DISCLAIMER: I own nothing except my OC, her abilities and her family. One piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda, and Bleach belongs to Tite Kubo. This story takes place immediately after "Between Heaven and Sea", so if you haven't, read that one first otherwise, there are things that won't make sense.

The twenty-four-year-old man sat across from the silvery blonde-haired woman. His honey hued eyes looking meeting the steel grey seemingly void of emotion. However his jaw was clenched, and he was in a cold sweat despite wearing a black sleeved yellow hoodie, the center of which held his jolly roger. He was wearing animal print deco jeans and black boots. His fingers bared the word 'death' with the 'd' on the baby finger of each hand, and the 'h' on his thumbs. He also had tribal tattoos on the backs of each hand, his fore arms, his shoulders, back and chest. On his head was a white animal print hat with a thick white bill.

Although his eyes looked calm, the rest of his body certainly didn't. The white teacup trembled in his hand before he sat it down on the tea saucer. He gripped the table, forcing himself to take slow, steady breaths. The woman at the other side of the table moved to grasp his hand then hesitated and hovered instead. After a moment he let go of the table and grasped her hand in his own. She understood this gesture and squeezed his hand reassuringly. His eyes had gone wild, as the reality of what she had just disclosed to him solidified in his mind. Then with her squeezing his hand, his eyes seemed to calm, and his breathing regulated.

He looked to her, still wearing the same plain yukata she had been wearing she had appeared to him on the deck of the Polar Tang not two hours ago. He took a few more deep breaths before asking, "I-I have a kid?"

The silvery blonde nodded in agreement and verbally confirmed, "yes. She's five years old now. I know it's a lot. I'm sorry. I—when I got called back, I didn't know I was pregnant. Then when I realized I was, I thought about finding you, but every conversation I started in my head began with 'I know we're young and we never talked about our feelings on parenthood'."

He nodded, seeming to understand that part at least, but his mind still wondered why she'd wait six years to come back and drop this on him?

As if she were reading his mind, well, maybe she was. He was well aware she was one of the few among her kind that was gifted with telepathy. "Then I had her and she looked so much like you—I never wanted to be away from her. I'd do anything to keep her safe and healthy. I wanted her to know you but that also posed another problem. Technically it's illegal for my kind to procreate with a human—technically she shouldn't exist. If I came back and told you without another reason for my being here—I was risking her," she revealed.

'Sounds like a no-win situation,' Law thought to himself. He gained a smile as he stated, "but you said you found something to investigate here right, Goddess-ya?"

"That's correct. It's something that I encountered when I was with the Spade Pirates for a while," Rina confirmed.

Law gave a small smile before suggesting, "maybe you should team up with the first pirate crew you worked with—and see if you can bring your daughter along. We'll do whatever we can to keep her safe."

"I never doubted that. I just question if I can get clearance," Rina admitted.

He nodded and played with the sleeves of his hoodie for a moment. It was an old behavioral tick from when he was a teenager, something he'd do when he was contemplating something personal. He'd performed the same gesture before asking her to join him for lunch the first time. Some things really never changed.

He looked to her and asked, "do you have a picture of her?"

Rina smiled and nodded as she pulled a few photos from her obi and slid them over to him. He looked to them, taking in the little girl's dark hair, honey hued eyes, petite nose, high cheekbones, and oval face. A smile spread across his lips as he looked over to Rina and stated, "I get what you mean. She has my hair, eyes and complexion—but the rest is all you. She's beautiful—my beautiful little girl."

"I named her Cora," his ex-girlfriend stated, she hesitated before revealing her daughter's full name, "Shimizu D. Lami Cora."

"Keep that part of her name hidden," Law cautioned.

Rina nodded, "of course. Only family knows about that—and I know they'll keep that secret. A smile of approval came from the Surgeon of Death as he went back to studying the photos Rina had shared with him. He felt a lightness in his chest that he hadn't felt in years. He glanced back up and admitted, "tell me about her? I want to know everything. When was she born? What's her favourite colour?"

Rina had to stifle a giggle before answering, "her birthday is June 23rd. Her favourite colour is yellow. She hates bread and red meats, loves any style of fish but the type of fish is a different story. She's not a big fan of eel or trout. She loves Onigiri, especially with salted salmon filling. She's a night owl which definitely causes problems with bedtime, and she is not a morning person at all. When she gets older, I can see her needing coffee to wake up."

Law laughed, running a hand over his face as he listened. This child he'd never met as almost his mini clone. He noticed her shiver a little. He stood up from the table and left the room. Rina bit her lip slightly wondering if she should follow him. She began to gather up the pictures of Cora and then felt something being draped over her. Glancing at her arms she spotted a yellow thermal blanket. She glanced up at Law who gave no physical response but stated while he sat back down, "you looked cold."

"More like tired. I didn't sleep very much last night," she confessed, suppressing a yawn. Law nodded in acknowledgement, recalling that time in her world and his was different. He met her gaze while offering, "you could nap in my room for an hour if you want?"

"Just an hour? I'm likely gonna need two," she objected.

He chuckled, "you're still the same Goddess-ya I remember."

"You're still not going to call me that around other people, are you? You did promise," she reminded him.

He grinned cheekily as he assured her, "I remember. Don't worry, I'll revert to your other nickname around others."

Rina raised an eyebrow skeptically while pressuring him, "which one? You gave me several."

Law laughed and once more gave a nod of his head, "I'll just stick to Maniac Medic. You were a bit of a maniac back in the day—cutting someone open in the middle of the street."

Rina laughed as she pushed back although she'd begun to mumble, "hey! He'd been shot and if I hadn't done that the bullet would've travelled right to his aorta. I saved his life."

"Not disputing that—but it was a gutsy move. I respected you right then and there," Law conceded. He stood up from his seat and went over to Rina. With one swift move he'd picked her up and began walking towards his room with her. As he walked through the halls of the Polar Tang, he noticed her breathing evened out. Her head rested against his shoulder. She'd fallen asleep that easily in his arms. Either she was exhausted, or she still had as much trust in him as before. Perhaps it was a bit of both.

He reached his room and gently kicked the door open. He carried her over to his bed and moved to lay her down alone, but her fist clutched his shirt. He glanced down slightly startled. He had two choices; join her, or he could try to free her fist from his clothes. He knew she was physically stronger than him. That was just the nature of her kind. Physically they were stronger and more resilient than humans- the downside was that they were normally intangible and invisible which allowed them the ability to not intervene in human affairs.

He could sense her even if she was visiting in her natural state as a spirit, but if she used the Apex of time to visit, as she had this time and when he first met her, she was as tangible as any other human. As it turned out, being tangible also came with its own set of risks. He couldn't bring himself to say that he regrated anything about Cora being born but he'd be lying if he didn't at least acknowledge the situation was precarious.

He made his decision. He took off his hat, placing it on the nightstand by his bed and climbed in behind her. He kept his hands to himself but when she turned over and cuddled into him, he wrapped an arm around her, the scent of strawberries and orange pekoe tea still fresh on her breath as well as a tinge of camellia flowers from her hair. Likely her shampoo, if he recalled correctly. It wasn't a perfect situation, but he was happy to have his first love in his life again.