Water Lily

by Irene Sharda

An undercover RA agent notices something on the battlefield of Marineford that shouldn't be there, something only she can see. She finds life where there should be none. Deciding to take a chance, she takes a closer look, and that second glance changes everything. One brother lives, another is found, and history is altered.

24. 24 - Once Was Blind, But Now I See

Happy Thanksgiving!

All I can say is: Enjoy.

Warning: There is medical jargon all over the place.

---

Chapter 24 - Once Was Blind, But Now I See

Lily

Having a chance to talk to Marco had helped her calm her brain a little bit. It had also given her some confidence that she wasn't going crazy.

Marco also found her theories to be interesting and that perhaps her instincts were trying to tell her something. He would help her investigate the matter, though he cautioned her against directly confronting Trafalgar Law.

"If he's got secrets and he knows that you are trying to uncover them, he will simply shut down and leave and then we'll be back at square one. Despite what some other meathead pirates think, there are ways to get what you want without using the direct approach." The zoan advised her, "Let me do some digging and ask a few questions to see if this is worth pursuing."

After about twenty minutes of their enjoyable talk-flight session, Marco headed back down to the deck of the Polar Tang.

Lily was surprised to see both Ace and Rayleigh waiting for them there, watching them land with concern. However, she was surprised to not see Luffy anywhere. Ace was leaning on Rayleigh, his haki strength probably zapped. He looked exhausted and afraid, which was strange. She looked beyond him to the people still on the shore and noticed that there was a hushed silence over the entire area, many of them looking in their direction as if they had seen a ghost.

Ahh, the cat must be out of the bag then.

It was going to happen sooner or later, but she didn't think that revealing his identity to a crowd of Heart Pirates and a few of the Kuja, would garner the kind of reaction that she saw from the two men that she had spent a week in Styx with.

Marco seemed to agree as he transformed back into his human form after she had alighted. "What's wrong?"

Ace eyed them both, "Where's Luffy?"

The blond arched an eyebrow, "I thought he was with you?"

The raven let out a curse before moving towards the entrance of the sub. "If he's not with you two, Jinbe had to have taken him to that Trafalgar guy."

Rayleigh helped him along through the door as the other two followed confused. "The brat wasn't careful with his stitches, he began to bleed out. We sent Jinbe back here with him almost half an hour ago."

Both doctors grimaced before following the pair. Lily asked with concern, "Is he alright? How much did he lose?"

Ace gritted his teeth as he tried to maneuver down the stairs haphazardly, "A lot."

He nearly tripped in his urgency and was about to fall head-over-heels down the stairwell if he wasn't held back by both Rayleigh and Marco.

"Alright, come on. We don't need you breaking anything. The doctors have had enough of you two boys as it is."

Without pausing a step, the old man picked up the pyromancer and swung him around before plopping him horizontally onto his shoulders. Remarkably to the other two, Ace made no more protest than a small outcry of surprise at the move before holding on to his new perch as they continued on ahead.

Marco watched the two of them before whispering to Lily by his side. "What exactly went on in Styx that whole time? I know he's worried about StrawHat, but I've never seen Ace like this before."

Lily watched as a very exhausted Scha skittered from off Rayleigh's back towards her and into her waiting arms. As she carried him, she thought about the question and her thoughts went back to her observations of the two. She didn't really know what the relationship between Ace and Rayleigh had been like, but as far as she could tell, they seemed to have developed a close, almost parental bond since the silver-haired man had been helping her care and heal Ace.

Ace trusted Rayleigh, which was something she knew didn't come easily, and Marco probably also knew that. How that trust had been gained and nurtured she couldn't quite explain, so all she said was, "He trusts him and he trusts us and he's concerned about his brother. I don't even think he's really thinking about it."

It also seemed to be a good thing that the elder man was leading since he seemed to be the only one who knew where he was going on this new vessel. The others followed him until they came to a set of double doors and the giant blue Fishman who stood worriedly in front of it.

Lily had never met the warlord before, and from the onset his size and large fangs made him a bit intimidating. However, Lily had heard nothing but praise from Koala and Hack about the male, and he was an ally and friend of all the men around her, and he had saved Dragon's son's life. So she calmly followed the rest of her companions as they greeted him.

The whale shark male turned towards their approach in surprise. "Marco! Rayleigh! Ace!"

Rayleigh wasted no time, "How's he doing, Jinbe?"

"They said Marco had left when I came so I let some of the Heart Pirate executives know and they hurried Luffy into the operating room. Dr. Trafalgar came a couple minutes after that. He's operating on Luffy right now."

Marco spoke up, "Did you hear anything about a prognosis?"

The male repeated to them some of what he had heard said in the OR, which only caused their faces to become even grimmer.

Ace looked at the doors thoughtfully before stating with determination, "I want to be with him."

They looked up at him for a moment before Marco spoke the obvious. "You can't, Ace. You have to let them work. You can't get in their way."

The raven wasn't put off, "I won't. But I need to be there. Luffy can't be left alone right now."

Lily then spoke up, placing a comforting hand on Ace's shoulder. "You have to trust him to do his job, Ace. I'm sure they'll let us know when he's stable enough for you to—"

His head snapped over to hers, "Ange… please understand."

As his eyes met hers, she saw what really was existing there. There was indeed a little bit of guilt, some frustration, but more than a ton of fear and concern too. Marco came by her side, "We do understand Ace, we really do. We wouldn't be here if we didn't. But…"

Jinbe this time stepped up, "Your presence could cause infection and other complications for him, and then you'd have no one to blame but yourself."

"I can—"

"And on top of that, you would not be able to stomach Trafalgar's way of operating. You'd only cause trouble."

Somehow this only made the fire-user even more outraged, "What's that supposed to mean?! What's he doing to my brother?!"

"Calm down," Marco admonished him. "The Heart captain has the Op-Op fruit, he uses the fruit to do surgery. The effects of it though are a bit hard to imagine. But it's what makes him one of the best doctors in the world, and perhaps the best surgeon period. He's already saved StrawHat's life before. Your brother is in good hands!"

"I don't know him!" Ace argued back. I don't trust him.

Silvers spoke up for the first time, his strong quiet voice breaking through all the others. "You know me, Ace."

Ashen eyes glanced over at the man, he didn't say anything and his demeanor was still ruffled, but his eyes said that he was listening.

"You're too emotional to go in there and be of any help to Luffy."

Teeth began to grate once again in frustration, but Rayleigh continued regardless.

"However, I and the lass will go in there and do everything in our power to help him. I won't leave that room unless it's to get you. And I will tell you the full truth when I do. You have my word."

Lily watched Ace deliberate for a few pregnant moments before he turned to look at her. She returned his gaze as openly as she could. She knows that Ace trusted her as a doctor and a friend. She would try to do right by him on both fronts.

She could see in those silver eyes when he finally assented.

"Alright, but the minute that—"

"We'll get you." Lily placed a reassuring hand to his cheek. "Trust me."

His face warmed at her understanding and laid a hand on top of her own.

Rayleigh gave them an extra second before lifting up his brat off his shoulders and turning him over to Marco.

The Phoenix supported him by flipping his arm over his shoulder and holding onto his torso. "Take him to the room across the way, take a look at him too. He's been trying to hide his pain from using his fire with Hancock and in his fight earlier."

Marco and Lily's head snapped over to him.

"You were using your fire?" The blond commented flatly.

"I had to—"

"You got into a fight?" the lady admonished him with an annoyed frown.

"But I—"

"You can tell me your excuses while I give you a thorough examination." Marco reproved dryly.

Rayleigh moved to show them where the room was, "Both of you try to rest and gain your stamina back."

Lily left Marco to deal with any damage Ace had probably done to himself, her mind had already begun to think about what was going on in the operating room beyond. From what the ex-warlord had said, Ace's brother was already in the throes of hemorrhagic shock. If Law was as good as his reputation and her first impression seemed to suggest, she shouldn't be needed. But she would do whatever she had to do to keep her promise.

She spoke quietly, "You should go with them Schaden. Keep an eye on them and rest. You know you hate ORs."

The Cimmarian looked up at her before nodding and sluggishly moving to the floor and disappearing into the shadows. She smiled hoping that after all this, her partner could get a proper rest from all this excitement.

She turned—only to run straight into a very wide, highly muscled chest.

Looking up, she suddenly found herself staring into the face of one Jinbe, First Son of the Sea.

When he found himself in her space and that he ultimately was towering over her, he took a step back, scratching the back of his head bashfully. "Sorry about that, I wanted to introduce myself since you're the only person I haven't met yet in this group. I'm Jinbe, captain of the Sun Pirates. And you are…Ange?"

She smiled before shaking her head with a laugh, "Oh no, that's only what Ace calls me. Haven't been able to get him to stop since we first met and he insisted for some reason. You can call me Lily, I'm Ace's doctor."

His eyes got larger and he then began to smile even wider, "Ah, so you're Lily. I've wanted very much to meet you. Very much so."

Rayleigh, who had been making sure Ace and Marco had found their way to the patient rooms, came back into the fray. "Yes Jinbe, this is the missy I was talking about and after this is all over, she can give you an entire dissertation on how she brought Ace back to life. But for now, let's go and check on the brat so that I can put the other brat's mind at ease."

The Fishman nodded, "If you're going, I want to come just to keep an eye on the pup. Of course, though you would have the same problem that I explained to Ace about germs, I guess you guys could wash first."

Lily shook her head, her eyes beginning to glow as she activated her power. She raised her hands to them. "Nothing so crude, Sir Jinbe."

---

Law

"What do you mean we don't have enough?!" Law couldn't believe this.

"We don't have any more Type S or F, Captain." Clione repeated, trying not to fold under the surgeon's stormy ire. "We ran out after the previous surgeries."

"And I'm just finding out about that now ?" Law growled in anger.

"We didn't expect to have two major operations back to back, sir! And especially not two patients that happened to have the same blood had planned to restock after we left here." His assistant tried to explain.

"And you didn't think to send it to me in a report? You know how I hate incompetence in my OR!" Law turned away in disgust, before banging his hands against the operating table, looking up at StrawHat, whose body had been broken up into pieces in order to better seal up the torn blood vessels.

But it didn't matter if he sealed up the vascular system if there was nothing left to travel through it! He needed blood and he needed it now! He didn't have any time to go and raid a blood bank or even go and shake down the people outside for their blood and then test and screen it before completing a transfusion.

Ikkaku looked over at both her captain and her trembling crewmate and thought perhaps it was best that she kept her mouth shut, but the dire situation that they happened to be in made her at least try.

"Captain…what about y—"

Law's cold silver gaze cut her off before she could go any further. "Do you see any other surgeons here? I can't do both."

She didn't bother to answer, already understanding his meaning and his frustration.

Law sighed, trying to calm himself down. Mistakes were made, no sense in crying about it. He needed to concentrate on the here and now. He quickly scanned through the people in the room and nearby and their vital information that he kept inside his head. Ikkaku, Clione, Shachi, and Penguin were all type X. Hakugan was S but it was positive and he didn't need that possible complication. Bepo was S negative, but he didn't know where the mink was and he was unsure if the mix of mink and human blood would have any adverse effects. However, if it was his only shot—

He turned around and looked at his assistants. "One of you go out there and get—

However before he could even finish his statement, the sound of her voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Tell me the issue, I can help."

He whirled around and saw Lam–Lil—that woman!—had entered the OR. She was followed by Silvers Rayleigh and Jinbe, the other two hanging back a bit letting her take the lead.

And just like that, with a single glance of her eyes and the sound of her voice, his walls and every bit of resistance that he had built up once again were broken down. And rather than yelling at her to get out of his operating room (and out of his life) or asking what any of them were doing in there without having washed first, he found himself inexorably answering her question and even shifting over to give her room by his side as she looked over the monitors and his patient.

"I've closed up most of the major tears and lacerations in the vessels, but I need blood components, all of them, especially the coagulation factors, but I've run out of his blood type or universal. I'm getting fluid into him, but without actual blood… I need a donor, maybe even more than one, and I need them now."

He looked up to her and the Dark King, "Are either of you F or S Negative?"

Inwardly, he forced himself to stay on task. He couldn't get distracted no matter who she was! He was mostly successful, except for a small part of him that kept chanting:

Please don't say XF. Please don't say XF. Please don't say—

She sighed with disappointment, "I'm sorry, I'm XF."

A spark discharged in the back of Law's mind, and he unconsciously clenched his fist, but he pointedly ignored it. He could think about that and what it may or may not mean later.

Rayleigh also shook his head, "I'm XF too."

Her warm chestnut eyes looked up at the medical assistants, who only stood there monitoring their stations and confused by what was going on but ready for Law's next order. "Any of you S or F?"

They shook their heads. Law spoke up, "No one currently on the ship of my crew is the right type."

Jinbe seemed thoughtful for a moment, before taking a breath and stepping forward, "I'm F negative. If it will help Luffy, I will give what blood I can."

He looked back at him in annoyance, "No, nothing doing. I'm not going to take blood from one half-dead patient and give it to another one. I'd need to give YOU blood by the end of it all and then we'd be right back where we started."

The frustration of the situation along with her presence was beginning to get to him. Irreparable damage could be happening while they kept trying to find blood sources. And in his heart, he couldn't help but feel a bit of guilt.

This was a mistake on his end. He should never have let his blood stores get that low. He could blame his staff, but ultimately responsibility fell to him.

A warm calming hand was laid on his shoulder and while he usually didn't like to be touched, just like in the library, the brush of her hand caused him to almost instantly be at ease.

His mind began to clear a bit and he tried to think. He looked over at the woman by his side as she was observing StrawHat worriedly. Ikkaku's words from before came back to his mind and making a decision, he turned to her.

"How good of a surgeon are you? Do you have experience?"

She looked at him with surprise before nodding resolutely. "I do. What do you need me to do?"

"Let's first get you scrubbed up. You other two as well. You're not infecting my patient."

She shook her head, "Don't worry about that. I've already sterilized them and myself."

He lifted an eyebrow, "You 'sterilized' them? Of germs?"

A twitch of impatience came to her face, "Laugh, but I'm quite serious."

"Alright, if you say so. No skin off my nose if he gets an infection later."

He took a breath before putting forth his request. "I need you to take over StrawHat's procedure."

Her eyes widened, a bit of confusion coming before being erased by determination. "Alright, but that doesn't solve our blood problem. Or am I to assume that you ARE the solution?"

He smirked, "Clever girl."

Raising his hand to undo both Amputateand Takt, he reassembled the kid's body back into one piece. He had already done most of the internal work and the powers of his ROOM would only get in the woman's way.

By his side, she pointed to something in StrawHat's reassembled hand. "What's that?"

He shrugged, "The remains of a shirt. He was holding onto it when he was brought in and no matter of pulling seemed to get it out of his grasp. I could have removed his fingers, but it wasn't all that important. Now that he's back together, you can make the call to have Ikkaku cut it off."

She looked at it for a bit, before he swore some recognition came to her face. In any case, she shook her head, "That's fine, it won't be in the way."

Once he was done, he dismissed his ROOM entirely before taking off his gloves and moving to where the transfusion infuser pump machine was already set up and waiting. "Listen up! I'm turning over the surgeon position to Dr. L. Assist her as you would me."

He indicated the other two members of the surgical team even as he began to roll up his sleeves. "That's Ikkaku, she's the anesthetist and OR Nurse, Clione over here is also a nurse as well as surgical tech. Use them as you need."

The woman looked at him with a raised eyebrow, before quickly pulling on gloves. "The name's Dr. Lily. Happy to meet you, let's save this boy's life."

She immediately began to give orders to Ikkaku, who followed them happily, having gotten a grasp on the situation. Clione however was confused as his captain sat in the chair near the transfusion pump and began to assemble needles and tubing.

"Uh, Captain, what's going on?"

He glanced up at him before continuing what he was doing. " My blood type is F Negative, Clione."

The Heart Pirate nearly slapped himself in the head. Of course, duh! How could he forget? It was one of the first things he learned as a physician assistant.

"Now could you help me with this? Time is of the essence."

He nodded, "Aye, sir!"

It didn't take long before the machine began to run, pumping blood from Law and transfusing it into StrawHat's veins. He reasoned that he could probably get 4, maybe 5 units before he was in the danger zone. It was way more than the norm, but it was an emergency. He could take it.

Having little else to do other than sitting there, he subtly began to study the girl as she worked.

He had never had another doctor work in his operating room before, it was a strange experience to say the least. He was usually pretty possessive of his OR, but he wasn't a pompous fool. Besides, he'd done most of the work already, even if this woman was only a novice in emergency surgery, she should be able to handle this.

And sure enough, she acted with professionalism and skill and he couldn't help but be impressed as she took up the reins.

However, the longer he watched her, the more he noticed and began to realize that there was something strange happening to her.

Her eyes changed. No longer were they brown but a white luminescent glow began to overtake them! Her hands were the same, a white glow enveloping her fingers as she raised them over the boy's prone body.

Curiosity sparked strongly in him. The idea of her having a devil fruit hadn't occurred to him, and yet, on the other hand, it made sense. Devil fruits became more and more common the closer one got to the New World. He knew of a few medically-inclined devil fruits out there besides his. Could this be one of those?

He was interested in seeing what she indeed was actually capable of.

---

Lily

After a few moments, Lily watched as blood began to flow from Trafalgar and into Ace's brother. Seeing that everything was going well on that front, she turned to activating her devil fruit and her cell sight.

She didn't need to go all out in her power as compared to the work she had done on Ace, this was pretty much child's play. But then again, Luffy's life was still quite precarious right now, so she would do everything she could to bring him back from the brink and keep her promise to both Ace and her boss. She'd told Dragon she'd look out for the "eaglet" and that most likely meant not letting him die on the operating table.

She watched the steady increase of cells from Law making their way into Luffy's body. Raising her hand, she took a hold of his heart and commanded all of the tissues to hold on. "SLOW DOWN".

Several areas in the body were struggling through oxygen deprivation, but she ordered them to "LIVE". They stuttered back to life, though it was only a short term fix. If she couldn't get them oxygen soon, they'd once again fail. She could only work with what was available to her.

Those areas falling into line, she then turned to Luffy's bones, commanding them to "CREATE'' more blood at an extremely rapid place. It would be a pull on his body, but it was necessar—

"Uh, Ma'am? Dr. L?"

Lily blinked, focus diverted. She looked up at the cell outlines of her impromptu surgical staff. Still wasn't used to having one of those. Also, seriously, what was with that name? "Dr. L"? Come on, was that some kinda pirate doctor joke, Trafalgar?

However, she maintained her professionalism, "Yes?"

She believed it was the woman asking. "If you don't mind me asking ma'am, what are you doing?"

She didn't really have time to explain the ins and outs of her powers, so she just replied with, "It's just my devil fruit. Don't worry about the particulars, just let me know of any irregularities on your end."

A discomfited silence descended after that.

Lily realized that her presence as an outsider here, as well as not giving up any real answers to their questions, was not making her any more welcome among their ranks. She had forgotten how close knit and suspicious pirates could be at first. It had taken Marco and Shanks time to accept her, but after that everyone they knew had come on board. The Heart Pirates seems to be another she might have gotten along with the captain, a few of the crew, and of course their awesome polar bear mink, it was still not all-inclusive, Law might have let her lead the operation because he recognized that he needed her, but that didn't make her any less of an interloper within their probably well-oiled set-up.

Oh well, she wasn't here to make friends. She made a promise and she was a doctor. Once a patient was on her table, they don't leave it unless they're stable or dead.

Straightening her backbone, she was about to delve back into her work, when she heard Trafalgar break through the uncomfortable atmosphere with a smirking laugh.

"What? You think I'm the only one with a powerful devil fruit dedicated to medicine? Don't be so naive. It's obvious that she knows what she's doing. She has to. Especially if she has the ultra-rare fruit ability I think she has."

She smiled even as she immersed herself back in her work, Enjoying the playful nature of his words, as well as being thankful for what he was attempting to do. "Oh, really?"

"Indeed, my interests don't just lie in rare books. The way I figure it, you either have the medic, heal, blood, or cyto fruit. However, if I had to bet, I'd say it was the last one, though I need more evidence before I'm sure."

Clever boy. Lily found herself smirking as well, though she only answered him in her head.

The air cleared a bit, the team continued and slowly but surely, they pulled one Monkey D. Luffy from the brink.

---

An hour went by and everything was going smoothly.

Until it wasn't.

An unseen tear in one of the teen's arteries made itself known and he began to bleed internally. Lily had to order the blood to stop and then the cells to move in reverse back into the blood vessel before forcing the small amount of platelets to come together and clot the wound.

This took time and attention away from other areas, and of course this led to another problem, which was the fragile state of StrawHat's heart.

He went into arrest.

Lily didn't let it bother her, she quickly made a note of the boy's current status and blood and biochemical levels before asking for them to bring over the defibrillator.

She was met with silence.

Her eyes flared up agitatedly at her assistants. "Defibrillator, now !"

From the side, Trafalgar, who was visibly weakened from the blood loss, stood up and staggered towards her. He raised his hands to the body and placed them at the correct positioning.

"Clear!"

An electric jolt came from his hands, into StrawHat's body and his heart. The heart began once again to beat, and Lily breathed a sigh. They waited for a few moments to see if it would hold, but nothing else happened, which the rest of the team seemed to strangely breathe a sigh of relief for.

"Sorry, I forgot to tell you." Law murmured wearily, "I am the defibrillator for my OR."

Lily found herself once again both fascinated and astounded at the man's many vast strange abilities that seemed to all be connected to his devil fruit. The guy was a regular Whiteland Army Knife. The way he could take apart a body and have it still function normally somehow, and yet be able to work on each part individually. She'd love to take some time and study how he ticked.

However, as he attempted to get out of her way, he nearly stumbled and fell to the ground! Or at least would have if Rayleigh (who had been sitting observing off to the side) hadn't caught him.

"Captain!"

Lily turned her full sight onto the Heart Pirate captain and grimaced to what she saw. She looked up at her assistant tech, "How many units have we pulled from him?"

Clione quickly did a count, "Four! He's on the 5th!"

She nodded, "Cut it off. He's done."

Law shakily shook his head trying to shake off Ray's hold, "No, we need at least 6… hah, hah …I can still do more…"

There was a bit of hesitation in her staff and gritting her teeth, Lily had had enough.

She banged her hand against the table, "Listen up! He might be captain of this ship, but Iam the leader of this team! I gave you an order! DO IT!"

There was a second of stunned silence.

Ikkaku and Clione looked at her for a moment in shock, only to smile and give an enthusiastic, "Yes, ma'am!"

Clione quickly began to undo the needles and tubing on Law's arm. The fur-hatted raven tiredly glowered at him. He shrugged unapologetically, "Sorry Captain, orders are orders."

Rayleigh smirked, already having been aware of what kind of a taskmaster the "little missy" could be. "Sorry kid, I think it's time for you to go and take a rest."

Law turned away from him grumbling, "Mutiny, I tell you…"

As the Dark King shifted to move him over to the nearby cot next to Jinbe, Law spoke up to Lily, "You still need more blood. He needs more to maintain blood volume."

She couldn't see him as a whole, but his own sinking blood volume and resulting struggling cells were as clear as day. "It's as you said. I'm not going to keep taking blood from you, only to have to give you blood by the end of it all and then we'd be right back where we started."

He raised his eyebrow and she didn't even have to hear him aloud to know he thought her cheeky.

She continued on, "And don't worry, I never expected you to give the total amount in the first place."

That eyebrow raised itself even higher.

Law's worries had been valid. They could only take so much from one donor if they wanted to avoid another emergency and they needed more blood than he could give.

She turned to Ray, "We're going to have to use him."

He paused for a moment before nodding. He passed Law over to Jinbe, saying before he exited the room. "Make sure he rests."

The Fishman grinned to the surgeon's chagrin. "You got it."

Lily had already whispered to the man before she had taken over the operation. They'll use what was available, but they had to be ready to get Ace if necessary.

She'd rather not, but so far, he was their only other possible donor. Jinbe was a match, but Law had been right in excluding him. Currently his injuries were more dire than Ace's, and his Fishman physiology would currently be in a bit more of a delicate state thanks to the nature of his burn wounds. Using him as a donor was out of the question.

Ace was a last minute choice. He was S negative and she knew he would immediately donate all the blood he had if it could save his brother's life. His body also needed that blood dearly to continue in his own recovery. Now, having Ace give only the last two units of blood that Luffy needed would weaken him, but not drastically, and he would have time to recover. If it became necessary, he would be her last-last option.

Well…it had become necessary.

---

Law

This was agony.

He was exhausted, tired, and irritated. He had been challenged and disobeyed in his own operating room. And he was being manhandled by his own crew and an old man. All of this was usually a horrible combination.

However, at the same time, he didn't want to be anywhere else.

He had never met a doctor that could keep up with him this way. That could challenge him like this. He needed her on his crew. He wanted her. He wanted her badly.

If only she didn't have that face.

If only everything about her didn't remind him of his earliest and greatest loss.

If only he could actually say her name even in his head, without it threatening to destroy his sanity.

Lily…Lami…the names wanted to merge so badly in his mind that he knew that if he let himself utter her name out loud, he couldn't be sure which one would actually come out of his mouth.

She had spunk and sass. He had known that before, but to see her at work, to see her ability on the operating table, to weather estrangement, and still take command like a queen.

He normally got a bit of morbid enjoyment in watching others struggle. Somewhat of a bit of pettiness within him that said if he had had to scrimp and scrape and struggle and crawl to get to where he was today, then why shouldn't someone else?

However, with her, he just couldn't allow it.

He'd had to say something. Not only was this not the time for this type of discord, but something in him had nearly growled to life at the potential disrespect.

And that fact was only adding to his agony. He had to force himself to remember his mistake and his failure. To remember that Lami was dead. He had been ready to leave this woman behind and forget her, to get on with his life and his plan for retribution.

And then once again, God, in his desire to punish him perhaps, had brought this emergency onto his doorstep and with it, SHE had waltzed back into his life, bringing with her a whirlwind of old pain and uncertainty and chaos. All things that he hated.

And now she also had a devil fruit. A very powerful devil fruit.

One, he was almost sure, was the Cyto-Cyto fruit, now that he had seen it in action. An extremely rare fruit that he had only seen a single mention of in all his research on devil fruits and especially rare medical ones. And what he had read, wasn't much, but the fact that it didn't match any of the others he knew about and how potentially powerful it seemed, he was pretty confident in his hypothesis.

On the other hand, he was of two minds about the devil fruit.

Part of him thought the fruit was quite fascinating and he wanted to investigate its power. It was also obvious that the user had perfected her skill with it and if she had not already accomplished it, she was on the cusp of mastery.

And yet…

The fact that she had to resort to using a devil fruit in the first place made him sad. It wasn't that he was against devil fruits of course. He had grown to love his own and couldn't imagine life without it.

And yet…

She shouldn't have had to resort to such a contract. She shouldn't've needed to. She should've had someone looking out for her. She wasn't like him, who deserved—

Stop it, Law. You have to stop torturing yourself. You have no right to judge any part of her life. You don't know her. She's NOT HER! Get that through your thick cranium!

Voices from the outside of the ER interrupted his thoughts and he tiredly tried to sit up to look and see what was going on. Jinbe kept him settled on the cot even as Clione set up an IV for fluids on him.

He reasoned that she had found a new replacement blood donor to finish the job whom the Dark King had gone to get. The voices sounded vaguely familiar.

"Wait, first you said I can't go because I can't take it, and now you say I'm needed?"

"Your brother needs blood. You're a match. Are you going to help him or not?"

Ah yes, it was the missing member of the trio that had crashed his library. The one who had been so worried about StrawHat that he had actually teleported away to get to him with the shadow creature. That voice…he knew he recognized it from somewhere. Where had he heard it before?

And "brother"?

StrawHat had another brother?

Click.

That was when the memory snapped into place, and his eyes went wide with shock at the reason the 3rd voice had sounded so familiar.

No…not another brother.

But that was impossible. It couldn't be.

Once again, God seemed determined to prove him wrong and through the doors stepped Silvers Rayleigh having returned back from accomplishing his task.

And by his side, holding on almost completely for support, was a young man in a black cloak, a few years younger than himself, thinner, paler, tireder, but with those unmistakable ash-colored eyes, cheeks dusted with freckles, and wild shaggy black locks.

It…It couldn't be. He couldn't be alive.

He had to be seeing things.

The man-who-couldn't-be-there responded in that impossible voice (how had he forgotten that voice so quickly?), "How is that even a question? Take as much as you need."

Okay, so he was hearing things too.

The lack of blood was causing him to hallucinate.

Clione by his side looked at his completely stunned face in confusion before looking in the direction of the two men. "Huh, he looks familiar. Don't remember from where, though. Reminds me of StrawHat a bit. You think he's related to him?"

Law looked over at him, realizing that he wasn't the only person who was seeing this mirage. How could that be?

Jinbe on the other side of him didn't seem to be surprised, and neither did she.

And then Ikkaku began to scream, raising a shaking finger. "A GHOST! IT'S A GHOST!"

Okay, so it wasn't a hallucination. It was quite real.

Portgas D. Ace had just walked into his OR.

And as far as he could tell, he wasn't a walking corpse.

Okay, then.

While Law was attempting to process this and She was calming down her nursing staff, he and FireFist's eyes met.

Only for them to flare silver with a scowl.

Rayleigh helped him sit in the same chair he had, setting him up for a transfusion. He growled, "Isn't he supposed to be helping my brother? Why is he lying down taking a nap, making Ange do all the work?"

The Op-Op user was too in shock for most of the words to stick, however— Ange?

Silvers corrected him even as he tied the tourniquet around Portgas' arm. "He's a bit out of it because he just spent the last few hours giving your brother blood. He nearly killed himself doing so."

FireFist's eyes went a bit thoughtful at that, and he met his gaze once again, this time with a bit more intrigue.

Law attempted to sit up more to try and figure out what his mind was unable to comprehend. He was a doctor and a darn good one at that. He was also the best surgeon on this side of Paradise. What he was seeing was impossible. It had to be impossible. No one could live through that kind of traumatic internal damage!

Unfortunately for his overwrought brain and his already overworked breathing and circulation, moving so rapidly all at once was entirely the wrong move.

His blood pressure suddenly dropped, and in combination with his already low blood volume and hypoglycemia, he only had a couple seconds of warning before his body suddenly went blank and he completely passed out.

---

Some hours later

Blinking back to consciousness, Law noticed immediately that he was still in the OR. The light was now low and there was a quiet peace about the room, only the steady rhythmic beep of the monitors could be heard.

He slowly sat up, testing his body, happy to see that his body was mildly back to normal, though still a bit weak. He was covered with a sheet while still on the cot, and still connected to an intravenous fluid drip. He reached over to begin taking out the IV, when a casual voice startled him.

"Huh, you're awake. Ange said you should be okay after sleeping it off for a bit."

His head snapped around upon the rest of the room—and the other occupants that he was just now realizing were still there.

The room was empty for the most part. It seems that the operation was over, they had already closed and cleaned up. Two hospital beds were set up near the medical machines and monitors.

On one of them rested the primary patient, Monkey D, Luffy, now completely re-bandaged, wires, tubes and needles attached to him, an oxygen mask over his face. He seemed to be resting comfortably and Law could see that he was now stable and all his vitals were looking good.

However, the majority of Law's attention was on the inhabitant of the bed next to StrawHat's.

Not as many monitors or attachments were connected, and this "patient" was still very much awake and cognizant and looking right at him with cool gray eyes.

Their eyes stayed connected for a good moment before Law finally just sighed before stretching. "So, I wasn't hallucinating after all. You really did somehow miraculously survive."

Portgas D. Ace blinked before smiling, "Hmph, I like you. You're not all that bad for a doctor."

Law didn't know what was meant by that but he carefully got up, picked up his hat from where it had been laid next to his head and made his way over to StrawHat.

He felt FireFist's eyes on him as he gave the kid a preliminary examination. He didn't know much about the man other than what he had heard through the grapevine as well as what he had seen in the papers. The Whitebeard commander had always given him the impression of a fiery headstrong hotshot. During the war, he had gotten another sense of him as he fought and protected his brother unto his supposed "death".

He wasn't sure how he had made such a miraculous recovery, though there was the possibility that it could have all been a trick for everyone watching. Not really his business either way, but it did leave a bit of a bitter taste in his mouth.

He spoke matter-of-factually, "Your brother's stable and will recover, as long as he ceases to harm himself."

He looked over at the brunet who only nodded, probably having heard this already from the surgical team before they had left them to recover. However, Law added, "As I told Jinbe, I don't like to redo my work. I won't do this again. If he destroys his sutures again. He's your problem."

FireFist only nodded once again, his eyes softening though as he looked over StrawHat, running the back of his hand against the boy's still arm. "He won't. He'll be okay now."

Considering the younger pirate's emotional state when he had first awakened and the reason for it, he did think that if anyone could help StrawHat, it would be his elder brother.

Though then again, why hadn't he been with his sibling to prevent the mental collapse in the first place?

The commander spoke again, his voice a lot gentler and more articulate than he had expected considering his reputation. "Thank you for all you've done…saving my brother's life. He's alive right now thanks to you. You don't understand what that means to me."

His words were heartfelt, and Law could both see and feel the love that he held for his brother. He would have normally rebuffed such gratitude, but with everything that had been going on with his own emotions recently, he instead only said. "It was nothing…I understand."

Portgas tilted his head a bit, as if considering the words before nodding. "Hmm, perhaps you do…"

Law shook his head, hating that he had revealed even that bit of weakness. He needed to get his head back into the correct frame of mind.

Now that she was once again away from his view and out of his space, it was easier to reassemble his walls and to remember everything he had decided back in his cabin. Lily was just a wonderful doctor who happened to look like and have similar traits to his long-dead sister. That was all. It wasn't impossible that such a thing could happen.

If she had looked like anyone else, he would have done anything he could to get her on his crew. (maybe-maybe not resorting to even kidnapping if necessary) He knew that he would hate to leave such a wonderful doctor behind, but ultimately it was the right decision, if just for his own sanity.

Moving around, he began to reassemble the supplies in his operating room, allowing the mindless actions to get his head off the whole situation. In an effort to change the subject, he commented briskly, "So, I'm guessing this was all a big stunt to get the Marines off your back? Pretty clever I guess, staging your death, considering your background. However, I probably would have let StrawHat in on your plan, if only for his peace of mind. Though…then again…I guess his reaction would have fed into the credibility of your supposed demise."

Because one thing Law at least knew for certain. Whatever the ruse, StrawHat hadn't been in on it.

The rawness of his emotion and the depths of his despair he saw in those haunted brown eyes was quite real.

Portgas' regard fell into a somber, contrite, and even self-effacing gaze that turned towards his brother's sleeping form. It was one that Law felt was more than deserved, though when the other man spoke, the reason wasn't what he expected.

"There's a lot of things that I wish I could have done differently about that day. About the last few months really. An act like that would have been honestly better all around if that had actually been all it was. The reality was a lot worse."

Gray eyes flashed gold as they gaped at his supernova predecessor. His awed voice betrayed both his realization, renewed shock and a trace of his delight. "It was all real…you really were anteriorly perforated…"

He looked at him blankly, "If you mean did I really have a molten fist punched through my body? Then yeah." He looked back over at his brother, "Subterfuge was never my strong suit. And I would never have put Lu through all this if I could help it…not on purpose."

Law marched over to him, nearly startling him with the intensity of his movements. "I need to examine you. Are you okay with that?"

Portgas only blinked at him with wide eyes, not sure what to do with such a sudden demand. "Uh…I guess…"

That was enough consent for the surgeon.

He flicked the switch on the bed to allow it to go all the way back, causing the raven to yelp as he was suddenly lying flat. He then switched on his overhead surgical lights and pulled over his stool and tool cart.

The Whitebeard pirate looked at him, not afraid per say, but not sure what was going on either. "Ugh…this isn't going to be one of those weird mad scientist experiments, is it?"

Law was already pulling out his penlight and flashing them quickly into FireFist's eyes. "Oh, don't worry…I'm not all that mad…"

Before he could even respond to that sardonic and rather ominous statement, Law had already checked all his vitals as well as his responsiveness to stimuli. So far, no delay in nervous response, which was amazing in and of itself. Though he noted that the many parts of his body were abnormally weak and almost atrophied, they seemed to slowly be returning to normal. He wondered why?

Going for the main area of damage, he pushed the man's cloak away from his chest and was immediately surprised at what he found there—or rather didn't find.

Not a single bandage. Not one suture or burn, or even a scar marked the torso where rock heated at nearly 2,000 degree heat, had punched through the thoracic cavity with such force, it should have practically vaporized everything in its way. And not one bit of evidence for it having happened?!

No surgeon was that good. He needed to know more.

Ace followed his gaze, "Strange, huh? It's hard for me sometimes to believe too. Ange has amazing abilities though."

Law's head snapped over to look at him, "'Ange'? You said that name before."

The other man laughed, (It reminded him a bit of StrawHat's though not as infectious.), "Oh sorry, that's just my pet name for her. I mean Lily, the woman from before who took over Luffy's operation."

The idea of FireFist giving the woman a pet name of any kind, bizarrely annoyed him greatly. But then again, StrawHat had also seemed to have a thing for nicknames if he remembered right. Perhaps it was just something all the people in his family did, nothing more.

Besides, it wasn't his business what anyone called her.

Once again forcing himself to remember the status quo, he concentrated on the examination at hand.

"So this is her work…extraordinary. Can you give me an idea of what she did?"

Portgas placed a hand to his chin thoughtfully, "Well, Ange was on the battlefield when I was gutted, and she pulled me out of there with Schaden when she saw that I was somehow still slightly clinging to life."

What was she doing there?! She could've been killed!

Law quickly pushed that thought away. Again, none of his business. "Go on."

"Well, she has this amazing devil fruit called the Cyto-Cyto fruit. It allows her to control cells and tell them what to do. She can use it to rebuild nearly anything in the body."

Ah-hah! He had been right! A devil fruit that allowed one to control cells had nearly limitless potential in the hands of the right doctor. But then again, she'd still have to remove all the necrotic tissue and keep the body alive at the same time and depending on the speed of the response, but then again, if one was able to command the body to regenerate any cell with enough time and speed, and the cells could be manipulated in such a way that—

"I need to take a closer look." He raises his hand, and the blue energy of his power whirl in his palm. "ROOM."

An invisible field came over the OR, FireFist looked at him in confusion and uncertainty, "Uh, what was that?"

Law went over to retrieve Kikoku from where it had been left near his cot. He answered absently, "That was my devil fruit. It creates a field of space where anything within is now mine to manipulate and modify. It's how I do surgery."

"And what do you need that for?" FireFist watched him as he unsheathed his sword. He didn't look afraid or wary, though he would be a fool to think that a seasoned pirate like the 2nd commander wouldn't be ready instantly to defend. Especially when someone he cared for was sleeping defenselessly by his side.

So he explained, "I could use one of my abilities to scan you in order to investigate your internal structures, but it would be much easier and more thorough to take you apart and see that section on its own. You won't die and you'll barely feel it, I promise."

He would be more vulnerable to him, and if Law was an idiot, he could try to kill him in that state. But that was tantamount to suicide considering the allies and friends the man had surrounding him, not counting the man's considerable own power. Besides, he was of much more interest alive.

"Marco told me about the power of the Op-Op fruit. Though I'm not quite sure how it works."

The man needed assurance, that was understandable. Law was quite familiar with the concept and employed it himself on a daily basis. He nodded and put down Kikoku before placing his own hand on his chest.

"Mes."

His heart popped out into his hand, and he felt himself tire a bit, and his breathing became heavy.

"What the heckdid you just do?!" Ace sat up in alarm, his eyes shocked with dismay, staring at the beating organ in Law's hand.

"Just trying to give you an example as well as reassurance that I'm not going to hurt you. As you can see I'm still alive, though I can remove and split my heart away from my body. It can function the same as if it's still in my body. It would work the same with anything else I remove."

"Uh-huh…" the pirate was still watching the heart with both aversion and interest. "They were right, I wouldn't have been able to deal with that."

He didn't understand what he meant by that, but nonetheless he was eager to get started on his analysis. Taking the cube that held his heart, he held it out to the younger man.

Portgas looked at it in confusion before looking back up at him, not even attempting to take it.

"What do you want me to do with that?"

Did he have to spell it out? "You can keep it for insurance, so that I will keep my promise."

Ace looked at him for a moment before breaking out into a bit of a bemused laugh, "That's alright, I trust you to keep your word."

Well, that was unwise. Law raised an eyebrow, not sure what was with StrawHat and his family members. Was this how all other Ds were? How did they get anywhere by being so trusting?

He placed a hand on his hip, a slight smirk appearing. "You'd trust the word of a pirate?"

Portgas' eyes sharpened and he returned his cynicism with a smirk of his own. "I'd trust the word of the man who saved my brother's life. Not once, but twice, even though he didn't have to."

Law's silver eyes widened a bit in surprise before they narrowed. "I did that on a whim."

Portgas' grin became keen, "Keep telling yourself that."

Feeling like perhaps he had underestimated the man in front of him, Law decided to leave the subject alone and shrugged before restoring his heart back to his body.

Adjusting to its return, he lifted his blade towards the man, "Ready?"

FireFist laid back down against the bed and relaxed as he closed his eyes. "Go ahead."

With the power of Amputate, and a couple of sharp sword swings, he had separated the man's torso from the rest of his body. The logia flinched slightly though he didn't open his eyes or do anything more, "That's a weird tingly feeling."

Using Takt, Law levitated his chest away from the rest of his body and let it float within the air. Using his powers to scan, he began to examine it closely with interest. What he saw was nothing more than amazing. Taking out one of his notebooks, he began to make a record of his observations.

Fascinating, the entire thoracic cavity had been redone with completely new tissue. Now that he could get a closer look, he could see the differences between the older original tissue and the newer tissue that had been built from off of it. The heart and lungs were completely new and yet still the mature organs of a young adult. He saw where some traces of outside influence had been, scar tissue from scalpels, cauteries, and other tools, but almost everything was organically built from the ground up.

He murmured almost to himself, "How could she have done this by herself? The amount of internal work alone…the time and stamina required…and not even thinking about recovery, life support, and infection…I can't see how even with her power she would be able to do all this. How are you even awake, much less standing? Where did the materials and energy come from to do all this?"

Portgas seemed to hear him and answered from the bed. "She didn't do it by herself, though it was mostly her from what I've been told. I was kinda out for all of it. Marco I know helped and so did Shanks."

Law's eyes turned toward him, "Red-Hair? He and Phoenix have medical training?"

"Hmm, I don't think Shanks does, but Marco is a doctor. He's been the head of our medical division for years."

The Heart Pirate captain mulled over that little tidbit before storing it away for later. It honestly made sense considering the power that his devil fruit possessed.

He worked in silence for another few moments, making sketches and notations. Even with the manipulation of cells, the way that she had somehow forced them to reconstitute the extracellular matrix within the connective tissue, to the point where no evidence of the original damage could even be found, was nothing short of miraculous. She would have to have extremely good focus and some way of being able to see every single move each cell made. Her ability would have to be fine-tuned to the point of a knife to achieve this kind of result.

He noted that FireFist's body had very little fat and low muscle and bone mass, though those looked to be improving. It was much lower than a human should have at his age and from what he had seen of him in his bounty pictures and even at Marineford. What could have caused such a loss?

But then almost immediately the answer came to him as it clicked in his brain.

You can't make something from nothing. She had been able to make so much new tissue so quickly, but they would have needed energy and to be fed at an alarming rate in order to grow and reproduce at that pace. She must have used up the very limits of his body's stored resources, plus probably external sources as well, to accomplish what she did. Very interesting.

As he worked, his study subject spoke up casually. "I just realized we technically haven't been introduced. I'm Portgas D. Ace."

Law responded vacantly, "I'm pretty aware of who you are, FireFist."

"You can call me Ace."

He didn't often like to call people by their proper name unless they were part of his inner circle. "That's alright, we're not friends. Contemporaries at most."

He expected the man to insist, but he instead heard him shrug, "If you say so."

Hmm, that was different then he expected. He was about to go back to his work when the D. bearer spoke up again. "You're Trafalgar Law, right? The 'Surgeon of Death'? I think I have heard of you before."

He was sure that the commander had heard his name mentioned at least once by now, so he simply nodded at the acknowledgement.

"Marco says that you might be the best surgeon in the world."

Law smirked at the accolade. Having his name bandied about by the top tiers of the New World certainly created some advantages. "So they say."

He meant it to be the end of it, but Portgas pushed again. "But you're really good, right?"

The way he asked the question this time, made him look up. "I AM the best in my field, though compared to this, you might want to ask your own doctor if you have any issue. As much as I hate to admit it, the work that was done on you is beyond my ability. I saw what was done to you. I automatically knew it was fatal, and even with my power I wouldn't have been able to save your life."

The Whitebeard pirate shook his head, his eyes still closed. "It's not for me, that I'm asking."

He frowned, not sure then where this was leading. "If this is about StrawHat, he'll be fine. As long as he doesn't rip his stitches again."

The raven again shook his head. "No…I…I am asking you for Ange."

Law felt his breath hitch and his body still instantly, as though he had no control of his actions. A wave of disquiet came over him. One that he tried to mentally beat back into submission. Stop this. She's nothing to you.

He answered brusquely, "Can she not use her own power? If she can heal you to this degree—"

Portgas shook his head, "She IS an amazing doctor…but she can't do anything for herself. The power of the Cyto-Cyto fruit cannot heal its user."

He placed his pen down, his attention drawn elsewhere. "What would she need a surgeon's help for?"

He allowed a smidge of those billowing waves of unsettlement to slip through. Even if she wasn't… her…he wasa doctor. If she needed help…

Ace bit his lip a little, as if trying to deliberate something, before simply exhaling with a sigh. "Ange… Lily…has a chip in her neck that was once used to control her. It's been disabled, but none of her own doctors or surgeons have been able to remove it."

The room became so quiet, one could hear a pin drop. Even the sounds of the monitors had faded into the background.

And as the quiet grew, so did the air of tension build…

A thickened voice, quiet and emotionless, whispered a question to the subject on the bed.

"She was a slave?"

At this, Portgas hesitated again, as if trying to judge the other man's motives.

He reassured him quietly, clearly and succinctly, "A few of those on my crew were former slaves, that I myself freed. I hate the World Government and all it stands for. I would never dare to do anything that would cause a slave to be returned back to them."

Celestial Dragons, the Aristocracy, the World Government—even after all these years, he still would never forgive them.

There was a nod back in return at that declaration, "I told you, I trust you not just because of what you've done for my brother–though that's part of it–but also because my instincts are telling me that beyond that whole detached exterior thing you've got going on—you're actually a good guy."

He didn't quite know what to say to that, so he only nodded back in acknowledgement. As long as it meant that the man trusted him enough to continue answering his questions.

Ace released a breath for a few moments before continuing. "Ange was basically a slave to the World Government, a lab rat at some facility in the North Blue."

A bad feeling was building up within him, and he felt powerless to stop it.

"For how long?"

"Nearly all her life." He responded morosely, "She was stolen from her home when she was really young."

The horrible feeling intensified and spread like the wings of a condor carrying the scent of carrion.

He couldn't bring himself to say anything, his brain going a mile a minute.

"It was some destroyed city…Fl–Fla–Flavean? Something like that."

"Flevance," came the quiet correction.

The dreadful feeling twisted into a sharp pang that flared within his gut.

"Yeah, that was it."

Ace ran a hand through his hair, showing a bit nervousness as he tried to explain his reasons, to try to plead for the pirate's help. "I want to do whatever I can for An–Lily. She's my friend and she saved my life. And she doesn't deserve to have that reminder still stuck inside her. The bastard who captured her, took everything away from her! Her home, her freedom, even her memories!"

Law felt like the floor had opened up underneath him and his heart had leapt into his throat.

His tongue felt thick and all the saliva in his mouth had dried up. "She's amnesiac?"

Ace nodded despondently, "Yeah, they took away her memories of her entire life before she was taken. Something about making her 'malleable'. I mean, who does that?!"

Inked hands clenched and without his knowledge his body had begun to tremble, nausea swirled in his abdomen. He needed space… pant, pant …he needed to breathe…!

Study forgotten, Law jumped up from his seat to walk towards the corner shelves. His chest was heaving even as he tried to find some way to control it.

Stop it. Stop it! Don't do this again. It— can't — be. It has to be a coincidence. Don't do this to yourself, Trafalgar! You've learned to control yourself better than this. You…You can't get hurt like this again! Yes, she might have amnesia, she might look like her, she might have been captured and enslaved…as a young girl…that…that…was from Flevance?!…oh my God….

But…still…it couldn't…!

He struggled for air, trying not to let his gasps turn into sobs. Trying his best not to allow his loss of composure leak through the cracks.

Somehow, the change in mood went completely unnoticed by Ace, who still held his eyes closed, thinking that the doctor had gone off to do something else. "So, can you at least see her, Trafalgar? I just think that if we can get rid of the chip, it might free her enough that she can finally remember! She even had to make up her own name only based on some small hint from her past."

This pricked his ears as he leaned forward and grasped the counter desperately. His voice was low and rough, "A hint?"

"Yeah…some tattoo she has or something."

C-CR-CRASHHH!

The sound of glass shattering against the floor caused Ace to jerk, startling at the sound.

"Uh, Doc?"

The Captain of the Heart Pirates stepped over all the broken glassware before stalking over to the examination table, already using Taktto return the man's torso back to his body. As the body realigned into place, he spoke briskly, "I'll take a look at her."

Ash eyes opened wide with excitement, "Reall—"

He was almost immediately cut off.

"I have to go."

By the time Ace had blinked away the flash blindness from the lights, the surgeon was already headed out the door, slamming it closed behind him.

---

Immediately upon leaving the OR, Law found himself suddenly running into several members of his crew surrounding the doorway. Upon seeing him, they all began talking at once.

"Captain what's going on?"

"Is FireFist Ace here?"

"Is it his ghost?!"

"What's the Dark King want? Are the Whitebeards annexing us?"

"Is that really the son of the Pirate King in there?"

"Captain?"

"Captain!"

He didn't have time for this.

Looking beyond all of them, he noticed Bepo was standing behind them unassumingly observing in the background. He stood a bit straighter when he noticed the man's attention on him.

Marching straight through the group to the mink, he spoke strenuously. "First thing: There are patients recovering in there. Nobody is to go in the Operating Room unless they belong in there. Use your best judgment."

The polar bear had the presence of mind to notice both the rigidity in his friend's bearing, but also the unusually intense ferocity in his golden-silver eyes.

"Aye, Captain. I'll watch the door myself."

The man barely nodded before gulping down a breath, his chest continued to heave with fervency. "And second…where is she?"

It was a credit to how attuned his first mate was to his mood, as well as how astute he was to the entire situation, that the male didn't even ask who he was talking about.

He responded softly, "Dr. Lily was ashore the last I saw her. She was sitting near one of the campfires."

Law nodded before taking off. His mind was both blank—and running relentlessly. He just moved. He had a target and he needed to reach it.

Knowing his ship like the back of his own hand, he used Chambresto transport himself onto the roof of the Polar Tang. Night had fallen and the shore of the Rocky Bay was alive with music and tables of food as some of the warriors of Amazon Lily partied and feasted with members of his crew as well as Jinbe, Silvers, Schaden, and Phoenix, who had finally, it seemed, been allowed on the island.

But he didn't really see any of them. They weren't who he was looking for.

Where was she?

As his eyes searched painstakingly through the crowd, Phoenix seemed to notice him. Their eyes seemed to meet despite the vast distance and he didn't know what the blond saw when he looked at him, but his gaze seemed to shift in comprehension before with his chin, he indicated to the right, a little further up the coast.

His golden orbs followed the direction and sure enough, a bit off on her own from all the others, he finally saw her. She was sitting by herself closer to the water's edge, close enough to her smaller campfire to keep warm, but secluded enough to feel like she was alone near the water.

Scanning the land, he singled out a pebble on the ground. With a single-minded focus he transported himself over to the land. The night wind swirled and parted before him as he appeared.

Auburn hair fluttered as eyes of hazelnut turned to meet him on his arrival.

His heart hadn't stopped pounding since he had finished his conversation with FireFist. As he unconsciously began to approach her, he vaguely wondered if she could actually hear it beating so heavily inside his chest?

---

Lily

Lily let out a breath after hanging up her transponder snail. After having let her boss know that they had arrived as well as everything that had gone on in the meantime. He had thanked her before telling her that the agents he had sent to meet her would arrive there imminently.

She sighed and looked out to sea as she listened to the music and song and chatter from those feasting behind her. After having finished up the operation on StrawHat, she had used her power on Ace and the unconscious Trafalgar to speed up their bodies' hematopoietic process. They had left them all to rest and recover and were greeted by her favorite Heart pirate mink, Bepo, upon exiting. Giving them a room to rest and freshen up, he said as far as he knew his captain hadn't not told them they couldn't stay, so he would accommodate.

It had honestly been a long day. She hadn't expected to have such a workout today. She probably would have slept then if she could have! But Rayleigh had insisted they eat, especially Scha, who he had promised would get his fill after everything he had done turns out that the Snake Empress was very enthusiastic upon learning of StrawHat Luffy's successful surgery, as well as as his brother's miraculous return to him, that she had thrown a party in their honor (she had hoped they would be there, but was convinced they needed their rest) and had allowed the entire arrival party to partake.

Lily didn't know what to really make of Boa Hancock. The woman was a strange one. While she had been happy and thanked her for helping StrawHat, she had been a bit tepid at the fact that Lily had had to take over for Trafalgar. She wasn't sure why that was, since the warlord was infamous for hating men?

Anyway…back to her day.

It had been exhausting, but in the end it all had been worth it. She had gotten Ace and his brother reunited, prevented the two of them from accidentally dying, had met yet another pirate crew, had gotten to sit on top of and pet a polar bear mink (squeeee!), and had met the mesmeric Captain of the Heart Pirates.

Who at that moment, also happened to suddenly have appeared out of the blue…

She smiled at him as he walked towards her. She was happy to see him up and about. He had taken a risky gambit trying to give that much blood at once. His gait was still a bit staggered, but he seemed to have recovered.

Honestly she didn't know what to do about what was… between …them. With the Revolutionary agents coming, her time to find out was pretty short. She and Schaden would leave with their comrades and she didn't know if she would ever meet the man again.

Remembering Marco's words, she thought about a way to approach the subject with the man without having him close up on her tighter than a clam.

As the fire revealed more and more of his form though, she felt whatever plans that she had been attempting to make…fall by the wayside.

The flames glow was thrown back by his now almost completely golden eyes and Lily felt as drawn to them as she was the first time. The closer he got to her, the taunter their connection—whatever it was—seemed to become. Before she knew it, he was now standing silently before her, his outline awash in firelight.

There was a charged moment building between them, their eyes simply continuing to hold the other's gaze.

Lily was the first to speak, "I'm glad that you're awake. I hope Luffy and Ace are doing well?"

He doesn't answer, only continuing to silently stare even as he moves to sit next to her. His tall frame dwarfs her a little, but she finds herself okay with that. The air is so thick between them at this point, Lily struggles to think of something to say in which to break it.

However, before she can do so, she feels a yawn build up in her system. And before she can even think about it any further—she has already slumped over into unconsciousness.

---

Law

During his days with the Don Quixote pirates, Law had learned many different tricks, techniques, and styles that helped to build the foundation for his fighting skills and abilities that he now maintains today. One such skill was keeping different drugs, poisons, antidotes, and medicines on him at all times to be available for use whenever the time called for them. And later once he had required the Op-Op fruit, the ability to introduce those substances into the systems of unsuspecting victims, people in need, or even to himself, became child's play.

He had chosen a mild sedative this time. Enough to knock her out, but not—never—enough to cause any harm.

She slumped over against his shoulder, her breathing soft but regular. He watches her carefully to make sure of no adverse effects or changes. And it's because of this close observation that he witnesses what happens next.

The moment she slipped into unconsciousness, everything about her began to shift.

Her skin, once a healthy complexion, began to pale in color until it was almost completely blanched, a snow white pallor gracing every inch of her.

Her hair followed. The glossy reddish-brown of her curled locks slowly leaked out, from the crown of her head, to the slight twist of each tip. In its place, each strand was left colorless, the ivory threads matching the tone of her flesh.

Law's eyes grew wide with horror and a gasp was torn from his throat as he watched every bit of pigment drain from her body, leaving it looking both rather sickly and dreadfully, and painfully familiar.

He shook his head. This could not be.

Tenderly and carefully, as if she was made of spun-glass, his hand came to her face and tilted her head up so that he could get a better look.

He'd never seen a case of White Lead poisoning that this bad, and the person was still breathing! Even he had never gotten this bad and he hadn't had long left to live before Corazon had saved his life!

How was she not crippled by pain?

How was she able to even stand?

How was she even alive?!

He could only guess that there was something about her own devil fruit that was keeping her alive. He couldn't tell if it had healed her and the effects had just been irreversible, or if it had simply held the toxin at bay, keeping her alive if not cured? He'd require a more thorough examination.

And there wouldbe a further examination.

He had come here to her with a purpose, a question that needed to be answered.

But despite that answer, he could never in good conscience allow a fellow Flevance survivor to continue to suffer as he had suffered.

He had for years believed himself to be the sole Flevantine remaining in the world. To know that if anything, this woman had somehow survived the massacre as well and had lived long enough for them to meet…that should be enough.

But it wasn't.

It wasn't…

But what now?

Where do we go from here?

Are you brave enough to find out?

The winds from off the wild crashing waters swept around him and through him, fanning the flames of the fire and reminding him of the colder tempestuous climate back home.

That thought alone was a miracle. He had never thought this much of the place that had once been his home in so long.

In one day, his carefully planned, strategized life had been flipped upside down. And then this woman that was so wonderfully, impossibly familiar had appeared. She had come along and brought back every bit of memory, and feeling, and humanity of the person that he had been—right back to the surface.

He had tried to leave, to escape her presence and what it was doing to him, but his own moral code had sabotaged him. And now he was much too far gone.

His hands shook so badly even as he held her close to him. He knew he was at a crossroads. A point of kairos.

He'd been fighting it all day, but it was too late. It seemed no matter what he tried, fate had held him to this path. With the appearance of one Portgas D. Ace, back from the dead, and him trusting him enough with the information that had put all the rest of the missing puzzle pieces back into place.

There was only one piece remaining.

With a hesitant touch, he moved a strand of hair tenderly over her ear.

His chest felt like it was being squeezed by fear. Law had felt fear before. He would never deny that. But fear like this was one that he had rarely tussled with.

Fear of the unknown…fear of disappointment…

His hand tightened into a fist. You've never been a coward, Trafalgar D. Water Law. How do you expect to accomplish anything if you shirk at the smallest amount of emotional adversity? Doflamingo will eat you alive. If you can't even do something like this, you'll never achieve your goal.

Everything adds up, and he was afraid to even think of how the odds had shifted. And yet, he still hesitated to take that final step.

What are you waiting for?

But what if…what if it's not there?

Well…think of it this way…your hope would be shattered, but at least you'll know. And you have to help her regardless. If you don't do it now, it will eat at you the entire time you're together.

But I'm afraid! I don't know if I'll be able to take it—

You can. And you will. You've shouldered worse. You've handled worse and moved on… BUT if you don't take that final step and just look? If you let this go and it turns out that Lily IS Lami? You will neverforgive yourself.

Taking a breath, he threw caution to the wind. He was a D. Time to take a page from the other Ds and just plunge headfirst into the storm.

With a gentle move, he turns over the shell of her right ear.

.

.

.

Obscured by firelight, but as clear as day to his keen eyes lay an innocent, old, and faded tattoo.

It was simple, rudimentary, and crude compared to the many that adorned his own skin, but in one single moment—it became more precious than all of those combined.

Sitting atop an old scar, from sutures sewn by his own hand, lay three simple words. Written in Latin—the language of science and medicine—was: Aqua et Lilium.

Water and Lily

Their two names sitting side by side…just as now, after fourteen years, two lost siblings were somehow, some way, now sitting side by side once again.

Law didn't know at what point he started to weep. One moment his eyesight was clear, the next he couldn't see a thing. A keening echoed around him, though it couldn't compete with the sound of celebration and music that reigned in the background. It took him a moment to realize that the sound was coming from him. Immediately after that, he couldn't give a crap.

Tears stream down his cheeks as he wails out in both sorrow and joy. His hands grasped tightly the form of the girl–turned–woman beside him. The now adult Trafalgar D. Lily Lami.

His baby sister.

That lamb thought lost had now been found.

He clutched his sister close against his chest, allowing the feeling of her living and breathing to sink in.

"Oh, Lami….I'm so sorry!" he somehow was able to get those words past the sobs when almost every sound he'd made thus far had been nothing but gibberish.

He had to apologize, to tell her how sorry he was for abandoning her for all these years, for her having to face the world alone, for leaving her when she needed him. Waves of guilt rose up, and there would be a time to hash all that out. He had many things to make up for. However, right now, even those feelings were overshadowed by the great feeling of utter joy that came to his heart. A joy he hadn't felt since he was a child.

Not everything had been lost. A part of his heart had remained. Somewhere, out there, she had been sleeping under the same big sky as him. And despite how far apart they had been, they had found their way back to each other.

Perhaps God hadn't been trying to torture him at all…perhaps instead he was trying to bash his brains in with the obvious gift that was right in front of him.

As he rocked back and forth, keeping Lami's unconscious form close to his side, he fought to breath and to think. His tears slowed, though the smile couldn't seem to go away now that he had found it.

His entire perspective changed now that he could merge "Lily" and "Lami" into one.

Everything that he had observed about her so far took on new meaning. Every quirk, every connection, every word she had said felt different now. It was now not some mysterious girl that was strong, and beautiful, and sassy, and smart, and loved polar bears, and was one of the best doctors he had ever seen. It was Lami—his wonderful, lovely, alive sister!

But it wasn't just Lami's words that came back to his mind over and over again. Portgas' words also began to echo inside of his head.

A chip…a slave…lab rat…taken from her home…facility in the North Blue…World Government…bastard removed her memories…

Every word made his blood boil…and then subsequently burn cold within his soul. The dark side of him began to manifest, combining with the fiercely protective side that had just now been reawakened.

Someone had taken Lami away from that hospital as it had burned, and while they had saved her life, they had subsequently ripped it from her as well. Something horribly bad had happened to Lam, and he wouldn't rest until he knew everything. Until he could make things right…

He would have to grill FireFist more for the full story, to get an idea of what he was dealing with and how many new targets he had to add to his list. He had failed his sister. It was up to him to atone for it.

There was much to think about, deliberate and plan. He would also have to deal with the fact that Lami was still amnesiac and how best to deal with that. He didn't think simply coming out and telling her the truth would be the best course of action, especially since he didn't know the method her memories had been removed in the first place. This would have to be handled delicately.

But he was up to the challenge. He had a stake in this now and he wasn't going to back down. Lami was his sister and his responsibility, one that he had unknowingly shirked for too long already. But those were thoughts for another time.

For now, all he could do was hold her, his fingers reaching up to stroke her hair. From out of the recesses of his mind, a long forgotten melody returned. He had long ago, in a moment of self-hatred, put words to the lullaby that he had created for his sister when he had been but a boy. Despite the hoarseness of his voice, he found himself humming that song aloud for the first time in years.

He made a promise right then and there.

He'd have to rethink a lot of his plans, reconfigure many things, but that was nothing new. He had gotten back something precious that he had never thought he would ever see again, a chance he never thought he'd have he wouldn't, couldn't lose it again.

He now realized the feelings that he had felt when he had seen FireFist give everything to save his brother. He had seen success where he himself had failed. But God had given him another chance and he promised right then and there that he wouldn't squander it.

He laid Lami's head once again gently against his shoulder, quietly affirming with resolve, as unyielding as steel. "No one's going to hurt you again…no one's gonna dare."

Never again.

---

A/N: Ohhh, My poor baby!

Yes, Law KNOWS! Finally! I had so many guesses about how it would go down, but it was actually Ace the entire time who finally spilled the beans.

And yes, many don't realize that Law also shares Luffy's blood type!

I decided Jinbe should wait and do his famous blood giving scene later as it has more meaning in FI, but also while he is willing to protect Luffy, he still needs more time to get to know him.

The plot point also helps to set up Law and Ace's relationship and the rapport that develops between them and I think it worked out nicely.

Also, yes Law did drug Lami, but he's Law he does stuff like that from time to time. He's not mean, but he's efficient. 😂

I hope you enjoyed this, it would have been out earlier, but I was struggling with my latest LEF chapter (which is out too now by the way!) and I wanted them out at the same time.

Let me know what you think!

Later!