This… was insane. Completely and utterly insane! The sun had been… she couldn't see it anymore… It was blotted out! By the immense walls of water that had now risen up to almost the height of the top of the Marine Headquarters! Forming the biggest tsunami Strauss had ever seen in her life… not that she'd seen many.

It was dumb. She should have anticipated something like this ever since Whitebeard sent off that quake. Even if she hadn't quite known what it was at the time. She'd heard stories when working in Sabaody about earthquakes and tsunamis… and never quite put two and two together. An earthquake displaces matter. When water is displaced, it causes a wave. She could remember talking about it with Law when wondering about how currents under the surface affected the Polar Tang.

Law…

Strauss sucked in a deep, deep, breath. The sheer force of which making her face regain the tension she needed to keep her emotions under wraps. He would be fine. He wasn't an idiot. Hopefully he'd seen the signs sooner than she had, and moved the Tang into a safer location. She couldn't worry about him now.

Thankfully everyone's attention was pulled towards the waves, and their almost cloud-like surf foaming at the very top of the watery walls. So she had some space to school here expression once more before people noticed.

Whitebeard's laugh continued, bellowing around the island with so much energy and mirth that it was hard to believe that this was the beginning of a war. Ace himself seemed to be experiencing a strange mixture of horror and excitement… for reasons Strauss wasn't quite sure of. That or… she was choosing not to. She wasn't sure at this point.

So much adrenaline was pumping through her veins that thinking straight was becoming increasingly difficult.

A blur caught her eye as a large figure leapt into the air from below. She deliberately lowered her head, hoping the shadow of her hat brim would be enough to hide the fact that she really didn't belong. But she heard the crackling. And saw the wall of water develop what must be a thick layer of ice, stretching from the top to the bottom.

"ICE AGE!"

Despite it being so far away (relatively speaking… the wall of water had advanced too close to the island for her own comfort) the air seemed to grow colder. Although perhaps that was mostly psychological than anything physical. With the way her flesh was erupting into goosebumps, she couldn't trust anything anymore.

"Aokiji."

That single word and the temperature descended further.

Whitebeard spat out a laugh. "You damn youngster!"

More cracks. "Partisan."

Several icy spears entered into view, aimed directly at the pirate. Whitebeard slammed his fist against the air once again, shattering the ice into miniscule dust.

"Oh."

Strauss risked the glance up to see the Admiral himself… shatter. Compressing into a pile of ice shards that crashed into the open water of the dock below.

Crrr…

Before she had time to blink it was ice. The entire circle of water engulphing the Whitebeard fleet… Ice. Thick and spiked, and trailing up the sides of Marineford's ramparts like a living animal.

She let out a breath. And watched it condense in front of her.

This was… She stifled a shudder as the first fire of cannons echoed out towards the Moby Dick, the sound almost deafening after so much tense silence. She'd known a little about the Admiral's incredible devil fruits… and about Aokiji's ice… but seeing it in action was…

…

Law couldn't surface. If he wasn't currently trapped within a literal iceburg freezing to death. Which meant that she… couldn't rely on backup. He couldn't come to rescue her. Not yet at least.

Another breath in. Another breath out.

She could do this. She could do this. She had to.

As she stood back and watched the forces run out across the ice and meet with swords in the middle.

.

Life on the Thousand Sunny was… interesting. To say the least. Law was getting used to it bit by bit, but still found himself being thrown around with some of the Straw Hats' hijinks. It didn't help that the samurai and his kid had stuck around for some reason he couldn't for the life of him figure out. Apparently it was for some important trip? But he couldn't really care less.

The call with Doflamingo had gone fantastically. It would be an outright lie if Law said he didn't feel at least a little satisfied at seeing that preening face droop a little on the other end of the snail. He'd been waiting for that feeling for a while now.

"Law?"

He took the proffered cup with a gracious nod. Soul King had offered him tea, which he had no doubt the quality of which was amazing, but he immensely preferred his coffee. He took a deep sip, relishing the caffeine hit with heavy lidded eyes, "Are you ready for the next step, Strauss-ya?"

"Of course I am." Her arms remained crossed as they both stood a safe distance from the rest of the gathering of Straw Hats, the samurai, and the kid. "I meant it when I said I'd stand by you. You're not going to be an idiot and do this alone."

"Normally subordinates would be made an example of if they called their captain an idiot."

"You know I'm more useful to you intact."

He snorted. "I cannot deny that." For a moment he glanced down to that pouch. The place he knew it was stored. "How is your shoulder?"

Strauss knew what he was getting at. He knew from the way her hand instantly went down to the flap. Then her eyes narrowed. "Healing nicely. I can barely feel a thing anymore."

"...I see." Law turned to levelly meet her gaze. "Make sure you inform me if there are any updates. And if not-"

"I know." The hand over the pouch tensed. "I won't let anything happen to it."

"Hey Nami!"

Straw Hat's voice rung out from where he was perched on that cheery figurehead. Law resisted a sigh. If he hadn't had firsthand proof of Straw Hat's abilities, he would be seriously worried about his recklessness. As it was…

… haaaaaaaah.

His neck turned at a (normally) biologically impossible angle. "Where're we going next?"

"Hm?" Nami looked unphased as she glanced down to her log pose. "Just hold on a…"

"The next destination is already set." Law took a step forward. It would be foolish to try and convince them otherwise at this point given the hurry he was in to get there in time. He took another sip of his glorious coffee, Kikoku nestled safely in the crook of his arm. "We're heading to Dressrosa?"

"Dressrosa?" Straw Hat parrotted.

"Yes." He handed the now empty cup to Strauss, who vanished and reappeared without it. He'd have to talk to her about using that ability when she was recovering but no matter. "There's something we have to do there."

"D-Dressrosa?!"

A single brow raised on Law's forehead And the samurai was getting excited about this… why?

"His name is Kin'emon," Strauss's voice muttered in his ear.

"And I should care about that because…?"

She sighed. Even though it was a genuine question.

"What?" Straw Hat's head cocked to the side, and he stretched over to one of the railings surrounding the set of stairs. "Do you know the place?"

"T-That is precisely where we… I mean, I want to go!" The samurai clenched his fists energetically. "You need to go there too?!"

Interesting. Why was the singular more important there? Law noted that slip up for later musings.

"Yup. I think so." Straw Hat grinned toothily.

A bead of sweat formed on Law's forehead, "You have no idea what's going on, do you?"

"Nope!"

Uuuuuuuugh…

Beside him, Strauss crossed her arms and arched a brow accusingly.

Yes, he was aware that none of them had been in the New World long enough to hear of Dressrosa's reputation! But he'd told them that he was going after Doflamingo! He'd made that abundantly clear!

Her eyebrow raised higher.

Right! He got that Straw Hat was a loose canon. He'd been aware of that from the start. But he'd thought that some of the others would have working brain cells!

Strauss ran a hand down her face.

What?!

"Not everyone is tuned in to your trail of logic," she said aloud, voice low enough to avoid being overheard. "You can't expect them to immediately 'get' every single part of your plan. I've known you for years at this point, and I still struggle to know what you're thinking."

"Granted, but I thought that moving to Doflamingo's location was obvious," he hissed.

"It is, but they don't get that yet." She sighed again, but this time it wasn't out of exasperation. Her hand patted his shoulder. "I can be your mediator. Don't worry."

That was… a massive relief actually. The tension in Law's shoulders relaxed a little. He'd never been good with people. Emotions could be read by scrutinising their face and body language, but what went on inside their heads was another story entirely.

Neither one had time to respond before the deck lurched under their feet. Not in the way that waves typically affected a ship, but as if the Thousand Sunny was suddenly sailing at an angle. Both of them had experienced phenomena like this before, but typically from under the surface of the waves.

"Why… The current is shifting!" Nami sprinted over to the railing, knuckles whitening as she peered over at the choppy water. "What's going on here?!"

"It's a sea slope," replied Strauss. Standing just as still and straight as her captain despite the sharp angle of the deck. "You get used to them, they're pretty common. Just watch out for rocks."

"Yahooooooo! We're going so fast!"

Nami clicked her tongue, ignoring Luffy and instead turning to Franky at the wheel. "You heard her! Look out for rock reefs!"

"Whaddaya mean its common?!" The long nose yelped at Strauss. "It's uncommon!"

"To us maybe-" Black Leg thwacked him lightly across the head- "but Strauss and this guy have been in the New World for way longer than we have. So we should take their word for it."

Haaah…

Law flicked his eyes towards Strauss. Her face was impassive to begin with, but noticing his gaze she pursed her lips a little.

Good. She wasn't oblivious.

"You don't need to worry." He turned away from where she'd inevitably begun to glare at Black Leg. "We don't have to go against the current." Gesturing to Nami- "The needle in the middle of your Log Pose must be pointing towards Dressrosa by now, but don't try to go straight. Take a detour."

Her brow furrowed, "Why?"

Ugh… He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Must he explain everything. "Because it'll work out better for us."

"He means that they will be expecting us coming," Strauss added… despite the fact she didn't really need to. "Taking a detour will weaken their guard."

The swordsman scoffed. "You two are being such know-it-all smartasses."

Now Law did roll his eyes. Heavily.

"Takes one to know one…" Strauss muttered vehemently. Whatever Roronoa had done to piss her off so much, Law would never know. But he sure as hell wouldn't question it.

"Come to think of it, you were talking on a transponder snail earlier." Nico Robin cradled her head against her hand. "Who were you talking to?"

…

Without meaning to, his shoulders hunched. He could feel her gaze on him now. Possibly because he hadn't told her about this. But this was inevitable, and she had been indisposed at the time. So there was no use in worrying about it.

"...That was Doflamingo."

"D-Doflamingo?!" Long nose shrieked "You… You mean the Warlord?!"

STRAW HAT HADN'T TOLD THE REST OF HIS CREW YET?! Haaaaaaaaaaaagh! No wonder they were surprised about going to Dressrosa!

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Strauss run a very tired hand down her face. Oh. Right. He probably should have told her about that. It had been a very important call… but she had been having a mental breakdown. And he'd handled it all perfectly anyways.

…

Perhaps he shouldn't have been so harsh on Straw Hat for not telling his crew about Doflamingo. They hadn't had much time.

…

He was still probably going to receive some very strong words later, but he for one thought he was in the right here.

"From that-" Strauss straightened her shoulders once again- "I assume that the plan is already in action?"

"Plan?" Roronoa asked. "What plan?"

Straw Hat merely beamed, "Yeah! Tell us about the plan, 'Traussy! Get together everybody!"

Law noticed his crewmate stifle a shudder at that appalling nickname. To which he smirked.

"C'mon Tra-guy! Get over here!"

An expression which immediately fell from his face the very next moment. 'Traussy was probably worse (probably), but for some reason being called Tra-guy just felt… ugh. Both he and Strauss exchanged eye contact, and sighed. Commiserating in what could only be a very, very, long trip.

Thank goodness he wasn't alone in this madness.

A lot of information had been thrown their way. They were ultimately going up against Kaido, one of the four emperors. There were manmade Devil Fruits. Kaido had an army of about 500 of these fruit users. They were going after the distributor, Doflamingo, next. The stupid sheepish looking scientist was actually the one making the Devil Fruits.

And now this weird monocle wearing guy controlling animals in neon green collars had taken Caesar and they were all waiting for Luffy, Law, and Chopper to come back in the submarine after they'd sailed into his base.

Sanji puffed a line of smoke through his teeth.

Yeah. Pretty much a normal day for them, wasn't it.

And one for Strauss too he noted as she leant on the Sunny's railing next to him, watching the waters outside the almost circus tent looking ship with an almost vacant expression in her eyes. Although it seemed from the brief interactions he'd witnessed between her and Law that watching her 'captain' go off to do his own thing seemed like a pretty regular occurrence.

Somewhere behind him, he could hear the sound of Momonosuke babbling eagerly with Nami about how cool the Sunny was. For some reason that brat had grown particularly attached with her and Robin, but only a little with Strauss. Probably something to do with the relative 'flatness' of her chest compared to his two crewmates. Which was pretty fucking annoying.

His fist clenched.

It wasn't that he was jealous of a kid. No that would be stupid.

…but what sort of letcher was he in that he only liked their physical body?! Sure the female form was spectacular in every sense of the word, but there was far more to women then their bodies! Nami was one of the most intelligent people he'd ever met, and Robin had an almost macabre elegance that blew him away every time she smiled at him. And Strauss? Strauss?!

…

Letting his head tip forwards, he glanced towards her from behind the safety of his fringe.

The moonlight painting her hair several shades paler. The silhouette of her tall slender frame against the sky. That poise which she'd never seemed to have lost, even after going through what must have been literal hell to her. And those eyes. Brilliant in their sharpness.

It wasn't that she was perfect. Perfection didn't do her justice.

She was everything else and more.

"Is there something on my face?"

Sanji started as her face slipped into a begrudged smile.

"Sorry-" those eyes he'd just been thinking about flicked to his direction, the glowing end of his cigarette reflecting faintly in the irises- "you were being pretty obvious. I've become quite good at realising when I'm being watched, you know."

Oh. Right. She'd basically been in surveillance for however she'd long she'd been posted at Punk Hazard for.

"I… uh…" His hand reached for the back of his neck. "Sorry. I just… uh… Sorry." Any excuse he came up with sounded so lame… Wait why was he even thinking of excuses? Wouldn't a simple 'I missed you' be enough? No that also sounded lame. And was it even… Uh… No it wasn't was it? Could his brain please work?

"No it… That was a… Sorry." Strauss took a step back from the railing, shifting her weight so that she was now leaning at an angle. "I… still don't know what to say really."

Leaning over, he gave her shoulder a nudge with his own, "I don't mind silence. I can grab a meal. Just like old times."

"Ha!" Oh thank goodness. She smiled. "Honestly? That sounds nice." Sighing, something she seemed be doing more then he remembered, she pushed herself back to standing. "Since they're not going to get back faster if we just sit and wait."

Yes! Sanji stubbed out his cigarette and stowed the butt in a small metal container Usopp had designed all the way back when they'd been on the Merry ("You're not gonna get her burnt, you hear me!?") before glancing back to the small gathering of people behind him. "Anyone hungry? I'm gonna get some midnight snacks going while we wait."

Nami-san gave a cheery grin, "Sure, I can eat." Then she turned to the small child next to her, "Would you like something?"

"Ah!" Mononosuke's eyes glimmered, but if that was due to the idea of food or Nami-san's gloriousness Sanji didn't know. "I would not mind some nourishment!"

Further echoes of assent sounded from various locations around the Sunny.

"AOW! If you could get me some cola that'd be SUPER!"

"Yoho a midnight snack sounds lovely, Sanji!"

"I'd like a hot chocolate and cookies!"

"Miss Strauss, could I try one of your coffees?"

"Booze."

"You know," Strauss turned to him with an energetic gleam in her eyes, "I wouldn't mind going back to be head server for a bit. Like the old days?"

The smirk spread over his face before he even realised it. "This bunch can be pretty picky. Think you can handle it, Twinkle Toes?"

"Only if you get the food in my hands, you damn Pretty Boy."

And they were back. Just like that. Sanji went into the kitchen and prepared food (nothing too substantial, this was either very late at night or early in the morning and people still needed to sleep), setting the completed dishes on the counter for Strauss to pick up and distribute to their desired consumers. A simple strategy, but a tried and trusted one. While Sanji always enjoyed watching the faces of whoever ate his food, and found cooking to be an absolute joy, watching the very familiar movements of someone who knew their way around diners was so… satisfying. It brought him a strange sense of calm.

Especially when everyone's faces dropped at the speed she climbed the rigging up to that damn swordsman while never spilling a drop from the tankard in her hand. That was especially satisfying for some reason.

It also helped that by sheer coincidence that was absolutely nothing to do Sanji's portioning of ingredients, the left overs could be turned very easily into tiramisu. Again, that was from coincidence. Not any actual planning. Why would he ever do that?

…

What Strauss didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

In either case, the look on her face as she walked in to see the two plated treats was enough to have made it all worth it. "I…" She blinked a moment, eyes almost uncontrollably wide in a mix of shock and confusion. Then, her brow furrowed, "Sanji…"

"What?!" He threw up his hands in mock innocence. "It's not my fault that Robin-chan wanted a coffee, or Usopp wanted freshly made cookies and a hot chocolate! The ingredients were already out!"

"Sanji…" But she smiled. Albeit tiredly. "Fine. I know there's no talking you down here. But at least make something else next time, if I can ask that."

The excitement drooped from his shoulders, quickly replaced by a sudden tenseness that he didn't want to investigate. "But… this is special to us. And you love tiramisu."

"Exactly."

… Huh?

She reached out and took the glass from the countertop, a small smile playing at her lips, "It's because it's so special that I don't want it all the time. Otherwise I might start taking it for granted."

"O…Oh."

He wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. Since… that opinion was valid? Completely. Paulie and some of the other Galley La construction workers had been similar. But he didn't fully agree. If you had the opportunity to, treat yourself. Don't actively push it away because of the apparent value. Let it be special for you.

And besides, Strauss deserved this! She had been put through over the past two years, how could he not want to reward that effort. He was just going to have to build up her tolerance over time so that she could become more used to being treated with the respect she deserved. Especially once Law left and she was settling in here he could-

He clapped a hand over his mouth before he could mentally continue.

There was no way he'd… Uh…

He hadn't just assumed that Strauss was going to stay with him forever… had he?

Since that was stupid. Stupid stupid stupid stupid. She wasn't even on his crew anymore! She was a Heart Pirate. And there was no way that he'd go against her own decision like that, he had too much respect for her for that. And even with all that…

It would be nice, wouldn't it. For her to always be around. After all when Law's schemes had finally run their course, the alliance would be over. And she and Law would leave. Which left Sanji with a pit in his stomach just thinking about it. An unjustified feeling, sure, but one he felt all the same.

"Sanji? You okay there?"

"Oh. Yeah." He blinked a few times, hoping the way he forced a smile wasn't too obvious. "I was just overthinking a few things."

Strauss wasn't convinced. He could tell by the way her eyes narrowed in on him. "This isn't just about the tiramisu is it."

It was hardly a question.

"As I said… I was overthinking." Gingerly reaching out, he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Mostly about not having to see you again after this."

Hang on! Abort! He wasn't supposed to have said that! Fuck! Fuck! That was supposed to have been private!

But to his surprise, Strauss's own face fell at that moment. "I… wouldn't call that overthinking. It's actually something I've been thinking a lot about myself."

"Wait, really?" His other hand went out to her other shoulder. "You're serious, aren't you."

"Why wouldn't I be?" Her lips went taut. "I mean I basically entered the Grand Line to chase after you, so it's definitely something I'd be mulling over. But-" she added as his eyes began to gleam- "I haven't made a decision one way or the other. Or even understood how I feel for that matter."

"No no no take as much time as you need." Sanji's grip tightened as excitement coursed through him. "I want you to be happy no matter what you decide."

But the fact that she had been considering it at all made him happy. So damn happy. Having an old friend around would be so… so… Words couldn't even describe it. Amazing? Wonderful? The absolute best thing in the whole wide world save for the All Blue which would be made infinitely better just by knowing she was there with him while he found it?

You wouldn't feel this way about just anyone though.

No, he told his subconscious. Of course he wouldn't. Strauss was obviously special to him, he'd be an idiot if he didn't see that. And he knew that in some way, he was special to her. They'd gone through so much together, and shared so much together. Hell, he'd even been to her father's grave. You didn't do something like that with just anyone. No one, not Luffy, or even Nami-chan or Zeff could ever take that place.

Which was why the thought of leaving her behind back then had been…

Sanji chuckled to himself, leaning to rest his head against Strauss's with his eyes shut. There was very little distance between them now. Eating properly had allowed her to shoot up at a near impossible rate. But she was still Strauss. Now and forever.

"Okay? Now what are you doing?"

"Trying to stop you from mind reading."

"Mind rea…? When have I ever been able to do that?"

"I dunno. Call this taking precautions."

"Weirdo."

"Yup. I'm weird."

A pause. Heavy and comforting. As Strauss wrapped her arms around his waist and they stood there for what felt like all the time in the world.

"I'm glad you're here, you damn Pretty Boy."

"I could say the same, Twinkle Toes."

"Now can I have the tiramisu?"

"Pfft!" He had to stifle his shoulders. "Is that all I'm worth to you? Nice treats."

She sniffed, but with no small amount of amusement. "Doesn't hurt."

"Woooooow. I'm offended."

"That and being the kindest person I've ever met."

Now that brought him up short. Like a shot to the chest, but much softer. And far less agonising. But the impact was that strong. "You…" Sanji took a step back, so that he could properly look at her face. "You really think that?"

Strauss pulled a face.

"Yeah I know you don't lie about things like this, but… uh…" He couldn't pick out the words. They were merging messily together in his head. "Kind? Me? No one's ever really said that to me before."

The look on her face softened, and she reached up to lazily tousel his hair. "Not just anyone can make food for a pirate who is moments away from smashing up a restaurant."

"Ugh…" He ran a hand down his face. "Don't remind me. He knocked you out a few seconds after that."

"But would you do it again?" she asked expectantly.

"Yes." What sort of question even was that? "Obviously."

Strauss just smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Then you're kind. Kinder than kind even." The expression passed. Genuine softness now spreading over her. "And it's wonderful. So don't let anyone ever tell you otherwise."

God he loved her.

The thought didn't startle him. Probably because he'd known for some time. How could he not love someone so special to him. It was slightly different to the usual love he shared for ladies (although that was because Strauss was more than a simple lady), but a little more than what he felt for his other crewmates as well. It was more like the love he felt for Zeff, or those memories of Mom. Of someone he would devote his heart and soul for.

Even if… that didn't sound quite right to him for some reason.

"Thank you." Sanji reached out and gripped her hands between his own, thumb gently rubbing over the scars and callouses that littered her thick skin. "Seriously, thanks."

"Don't mention it, you idiot," she chuckled, nodding her head towards the kitchen behind him, "Eating your cooking again is all the thanks I need."

Oh! Right! The desserts! Sanji's hands dropped as he went to take the two, now slightly drooping, glasses of tiramisu and grin back at Strauss, "Then we need to actually go ahead and eat them, shouldn't we?"

Rolling her eyes, Strauss took the glass offered out to her. "Now that sounds like a plan. Do you have any good spots you can recommend?"

"Well?" He smirked gleefully. "There are a few rooftops that I think we can head to."

And so it was that the two of them spent the rest of the early morning sitting with their legs through the railings atop the dome roofed washroom in Sunny's stern. Smiling and exchanging small stories even when their desserts had long since been finished and the glasses sat stacked behind them. All the way up until the sunrise, when Luffy, Chopper appeared on the horizon riding atop the Shark Submerge surrounded by a strange mix of kung-fu dugongs and sea rabbits.

Even while greeting their respective crewmates, after Law emerged from the sub with a satisfyingly frazzled look on his face, they still never were all that far apart from each other. Just relishing in the opportunity and comfort they had as the sun rose higher into the sky. Things were good. As they had been since they'd left Punk Hazard.

That is… until the gull came to drop by the paper. And they all read the headline printed in large block letters on the front page.

'Donquixote Doflamingo withdraws from the seven warlords.'

A/N

HOLY MOLY THIS LAST UPDATED JUST UNDER 5 MONTHS AGO! I am so sorry gang I never meant for it to be that long. First there was NaNo (which went well considering how busy I was) and then it was a mix of me being worked off my feet combined with occasionally falling ill. Like seriously. I got a fever from a cold. Good times. But I am still alive after all that! Yaaaay!

Second (or is it third at this point?) big reason this is so late, and that's because THIS CHAPTER DID NOT WANT TO BE WRITTEN! I swear that I have over 2.5k words of cut content just from this chapter ALONE. It was messy. I'm pretty happy where it ended up now, but whoooo boy it took a while to get there. Sorry about that... But hey, at least I skipped past that weird filler arc that no one really remembers or cares about but is there for a fun easter egg for anime watchers. I was pretty happy with that.

I'm also becoming very quickly aware of how hard it is to write a blunt character. It's so hard to find dramatic pauses and hiding of information when your brain just goes "nah she's just going to say whatever's on her mind and what she doesn't say she's come to terms with"? Makes it hard to create tension. Which, as is probably obvious by how long most of my fics get, I really love. But hey, gotta love a challenge!

In either case, thank you all so much for hanging around and reading! It's seriously impressive that you've made it this far with me. Like wow... most of my plans for this ended around the time skip (some, not all), so the fact that you are still here and still like all this nonsense I plate up for you? That's awesome! I wish you all the very best, and a lovely timezone no matter where you are in the world. Here's to another great year!