So close that it was practically breathing down the backs of their necks. Goosepimpling flesh.

Stealing noise.

Had Whitebeard really… since that didn't… Well maybe it didn't need to make sense. Whitebeard was Whitebeard. If he really wanted to, he could storm right through the Gates of Justice to cause whatever war he wanted. Although it wasn't the method that she herself would have chosen…

But sure enough, blurred and hazy over the horizon, the proud emblem of the Gates of Justice began to crack down the middle. It was so slight at first. Just the tiniest crack. Then it got larger. And larger. Until it had opened about two centimetres wide from Strauss's view point.

That in itself was a great achievement. Two centimetres weren't much initially, but considering how far away the Gates were, how high they reached up into the clouds, how many tonnes of steel were forcing against thousands more metric tonnes of rushing waves…

Strauss covertly gulped.

To think that she had sailed beneath those gates merely a few weeks ago. It was… a little mind boggling to think about now.

That gulp had felt too loud.

And her heartbeat was deafening.

One minute passed. And there were no ships on the horizon. Two more went by. Still no sign.

A breeze rushed over Strauss's face, twisting the thin baby hairs that she'd failed to stuff under her helmet and twirling them around her cheekbones. She remained firm.

Another five minutes. Nothing.

Now she was wondering if they were even going to come. She'd made the assumption they would based on how Ace talked about 'Pops' and the rest of his crew… but there hadn't been any actual evidence that they would. Her heart raced. M-Maybe this was all a mistake. They wouldn't come and she'd be stuck there and found out and killed! That blunder would've put Law and the rest of the Heart Pirates in danger. But… But she couldn't leave now! So she was just going to have to wait and trust and hope and p-

"THERE THEY COME!"

Strauss forgot how to breathe. She forgot how to act normal. As a fleet of several dozen large ships loomed forwards out of the haze. Not pinpricks, growing larger and larger as they sailed closer… But fully formed. As if they had been there the entire time.

"EVERYONE, BATTLE STATIONS!"

There were so many…. Too many for the eye to count. She gulped again, but this time the noise was easily swallowed. Cannons were whizzing. Aims were being readjusted. All to point towards these ships that seemed to emerge out of nowhere like wraiths.

"They appeared so suddenly!" Sengoku stammered. "Where did they get in? Where's Whitebeard! Locate him!"

"I don't know… They're all big time captains who are well known in the New World," the scout squinted at his telescope. "43 ships in total! We can't find Whitebeard or the commanders, but they're all Whitebeard's allies!"

"I… didn't expect them to come…" Ace gaped, slumping forwards.

The marines ignored him and turned to Sengoku, "Should we attack?"

"No." The Fleet Admiral's eyes narrowed behind his glasses. "Whitebeard should be somewhere nearby. He must be up to something, so keep an eye on the sea."

The sea…?

Wait.

Despite her better judgement, Strauss's eyes flicked to vast expanse of the arched bay before them. They had appeared out of nowhere… Just like she had. And Law had. Which meant that…

A bubble about the diameter of her entire body rose up to the surface. And popped. Then another. And another. Until the air and ground was saturated with splattered sea water.

She sucked in a breath. Of equal parts shock and awe… and anticipation.

As the Moby Dick, flagship of the Whitebeard rose like a rocket from the waves Covered in rainbow oil slicked coating, to crash down before the group of unprepared Marines.

Strauss flexed her shoulders. As slightly as she could without being detected.

.

It was… over. This was all finally over. For once Sanji relished in the lack of smoke filled air, breathing in an entire lungful and tasting the freshness. They were outside. That deadly gas had been blown away. Nami and Usopp had apprehended the two of Joker's goons, and wrapped Caesar in seastone cuffs.

They'd won. Just like they always did.

But Strauss still hadn't come to talk to him…

"Sanji-san!" Brook's cheery voice pierced through his thoughts right before they got complicated. "Where do you want these?" He nodded to the pile of bricks balanced between his bones.

Right. He straightened his shoulders. There were cold and hungry mouths to feed. He'd do more worrying once he'd done his job. "Just set them up around here-" an arm gestured to the metal plate he'd managed to dig out of some snowdrifts- "in a rough ring. If you leave these here I can get the basic shape done. That good?"

"Yohoho! It is absolutely no problem!"

Thankfully he'd picked up some giant sized cooking equipment when they'd travelled to Fishman Island (the palace chefs said they were a necessity when catering for King Neptune and his sons… Princess Shirahoshi ate deceptively little for her size, which made him worry about her health but it wasn't his place to butt in). He hadn't had a decent opportunity to use it yet because the pan was too damn big to fit on the stove, but it was hopefully large enough to fill the bellies of the kids, the marines, and most of the pirates.

Emphasis on most, since he knew that Luffy would down the entire thing in one if he could.

Speaking of the pirates…

Ducking his head down in a semi-half hearted attempt at stealth, Sanji scanned the crowd for Strauss. He found Law easily enough. Both he and Chopper had relocated to a somewhat remote corner of the group, the pair pouring over some poor sod's arm that Law had diced into slivers and hung suspended in midair like slabs of meat. He never could understand doctors. But no Strauss. Which seemed strange, since she technically should be hanging around somewhere near her damned 'captain'.

The crunch of footsteps on snow brought him back to his task, "Right, so can you set the rest of them on top of this blueprint, Brook? We want to leave some gaps so we can get some airflow going-"

"It's been a while since I had your cooking." A voice that was very decidedly not Brook's hummed over his shoulder. "Hopefully there's some left for me."

"S-Strauss?!" He was kneeling, which wasn't a great position to spin around and face her with. So he was limited to falling ungainly to the side in an effort to meet her gaze. "What do you mean, of course there'll be…"

His eyes went painfully wide. More so than they'd ever gone before. Gaze honing in on what had been her injured side. Throat completely dry.

What. The. Fuck.

Strauss blinked once in confusion, before glancing down at the place where her damned arm should have been and… and… Rolled her eyes?! "Right. I forgot that this isn't normal for most crews, sorry." She gestured with her one remaining hand towards where Law and Chopper were looking over… oh right! So that arm was hers? "There were a few bone splinters that needed to be reset in my shoulder, and it's far easier for both of us when the entire thing is severed from the body. Chopper saw what he was doing and wanted to take a closer look and well…" Sighing she cocked her head as a form of mock shrug, "I don't exactly fancy sitting around when there's stuff to be doing."

"Right…" he said slowly, still staring at her in strange bewilderment. He… uh… Couldn't quite wrap his head fully around what she'd just said if he was being honest with himself. So yes Strauss was missing an arm… but it was alright? "Can you… y'know…" he waved his hands around wordlessly, "still feel it? Like is it still connected to you and controlled by you…?"

In response, her severed arm far away from them reached out and slapped Law across the face.

"OI! STRAUSS-YA!"

"Don't go prodding around in there too much!" She barked back. "I want my arm back sooner rather than later!"

"I'LL BE DONE WITH IT WHEN I'M DONE WITH IT!"

The hand performed a rather rude gesture.

"DON'T MAKE ME REARRANGE YOUR FINGERS!"

"He won't." She turned back to Sanji with an air of perfect indifference. "I can't make decent coffee with my thumb put on backwards, and he relies on the stuff too much."

Sanji decided to not comment on how that sounded as if she'd tried to make coffee with her thumb on backwards, and instead gestured for her to come down and join him, "Just as well, since I could use some help setting this oven up. It's just arranging bricks, you should be alright."

"Really?" She arched a brow, "I thought you wouldn't want me doing anything."

"Honestly, no, but I know what you're like and it's far better for you to do something that doesn't strain you when you're injured instead of you going off doing something idiotic. And besides-" he grinned, hopefully in a way that was charming instead of excited- "it means we can talk for a bit before I actually get cooking."

She arched a brow in mock indignation, "Well if you insist."

He waited for a bit, until she'd properly crouched down on the snow next to him and was setting the bricks in place with surprising deftness. Only then did he attempt striking up conversation again, "So you make coffee now? I thought you said you turned anything you tried to make into unidentifiable black gunk."

"Pfft!" Strauss chuckled at the memory. "Well coffee is now the one exception to that rule. Turns out it's a pretty useful skill to have when you're hitchhiking your way across the Grand Line. Everyone appreciates a good cup of coffee."

Her smile hadn't changed a bit. There was still that bright eyed joy that managed to peep through her worn exterior. Sanji felt his own lips curl upwards just looking at it.

"Not to mention that I was the one who took over coffee duty when you left the Baratie," she continued. Completely (or determinedly) oblivious to his own observations. "Ironically enough it saved my ass when Ace and I were in that marine base and…"

The words trailed off. Somehow feeling heavier than the bricks he was carrying.

"How… uh…" This was going to be an awkward conversation shift but hey it wasn't as if he had any better ideas. "How is the Baratie? Or… was, I mean. When I left. Was… uh… the geezer alright?"

"Oh the Manager?" Thankfully Strauss chose to seize the pivot like a lifeline. "He was doing alright. Prouder than anything when the news about Arlong combined with Luffy's bounty poster came in. It uh…" She glanced at him, eyes beginning to narrow in a strange sense of scrutiny. "It was weird without you though. Like something was…" And now the attention was gone. Having been transferred rather intently onto positioning each brick. "Like there was just a hole. Right where something… or someone should have been."

A lump caught in his throat. One he didn't quite know how to articulate or understand. "I… uh…" He coughed. Which did absolutely nothing for his nerves but was a pretty good conversation buffer. "Were you manning the floor alone then? Or did the gee… Zeff hire another waiter."

Stupid. His fingers curled in vain around the brick. Stupid stupid stupid! He knew what she was trying to say, so why was he deflecting?! Well… ok maybe he had some small idea why. He didn't want to feel the guilt. The guilt of leaving someone special to him behind.

Again.

The whoops and yells of the marines and the children echoed through the air. Punctuating the space between them with mocking non silence.

Strauss sighed, her entire body seeming to sag with the effort, "Are you really going to ask me about then, when we've both done so much since. I left the Baratie only a few weeks after you did. Weeks. How could anything change during that time?"

"I know." His head ducked down. Suddenly enthralled by placing bricks. "But as much as I want to ask about-" A hand waved for words- "The War... Him… I don't want you to talk about it now. When there are so many… people around, and you're clearly uncomfortable. You should be the one to start that conversation, when you're ready."

"O-Oh." A great flush spread over her face. "I… Thank you. I suppose I thought… Well…"

"That I'd just go ahead and ask?"

"Huh? No, no, I knew you wouldn't do that," she backpedalled, waving her one attached hand in protest. "Not outright at least. But I just thought that with everything we talked about… how we decided we'd go over it all later and all that, and now this is all technically later… and I thought you wanted to know about it all…"

"And I do." Dropping the bricks completely, Sanji leant over and clasped her one hand between his own. Relishing the way her skin felt so similar and so different all at once. "Trust me I really do want to know what you went though. What you thought and felt and were hurt by. I want to know so damn badly you have no idea…" His forehead dipped forwards to touch against their hands. "But I haven't seen you in so long. And I don't want to push you away over my own stupid curiosity when it's clear that you've got your own mixed feelings against me."

"I what?" She blinked a moment… then winced. "Oh. Right. I… hit you…"

He could still feel it in his stomach. The dull ache where her fist had slammed under his ribs. Out of all the attacks he'd been victim to over the course of the day, including the ones sustained by Nami when she'd been in his body, it was one of the few that still ached. Which in some strange way he found he was a little proud of.

"Look Sanji I… ugh!" Grimacing, she ran her one hand down her face. "The door had surveillance cameras posted and Law and I couldn't give up the act just then. Anything I said or did back then?" Her eyes glanced up to meet his. "I didn't mean any of it. Really, I didn't."

It felt like he searched those eyes for ages. Ages upon ages upon ages. Scrutinising for any hint of lies or deception, and morbidly afraid of what he would find. But there was nothing. Nothing but a steadfast surety and calm that felt like an anchor in choppy waters.

"I… actually almost got too emotional," Strauss admitted. "Law had to rein me in a little."

Come to think of it, he had noticed something slightly off about the way Trafalgar acted then. The way he emphasised his words.

Why are you getting so upset?

The man hadn't been talking to Sanji at all. The comment was directed to Strauss.

It was almost ironic how that one simple realisation made him feel so much better, even though his better judgement kept trying to tell him that if he could be swayed by such a simple argument there was nothing to get upset about in the first place. Yet it did matter.

With Strauss (and even now to some extent with the rest of the Straw Hat crew) he had been used to clarity. While they both had secrets they were very direct about where those boundaries lay, and when they both had a disagreement they talked about it.

This felt just like going back to two years ago. Where misunderstandings could be solved in the course of a day while eating desert on moonlit roof tiles.

"Aha! Miss Strauss what a pleasure to see you!"

Sanji resisted the urge to slam his face into his hand. Of course he'd forget that Brook went off to collect more bricks. Of course!

"Right." Strauss stood, giving a polite bow in the skeleton's general direction. "Brook correct? I don't believe we've properly met. You were out with Sanji and some others when I was introduced to the Straw Hats."

"Yohoho that we haven't!" Brook beamed toothily, "And if you don't mind me asking…"

Oh he was getting a bad feeling about this…

"May I see your panti-"

WHAM!

Strauss blinked. And cocked her head a little. "Is… everything alright?"

"Perfectly." Sanji smiled back, dusting his hands as he twisted the heel of his shoe into the back of Brook's skull. "I was just paying him back for something."

An indignant mumble emerged from the snow.

"I had better have a little… conversation with him, if you don't mind." Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Chopper jauntily hop away from Trafalgar, the suspended arm already beginning to slot back together. "It seems as if your arm is ready anyways. We can continue this conversation when we have warm food in out bellies."

She seemed to notice that there was more he wasn't letting on… but accepted the excuse all the same. "Well I'm looking forward to it. The conversation and the food. Since as much as I hate to say it-" Strauss smirked impishly- "you've turned me into a bit of a food snob."

"Whaat? Me?" He splayed a hand on his chest. The very image of mock offence. "Now however could I have done that?"

"Hah!" She barked out a laugh and raised her hand in parting. "I'll see you later then." And then she turned back to stalk towards Trafalgar. Giving a slight over the shoulder glance as she did so.

Sanji lowered his hand, fingers digging into the flesh of his palm. He had forgotten how… nice it was to have her around. The rest of his crew was great and all, but Strauss? She was similar enough to get him, and different enough to give an alternate opinion. Knowing for certain that they were on the same side was enough to make him weightless.

"Snjjjj…" Brook squirmed beneath his shoe. "Lmmt!"

Right. He glared sharply down. There was one thing he really did have to set straight.

"Hey." Moving to crouch next to Brook's head, he reached out to make the skeleton face him. "I need to make a few things clear about how you treat Strauss…"

Having her arm back was lovely, Strauss noted as she stretched both of them above her head. While she could technically manage with out it there was always a lack of functionality that always annoyed her. It made her almost begin to sympathise with her father, when that accident had left him with a semi functioning limb.

Almost.

"You're lucky the fractures are minor." Law droned, placing the last of his operation tools in a zip locked bag to properly sterilise later. "As long as you do not do anything completely ridiculous and I take regular looks to ensure the shards are positioned correctly, you should be healed up within two or three weeks."

So just as she'd expected then. That was nice. She straightened, "Is there anything you want to prepare for our departure? I understand that a significant portion of our supplies are currently inside the facility, but I'm sure I can scrounge up the essentials."

"There is no…" His lips pursed, the usual dark circles around his eyes crinkling in intense concentration. "Actually, could you come with me for a moment?"

She arched a brow, but the answer was still immediate. "Of course."

As they left she shot a quick glance over her shoulder back towards the makeshift stove. The brickwork had fully been laid down, and Sanji was directing (a surprisingly downtrodden) Brook to help him stoke the fire under a gigantic pan. They'd made some progress. Not much, but enough to begin to reach towards common ground. Hopefully they'd be able to talk with a bit more privacy on the journey to Dressrosa.

"Hmm…" Law stopped, Kikoku tapping gently against his shoulder. "Here will do."

Strauss frowned. 'Here' wasn't anything she had expected. In fact 'here' was absolutely nothing. All she and Law had done was taken a few steps away from the main party, close enough to hear the various whoops and yells in case they were needed and far enough to be away from prying eyes, but there wasn't actually anything there. A few ice cliffs. The facility wall. A sudden gust of icy wind pierced through her jacket, causing her body to involuntarily shudder.

Why was she feeling so nervous all of a sudden?

"I should actually be thanking you, Strauss-ya. For getting yourself hurt." Tattooed olive fingers flexed in the freezing air, almost as if pulling on invisible strings… or feeling around for something. "It made doing this just that much more covert."

It was then that she realised. Law hadn't closed his Room after reconnecting her arm. It was still open. And, if she was judging it correctly…

…the dome was spanning half the island.

"You shouldn't be using this much strength," she hissed. "Do you think you will be much good to anyone if you passed out?"

"And do you think I would be pushing myself if it wasn't important?"

Her lips pursed. The answer obvious.

He let out a tired breath, the faint sheen of sweat already beginning to glimmer on his brow. "Do you have a-"

"Of course I do." She removed the pouch of pebbles she always kept with her, withdrawing one and preparing to throw. "Whenever you're ready."

"Go."

A simple flick of her wrist and the pebble was soaring through the air. Twisting and turning,seemingly suspended in a moment of near impossible gravity. And then… it vanished. Revealing in its place…

"Law what is this?" Strauss gaped as her captain knelt down to rummage around the box of partially frozen fruit. "Wh… Where did this even come fro… wait…" Crouching down herself she rubbed the frost away to reveal a very familiar label. "I ordered this for you! You said that you wanted a wide variety to run tests on. This was… how long has this been sitting here?"

"Ever since you ordered them."

She had almost forgotten that request after so much time. The only reason the memory stuck around was by how much she was struck by the weirdness of it all. It had taken her so much effort to even attempt to convince Law to eat fresh fruit, the stupid man choosing instead to drown himself in vitamine supplement pills that he knew full well was not good for him. But he'd asked for more and more crates, so for a while she thought she'd gotten through to him.

Apparently not.

"During the nights I carved out slots for them within the ice," Law continued, having somehow managed to open up the crate and now digging through the contents with red fingered hands, "both to keep them from prying eyes-" He observed a frosty green apple, only to chuck the thing over his shoulder- "and to preserve them for so long. Since I wasn't sure about if we'd need them."

Strauss reached out and caught the apple. Then the grapefruit, the pomegranate, and various bundles of fruit that Law inspected for a moment then discarded. "But… why?" She rearranged the growing pile in her arms. "If we'd need them?"

"You know about the SMILE production, correct?"

"Yeah?"

"Well I noticed something during one of the tests-" a bunch of grapes flew to join the pile- "particularly in the early stages, when the experiments lead to not very effective devil fruits that Caesar then had to euthanise."

The cogs began to tick.

"It was purely by chance. I was standing next to the crate of apples that were being used as test fruit so I could observe properly. When I realised that one of the pieces of fruit next to me changed. Right at the moment the test subject's pulse stopped for good. Another stone."

Strauss barely registered tossing another pebble, nor a second crate of fruit appearing where it fell. Her head was already starting to spin as lines she would never have expected making began connecting to each other one by one.

"Now I was not certain if the two events were linked or if they merely shared a correlational relationship. So I made sure to attend each one of the SMILE tests from that moment on."

Yes she remembered. She'd been left to her own devices for several months, tasked with getting closer to Monet and potentially connecting with Joker himself. Alongside getting her hands on as many species of fruit as she was able. Law's silence hadn't been insulting, since she knew full well the precariousness of their situation. As the saying went, to trick the enemy you must first trick your friends.

"Considering the same event kept happening every time the subject died, I have a strong belief that my initial suspicions were correct. However that does not guarantee that this will have worked."

A bunch of tomatoes collided with Strauss's head. Thankfully not splattering. Not that she would have noticed.

"Monet and Vergo are most likely dead," Law continued impassively, taking a moment to stop tossing fruit and instead beginning to rummage around with his bare hands. "If not from the facility collapsing or the deadly gas, then from asphyxiation. Vergo I could not care less about, but Monet on the other hand-"

"-had eaten a Devil Fruit," Strauss breathed.

The air seemed to still. Wind ceasing to move for that very moment.

"Yes." He said slowly, lips pursing just enough to make her worried. "The Snow Snow Fruit. A logia type."

"One you didn't know the base fruit for," she continued, unable to do anything but stare wide eyed at her captain's back, "so… you asked me to get as many different types as possible."

"It was too dangerous to allow back into Doflamingo's hands. Even with Armament Haki, a logia user is far too deadly to risk letting loose into the world again. Originally I would have been content just letting the fruit sit dormant beneath the ice exce-" He froze. Arm still sunk into the crate.

Strauss gulped. "Except…?"

He drew it out slowly. Hand almost shaking as he stood. And turned to face her. "Except I felt that it would be a waste."

The fruit itself was small. Still inside a mesh bag, since it had been practically impossible for her to obtain one on its own. A singular clementine, icey blue against its orange companions and with great dramatic spikes distorting the peel was being offered to her. Some of the swirls on its skin still midway through the process of forming. It looked cold. It felt cold. As if her eyes would freeze over just from the sight of it.

"Well then." A grin. One of the most terrifying she'd ever seen from him. Full of gleaming teeth and unbridled savage excitement. With what could only be the Snow Snow Fruit sat in the middle of his palm. "It appears you have a decision to make."

A/N

OKAY I DON'T WANT TO GIVE THIS A LONG A/N SINCE I BANGED THE ENDING OUT SO FAST BECAUSE I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS MOMENT FOR SO LOOOOONG! And not necessarily because of what you guys think. Since this has been something I've been mulling over for a while now. And maybe... haven't fully made a decision on yet. So before you think I'm going to go one way or the other, maybe take a few steps back and think. Since this? Made me write 1k in one sitting (I kid you not). Which is why you get a slightly longer chapter than usual.

Like always, thank you so much for the love you give this fic. I'm so glad you guys love reading it just as much as I love writing it. I've been struggling on some of my other stuff recently and this was just the breath of fresh air I needed to get it done! Feel free to comment your predictions for the future! Will she eat it? Will she decide to stay fruitless? Is this even the Snow Snow Fruit (or Yuki Yuki no mi, yes I know. I prefer to use only one language for my fics to preserve the sense of immersion, unless that word isn't directly translatable). And I'll see you all for the next update! Bye for now!