It was as if a fog had been lifted from Law's mind.

The voice, which had been buzzing in the back of his mind, was suddenly gone. The Heart Pirate captain came to a halt as his remaining missing memories returned, and his thoughts came back into sharp focus. Law wondered, as he resumed jogging, if perhaps Luffy had knocked the vice admiral unconscious. If that was the case, then they all needed to get out of there before Doflamingo descended upon them all and decided that mass murder was the order of the day. Law moved a little more quickly, his teeth gashing in ire. He couldn't believe what a monster Doflamingo was, still alive after he'd used his powers to destroy the older man's organs.

Tenacious bastard.

Law certainly had no desire to resume their conversation, because it was likely to be very painful and unpleasant talk for the Heart Pirate. And knowing what he did of the blond, Law wouldn't put it past Doflamingo to keep him alive for some nefarious purpose. And if there was one thing that Law didn't want to be, it was bait for Kaido, which could potentially happen should the blond haired former warlord be able to get his hands on him. The Heart Pirate would not consent to being thrown to the wolves, or in this case, an angry Emperor.

No, that was what Doflamingo was for.

Law gripped his nodachi. If only he and Straw Hat's crew had been able to retrieve that item…then Kaido might not have been such horror to deal with, after completing the next objective after securing the item. The dark haired pirate entered the base and passed by wounded and unconscious marines. Law paid them no heed; they weren't a danger to him right now. Law didn't see any of Straw Hat's crew, and wondered if perhaps they had already vacated the marine base. But that seemed odd, as he hadn't see anyone-

The Heart Pirate Captain stopped just inside what appeared to be a large meeting hall, as he saw an unfortunately very conscious Fall, and standing next to him…

Law stared, hard, before he grit his teeth, not liking the sight one bit.

Damn.

"Straw Hat-ya." The name was said with a heavy sigh of irritation. Of course. The reason Law had regained his memories was because Fall had decided to change tactics, and used his powers on Luffy. That was why the dark haired Heart Pirate had regained his memories so suddenly. The vice admiral could only focus his powers effectively on one person, it seemed.

"I didn't think you would rely on your powers so much." Law commented lightly of Fall, though he kept his eyes on Luffy as he tried to come up with a plan on the spot. He hadn't anticipated Luffy falling victim to a devil fruit user, but then again, he shouldn't have been surprised at all that it had happened. If it had worked on Doflamingo and Law himself, it wasn't that much of a stretch that Fall could effectively use his powers on Luffy as well, as simple-minded as the Straw Hat captain could be.

"I will do whatever is necessary." Fall intoned, wearing the same look of distain on his features once more. "And what better way to deal with pirates then to have their own kind attack them?" The vice admiral offered a hint of a smile. "Trafalgar Law. You and Straw Hat Luffy will not leave this island." Fall muttered something to Luffy, who turned his attention to Law, looking upset about something, as if the Heart Pirate had done something unspeakable.

Law wrapped his hand around Kikoku's hilt, his entire body tensing as he readied for what appeared to be an unavoidable fight. It seemed like he was going to have to, at the very least, parry Straw Hat's attacks and try to send him off in another direction and go after Fall. His fellow captain made the idea more difficult than originally planned. Despite said plan being sudden and not very well put together. It consisted of the aforementioned parrying or avoiding Luffy and then warping to Fall to try to deal with the vice admiral before Straw Hat figured out what had happened.

"Give me back my hat!" Luffy jumped from the upper balcony of the meeting hall and careened toward Law.

Law back stepped out of the way as the other captain's fist connected with the ground, and sighed in frustration.

It just figured that Luffy would be able to be manipulated into thinking that he had his hat. Utterly ridiculous but simple enough that it would get the other captain going without much question of why he was attacking who he was.

Fall's Devil Fruit was troublesome, but the Heart pirate figured that there had to be some way to distract Luffy, as Law himself had been able to be non-combative around Luffy and his crew had found him without his memory.

The only question Law had now, as he brought his blade up defensively, was how to get through to Luffy and in what manner would be best. There had to be a way to make him realize what he was doing, and that if Luffy knew what he was doing, he wouldn't be doing it. Confusing, but the Heart Pirate figured that he could find something, however idiotic it might have to be to counter the hat issue.

"Gum Gum Pistol!"

Law was sent back a few paces from a punch he'd partially blocked, and the Heart Pirate grit his teeth as he turned on his heel and narrowly avoided a punch Luffy threw over his shoulder in retaliation.

It just figured that Luffy's one track mind would become a bit of a difficulty.

Now all Law had to do was avoid being pounded into an unconscious heap, and take out Fall while he was at it. Not as simple as it sounded, now that Law was on the receiving end of Luffy's attacks. Straw Hat not giving him an inch, and that was not going to make things easier at all. No, it made it much harder and as worm out as Law already was from before, it didn't help matters in the least bit. A memory to lose was the least of Law's worries at present, as he grimly halted another punch, and then a kick, which sent the Heart Pirate stumbling and hitting his back hard against the nearest wall. A quick duck down to the ground meant Law avoided being punched in the face, and the Heart Pirate had time, however briefly, to linger on the realization that all of this mess was technically his fault.

Because if Law had not insisted very adamantly on acquiring a certain item that was at the naval base where Fall was stationed, none of this would be happening. The Heart Pirate's golden eyes sought out Fall, who was still up on the second floor, and almost casually observing him. Law gripped Kikoku's hilt and rolled to one side as Luffy's foot slammed into the ground, kicking up dust and debris of the floor. Law didn't particularly care for how the vice admiral seemed content to watch Straw Hat attempting to pummel him into an unconscious heap.

"It really is too bad that my powers limit me to only one person at a time." Fall prowled back and forth on the balcony of the upper floor. "But it will all work out in the end. You're already tired out from everything from before, so it is only a matter of time until you can no longer resist arrest, Trafalgar Law."

Law ignored Fall's taunts for the time being in order to focus on his fellow captain before him who was attacking him and demanding his hat from him. Which the dark haired captain hadn't taken, obviously, but there wasn't telling the other pirate any of that when he wouldn't believe him. Law bit back a curse and blocked another punch, and grit out at the Straw Hat. "I thought that you said you weren't going to let someone like him make you hurt your friends." Law brought Kikoku up to block a powerful kick from Luffy and sent him careening off in another direction, mind racing in order to try and figure out how best to get to-

Law nearly groaned over the obvious.

His powers.

Law could use his own Devil Fruit powers to get to Fall.

"Room." Law's eyes darted again to the upper floor, though this time his focus was for something to swap places with, and not on Fall. In that one moment, the Heart Pirate let his guard drop as he quickly scanned everything, and it allowed Luffy to side swipe him with a punch, sending him into the debris covered ground. Law's concentration nearly shattered from the strike and subsequent landing, but he righted himself with a grimace and stood up, determined to not remain on the ground. If he lay on the ground for too long, he would be giving in to the inevitable, and that was unacceptable.

"You're underestimating Straw Hat-ya." The Heart Pirate kept the room intact and swapped places with some debris that had clearly come from Fall and Straw Hat's earlier fight, and just so happened to be conveniently located not a pace from where the marine happened to now be standing. Law offered a smirk at Fall as he appeared and landed lightly on the ground, his nodachi poised and ready to be used.

"I have taken things into account." The vice admiral's tone turned slightly smug, "And I believe it is you who are underestimating him."

Luffy came flying up from the lower ground, arm held back for a punch, his sight firmly locked on the Heart Pirate captain before him.

Law just smirked in return and twisted his fingers. Immediately he stood where Fall had been and the vice admiral had no time to move out of the way as Luffy punched him and sent him back to crash into the debris.

"Oops." Was all Luffy said of striking the wrong person as he immediately turned on the spot and struck a fighting stance when he spotted Law.

Law thought quickly as Luffy advanced on him, and spoke hastily, feeling a little bit foolish for the idiocy about to come out of his own mouth. "The vice admiral is lying to you. There's no way you're getting any free food. Or your hat. I do not have it." If this didn't work, Law would think to throw himself into the sea despite the drowning aspect because he was too embarrassed for words that he had to be doing this at all. It was something one of Straw Hat's friends should be doing, trying to get Luffy to stop being an idiot, and that thought, Law decided, was something he would be staying away from. It said too many things about him right now, and none of them he wanted to admit to, even at knife or gunpoint.

"You don't have my hat?" Luffy's demeanor changed into one of confusion, which rendered void some of Law's concerns about having said something so ridiculous in the middle of a fight.

"No, I don't." Law said, mind still racing. Was it really this simple to get around Fall's Devil Fruit powers? Or was Luffy just a simple minded idiot who could be easily swayed?

"No meat?" Luffy added, sounding concerned. It sounded like it was a fate worse than death for there to be nothing to eat.

"No meat." Law confirmed, holding back a smile at the absurdity of it all. "That marine just wanted you to beat up your friends so he can arrest us all."

Luffy seemed to ponder what Law had said, but not for a very long time, as an indignant look came over Straw Hat's face and he about faced and ran full speed in Fall's direction. "You jerk! You lied about the free food! And all the meat I can eat!" Luffy's fist clenched as he took a swing at the vice admiral. "And where is my hat? Give it back!"

Law couldn't believe that food was part of what Fall had been using of Luffy's memories to try and manipulate him. Then again, Law supposed there wasn't much to work with in Straw Hat's mind to begin with, apart from his hat, his friends and the desire to be King of the Pirates.

"That won't work." Fall said tonelessly, as he merely held a hand in Luffy's direction and narrowed his eyes. "In such close quarters, I have the advantage when it comes to Devil Fruit powers."

It seemed that Law had miscalculated; it appeared as though Fall didn't need to touch someone to use his powers when they already were under his sway. Though the Heart Pirate vaguely recalled Fall doing something similar with Doflamingo in the marine ship. So much for Luffy turning on Fall then and there, as Luffy went straight back into attack mode.

Time to come up with another plan on the fly, and avoid being beaten down.

And while he was at it, Law also had to figure out how to get clear of the base without Doflamingo realizing the game was up and deciding it was a brilliant idea to use a Birdcage to slaughter everyone. Law shuddered at the thought; he remembered what had happened on Dressrosa, and no longer needed to ask Straw Hat and his crewmates why he had a scar around his upper right arm. The sick bastard would likely be more than happy to do a repeat, and Law wouldn't be able to reattach it on his own. Law didn't want to be around Doflamingo until he had more time to recover his already rather depleted stamina. It would be best to avoid Doflamingo altogether if at all possible.

"Gum Gum Stamp!"

Law's powers briefly flared as the Heart Pirate swapped positions to avoid the kick, and frowned as he landed heavily, his thoughts spiraling. Law wasn't entirely sure what else he could do at this point, though one thing came to mind. The Heart Pirate thought it a bit foolish on his part, more so than suggesting there was no food to Luffy, but Law sheathed his nodachi and let it fall from his grasp. There was only one thing that Law could think of that might get through to Luffy, and it was taking a beating. Fall probably thought he would fight back, and Law hoped that if he didn't, Luffy might be inclined to wonder why. It was a gamble, but one Law was willing to make if it got Straw Hat to snap out of it in order for them to defeat Fall.

The first punch hurt as Law was slugged directly in his abdomen. The Heart Pirate doubled over, coughing harshly from the punishing strike, and had no time to regain his breath as a second punch clipped his shoulder, which threw Law off balance. The next punch glanced across Law's cheek, sending the Heart Pirate backward into the nearest wall. Coughing harshly from the succession of strikes, Law collapsed to the ground, unable to keep himself upright. Law let his head rest on the ground, eyes closed as he breathed in harshly and raggedly. Law hated this spur of the moment decision, but he had a feeling, based off how the other captain worked, it would be easier to get through to Straw Hat this way. And Law was right, because Luffy seemed to be confused that the Heart Pirate was not getting up to continue the duel, and said as much.

"Why aren't you fighting back?" Luffy's frowned, clearly puzzled. "What are you? Stupid? Why are you doing that?"

Law really hated that he was going to say this aloud, and dreaded the thought of what Luffy would do about it should he remember he had said it. But for now, Law had an opening, and he would take it. Law took a shuddering breath after the brief pummeling he'd taken, and, lifting his head so that he could make eye contact with Straw Hat, managed to speak in halting tones. "I'm not fighting with you…because you are my friend."

"Friends?" That made Luffy abandon all thoughts of continuing the assault as he instead assessed the dark haired pirate on the ground with a quizzical look. "Wait. You're my friend? Really?"

"So it would seem." Law admitted in reply, closing his eyes. If this didn't work, he'd rather pretend he was unconscious. Well, when it came down to it, he'd rather be unconscious if it did work, too. That way the Heart Pirate could delay discussing the fact that he did, in fact, remember what had happened when Fall had scrambled his memories.

"Luffy! What are you doing?"

Law opened his eyes, because really, he had to, as Straw Hat's navigator sounded beyond exasperated with her captain's antics. A brief glance confirmed the orange haired woman's presence, as well as a few others, on the lower floor.

Straw Hat's crew hadn't left after all, it seemed.

Law knew it was stupid of him to think they would. Where their captain went, Luffy's crew would follow, no matter what. And it seemed that those of Straw Hat's crew that were present were keen on leaving the island before any admirals decided to grace it with their presence, and make that leaving harder. By now, Law had enough in him to lever himself up with a forearm, and as he set about trying to get into a seated position, Luffy's crew started calling out encouragements to their captain, making it clear that they wouldn't interfere in the fight.

"Yeah! Kick his ass, Luffy!" Usopp called out from behind Zoro. "We need to get out of here!"

"Don't let that bastard have his way." Sanji added.

"You don't take orders from a marine now, do you Luffy?" Zoro asked, busily draining a bottle of sake he'd found. He had a katana in his free hand, presumably to take care of any marines that were still left in the base that might choose to attack him or his crewmates in that battle scared meeting hall of the marine base.

"I need to get my treasure on board the ship." Nami waved at the three bulging bags she'd gathered together.

Law wasn't sure when Straw Hat's navigator had had the time to go wrangle that all up. The woman's obsession with money was rather alarming, and to raid a naval base for beli and treasure in the midst of the fight didn't seem very smart or safe. Not that any of Straw Hat's crew seemed to be entirely sane, just like their captain.

No wonder they worked together so well.

Law found himself slightly disturbed that Luffy counted him as a friend like the rest of his crew. The Heart Pirate didn't want to think about what that said about him that Luffy had decided to adopt him as a friend and not just an ally. The Heart Pirate captain managed to get into a seated position, half tuning out Straw Hat's crew as they continued to chatter, heedless of the vice admiral in the background.

"Is Law all right?" Chopper piped up, peeking from behind the door to the room the wrong way, "I found medical supplies for the ship!"

"Do you need our help?" Robin questioned, even though the black haired woman appeared to think everything was under control, despite the falling apart state around her and everyone else present.

Law glanced Straw Hat's way, and saw that somehow, infuriatingly enough, Luffy had seemed to come to his senses and looked displeased as he obviously remembered what he couldn't moments before. Law chalked up the change to Fall's powers failing because of overuse. And then the dark haired pirate didn't care why the vice admiral's Devil Fruit powers seemed to have shorted out, because that was the precise moment that Straw Hat caught sight of Law, seated on the ground, and trying very hard not to flinch at tender areas of his body from where he'd been struck.

"Are you okay?" Luffy questioned, completely ignoring Fall and the vice admiral's displeasure with both pirate captains seemingly dismissing him.

"I will be fine. I just need some rest." Law admitted, and felt the beginnings of worry when Luffy made a face, and sealed the Heart Pirate's fate regarding the whole missing memories thing and the fact that, when they weren't in danger, there would be discussion about what had happened while under Fall's Devil Fruit powers.

"I didn't mean to hit you like that. I couldn't help it. I thought you took my hat and hurt some of my crew." Luffy turned his attention to Fall, who appeared taken aback at how suddenly Luffy had regained his memories, along with being so casually dismissed to check on a fellow captain's well-being. Luffy's expression became a serious one. "Law, I'm gonna kick his ass and then we'll leave."

Law heard the use of his name but chose to, for now, not call Luffy out on knowing his name and instead choosing to use some garbled version in place of it. Law lifted a hand and set his jaw as the motion sent a brief spasm through his arm, before the Heart Pirate used his powers to get to the lower level of the meeting hall. As he swapped places with a bench on the ground, Law caught sight of Luffy sending attack after attack at Fall, who'd hastily went on guard in response. Straw Hat was clearly unhappy he'd been made to attack one of his friends, and that he'd been made to forget who everyone was in the first place and do what someone else told him to do.

"What happened to you?" Sanji questioned, even as he offered a hand, his attention half on the fight going on above them, and half on Robin and Nami, clearly making sure they were not in harm's way. How the blond haired cook knew where to stick his hand out, Law didn't know. Unless the man was using observation haki in some way.

Law considered the hand that was extended out to him, before his ribs and the rest of the ache his body gave off forced him to accept the help. It wasn't like he was making any progress on his own in getting to his feet. The Heart Pirate frowned slightly as he thought briefly on the cook's words.

"I would think that vice admiral using his powers on your captain would answer that question." Law said dryly as he gripped the hand and Sanji helped him to his feet.

"Got a few hits in, from the looks of it." Sanji replied, and let go of Law to reach out to snag Usopp's arm in order to tug him backward and out of the way of a falling hunk of wall that had broken free from the fight on the second level. Putting aside his crewmate's freak out over the sudden debris that was falling, Sanji glanced back in the direction that led to the entrance of the naval base. Letting out a trail of smoke from his cigarette, Sanji lowered his voice and spoke grimly. "I saw Doflamingo out there. Why didn't he attack you?"

"I didn't remember him at the time, so Joker chose not to do anything about it until I did." Law had almost forgotten about the older blond, what with Luffy being easy prey to metal manipulation and all.

"And what will he do if he realizes you remember?" Sanji took his attention off both the fight and his crewmates to observe Law carefully. "If he comes after you, he'll come after all of us, won't he?"

"He does have reason to hold a grudge against myself and Straw Hat-ya." Law replied evenly. "If not on this island, he will find another way to come after us, if the marines can't recapture him."

Sanji dropped his cigarette and crushed it underfoot absently as he shook his head. "I figured that was the case. I'm going to go on ahead. Luffy will finish up with things here. He won't be thinking about Doflamingo when we leave this place."

Law watched as Sanji ran in the direction of the naval base entrance and wondered what the blond haired cook was up to. Law might have even remained there with some of Straw Hat's crew until he was urged to head out of the base a minute later when the fight between Fall and Luffy reached its peak. Law allowed one of the Straw Hat's crew mates to help him along, because it hurt to move, so the support proved useful in that Law didn't immediately fall over and onto the ground on his face. And honestly, the Heart Pirate couldn't shake the feeling that he was going to be unable to avoid having a certain conversation with Luffy in the near future.

Because there was no way in hell that Luffy would forget anyone calling him a friend.

Law knew he couldn't deny having said it, because since the Heart Pirate remembered what he had done with his memory wiped clean, Luffy would too. In the meantime, before that embarrassing conversation was to be had, Law found it very satisfying to hear a crunch of bones accompanied by Luffy's voice. Law was too exhausted and rather sore from Luffy punching him to deal with the vice admiral himself, so having Luffy defeat Fall by proxy would have to do.

"Gum Gum Jet Gatling!"

The sight of an unconscious Fall flying across the room to collapse in an unconscious heap was rather satisfying, even if Law was not able to get in a hit or two.

Luffy joined his crewmates and Law, seemingly disinterested in Fall now that the marine was unconscious.

The Heart Pirate caught sight of something and stooped briefly to pick it up as he called out. "Straw Hat-ya!" Law held out a certain straw hat.

"Ah, my hat! You found it!" Luffy jammed it on his head with a grin. "Thanks!"

Law said nothing; he was still trying to figure out how to get around the whole friend topic. The conclusion Law came to was that he couldn't avoid it, and would just have to wait for it to happen, and deal with it however he could, short of murdering the sure to be cheerful Straw Hat captain. Law, once they'd left the base and gotten close to shore, stopped short of joining the Straw Hats on the Thousand Sunny when he realized that his ship was gone.

Doflamingo…

Doflamingo hadn't figured it out, had he?

"Come on! Let's go!" Luffy called.

"Your crew already went on ahead. We thought it would be good for someone to scout ahead." Robin added from the railing.

"I made sure that Doflamingo wasn't around and talked to one of your crewmates to explain things." Sanji added, even though he was beaming at Robin and looked to be headed straight into fawning over Nami as well. The orange haired navigator settled nearby to start to sort through the treasure and beli she'd absconded with from the base.

"Sanji, do you think we could have something to drink?" The navigator was thumbing through a sizable stack of beli, "All that running's made me thirsty." Nami didn't even look up to see Sanji all but racing toward the kitchen with a 'right away, Nami dear~' as a reply.

Law went onto Straw Hat crew's ship with a glum expression. He'd been hoping to be back with his crew instead, but it seemed like today just wasn't going to be his day in terms of things going his way. At the very least, the blond haired cook made enough drinks for everyone, and despite the Heart Pirate captain's attempts to hide it, Sanji and everyone else caught the fact that Law liked the drink very much.

And, grudgingly, the overall good mood of the crew around him, reluctant though Law was to join in any small festivities. Allowing Chopper to help with some post-battle treatment was much more what Law had in mind. The Heart Pirate captain didn't want to find out he had broken ribs and do something stupid.

Unfortunately, the blond haired cook was a devious bastard, because he' slipped something into Law's drink that, while it made him relax and numbed the pain he was feeling, it also made Law unwillingly, and rather quietly, sing along with Luffy and Usopp when Brook decided it was time to play some songs.

Law flipped Sanji off, just to show how much he wasn't amused at being medically drugged via Chopper and a drink, during the middle of Brook playing 'Bink's Brew' on the violin. Much to the Heart Pirate's displeasure, the cook didn't see offended in the least bit.

This singing business was something Law was still planning on hiding forever from his crew out of the sheer embarrassment of allowing it to happen in the first place. But maybe, just maybe, this one time Law would let slip the fact that he almost seemed to be enjoying himself, memory completely intact.

-x

Vice admiral Fall woke abruptly within some debris he'd been thrown into. Fall scowled and clenched a fist against the ground. He would have to be quick about going after Straw Hat Luffy and Trafalgar Law, before they got too far away and got around to doing anything that would throw the world into more disarray.

An ominous laugh accompanied by a wheeze sounded in the destroyed base distracted the marine.

"It seems as if you underestimated those pirates."

"Doflamingo…" Fall couldn't move, and he attributed it to the grinning blond approaching him. "Headquarters will send more marines to deal with all of you scum."

"They will, won't they?" Doflamingo wheezed his amusement. "But I don't care. I'm no longer a warlord, so I will do as I see fit." Doflamingo flexed his fingers, string tightening around Fall's limbs. "Even now Kaido and the other emperors are on the move, and something is going to happen when all of those powers, the marines, the remaining warlords, the emperors, and the likes of Straw Hat Luffy and his fellow captains of the worst generation, collide." Doflamingo laughed, breaking off to briefly cough before he grinned crazily. "It will be so fascinating, but you won't be around for it."

Fall might have responded, had Doflamingo not jerked a finger and cut those words off.

Literally.

"I don't care much for those who look down on me." Doflamingo added lightly, as his hand balled into a fist and his grin split wickedly,"And I am in a hurry. I can't let Law think that he can leave so easily after what he and Straw Hat Luffy have done."

-x

Several days later…

-x

"Listen to this." Nami said suddenly, from where she was reclining on a chair and reading the newspaper. Those of her crewmates who were nearest looked up from whatever they were doing. "It says here that Vice Admiral Fall is dead. They won't go into details about how he died but there's talk that Doflamingo was involved."

"It wouldn't be a stretch, as he was on the island at the time." Robin said, pausing in watering some plants.

"You don't think he'll come after us, do you?" Usopp asked nervously.

"Well, not at the moment. The sky is clear." Nami peered through her sunglasses, ignoring Usopp's muttering of having a I-can't-deal-with-former-warlords disease. "Though with the way the breeze is, and the humidity, we could be seeing rain before the day is out. But it should be plenty of time to put more distance between us and Doflamingo."

Law listened from nearby as he leaned against a railing. He was still rather rankled about all the Straw Hat crew had gotten him to do while he'd lost his memory. He pretended the post celebratory singing fest and small feast upon leaving the island several days ago had never happened. It was unpleasant and suffice to say, embarrassing enough, to consider the rest of what had happened when he'd not had his memory from before. Luffy, of course, was still animatedly talking about the experience, and not allowing the Heart Pirate to leave those still fresh memories behind just yet because of it.

"It was so weird, Chopper!" Luffy was saying. "I can remember doing all this stuff that I didn't want to do, but I had to do it anyway 'cause I couldn't remember I didn't want to do it at the time. It was so bizarre."

Law more or less turned out the chatter, even if he didn't like the sound of Doflamingo still alive and kicking and looming somewhere on another island, biding his time. The dark thoughts didn't linger for long, because Law saw something glint in Luffy's hand as the other captain's arms gestured wildly as he told his tale to Chopper, and as soon as Law realized what it was, he let out an indignant sound.

No, it couldn't be…but if it was, then that meant that...that...

Law pushed away from the railing and stalked toward Luffy, and spoke aloud in an irritated, disbelieving tone. "Straw Hat-ya. Is that the item we meant to steal all this time from that vice admiral's base?"

"Eh?" Luffy blinked at Law, and then looked down at the small cylindrical tube he was holding. "Oh, I saw it and I grabbed it."

The rest of Luffy's crew converged on them, happy yet exasperated that their captain hadn't said anything about it before.

"What?" Luffy made a face when too many of his crewmates were speaking at once. "I didn't think it was important." Luffy slapped Law's shoulder with his free hand. "Law didn't remember us, so it was more important that we helped him remember things."

"You..." Law began, not quite able to put into words how obnoxious it was to have Luffy be so cavalier about things. Or that yes, Luffy did know what his name was, and just chose to not always call him it. The Heart Pirate supposed he didn't call the other captain by his name either, and left it at that.

Luffy just grinned cheerfully and cut in before the other captain could form a complete sentence, "Hey, Law?"

"What?" Law asked crossly. He wasn't going to forget this.

"You said before, when that marine made me fight you, that you wouldn't fight back because you were my friend?"

Law looked away immediately. "I don't know what you are talking about." The Heart Pirate walked a short distance away along the deck as Luffy doggedly followed after him.

"You said it. I heard you say it." Luffy insisted, not about to let the matter slide as the other pirate seemed inclined to do. "You can't have forgotten it. I remember it, so you should too."

Law was in denial of the fact, even as the others in Luffy's crew laughed good naturedly about it and how Law had nothing to gain by continuing to deny the fact.

Luffy grinned some more. "You admitted it. I know you did."

Law leaned against the railing of the ship, his eyes on the sea as he kept an eye out for his crew. Maybe they would come save him so he wouldn't have to give an answer to the Straw Hat captain who wouldn't leave him alone.

"Come on." Luffy leaned against the railing as well as he propped his head up on his arms and tilted it to the side to look at Law, persistent. "Is it really such a bad thing that we're friends?"

"I suppose not." Law stated after a brief pause, wanting nothing more than to be left alone to brood on his own about the sorry state he had gotten himself in to by offering to make an alliance.

"See?" Luffy's grin was cheerful once more. "It's all right then, isn't it?"

Law kept his eyes on the churning waves, but he supposed that the other captain was right. If nothing else, it was useful to have powerful ally. The Heart Pirate frowned as the thought passed, before what he'd just casually agreed with caught up to him. Law whirled around and exclaimed in an almost distraught way, as if he had somehow been tricked.

"Hey! Straw Hat-ya! I never said that I wanted to be your friend!"

Luffy's laugh was all the answer Trafalgar Law needed to know that there was no way to end his alliance or friendship, in the Straw Hat captain's mind, any time soon.

Luffy handed the item in his hand over to the dark haired Heart Pirate before he ran over to join his crew to chatter something to them excitedly.

Law shook his head minutely as he broke the seal on the capsule and drew out a tiny key that had been wrapped up tightly within a rolled up scroll, and smirked. It seemed like things had worked out after all, despite the delays that had come about because of it. Staring back out to sea, Law wondered if he even cared at this point in time if the alliance would ever end. Because right now, in his hands, was the location of the one thing that he felt would be best to deal with Kaido should he come upon them. Along with a key, he now would be able to get to it. Law had some things to discuss with the Straw Hat crew, and that included arranging a side trip to a certain island that would be key in order to go onto the next step of his plan, even if it what was on the island was something that would be useful to only Law himself.

Things were going well for once.

The fact that everything was actually going according to plan now should have keyed Law into the idea that that wouldn't be the case for long. Especially with Luffy and his crew around. Though one thing that was about to happen wasn't because of their inability to keep to a plan. No, it was just a reminder to all of them about just how unstable and violent the New World was, as well as how the Emperors they would eventually face were on a completely different level than a Warlord of the Sea.

An unexpected reunion in the very near future would drive home that fact. After all, none of the pirates on the Thousand Sunny would have anticipated coming across a rather battered and unresponsive Eustass Kid of all things.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

A/N: It's really nice to be able to finally complete another story! Apart from the whole amnesia thing cropping up a lot, I think the fic turned out pretty well over all, and some of the loose ends were tied up (I think).

And of course, based off the end of this fic, I like to torment myself with starting new stories. Guess whose turn it is to be tormented now (I wanted to do another fic where Luffy, Law and Kid all ran into one another, like in On a Whim). In fact, the whole plot of the sequel to this fic was going to be in OaW, but went too dark for what I intended in that fic (it was inspired by one of the more recent chapters of the One Piece manga). Let's just say Kid is going to be a mess to start off with and leave it at that until I get around to posting it (also, it will likely be shorter than this fic, or about the same, for length of story, at the moment).