After dinner was when Rina's mother, Tamika, arrived home from her barracks. As nervous as Law had been to meet his daughter, the anxiety of meeting Tamika was even worse. Thankfully she seemed to be pretty laid back, even asking if he was staying for the night. Law had thanked her but declined the offer. Rina had told her mother that once they had Cora to bed, they'd be leaving for his world again.

At this Cora whined and clutched her mother's arm. Rina had then knelt down and kissed their daughter's forehead, explaining that she had to gather some facts from his world to help something called Central 64 make a few decisions regarding some strange things that were happening.

The child sniffled a little but nodded. Law had crouched down at that point promising to look after Rina while she was away with him. Hearing this seemed to comfort Cora. A large hand was gently placed on the top of Cora's head, then ruffled her hair. The child looked up to see Ace smiling broadly at her as he pointed out that he'd be there with her while her grandma worked. Also that while he was at work she could come along with him and be his 'big helper'.

"I can't lift the swords though," Cora complained.

"No, that's true. But you're good at keeping the water cold so the steel sets properly," Ace reminded her.

This had earned the faintest of smiles from her. Rina had then pulled Cora into her lap and hugged her firmly while empathizing, "I know it's tough when I'm away. Grandma used to go on long missions when I was little too. I was a little bit older but it was still hard. I missed her. But you know something, Cora? The stars shine everywhere in all of creation. So does the sun. So when you miss me, look out at the stars and know wherever I am, I can see the stars too. I'll be looking at them when I miss you as well."

Cora rested her head against Rina's shoulder while asking, "you promise?"

"I promise," she assured her child. Cora looked to Law intently, as if memorizing every curve and distinctive feature of his face. After a while she had asked Law, "are you my daddy?"

He swallowed a lump in his throat, but nodded his head affirmatively while choking out, "yeah. I'm your Dad."

"So-" this time she looked back to Rina. His ex-girlfriend gave a resigned sigh as she shifted Cora in her lap so she could change how she was sitting with her and displace the child's weight more evenly on her legs.

"You're full of questions tonight," Rina remarked. She seemed to be thinking for a moment before answering, "I met your Dad about eight years ago when I was on vacation off world for a little less than two years. Do you remember me telling you about that? Before you were born?"

Cora nodded her head. Rina smiled as she explained, "we travelled together for some time. We grew close, and I didn't know that I was going to have you when I came back home. You were smaller than a sesame seed in my belly back then. Daddy had to stay at his home because he's still human. You know what that means?"

"We gotta be hush-hush?"

He almost swore he saw a flash of physical pain come over her as Rina confirmed, "Yeah, we gotta be hush-hush about who your Daddy is, can you do that?"

Cora nodded without hesitation. Law felt his heart twisting at the scene that had just unfolded in front of him. Damn his teenage hormones and impulsivity. This little girl just wanted her father, wanted him, but he had to keep away because of damn government rules. If he'd just thought ahead and worn a damn condom she wouldn't be going through this. A few minutes of pleasure wasn't worth causing a lifetime of heartbreak for an innocent life.

Yet, he couldn't feel guilty about it for too long because not even a minute later she looked to Law and asked, "story?"

Law smiled and nodded, "yeah, I can read you a story."

"Me and Sora. We share our room with Grandma and Mommy," Cora corrected.

Law blinked a little and looked to Rina. She shrugged and admitted, "hey, it's better than staying huddled under a thin blanket by a campfire at night hoping nobody tries to hurt anyone in your group. It's not perfect, but it's shelter."

Law nodded a little and cleared his throat, saying he'd step out while the family got ready for bed. Rina nodded and advised him that her mother was outside.

Law stepped outside of the house and waited by the door way although he caught a glimpse of a woman with her hair up, she had a lit candle lamp nearby, enough to illuminate the surrounding area and herself. At first he didn't pay too close attention until his eye caught sight of something alarming. Scrolled across the top of her back in jagged letters was the word 'whore'. Realization dawned on him as he realized what that meant, causing him to gasp.

At the sound of his gasp the woman pulled the yukata that had been down around her waist back up properly onto her shoulders and turned as she was fixing the sash. Law was alarmed to see the woman who bore the physical reminder of such a horrific act was in fact Rina's own mother.

Her eyes became downcast as she apologized, "I'm sorry, I didn't realize you'd be out here. I usually apply an ointment to it at night. I always hope it'll lighten the scarring, but unfortunately it doesn't seem like it ever will."

"I didn't mean to intrude," Law apologized as well.

She shook her head a little and offered an explanation, her childhood had been more difficult than the childhood any of her children had experienced. Even Rina's earliest memories weren't as turbulent, although Tamika admitted she would've liked to have been able to provide her twins more from the very start. The difficulty of her childhood had made her high risk for rape, and that's exactly what had happened to her as a child only for a teenager in the district to intervene before her attacker could murder her.

'Now I feel like a jackass for being upset with everyone sharing rooms,' Law berated himself.

"I get that," he admitted.

He hesitated, but figured since she shared her past he may as well reveal his own. Taking a deep breath he began telling his own tragic story of his own childhood including about how Corazon had helped him gain his unique abilities that ultimately saved him from a fatal disease called Amber Lead Syndrome, and the horrors he'd experienced because of Amber Lead Syndrome existing.

"My word you've been through a lot," Tamika remarked with a grimace.

Law met her indigo blue eyes as he stated, "I'm not the only one here that's survived more shit than anyone deserves in a lifetime."

Tamika smiled a little as she replied, "I suppose—but that's exactly why I joined the guard squads. I always stuck to law enforcement or law regulation within the guard squads. So I could be as direct as possible in ensuring that the next generation after me is at least a little safer."

Law gave the faintest of smiles while agreeing that sometimes trauma can destroy you, or strengthen what you already were. Sometimes both happens but not at the same time. He had admittedly fallen into a very dark place after that night, but one man helped him find his footing again—the man who saved him, Cora's name had come from his codename, Corazon.

"We were both lucky to have met amazing friends when we needed compassion the most," Tamika offered.

"Yeah," Law agreed as he glanced up at the stars, now wondering how many times Cora-san would stay awake after he went to sleep and looked at the night sky. Though the stars did look different here compared to his home, Rina hadn't told a complete lie to their daughter.

He looked to the doorway and saw Rina standing there. He'd then gone in and read the velveteen rabbit to the girls. Once they were asleep Tamika entered the room and took her spot on the bed. With everyone asleep Rina lead Law out of the house and raising a hand in front of the doorway uttered the word, "Kyomon."

From what Law could see nothing had changed, though he later found out that Kyomon was a kido barrier that was difficult to break from the outside but easy to break from the inside. She then repeated her previous actions with her Zanpakuto to take them back aboard the Polar Tang.

There it was still day time, night hadn't happened yet. Law looked to Rina and thanked her for letting him meet Cora.

"She is your daughter," Rina pointed out. She regarded her attire and almost face palmed. Law went over to his wardrobe and searched through for a bit before tossing a red sundress at her.

She caught it and looked to him slightly bewildered, "did you keep everything of mine?"

"No. Just a few favourite items that I enjoyed seeing you wear," he answered. He hesitated before commenting, "I didn't realize your mother's past was so dark."

"It's like I told you when we met: everyone has a past," she reminded him.