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nehswritesstuffs · 4 months

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banish every gaslight; let clarity shine - Part 14

Happy New Year, everyone! This year's gonna be weird, so the only thing we can hope is that it's the right kind of weird.

Part 1 [FFN/AO3] - Part 2 [FFN/AO3] - Part 3 [FFN/AO3] - Part 4 [FFN/AO3] - Part 5 [FFN/AO3] - Part 6 [FFN/AO3] - Part 7 [FFN/AO3] - Part 8 [FFN/AO3] - Part 9 [FFN/AO3] - Part 10 [FFN/AO3] - Part 11 [FFN/AO3] - Part 12 [FFN/AO3] - Part 13 [FFN/AO3]

Baby 5 steels herself for the coming years, while everything around her settles into place. [4495 words; AU where there is a Third Corazón, whose existence makes Law’s life hell]

Nine years ago

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

“You must hold still, Princess, or we’ll end up with blood all over the fabric from me pricking you.”

Baby 5 watched patiently as Giolla pinned fabric in place as it sat on Antonia’s thin frame. She had been going through a growth spurt, making the clothes that she had fit only a few months before become too snug.

“I don’t know why I have to wear such things if Uncle Doffy wears what he does,” Antonia huffed. She kept her arms raised as Giolla went around her waist, cinching and pinning with gusto. “You make them tight to start.”

“I make them perfectly, thank you, and you need to look your best if you’re going to be on official business for the Young Master.”

“The official business he sends me on is boring,” Antonia pouted. “I enjoy training instead—why can’t I stay behind and train?”

“A princess needs more than just battle training, Nia,” Baby 5 reminded her.

“Yes,” Giolla agreed with half a chuckle. She glanced over at Baby 5 with a wicked grin, knowing how much it pained the younger woman to be following around Antonia. “You don’t have the luxury of only learning how to fight if you’re going to become the Young Master’s heir. You need to know how to dazzle a crowd and win them over.”

“I don’t want to dazzle.”

“Too bad; it’s all part of the job. Be glad you get a whole year of practice before being thrown to the nobles.” Giolla grunted in reluctance—it was going to be close enough. “We’ll make a real princess out of you yet, you silly little terror.”

“Dellinger is little!”

“…and you’re still a terror! Now hold still…”

As Antonia attempted to not move, Baby 5 did her best to not scream in frustration.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Baby 5 did not like the Levely.

Granted, Antonia didn’t either, but it felt especially uncomfortable for the older teen. She had been given the assignment of being Antonia’s lady-in-waiting, staying by her side as Doflamingo mingled and cavorted amongst the Celestial Dragons that regarded him coolly and the nobility that tried to hide their contempt.

“A wonderful place, don’t you agree?” he asked flatly as he sipped at wine. The three were off in a quiet corner, keeping to themselves for a while. “My cousins have definitely spared no expense for our homecoming.”

“…but Uncle Doffy,” Antonia frowned, “they don’t act like they’re our cousins.”

“That is because your grandpapa was a silly man, and gods do not tolerate the silly.” His voice grew icier as he spoke, as though he was thinking back to a past wrong and his compliments were merely lies. Antonia grimaced at that before turning towards Baby 5 and smiling hopefully.

“Want to go check out the gardens?”

“Sounds like fun.” Baby 5 was only able to take one step before Doflamingo stuck his free hand out, stopping them. “What is the matter, Young Master?”

“Don’t be gone too long,” he warned. Bending down, he turned up Antonia’s chin with his pointer finger so she was looking at him. “I need you to be here when your great-great-aunt decides to finally dust herself off and ride over here.” Antonia smiled, and had almost turned around fully when someone else appeared on the balcony.

“Doflamingo. A word.”

Baby 5 did her best to not inhale sharply as she heard the man’s voice. Fuck, she knew she was growing pale and that she hadn’t been able to stop her eyes from going wide. She recognized that voice, that man, who she thought she’d never hear again, and he was right there.

“Ah, Fleet Admiral Sengoku, what timing,” Doflamingo nearly purred, mood completely flipped. Fuck. “I was just about to let the girls run off and play. Say hello.”

“Hello; my name is Donquixote Antonia.” She bobbed in a curtsey, one that their guest didn’t quite believe.

“A pleasure.” He then addressed Doflamingo, expression stone. “Your… daughter…?”

“Niece; I treat my brother’s child as my own now that he’s no longer around. You know how it goes.”

“Your… niece,” the older man mused. His eyes flicked from Antonia to Baby 5. “…and you are…?”

“A member of our Family at-large, but she is mostly a lady-in-waiting,” Doflamingo explained. “Fufufu, Baby 5, come, let the Fleet Admiral meet you.” Baby 5 stepped forward and curtsied silently. “Don’t be shy, Child… be kind to an old man who could be your Grandfather.”

It was only for a second, but Baby 5 saw a flash of realization pass over Sengoku’s face. He collected himself quickly and nodded. “A pair of young ladies like yourselves shouldn’t be too worried about what a pair of old men have to say. Go enjoy yourselves.”

“I’m Uncle Doffy’s heir, so maybe I should stay,” Antonia frowned. Sengoku opened his mouth to say something when Doflamingo cut him off.

“Love to stay and chat, Senny, but save it for another time,” the Warlord said. He had his gaze locked on an elderly woman riding on a slave’s shoulders, her stature diminutive enough to facilitate it without much strain on the lad and his blank stare. “Oh, Auntie Teolinda! Hell~llo~o! It’s been so long!” He pulled Antonia towards the woman, leaving Baby 5 and Sengoku together for a few brief moments.

“Child… I…”

“You never came for us,” Baby 5 hissed. “You missed our brother, but you still could have saved us… saved her…”

“It was not my place.”

“Some fucking Marine you are—you can’t even help some kids.”

“You don’t understand…”

“No, I understand perfectly.” Baby 5 glanced over at Doflamingo to see that he was still occupied in making his elderly relative visibly uncomfortable. “If you had only acted my sister would still be here. She wouldn’t believe she’s an entirely different person… we might be free…”

“You can still be; I have an associate who can pretend to recruit you into her unit…”

“That ship has sailed,” she said firmly, tears in her eyes. “You weren’t there back then and now…” She closed her eyes and exhaled heavily. “…you don’t deserve to be.”

“Rosinante wanted me to take care of you as though you were his children—you mean to say that now that my granddaughters are in reach, I cannot help them?”

“If Cora-san wanted that, then why didn’t you come for us?!”

“You think the world is simple, don’t you?” he replied, a darkness to his voice. “That I can just snap my fingers and things happen? That I don’t have protocol to follow and laws to uphold? That I cannot get into trouble for my actions?”

“It works well enough for Doflamingo.” Baby 5 began to storm off, stopped by Sengoku placing a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t touch me.”

“I want to help any way that I can, and I can now.” She looked him in the eyes, forcing herself to smile.

“I’m not leaving my sister alone, whether she knows why or not,” she said. “You had your chance. Now let me have mine.”

Baby 5 walked out of the Fleet Admiral’s grasp to go stand at Antonia’s side, politely engaging in conversation with the Donquixotes as though nothing was amiss. Her eyes met those of the slave who Doflamingo’s great-aunt was using as a perch, the young man not much older than her. His stare was dull at first, then sharpening to something akin to understanding that Baby 5 wished she hadn’t recognized. It was only there for a moment, but it was there all the same.

The slave knew, somehow, and he pitied her. She couldn’t think of anything more humiliating.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Thanking the seas that the Levely was somewhat-easily accessible from Dressrosa, Baby 5 sank into the large plush chair in her bedroom and let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. She hated being on the Numancia Flamingo, she hated being in such close quarters with her boss, and she hated the way he had paraded Antonia around as though to mock both Cora-san’s memory and the Celestial Dragons’ pride. Now that they were back she could figure out a way to decompress from everything before heading back out again, likely following Antonia as she made social calls to nearby islands. Elizabello II had expressed interest in introducing them both to younger members of his own family, hopeful that they could forge bonds of friendship with the new regime.

Figuring that things weren’t going to get done with her simply sitting, the young woman went and trudged over to where the servants left her traveling trunk. She began to take everything from it that needed laundering and tossed the pile onto her bed. It was almost all out when she heard something land awkwardly on the floor with a hard kathunk. Wait, what was that…?

She looked at her feet and saw a Den Den Mushi shell laying next to the trunk.

Huh… that was odd… Baby 5 put the rest of her laundry on her bed and crouched down to pick it up. The snail was asleep inside, though there was a small folded slip of paper attached to its shell. She brought the snail to the small habitat on a table where she kept a few other transponder snails and detached the note before setting the shell down next to some lettuce. Once she was sure it was awake and aware of the food, she opened the note, seeing that it was two numbers along with a message.

Top one is you. Bottom one is me. Call when you are ready.

“So never,” she whispered to herself. How Sengoku had managed it, she did not want to know, though what she did know was that she was not going to give him the satisfaction of caving to his whims.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

It was late as Baby 5 slipped into the small room, only the pale light from the window illuminating her way as she went to the barred alcove. Mansherry perked up as she realized who it was and ran to the bars happily.

“Oh, dere you are!” she gasped. “I was wurweed you couldn’t come!”

“I barely had time to come here,” Baby 5 admitted. “I’m getting sent on more and more missions to keep me away, I know I am. I’ve been told I need to choose a division to commit to soon and they’re all sizing me up.” She took from her pockets some food that she was able to put through between the bars—mostly bread and cheeses and small fruits—and waited for Mansherry to uncap her water tankard so she could fill it with the bottle she’d brought. “I leave early in the morning on another one.”

“How’s Wamee?”

“She’s…” Baby 5 frowned, angry that nothing had changed with time. “She still is not herself.”

“Still Pwincess Antonia?”

“Yeah. I can’t commit to one of the army divisions because… I think they’re going to make her Corazón soon, and I want to be there for her.”

“We’re sixteen—she can’t be a awmy commandur!”

“She still thinks she’s fourteen, and apparently age is not an issue.” With the water tankard full, Baby 5 pocketed the bottle and passed through some more items: a couple new dresses, dried tea leaves, fuel for her tiny stove, a sliver of soap, and a menstrual care kit. “This should last you for a couple weeks. If I’m not back in time, Viola will bring you more.”

“Could you find books?”

“I’m trying.” Baby 5 reached into the cage with her pointer finger, which Mansherry touched with her own hand. “One day; we’ll be free.”

“Yesh! We wiluh be fwee!”

If only either of them still believed it.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Law ran down the corridors of the Donquixote compound on Spider Miles, the building virtually untouched by time as he checked in the rooms.

Empty.

EMPTY.

“Where were you, Law-nii?” He turned as he heard a voice, sweet and innocent despite its accusation. His heart raced inside his chest; freshly inked skin almost fluttered with his heartbeat, anxiety ratcheting higher with each passing step.

“…Lami…?!”

“Where were you, Law-nii?” Behind him? No… “I needed you.”

“Lami, I tried…!”

“Why didn’t you try harder?”

“I did my best!” he breathed, trying to follow the sound of his youngest sister’s voice. “I came soon as I could!”

“It hurt… I was in pain…”

“Lami, I…!” Law stopped as he realized he was now in the Hall of Suites, everything barren. His entire body hurt down to his soul as he realized no amount of searching was going to turn up anything. A chill ran down his spine, turning his blood cold as the North Blue waters as he heard one final voice:

“Fufufu… come find us in Dressrosa, boy.”

Gasping, Law choked down a scream as he woke up from his nightmare, realizing that he’d kicked off his blanket in his sleep. He ignored it laying on the cabin floor as he went to his tiny washroom and vomited in the toilet—fuck, he needed to stop this. This was… he couldn’t think of how many times he’d thought about the day they finally sailed into Spider Miles looking for his sisters, and yet there was a sinking feeling it wasn’t going to be the last.

Air. That’s what he needed, some fucking air against his face. Law flushed the toilet, washed his face, and made the effort to trudge out of the captain’s quarters and made his way to the upper deck of the Polar Tang, the ship moored in a natural harbor hey had found by chance. As predicted, the gentle breeze calmed both his nerves and his stomach as he sat down on the edge of the deck. Most of his fledgling crew was sleeping under the stars on the beach—the only hospitable spit of land on the rocky outcropping—but he had elected to stay onboard. Him and…

Silently, a steaming mug appeared near Law’s face, the Germa 66 logo catching the corner of his eyes. He took it and let the ceramic warm his hands as Bepo sat down next to him, both of them leaning against the railing as their legs dangled over the side.

“Bad dream again?” the teenaged Mink wondered.

His captain sighed—not good enough.

“Was it Flevance?”

“It was…” Law hesitated, unsure how much he could unload without undoing the good the breeze was doing him. Going along would give him an out as it always did, but this… something about this time felt different. “Spider Miles.”

“There…? That was years ago now; it was empty.” Bepo paused and watched Law take a tentative sip of his herbal tea; still too hot. “You didn’t… you didn’t find anything there, did you?”

“No—I just missed someone.”

“Yeah…?”

“…yeah.”

The pair stayed quiet for a while, simply staring out at the beach in one another’s company. Eventually, Law leaned over and let himself rest against Bepo’s arm, soft and warm against the night air.

“My younger sister should be your age,” he confessed. If anyone deserved to know, it was Bepo. “She died… likely a couple years ago at this point.”

“You… you never told us you had a sister.”

“Two, actually,” he admitted. Ah, finally, the tea was drinkable. “We found our middle sister after we escaped Flevance, but neither of them could run from Doflamingo. That’s why I trained all these years: so I could get them back. Now…” He didn’t need to voice his disappointment—it had been evident back then by the empty headquarters. “All I can hope for is that they made my younger sister comfortable in the end and let the middle one go off on her own. I doubt it, but you never know.”

Bepo nodded pensively. “Is that why you were so upset when Doflamingo wasn’t here?”

“Yeah.” Law swallowed hard as he stared into his mug; how many times had Bepo done this for him and yet now he was finally explaining himself?“If they’re in the Grand Line, then who knows when we could catch up to them, if that’s even possible. It’s long been too late for Lami—I’m never going to see her again.”

“…and your other sister…?”

“I… I don’t know. Maybe…” He took another sip of the tea and exhaled heavily. “I love them both so much… it’s nothing against you or the guys, but they’re my last connections to life before this… I just want to know that they’re okay… that Lami died without pain and Baby 5 is looking for me.”

“Baby 5…?”

“Yeah… most people where we were used codenames. I didn’t, but she did, to the point I don’t even remember her real name. We mostly called her Bee though…”

“She’s your sister and you don’t remember her real name?”

“Her life was better under Doflamingo, if you’ll believe it, so she swore to never use her old name again,” Law explained. Bepo nodded silently at that—it was understandable.

“Maybe… she’s gonna be wherever my brother is,” the Mink offered. He fidgeted slightly. “You know… my Mink brother…”

“Zepo, I remember,” Law hummed. Mmm… the tea was hitting the spot. “Then we’ll get a cool fuzzy older brother too, it sounds like.”

“Yeah…” Bepo leaned against the railing, looking at the inky black water of the harbor. “Funny how I left Zou thinking I might be an only child. Once we get Zepo back, I’ll be one of seven!”

“Six,” Law corrected gently. “You’ll be the youngest too.”

“Even if Lami were around?”

“Yeah; she was born in Spring.”

“Do… um… do Penguin and Shachi know about this…?” Law glanced over at Bepo and saw that the Mink was nervous.

“No; the fewer people who know the better, like with Flevance.”

“What if I can’t take care of you like this?” Bepo worried. “What if I get sick? Or there’s an emergency and I can’t leave the navigation room?”

“I’ll say what I always have,” Law shrugged. “Spider Miles, Flevance, my time in the garbage… they’re all just dreams now.”

“Sorry, but, that doesn’t mean you have to suffer alone.”

“It’s a little more complicated than that.” Huh—the mug was empty. “Thanks—I appreciate it, as always.”

“I know.” Bepo looked at the crew and chuckled softly. “How many more people do you think we need?”

“Hard saying, but I want to get to the Grand Line relatively soon—rumor has it that the first half’s sailing mechanism is a bitch to navigate.”

At least that got a snicker out of the Mink. Maybe one day Law would convince Bepo to stop worrying about him, but unfortunately—if such a day did exist—it couldn’t come fast enough.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

“Fufufu, Antonia my darling, there is something that I want you to do.”

Both Baby 5 and Viola tried to not visibly react to Doflamingo’s chilling statement. The three stopped their game of cards as the youngest looked over at their leader; everyone not on assignment was in the grand sitting room that evening, their stares now on either their leader or his niece.

“What is it?” Antonia wondered. “Do you need another drink?”

“No,” he claimed, fluffing the letter in his hands for emphasis. “There is an envoy coming in from Wano in the morning. I need you to show him around.”

“…an envoy…?” She licked her lips as she pondered the thought. “Is this about the SMILEs?”

“It is,” he confirmed. “He’s a former MADs scientist who wants to check in on the growing process. Unfortunately, I have to leave early for a Warlord meeting. You can handle it, can you?”

“Young Master,” Diamante frowned, “you can’t expect her to show around Queen the Plague without any prior introduction. She is still a child, and although I know he’d… behave around her, Queen is a handful on the best of days.”

“I was younger than her when this group was founded, so therefore she is more than old enough,” Doflamingo reasoned. “If you do this well, my darling, then I believe you will be able to take your rightful place.”

“You can’t be joking,” Trebol sniffled. “I thought we were saving that seat…”

“…for my brother’s child, my niece, my heir.” He let a grin crawl across his face, splitting it in two with his unnaturally-white teeth. “What do you say? Wish to finally prove yourself worthy of the Heart Seat? Show that you can keep life beating within the organization?”

Antonia’s chest swelled with pride and excitement—of course.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

In the end, after a plain and uneventful visit from one of Kaidou’s Headliners, Donquixote Antonia officially became the Corazón.

The ceremony was quiet and subdued, quite unlike any of Doflamingo’s other ventures in every meaningful way. Instead, Antonia swore her allegiance to the Heart Seat, to the Family, to Doflamingo himself, making the appointment almost as secretive as the job of the Heart.

While in turn, later that night, with only Viola as their witness, Baby 5 pledged herself to the Heart Army as she finally made her choice.

She chose her sister.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

The week had been… tolerable, Viola found, as Doflamingo had been off touring Wano along with most of the Executives, seeing how their work was being put to use. She did not like that Antonia had gone along, but that had been bound to happen sooner than later. Besides, the girl believed herself to be sixteen… trying to get her to do anything she didn’t want to was such a mess that it was barely worth the effort some days.

When it boiled all down to it, however, Viola was simply glad she could almost pretend that she was going about doing real government and royal work, not the false pretenses they actually were. She went into her office, where she found a News Coo sitting outside the window on the ledge. She let the bird in and took the newspaper from it, offering a few strokes of its feathers and some water before it flapped off. For as lurid as the paper was, it was still good for her to attempt to keep up on current events. Opening it up, she saw a small handful of pirate bounties flutter to her desk—more upstarts and children attempting to make names for themselves, not understanding that their bright light would soon be snuffed out. Many were not worth nothing—most were still in the Cardinal Blues and had yet to traverse Reverse Mountain—yet one name out of the North caught her eye.

Trafalgar Law

Captain of the Heart Pirates

One hundred fifty million beri

Feeling ill, Viola rolled up the poster and left her office, wandering around the palace until she found Baby 5 in the training room, beating up a weighted dummy without the use of her Devil Fruit. The older woman waited until she stopped before approaching her.

“What’s the matter?” Baby 5 asked. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“You’re about to as well.” Viola handed over the poster and watched as Baby 5 unfurled it, the latter visibly in shock as she saw the photo. Once Baby 5’s knees began to buckle, Viola caught her, helping her over towards the bench. They sat next to one another as Baby 5 stared at the bounty poster, holding it shakily in her fingers.

“I can’t believe it…” she squeaked, tears falling from her face. “He’s alive… Law-nii is alive…!”

“I wonder what he knows about us and this place… what he knows about Antonia…” Viola mused. She gently rubbed Baby 5’s back, moving her hand in soothing circles. “Hey… you were the best sort of wrong, now weren’t you?”

“He’s alive…” Baby 5 sobbed. She leaned against Viola, who kept her arm around her as she let everything go. “He’s alive… and he’s a pirate… and he… and he…”

“Now, now; we don’t know what will happen,” Viola crooned. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a handkerchief, which she gave to Baby 5 to blow her nose. “I’m sure he’s going to build as much strength as he can so he can come to Dressrosa and save his dear little sisters.”

“Sister,” Baby 5 replied. She hiccuped as the tears continued to flow. “I’m sure he thinks that Lami-chan is dead, with Doflamingo controlling what images of her get taken and used… in a way, she already is…”

Suddenly, a sharp sting hit across Baby 5’s face as her face whipped to the side. She touched her cheek as she turned to stare at Viola, the older woman’s nostrils flaring in anger.

“That is your sister, your germana, your zus…” she hissed lowly. “Do not tell me she is dead, nena. As long as Antonia still breathes, Lami has hope.”

“Who has hope…?” The pair looked towards the door to see Antonia, the young Corazón having just walked into the conversation.

“I do,” Baby 5 lied. She saw that Antonia was clutching a piece of paper in her hand and she frowned. “What’s that?”

“Oh, this? Uncle Doffy showed it to me.” Antonia unfolded the paper and handed it to Baby 5, who almost dropped it.

Law’s bounty poster.

“Oh, I see you’ve got a copy too!” Antonia realized, seeing the other poster. “He said I was too little to remember this Trafalgar person before he left, but that he had been in the lead to replace Papa before the Marines killed him.”

“Did he now?” Viola wondered.

“Supposedly. Do you remember that, Bee?”

“Hard to say—there were plenty of kids coming in and out of the Family back then,” Baby 5 said. Because it had been true; before Law settled in and solidified the group, dozens of children and young teen had attempted to join the Donquixote Pirates. “He would have been about that age, it looks like.”

“Really? Huh.” Antonia licked her lips as she thought, looking at the bounty posters in Baby 5’s hands. “The other Executives said he was also around Papa when he died. Uncle Doffy made it sound odd when talking about it.” She then took back her copy of the bounty poster and frowned at it. “I’m sure I’ll figure out what he means soon enough. Say, did we get any onigiri rice back in while I was gone?”

“Plenty,” Viola offered. “I saw it delivered this morning.”

“Alright—onigiri party,” Antonia grinned. “I’ll start scrounging for fillings. See you in ten?”

“Make it twenty—I’m kind of gross.”

“Sounds good!” Antonia left and Viola and Baby 5 both stared at one another in horror.

“I… I’ll tell Mansherry tonight,” Viola offered. Baby 5 nodded—yes. That would be nice.

It was going to be all she could do to keep it together until their brother came.

#Trafalgar Lami #Trafalgar Law #Baby 5 #Riku Viola #One Piece #fan fiction #I'm strung out from staying up after an early day so i might clean this up later #and FFN is acting weird for me rn too so that update comes later tonight #but yeah #Trafalgar D. Water Law #Trafalgar D. Water Lami

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