A/N: Special thanks to the husband for his help with writing Shakky and Rayleigh's interactions in these chapters. I've mentioned a few times that he's my sounding board, and I find his input invaluable. Love that man so much. I think I'll have his babies. Oh wait, already have.

Also, to explain a probably lesser known reference: La Sylphide is one of the first ballets to have a dancer go en pointe for an extended time. The Sylph in said ballet died when her lover, distraught that she always flew away from him, tried to remove her wings to keep her with him.

Ch. 30 – The Swan Lake

Helena left the building to burn behind her. She had tasked Rayleigh and Shakky with freeing the slaves before she'd paid Rothbart a visit. They worked exceptionally fast. Through Haki she sensed the building devoid of life by the time the pair met her in front of the opulent Harem doors, the master key in hand.

"I sense she is in there," Rayleigh said, and Helena nodded. She could feel Kuina's aura too; her raw, angry, hurt, confused presence. Helena could sense, almost hear though without her ears, that the young child cried. It was a type of scream-cry of true pain and anguish that Helena had never heard from her child before, had never hoped to hear, and her eyes glazed at the sound.

Helena sensed a change in her daughter the moment the ex-queen placed the master key in the lock of the door. Kuina ceased crying and spoke one word, a word so full of emotion Helena could hear it loud and clear as though she already stood in the room:

"MAMA!"

Kuina could sense her. Helena remembered what Mihawk had said about her child's precocious ability with observation haki.

Helena threw open the doors. – beautiful cedar doors carved through and inlaid with golden tree filigree. The moment they banged open she could hear with ears what she had only heard in her mind through haki previously: the gut-wrenching sobs of her child.

Helena dashed into an enormous atrium; a veritable forest of rare trees. Various women sat about a large, trickling fountain complete with live swans and lily pads. Dressed in romantic era tutus, with tulle draping down to their mid calves, the graceful women looked like something straight out of La Sylphide. Only these ballerinas wore heavy bomb collars about their throats and their low backed gowns showed the dragon's claw on their backs; these sylphs had no wings to escape with.

They had gathered about the new bride, many weeping on her behalf. Kuina sat on the lip of fountain, trussed up in an enormous, bell shaped bridal gown complete with a lace veil and beading. She wore it unzipped, her upper body exposed as an albino woman with pure white skin and whispy hair attempted to change the bandages of the wound on her back.

Another woman held Kuina to her; a woman with a fresh brand herself. Marie.

"Yelene!" she cried, seeing Helena burst through the door. Tears streamed down the poor woman's face. But Helena didn't have a thought to spare for her. She dashed to the fountain and fell at her daughter's feet. Marie moved aside, allowing Helena to take her place.

"Kuina," she cried, "Kuina I'm so sorry."

She pulled Kuina to her, her daughter hugging her fiercely, little body taut with pain and emotion.

"Want Papa!" she wailed. "Want Yuffy come punch bubble man!"

"Shh…shh…" she stroked Kuina's curls, "You don't have to worry about the bubble man hurting you ever again. I've made sure of it." She pulled away and nodded at the woman bandaging Kuina to continue.

"You kiww bad man?"

Helena hated that her daughter knew the word. But she nodded. "Yes, he is gone forever. And we are going to go find your Papa, alright? And to find Captain Luffy too. And the whole crew! Then you can live on board the Thousand Sunny. Would you like that?"

Kuina nodded once, face still contorted into a sad pout.

"Your Majesty, we don't have much time," Rayleigh reminded her.

"Majesty…?" Marie gasped.

"I told you not to call me that," Helena shot at Rayleigh, quickly unlocking Kuina's collar and placing it aside. "Yes, Marie. My name is not Yelene. I'm the real Helena de Zoro. And this is my daughter Kuina, not Kina." She handed Marie the key, "Hurry and unlock your collars. I'm sure we'll have some pretty heavy hitters from the navy breathing down our necks any second. We need to move."

"Is it true you killed Rothbart?" Marie asked, unlocking the albino woman's collar just as she finished tying off Kuina's bandages.

"Yes, and his son Seigfried also," Helena said, placing a soft kiss on the raw red mark the collar had left behind on her daughter's neck. "And possibly a whole slew of other Celestial Dragons attending his reception. I wouldn't be surprised if we see an Admiral soon, even with Navy HQ being moved."

She loosened her grip on Kuina, helped her back into her dress sleeves and zipped it back up over the bandages. Kuina whimpered loudly in pain, but then Lady came and hissed in her ear, tickling her. It wasn't enough to make her laugh, but it did bring the ghost of a smile back to her face. She hugged Lady, and the fox plush she carried, tightly to her.

Marie unlocked every woman's collar, then unlocked her own. The concubines all looked at Helena with expressions varying from terror to grim acceptance as she lifted her daughter and turned to go.

One among them, a dark, older woman, full figured and beautiful, placed herself in Helena's path. She was possibly around her father's age, though with her dancer's body and perfect skin she had an eternal youth to her. She lifted one palm toward the ex-queen, her other arm extended to her side in second position

"Madam, I don't know who you are; forgive my shrewdness, but why should we trust you?" she demanded, ruby eyes sharp and keen.

A black feathered crown, sprinkled with garnets, sat perched atop her textured hair. Where the others wore pastels, she was the only one dressed in black; a beaded black, prima tutu, black tights, and black satin shoes. Helena couldn't help but admire her pluck. She was clearly the empress of Rothbart's swans.

"What is your name?" she asked.

"Theodora," the dancer replied. "I have survived for many years here, and see it as my duty to help the others do the same."

"Theodora, you have no reason to trust me, aside from the fact that I could have left you here to face the wrath of the government for allowing this little one to go free," Helena replied, nodding to the toddler cradled in her arms. "If you stay here, the outcome seems grim. If you run, you have a chance at freedom. But there isn't time to argue. You must all weigh the risks and choose for yourselves."

Helena sidestepped the dark swan. The rest of the flock looked to their leader, who nodded and turned to follow their rescuer out of the gate and into the unknown.

Helena didn't have eyes for them anymore. All she cared about sat cradled in her arms at the moment; Kuina's freedom was the only thing that truly mattered.

"We split up after that," Helena said somberly. "Rayleigh said he and Shakky knew how to lead the other slaves to safety back on his side of the Red Line. He told me I was on my own to find my way into the New World."

"There's something I don't understand," Robin interrupted, expression pensive. "When your bounty increased, the news only mentioned you killing one Celestial Dragon, not two, and certainly not a whole party of them."

Helena got a strange feeling in her gut at this revelation. While on the run, she hadn't exactly had a chance to read the newspaper. Did this mean a Coppelius had survived? If so, which one? "

"I wasn't aware that my bounty had increased," Helena went on, not sure she wanted to discuss the implications if Rothbart had survived.

"You're at 200,000,000 berries," Zoro said, grinning at her proudly.

It actually lifted Helena's spirits some, to see the look on his face as he said it. "Wait, isn't that higher than yours?" she goaded.

"Not for long," he countered, and she nudged him playfully in the ribs.

"Kuina has a wanted poster now as well," Robin said, showing it to her.

Helena's heart caught in her throat, any touch of joviality completely wiped from her expression when she caught sight of her daughter's cute face on the parchment. They had chosen to use the painting done on the day she'd been introduced to the kingdom. She wore her first laurel crown, and that fluffy green dress that she loved, made by Diddy of course.

"So the World Government now acknowledges her existence," Helena growled, then tapped the poster. "This just isn't right. She's too young to have to deal with all this."

"We'll keep her safe," Zoro assured her. "Anyway, in years to come she'll brag about this, I guarantee it."

"He's right you know," Robin nodded sagely. "It's a good start. If she can beat my bounty before she turns eight, I'll get her a real fox."

Helena chuckled, and tried to really feel it but she mostly just felt like crying. She kept her voice steady though: "I forget that pirates take pride in their bounties. And Kuina's a true pirate now if she's officially joined the crew."

"Ohhh, Chopper is going to be so mad," Usopp chortled in sudden humor. "Her bounty is higher than his!"

"I don't think there's a bounty out there that isn't higher than his," Nami pointed out, and the crew laughed.

"He'll just have to work harder to be more threatening than a two-year-old," Usopp guffawed, slapping his thigh.

"She's at 35,000,000. You can't really talk, Usopp. Yours is lower than hers too," Sanji pointed out to a chorus of laughter from the rest of the crew.

Helena smiled more genuinely at this. It was nice to see that Kuina was in such good, and good-natured, hands. The Straw Hats really had a way of bringing hope and humor into an otherwise hopelessly painful situation. She wanted Kuina to grow up with that kind of strength.

"Now that I think about it, it shouldn't come as a surprise that she's got a wanted poster now," Helena admitted when the laughter died down. "It's not like they could hide her after Rothbart caught wind of her. I mentioned it was something Akainu didn't want the Celestial Dragons to know about, particularly that Celestial Dragon. But when it happened, he decided to get me to do his dirty work for him."

"What to you mean?" Zoro asked. "Are you saying he wanted you to kill Rothbart?"

"Oh, well done, Helena de Zoro…"

Helena stopped dead at the slow clap behind her.

"I knew you'd take care of that problem for me."

Helena turned slowly in the manicured streets to face Akainu where he stood, backlit by the semi-distant fires she had initiated. All of the Coppelius properties had gotten the torch by now, more than she could have done on her own. Some of the freed slaves must have wanted to mark their own defiance somehow. It wasn't like Rayleigh could keep track of all of them; anyway, why stop them? All the chaos made for an easier escape. Besides, it was fitting that Rothbart's property should burn after Ilium had done so.

"What problem?" she asked cautiously. She had her hand on her sea stone dagger. It was her only chance, but not much of one.

"The problem you created," Akainu admitted, shrugging his large shoulders. For a moment he seemed genuine and conversational. "If you hadn't let slip about your daughter to Rothbart, I wouldn't have had the balance of power to worry about."

"Balance of power?" Helena asked, maintaining eye contact. Sensing the danger, Lady hissed at Akainu from her feet. The serpent slithered up her leg and gently eased Kuina from the Queen's back, freeing her up to fight.

"But of course," Akainu said, acting surprised. "Do you think the Navy actually WANTS the nobles to have access to a power like that?"

Helena's mouth dropped open without a retort in mind. It had never occurred to her that the Navy would want to do anything against the desires of the World Nobles. After all, ten battleships full of men went down because Rothbart wanted a buster call against Ilium.

Sakazuki replied as though reading her mind, "The only reason Rothbart went after you in the first place was because your mother's use of the god powers to flee her marriage became a huge scandal. We couldn't exactly hide it from the World Nobles after the papers went crazy about it. Every one loves a sordid affair, after all."

He sauntered closer to her as he spoke. Helena took a step back, one hand still on her blade, though the other she held protectively in front of Lady and the whimpering Kuina.

Akainu squatted down and tilted his head as though to glance under her arm at the injured toddler. "But then Rothbart caught wind of you, little one. We couldn't exactly deny him his request." He smiled winningly at Kuina, then turned the expression on Helena. "The law, and therefore justice dictated that we let him have what he wanted. But I was hopeful I would find an opportunity to…nullify the arrangement he made with your daughter."

"You wanted me to kill him?" Helena gasped.

He shook his head, tutting. "Such a nasty way of putting it," he said airily. "But really, what other choice did you or I have?"

"Again, you're talking as though the sibyl isn't dead," Helena remarked. "The gods do not communicate with our family anymore. You realize that, right? Without a sibyl, a marriage to one of us is useless."

Sakazuki let out a little chuckle. "Can't be too careful," he said, but Helena narrowed her eyes at him all the same. He definitely knew something she didn't.

"So as a mere precaution of an unlikely circumstance, you gave me the perfect opportunity to assassinate someone you otherwise couldn't touch."

"Something like that," he smirked, standing to his full height so that he loomed intimidatingly over her. "Now the only thing left to do is carry out justice on his murderer; an already wanted criminal facing the death penalty upon capture."

Helena looked up at him, her face calm despite the fury boiling beneath the surface. She drew without blinking; without showing any indication that she had decided to go for her dagger.

He caught her wrist easily before she could slash into him with the sea prism. "Now, now. We wouldn't want that sweet little one to witness violence against Justice, would we?"

Still unblinking, Helena dropped her dagger. She didn't have a chance against Akainu, and they both knew it.

"Spare her," she requested, almost commanded really.

"Oh, I intend to," Akainu replied, drawing his free hand back into a steaming fist. "After she started to glow at that attempted execution, I now believe the rumor that one of you royals will become immortal at the death of the others. If we're all honest, we'd all rather it be the innocent child, wouldn't we?"

"The naïve child you mean," Helena sneered. She couldn't believe him capable of any true benevolence.

"She has a cleaner slate," he admitted, and his fist took on an orange glow. "Much easier to fill with correct teaching."

"To indoctrinate, you mean," Helena filled in.

"Mama?" Kuina's voice quivered.

"Lady, cover her eyes. I don't want her to see this."

The fist dripped with magma now.

"Farewell, Sun Queen," Akainu sneered. "You have been most useful. I hope your death draws your husband to us. I've been wanting to bring that crew to justice personally."

His fist turned to lava. A deadly grin seared across his face. Helena looked back at Kuina, wanting something good to be the last thing her mortal eyes saw.

"Not so fast, Sakazuki-Chii."

Akainu and Helena turned to look at Shakky, who had appeared almost out of nowhere beside them in the street, her smoking cigarette in hand. The Fleet Admiral seemed so surprised to see her that he paused in his execution.

"You," he growled. "You're one of Roger's despicable crew."

"And you killed the captain's son," Shakky intoned, and her normally calm voice turned sinister. "There's no love between us, Sakazuki-Chii. Trust me."

"I do what I can to end that man's legacy," Akainu snarled.

"And yet the search for the One Piece continues."

This struck an apparent nerve. One raw enough to turn all of his anger on Shakky. His burning fist flew toward her, the heat lifted her hair, then scorched her cigarette to cinders, but the blow never landed. Helena blinked and Rayleigh stood between Shakky and certain death.

His blackened sword connected with Akainu's fist, and held. The shockwave to follow threw Helena a few feet backward and onto the ground, where she used her fall to protect Kuina and Lady from flying debris.

But Shakky didn't stumble. With Rayleigh's sword the only thing between herself and incineration, she retrieved a new cigarette and lit it on Akainu's fist. Taking a deep drag, she blew a stream of smoke into his face, then turned back to where she had come from:

"I'll take care of the other's dear," she said to Rayleigh, and then sauntered away with her usual gate, hips swinging from side to side.

"Dark King," Akainu growled, his eyes literally aflame. He obviously wanted to throw a magma ball in Shakky's direction, but Rayleigh commanded his full attention.

The old pirate matched his gaze, face calm, but with eyes as sharp and dangerous as his blade.

"Rayleigh," Helena spluttered, feeling as though she had interrupted something important that had nothing to do with her. "Don't you have slaves to liberate?"

"I wouldn't worry about them, your Majesty," he said calmly, never breaking eye contact with Akainu. "Shakky's got it covered. And that Theodora knows how to take charge. Now I would use this opportunity to run if I were you."

"You won't get far," Akainu snarled, but didn't look at her. Helena suddenly realized that, old as Rayleigh was, not even the Fleet Admiral of the entire World Navy could risk a glance away from this fight.

"I wouldn't worry your Majesty," Rayleigh retorted with a smirk. "He's blowing hot air. Now go."

Helena grabbed her dagger and whirled around without a second bidding. She scooped Kuina up in her arms and sprinted away with Lady at her heels. The child lifted a weary hand and waved goodbye to Rayleigh as they went. Though he couldn't turn around to look, he obviously sensed it and raised his free hand to make a little wave back at her, a smile spreading across his wrinkled cheeks.

"Now, Magma Brat," Helena heard him sneer at the Fleet Admiral. "Your move."