By the time Sid and Boo arrived at the farmlands, it was too late.

It took her and Paddy 4 hours just to get from the farmlands to the capital, where the fortress was, via a horse-drawn wagon because they had to go around the mountain. Even though she was able to cut that time in half by having Boo just go straight over the mountain, she had already mentally prepared herself for the worst.

When she arrived, the smoke was too thick and the fire burned too high for anyone to save anything besides themselves. No matter how much Boo rained, no matter how many times the Saruyama Alliance refilled the Water Dials, and no matter how many buckets of seawater the farmers threw on their land, the fire continued to rage until there was nothing they could do but to retrieve the people still caught in the fire and retreat to a cliff of the mountain, safe from the fires, while they watched it destroy the land. It was very jarring to the Shandian that despite the heat from the fire scorching her skin, how chillingly numb she felt on the inside.

"Everything is gone..."

"What do we do?"

The survivors had clung to each other and wept throughout the night while Sid had tended to the ones who had breathed in too much smoke or got burned, and too many of both. When everyone had been tended to and accounted for and the last of flames flickered into nothing, the sun was rising, shedding it's light on reality. The quilt of green and yellow patches that once blanketed over this side of the island was now nothing but a crusty rag of ash and dust. The farms and houses that once stood with quiet dignity were reduced to black, unidentifiable lumps.

"Ah! There they are. Dad?! Dad?! Where are you?!"

"PADDY!"

"Oh, thank god. You're okay!"

Paddy came sprinting up the trail and reunited with his father, both of them clinging and sobbing together. Very soon Law appeared too with his men behind him. All of them were still wearing the clothes they had on the night before. No one had time to change.

"Oy! Is Bepo with you?" Law demanded when he saw Sid, sitting at the edge of the cliff with Boo on her shoulder.

"Bepo?" she asked and turned back to surveying the damage, "Your bear?"

"Yes! My navigator," Law snapped and he turned to call out towards the group, "Oy! Bepo! Are you here?"

"Your bear is not here," Sid said. She rested her elbows to her knees, and leaned forward, "Javier and Leroy are involved in this. I know they are. I can just feel it. I don't know why but I'll find out."

"I don't care," Law said replied, "This has nothing to do with me and my crew. I'm just here to find Bepo."

Sid straightened up her back but kept her eyes forward. "Crew...Navigator...You are pirates?"

"Ah," he said.

"Two and two...I guess that's about right..."

"Meaning?!"

Sid thrusted two fingers in the air. "I've met two honorable pirate captains...Luffy and Cricket....and now I've met two, who are not. Doflamingo and yourself. It balances out."

She couldn't have said anything more shocking or offensive to the Heart Pirate. He grabbed her by the arm, with the idea to toss her against the mountainside, but he was startled to find that she grabbed him right back, pulled him to her, and used her hip to hurl him over her shoulder. He dangled over the cliff with both of them holding onto each other by one arm.

"Oy! Sid!"

"Captain!"

Cricket, Mashira, Shoujo, and Iwan came running towards them along with Law's men but Sid brought out her trident with her free hand and held it out to stop anybody from coming any closer, all the while not breaking the glare down she and Law were locked into.

"What is your problem?" she seethed.

"Room. Shambles."

Pop!

Suddenly, Law was standing behind to her and the sudden loss of weight made Sid tumble backward right against his legs.

"What do you know about Doflamingo?," Law demanded as he pressed his foot against Sid's chest.

Sid's reply was in the form of her pushing Law's foot off of her and then sweeping her trident under him to knock him on his back. To her surprise, the captain smoothly jumped out of the way. Not wasting an opportunity, she got back on her feet and held her trident in front of her.

She was glaring but he could tell now that they weren't focused on him. "My fight is not with you."

"Your stance says otherwise."

Sid straightened up and then picked up the cloth to cover her trident back up. "Go find your bear."

"Not before you tell me how a sky person, who has only been around for a short time and doesn't know something as basic as pies or violins, would be familiar with Donquixote Doflamingo."

"I've seen the aftermath of how he handles his own men's failures. That's all," Sid said and then she tilted her head, "Why does it matter to you?"

"I'm nothing like him," Law said, "You know nothing about me."

"True," Sid admitted and then pointed out towards the farmlands, "But I do know that after what happened last night and witnessing this, you still find it okay to walk away without wanting to help."

"This is not my problem...and a word of advice to you, if you want to survive on the Grand Line, then you better learn how to walk away as well. You are a warrior. You should know to pick your battles. Or are you just a lost soldier looking for a new war to fight in?"

Now it was Sid's turn to be offended and she charged at him. He stepped to the side at the last second, in order to dodge an incoming fist but she caught it and managed to pivot on her foot and continue the punch's path towards him, forcing him to block it with his arm.

Thwack!

Good reflexes, Law thought and felt the impact right to his bone, And strong. She would be a good sparring partner for the crew. Even for me.

"I thought you said your fight is not with me?" he asked coolly.

"Either help me or stay out of the way," she said. She stepped back and withdrew her fist, which was starting to shake, "Your bear is not here so just go."

"Are you some type of hero?" Law asked with a raised eyebrow, "Rushing in to save the day for people you just met?"

"I'm trying to help my friends!" Sid yelled, "I may have only met Iwan and Paddy recently but is there a time limit down here on the Blue Sea on what constitutes a friend?! How long does it take you to make friends?"

"I don't have friends," Law replied.

"What a sad, lonely life you lead," Sid spat.

"Hey! Watch your mouth. You don't know anything about our captain," one of Law's men called out. He had a long dark blue hood on his head with brown shortly cropped bangs poking out from the front.

"Yeah! Clione is right. Our captain has us," the rest of them chimed in.

Sid fell silent as the pirates came to their captain's defense. She knew she was lashing out her frustrations at the wrong person and she knew better than to let her emotions get the better of her but she couldn't help it.

She went back to the edge of the cliff and casted another glance at the charred fields. She felt the tightness in her chest squeeze into a dense, uncomfortable ball. She squatted down and covered her eyes with her hands. She was suddenly feeling very tired and very aware of how long she had been up. She was also starving and her whole being was drained empty.

Maybe after fighting with Wyper her entire life, arguing was the only way for her to communicate any more. Whatever the case, Wyper wasn't here to lay out the most aggressive plan for her to criticize. The chief wasn't here to play peacemaker. Kamikiri wasn't here to find a compromise and Aisa wasn't even here to complicate the situation.

Maybe Law wasn't the one who was lonely. Maybe it was her.

"Sid-ya, did you treat all of these people yourself? Including him?"

Law's question snapped Sid from her thoughts and she saw that he was standing over a man with the most severe burns out of the group. He was bandaged from head to toe with only his left eye and nose uncovered.

"Yes. I'm a healer," Sid replied.

"You've mentioned that," Law said slowly as he knelt down to take a closer look at her handiwork.

"What about it?"

Knowledgeable in emergency care.

Law stood back up and leaned his large sword against his shoulder. "Nothing."

"Whatever," Sid grumbled. She got up to her feet. "Boo. Let's go."

"Oy! Sid, where are you going?" Cricket called and he rushed after her before Boo could even expand.

"I'm going to confront Javier," Sid said, "I'm going to find out what happened!"

"Yes. Because last time you did that, it went over so well," Law quipped.

Sid slowly turned her head back at him. The look the Shandian woman gave him was not what he expected. There was no rage. No annoyance. Instead, it was a pure and earnest look of interest and vulnerability. "Do you have any suggestions?"

Able to push aside her pride and ask for help...

Mashira and Shoujo swiftly to her and Cricket's side.

"Kid! We're coming with you!" Mashira said, "You can't do this alone."

"Th-That's right!" Iwan chimed in as he pushed himself to the front of the farmers, "We'll all come with you. If that Javier guy knows something, then the king must too. They've bullied us enough to get to this land. We demand answers!"

"Yeah!" the farmers got to their feet and nodded along with the old farmer.

"Where were they when the fires started?" Iwan asked, "At a stupid party that the king threw. And where were they when we needed help putting out the fires? STILL at that party. Using the excuse of being trapped inside the fortress to not come to our aid!"

"Yeah! They did this on purpose!" another farmer shouted and his wife next to him sobbed into her handkerchief.

The group soon turned into a shouting mob and it was interrupted by someone they least expected.

TWWEEEEEE!

"Stop! Stop!" Sid yelled after she gave out a shrill whistle. She raised her trident high in the air and waved it around to grab everyone's attention, causing Cricket and the two ape brothers to duck in order to avoid being beheaded, "No! No one is coming with me."

"Oy! Watch it, Sid!" Cricket shouted from the floor.

"What? Why not? This is our land! We have a right to defend it!" Iwan demanded, too riled up to notice his former captain's protest.

Sid lowered her trident. "You are civilians and you've already lost your land," she said, "If this leads into a fight, I don't want you to lose your lives as well."

"Oy! Don't let these old farm clothes fool you," Iwan sniffed, "I was a pirate well past the age you are now, kid. I became a farmer because I wanted a peaceful life and to grow life, not to destroy it."

"Same here!"

"And I was a marine!"

"Me too.

"Same."

One by one, each farmer stepped up and shared a confident smile with each other.

"You guys..." Sid whispered.

"Captain! Captain!"

The frantic cries of Shachi and Penguin interrupted the somber atmosphere and they all turned to see the two mechanics sprinting up the mountain towards Law.

"We know where Bepo is," Penguin panted as he bent at the knees and tried to catch his breath.

"But..But it's bad," Shachi added, "Real bad."

"How bad?" Law demanded.

"They were announcing it in town...They got him...That Javier guy. They have him," Penguin gasped, "And they're holding him responsible for the fires."

"WHAT?!" Both Law and Sid shouted in unison and walked right up to the two mechanics.

Law glared at Sid. "My crew did not do this."

"I know that," Sid snapped, "Javier's obviously trying to pin this on your bear."

"N-Not just him," Shachi said, "On all of us. He says the fires were the work of pirates. He has Bepo back at the capital right now and he says he'll execute Bepo at noon in the city plaza unless we turn ourselves in before then."

"What?!" Law demanded.

"Boo! Let's go!" Sid shouted.

"Boo!"

"W-Wait!" Penguin said, "Sid! They're putting this on you too. They think you're part of our pirate crew."

"Excuse me?" Sid asked while Law kept his face blank.

Shachi winced as he delivered the troubling news. "Th-they apparently saw you with us last night and thought that you are one of us...Especially since you left with us too..."

Sid turned to the pirate captain and then she did something that caught him off guard once again. She laughed. Heartily.

"Pwahahahhahahahahahha!" She threw her head back and she had to use her trident to keep herself standing as she directed her laugh right up to the skies. It was so loud it left a ringing in Law's ears.

"Wh...What?!" Law demanded. He may not know what the joke was but he knew he was the brunt of it.

"Sounds like it's your problem now too," she said while still laughing, practically gasping for breath.

Law scowled and he tilted his head down so that the rim of his hat lowered over his eyes. It wasn't as much to block people from seeing how vexed he was by the warrior's amusement but more so he can block his vision and concentrate on listening to her laugh. Was it a mistake or could he actually hear relief?

"...Fine," he eventually said.

Her laughter faded and she switched to a solemn attitude in no time at all. "Your power," Sid said, "Can you get all of us to the other side of the mountain? That'll help us get back to Molaga before noon."

Not distracted easily and able to assess her resources and options.

"Ah. I can move us and my crew. I can't take everyone though," he said.

Sid looked to Cricket and he crossed his arms over his chest, "It's fine. Go with them. We can stay here."

Sid blinked. "Really? Just like that?"

"You're a free woman, aren't you?"

"Yeah," Sid said with a smirk, "I thought you'd put up more of a fight."

"I'm too old and too tired to fight with you," Cricket said, "And I know a lost cause when I see one."

"Wait! We want to go with-" Iwan started to protest but the old diver shook his head.

"If they are charging Sid and them with this crime, we'll need to find out who actually started the fire to get them out of this. They want names so we'll give them some," Cricket said and looked to the farmers, "You guys know your land better than anyone else so we might be able to find something. Besides, who knows what they'll do if we leave this land."

The farmers started to murmur amongst themselves but it was clear the old diver's point resonated with them.

Sid looked to the captain of the Heart Pirates. "So what are we waiting for then?"

"Clione!" Law shouted as his answer.

"Y-Yes, captain!"

"Treat her hands before they get infected."

"Huh?" Both the man in the dark hood and Sid asked in unison.

Sid looked down and for the first time, felt the rawness in her hands and the stinging pain along her fingertips as she held her trident. She must've burnt it when she was getting people out of their burning houses. She had been busy with getting everyone to safety that she hadn't even noticed. So...when did he?...and how?

-----------------------------------

Law had to create his room and move everyone en masse four times before they could get to the base of the mountain that was close enough to town. He was nowhere near exhausted but moving so many people that far definitely took a toll out of him.

The collar of his shirt was soaked with sweat and there were wet patches on his sleeve that stuck to his skin, hinting on the black ink along his shoulder and arms. The fabric of his jeans felt weighted but this was nothing compared to being submerged for a week's time. He thought nothing of it and neither did his crew as they ran from the mountain to the city without breaking their pace once.

He had a strict physical regiment that he required all his crew members to follow, regardless of their fighting style and skill set. Being sedentary was one of the many dangers of being trapped inside a submarine for a long period of time. Inactivity leads to complacency and weakness. Thus, running at a dead sprint for an extended period of time was an easy feat for the Heart Pirates...which made the fact that the Shandian warrior had left them eating dust that much more impressive.

She didn't use her sky sheep, who was clinging to one of her wings for dear life. Nor did she use her wavers.

Every single Heart Pirate, including the captain, expected her to slow down or have her legs give out at any moment but she was gone from sight. They only caught up to her when they reached the edge of the city plaza but that was because she had to slow down in order to get through the crowd. Once the people noticed the pirates' presents, though, they easily parted to make way for them and to distance themselves as well.

"How dare you destroy our land!"

"You evil bastards! You think you can just do whatever you want?!"

"CAPTAIN!" the polar bear cried out amongst the shouting.

They could see Bepo before they even reached the platform he was kneeling on. He knelt on a stone platform two stories above the ground with his paws bound behind his back and a gun pointed to the back of his head by a man clad entirely in chainmail.

"Bepo! Don't worry! We'll get you out of this!" Shachi shouted.

"Hang in there!" Penguin chimed in.

Flanking Bepo was Javier, who stood with a sneer on his lips, and a frail young man that drooped over a wooden chair with a tall and handsomely carved chair back. His blonde tendrils swept a little past his shoulders, which had a tattered red cloak with frayed fur edges draped over them. The small golden crown that perched on his head was barely visible if not for a star-shaped red ruby that sat right at the center of it the size of a child's fist.

He raised a pale and bony fist to his mouth and let out a tiny and dry cough that barely made it to the captain's ears. "Kuh..Kuh...Javier...Are those the ones responsible for the fire?" he asked when the pirates reached the front.

Javier put a hand to his chest and he bowed. "Yes, my king."

"You're the king?" Sid shouted out, "But...you're just a kid! How old are you? 16?!"

"Silence!" Javier snapped at her and then returned to his subservient posture to the king, "Those are the prisoner's accomplices, the Heart Pirates, my king. Their captain, Trafalgar Law, is the mastermind behind this."

The only thing that stopped the warrior from storming the stage and charging right at Javier was the captain, who grabbed her by the wrist firmly.

"Sid-ya, let me handle this," he murmured and pulled her back behind him, "They called me by name, after all."

"...Fine," she said and then wrenched her bandaged hand out of his hold. She reached up, plucked Boo off of her shoulder and put him in her messenger bag, "I'll let you take the lead for now. Until I see a need to intervene."

Law couldn't help but smirk even though he knew she couldn't see his face. "Then let's hope my leadership skills is up to your standards."

"Yes. Let's."