A/N: The image is from YuYu Hakusho - the first anime I ever saw (created a right monster, it did.) but it's also at least partial inspiration for Reader-chan! So it seemed a good image to utilize.

You sat on the bed, three concerned faces looking at you, and one stern face regarding the golden heart that contained your emotions. The concerned faces were two humans and a mink. The stern face was human, but something pulsed within him that was oddly familiar.

Familiar hurt, so you didn't dwell on it. You had decided to trust them when you woke up, well, more specifically you had decided to trust the stern face. It seemed the concerned faces listened to the stern face, so you decided to trust them as well.

"The stern face leads the concerned ones." You say, putting your thoughts to words almost automatically. Three concerned faces became three faces trying not to laugh.

"I'm Trafalgar Law." The stern one says, pulling your attention back in his direction. "I'm the captain of the ship you're on. You can call me Law."

Your eyes turn to the concerned faces.

"Penguin." Dark hair and a hat smiles kindly at you as he introduces himself.

"Sachi." The strawberry red hair gives a wave and a smile.

"Bepo!" The mink says cheerfully.

"... (Y/N). I am in your care." You introduce yourself, bowing a little.

There's silence in the room, and a shift in the tension that everyone seems to feel. Three concerned faces are regarding you, but one stern face is leveling a heavy gaze at you. The source of the tension.

"Why are your emotions sealed, (Y/N)-ya?"

All of his questions had been as the Captain of a ship, but this question was one born of the need to protect his ship and crew. It was understandable. Great lengths had been taken to seal away your emotions.

Your gaze shifts from him to the concerned faces. Trust. It had been a decision on your part, and you saw no reason to back out of it now. This was not the painful part, so it was easier to say.

"... My emotions manifest physically." You say, returning the captain's gaze. You can see his features twist, but he's trying to maintain his outward calm. "This was exploited by people. So my friend pulled my emotions out of me and my friend encased them in gold. They were executed for it, but their deaths didn't undo the seal."

You're quiet for a moment, considering your words.

"I believe I was entombed out of frustration. Perhaps anger."

"How do they manifest?" Sachi asks the question, but immediately puts a hand over his mouth. Law's gaze shifts to him, but then he looks to you without saying anything, leaving it to you to decide to answer.

"... I... created the gold." You say, pointing at the golden heart on the captain's desk.

"Is that all you can manifest?" Law questions after a moment.

You shake your head. "I have manifested... things." You clutch the bed sheets, looking at the captain as blankly as ever. "If my emotions were restored, I would be exposed on a deeply personal level, so I would rather not say."

Law looks from you to the golden heart and back to you. "If your emotions were restored, could you harm my crew?"

"I could harm your crew right now, if I tried." You answer flatly, seeing the scowl deepen on his face. "If you mean to ask about how well I can control what manifests, then I can say I... don't know. I have not had... I have not felt... They were sealed away a year before I was entombed." You manage to pantomime a shrug. "I cannot imagine how I would react."

Law's arms were crossed in front of his chest, and he's glaring at you. It was understandable. As the captain he had an entire crew and ship to protect, but he had also offered such protection to you. Protection that you had, in all honesty, almost declared you didn't need, by admitting that you could harm his crew as you were.

Despite your desires, you had become an adept fighter before you had been sealed away. Based on personal experience, fighting skill coupled with a lack of emotions made you a difficult opponent. It's the only reason you had successfully maintained your freedom for a year after your emotions had been sealed away.

Observation haki needed something to observe, after all, and even the most disciplined and stoic of people still had emotions. All you had was a heart of gold.

"Do you want your emotions restored?" He asks after a long silence.

"Yes... and no." You answer. "I am objectively more useful without my emotions. It makes me a functionally stronger fighter. I am not a danger to your crew without them."

"But?" Law prompts.

"There is a distinct hollow. Something is missing and while it doesn't bother me, I am aware of it. There's an inclination to be complete." You answer. "But with emotions will come trauma. I may become a liability."

Your stomach gurgles loudly in the silence.

"On it." Penguin says without prompting, pushing off of Sachi as he leaves the room. Sachi follows after him and Bepo bows to you before leaving with them.

Law sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose before getting off the bed. He begins to gather the papers that had been spread out on the floor, talking while he worked.

"If your emotions allow you to produce gold, then you're immeasurably invaluable to a lot of people. We will protect you, and the heart, for as long as you want. You've already provided more information in the last few minutes than we were able to discover from your file. We were going to travel to discover what it is that makes you and your heart special, but that's not necessary now.

"The important thing is to find a secure location where we can return your emotions to you, without damage to the ship or crew, and without signaling the event to the world." Law stacks the loose pages into a single shape before setting them on the desk.

You step out of the bed and step toward him, meaning to ask if you can look at the file, but when he turns toward you to say something his entire body jerks in surprise and he grabs onto the desk to steady himself. There's a silence between the two of you for a moment before his body relaxes.

"... Would you be against wearing a bell?"

"I would not mind." You answer flatly before pointing to the stack of papers. "May I read those."

"If you want." He says, stepping to the side.

You pick up the papers and begin to read through them, you get a few pages in before you're simply skimming them. "These are objectively wrong."

"Oh?"

"My family was not executed because I refused to admit my guilt publicly. They were executed because I wouldn't marry. I did not impersonate royalty. What is a World Government." You ask, pointing to one of the charges.

Law's brows rose for a second before he answers. "Five Celestial Dragons who control the Marines and oversee all the seas. They reside on the Red Line."

"The world fell then." You say flatly, setting down the papers. "Those papers will not contain anything useful."

"Fell?"

"There was a war when I was alive. A fight for the world. People who had deemed themselves Celestials tried to bend the rest of the world to their knee. Gods versus science." You're quiet for a moment. "At the very least I did not play a part in their success, I will attempt to hold onto that as a positive."

"... You were in there for a lot longer than 76 years." He says after a moment.

"Correct."

"Food should be ready, or near enough to it." Law offers his hand. "Allow me to escort you?"

You look at his hand blankly for a long moment. "Have the motions of being escorted changed."

"They have when the captain doesn't know the proper way to escort a noble." Sachi says from the doorway. You can hear Law grunt as the other man lifts his hat momentarily before standing beside you and offering his elbow. "Allow me to escort you, Miss (Y/N)."

You accept Sachi's offered elbow automatically and he guides you out into the hall. The fit is a little snug – submarine halls and doorways aren't overly wide, but there's enough room, and Sachi's comfortable enough with the design that he guides you smoothly, pointing out when there's a lip to step over or anything else. He gives a light description of the layout of the interior, assuring you that if you get lost you can just knock on the pipes, and someone will find you.

"Really though, the Polar Tang isn't so large that you need to worry about being hopelessly lost or anything." He says as he steps through a doorway, pointing down to the lip for the seal of the door as you follow along.

There are several members of the crew in the dining area. A young lady with curly hair, a very large man who barely seems to even fit in the cramped submarine, a masked man with brown hair, and a few others were all eating. They all seemed to be wearing uniforms of some kind, most of them in a beige overalls, with symbols on the sleeves or chest.

Law's been following along behind the two of you quietly, and enters into the dining area along with you. The crew's attention shifts to him for a moment before looking back at you.

"(Y/N), the crew." Law says loudly enough to be heard by everyone. "They'll let you eat and settle in before they introduce themselves, I'm sure."

A few people straightened up; a couple waved as Sachi brought you over to an empty table.

"I'd pull out your seat, Miss, but the benches are welded in place." He says with a smile, gesturing with his arm for you to sit.

"Thank you." You reply, sitting down in the space indicated.

Law sits across from you as Sachi steps away. You look around, taking in the size of the room, the occupants, and the smells. The scent of food wafts out from the kitchen area, and the bowls of warm food the crew already had were filling the whole room with a pleasant scent.

Pleasing as it was, it was making you even hungrier than you already were.

"I would prefer you eat slowly." Law says after a moment. "The suspended animation you were in appears to have been flawless. I couldn't find any traces of dehydration or malnutrition, or anything else that would warrant limiting you to broth for a couple of days, so you'll get to enjoy a full meal. But I also don't know what changes in agriculture and location will do in terms of what you were used to eating."

"Understood." You say simply.

Penguin comes to the table with a tray, kicking at Sachi before he straightens up and sets the platter in front of you.

"Here you are, Miss. Potato and Leek soup with bacon and some bread." He says with a smile. "It's a little simple, but these foods haven't really changed in the last few centuries, so no matter the timeline, you should be able to eat them easily."

You look over to Law and see a faint smile on his face as he regards Penguin. Competence begets competence, or so the saying goes.

"Thank you." You say, nodding your head slightly before you pick up a spoon and begin to eat. It's warm, creamy, and the flavor is good. It sinks into you, warming up your bones and soothing your muscles. You didn't realize how empty you had become until the good food began to fill you up. "It is delicious."

A sharp click catches your attention, and you look down as Law looks over at you. Tears are streaming from your eyes, but you don't know what's causing them. Another click and another and Law is on his feet looking at you at the space of metal table you're eating at.

The tear follows the line of your cheek, and drips from your jawline. In the time it leaves you skin, before it hits the table is solidifies into glass, clicking sharply against the metal. You wipe the sides of your face.

"My apologies. I didn't think it was possible for me to shed tears." You state. "I will keep them in check, if I may continue to eat."

"Of course. May I see them?" Law asks, holding out a hand.

You pick up the small beads of glass and hand them over. "There are no emotion in these, they will likely be empty, and so they are fragile."

Law inspects them as you return your attention back to your meal. You hear him murmur something under his breath, but don't catch the words clearly.

"Glass?" He questions after a moment.

"Everything that manifests that way is coated in glass." You answer automatically between bites. "They're empty because I am."

"... Hakugan," Law begins, turning toward the other tables. "Have Ikkaku and Clione help you find a small island when you're done eating. Something without a town, and preferably deserted. A low tide sandbar would work, too."

"Aye, aye!" Hakugan answers before returning to his meal.

"How else do your emotions manifest?" Law asks. "You don't need to tell me what manifests, I just need to know how many variables we could end up dealing with."

You're quiet for a long moment, taking another bite as you consider what to say.

Law sighs. "Do your sneezes turn into shrapnel?" He asks, and you shake your head. "If you yell in anger does it create anything?" You shake your head again. "Is there an emotion that manifests something harmful?" You nod. "Will it always be encased in glass or some other inert coating?" You nod.

Law's silent for a long moment as you eat more of your meal. "I... apologize for this next question."

"... Yes." You answer flatly looking up at him. There's a twitch of surprise on his face. "Three people have died because of my emotions. Two died to seal them away, but not because of the death of the third, it was to protect me."

"Then one person died directly as a result of your emotional state." He says and you nod. "Accidentally?"

"No."