The time it took to get back to Punk Hazard felt longer than what it really was. You had plenty of time to mull over your current situation, cry your eyes out, and compose yourself for meeting back up with your lover. You missed Law terribly with everything that had happened and were wanting nothing more than to curl up with him and tell him how shitty the past couple weeks had been.

The letter weighed you down but you felt it wasn't quite the time to read it yet, mostly because just thinking about it was enough to make you misty eyed. So the entire ride back, you fiddled with the envelope constantly. By the time Punk Hazard was in sight, there were more than a few new creases in it.

You didn't forget about the mini transponder snail and called Law as soon as you could make out the island, knowing you'd be close enough to get a signal. It rang for a while and you were beginning to worry when he finally picked up as you stubbornly waited to hear his voice.

"(Y/n)-ya!" He sounded out of breath, gasping and struggling to get your name out.

"Why do you sound like you've ran a marathon?" You squinted as the island became clearer. Something about it looked off.

"You're timing is perfect." He groaned slightly, like he was in pain. "Things have changed around here. The plan has been put into action but there's been many new.....additions."

"I don't like the sound of that. I'll be on the island in maybe ten minutes, what do you need me to do?"

"Go to the back of the cold half. The rest of the island is covered in a poison gas and that is about the be the only safe spot soon enough."

"Holy shit, what are you up to?" You didn't think things would blow up this much.

"I can't talk more just yet but I'll explain when I meet you there."

Before you could reply, he hung up and you were left flustered. The men stood around, obviously as confused as you were. It should have bothered you that they were listening in but you didn't care right now.

"You heard him." You huffed. "Get us around the island! No where else on it is safe."

They jumped into action, ignoring the comments about your plan and focusing on getting the ship in the right direction. In the mean time, you stood at the front of the deck, nervously watching the island come further into view. A purplish mist clung to the land mass and you could only assume it was the poison. It was thick, making it hard to distinguish any shapes or landmarks but you knew the layout of the island quite well. Not to mention as you went around, it was easy to see exactly where Law wanted you.

The space behind the labs was completely clear of the gas and the building worked perfectly as a buffer to keep the gas away. The stuff was too dense and heavy to flow over the top of the building and it was effectively stopped. Or so you thought until you noticed holes in the lab's structure. Gas was leaking in and you hoped Law was safe. He was probably doing his best to stay clear of the mess.

Behind the labs was one of Caesar's huge tankers and your ship crept closer to it until it came to a stop. The men dropped the anchor and you wasted no time leaping off the deck and down to the snow. One of the men tossed down your coat and you slipped it on as you started off towards the building. You weren't about to wait when you could go find Law.

"Oi! I can't let you in there!"

You didn't see anyone on the tanker but a voice definitely came from it. You twisted around to see who was yelling at you, only to see a large, vaguely humanoid robot standing on the deck, looking down at you.

"What?" You called back, trying to see if it was the robot or if someone else was hiding in the shadows.

"You must be one of Caesar's men." The voice definitely came from the robot. It looked ready to jump down and attack but you held your hands up in defense.

"I'm not! I'm with Law, where is he?"

The robot had stomped to the ship's railing and was about ready to jump down but it paused. "Law?"

"Yes! I was off the island for a couple weeks for personal work. Do you know Law?"

"Of course I do! We're in an alliance with him after all!"

Law didn't say anything about an alliance and you were about to call bullshit when you remembered him mentioning "additions" to the plan. An alliance with others would fall under that category.

"He should have mentioned me then." You lowered your hands when it seemed like he wasn't going to attack.

The robot tapped a metallic finger to its mouth, a very human gesture. "Ah, now that you mentioned it, he mentioned we needed to wait for a woman to return."

"That'd be me."

"And them?" He pointed to the men on Caesar's ship you had borrowed.

You grinned as they watched you and the robot go back and forth. "Those are Caesar's men."

It was like the realization had dawned on them that you weren't as friendly as they had originally assumed and the men spilled from the ship to the snowy ground below in a sloppy attempt to charge at you. You readied yourself for it, jumping in surprise when the robot suddenly exploded. It didn't even stumble and it was soon engulfed in smoke, hiding it from view. And as much as you wanted to know what happened, you had your own problem to deal with.

The men were on your quickly and soon you were ducking and dodging poorly thrown fists and legs. After sparring with Bepo and Law so often, anyone else was sub-par. With every failed attack on their part, you danced around them to land heavy hits that sent them stumbling back and grunting in pain. You weren't all that big and that made fighting most people difficult. But you knew the best spots to strike to do the most damage and aimed for them with every hit.

Bepo had taught you a few moves that proved to come in handy and the men fell one after the other at your feet. Their numbers dwindled until only a handful remained and as you swept a leg under one, knocking him into the powdery snow, there was a burst of loud noise behind you. It took a second to realize it was a mass of different voices. The men were as taken aback as you were and you all paused to watch a huge mine cart full of people come barreling out of the back of the building. The ground shook as their exit collapsed behind them, closing the building off and keeping the gas you managed to catch sight of inside.

You immediately focused on Law. He was in front of the group and made a quick retreat from the cart, not enjoying being stuck around so many other people.

"Law!" You felt yourself smile from ear to ear as he took long strides towards you, completely forgetting about the men you were just fighting.

Apparently that was fine, a couple other people came flying back and took the remainder out, taking advantage of them being distracted. From there, they jumped in to help out the robot finish up his fight as Law ducked down to pull you into a tight squeeze. From there, you lost track of what was happening around you, too engrossed in finally having your partner here.

"I missed you so much." You whispered to him, just loud enough to be heard over the chaos happening around you.

"I missed you too." He pulled away all too soon and looked around like he was searching for something. "Where's your brother?"

Your throat tightened and you swallowed back your tears, convincing yourself you'd cried enough for now. You shook your head as your hand instinctively fell to the envelope in your pocket. It was still too early to open it but you felt like it would be the right time soon enough.

"I got there and....."

"Hey! Who's this?!" A young, scruffy looking man with short, black hair nudged around Law to stare at you with wide, curious eyes.

Law's lips twitched into a small annoyed frown as he glared at the other man. "This is (Y/n)-ya, I've told you about her."

"Ohhhhhh she's the one we were supposed to wait for?"

"Yes."

He giggled happily. "Well now we don't have to wait."

"And you must be one of the people included in this alliance I've heard of." You replied, relieved about the change of topic.

"My name's Luffy! I'm going to be king of the pirates!" He shouted proudly.

"Oh, that's nice." You watched as more people came around, some pirates, some Marines, and to your surprise, the children from the labs as well.

Most glanced at you before entertaining themselves with other things as the noise in the background settled, telling you whatever fighting was happening was done. The few that stuck around all seemed to be friendly with Luffy and Law so you decided it was safe to assume they were with Luffy.

Law quickly became grouchy as they closed in to meet you but was polite enough to introduce you to them. From there, they took over, taking turns giving you their names. Most seemed friendly. The blonde named Sanji felt too overzealous to you and the one with the swords, Zoro, seemed completely disinterested in the other hand. You learned the robot was actually being piloted by a cyborg who went by Franky. They even had a couple temporary additions to the crew that included a samurai and a young boy from a country called Wano.

All the people you met were under Luffy as his crew and Law informed you that he had indeed agreed to an alliance with them to achieve his goal. The real kicker was when he told you the end goal was to take down one of the warlords, Kaido. That wasn't something you'd discussed but you gave him a look that said you'd be talking about it very soon. Either way, it was a goal he wouldn't be able to back out of, not with Luffy being so gung ho about it. It seemed like something unattainable but you'd hold your tongue and see how things play out. It wasn't like you weren't sure you and Law would be able to find your way out of any problems that arose. You were both resourceful.

After your introductions, the Marines began shouting obscenities at all of you, cursing you for being pirates and calling you scum of the earth. Luffy and the rest of the Strawhats thought nothing of it and Law ignored their attempts to get a rise out of him so you did the same. There was too much going on around you to pay them any attention anyway.

Multiple people took turns filling you in on the details you'd missed, treating it like some grand adventure they hadn't just gone through. And from what you gathered, the Strawhats had showed up, started raising hell, and Law felt it was easiest to make the best of the situation. He'd told you before that he'd found the Strawhats to be strong and a promising group in the new world. After seeing just a small portion of the damage they did, you believed him.

They'd managed to destroy the labs, free the children, and help capture Caesar Clown who was currently out cold and cuffed with sea stone, rendering him completely harmless. All in all, you'd gained allies and completed the first part of the job you'd set out to do. The only part that annoyed you was that you missed all the action, which was something you told Law wouldn't happen again.

Luffy had excitedly proposed a party to celebrate their victory and the festivities began immediately. His crew seemed to be extremely resourceful and soon had food cooking and alcohol had practically appeared out of thin air.

You noticed the men working under Caesar had chosen to stay with the Marines and turn themselves in. They stuck with them and were apprehended without a fuss. At the same time, all the children were loaded on the tanker you originally saw Franky on. One of the women on Luffy's crew, Nami, had mentioned they'd be sent back home to their families and that brought you some peace.

What didn't was Law pulling you aside from the crowd to discuss what happened when you left to find Leo. You sat together on a rock, just far enough to not be overheard while being close enough to be alerted if anything else happened. You told him all the details you'd come to know and anytime someone came by, your serious expression sent them away before they could interrupt.  After having a week to come to terms with it, you talked about it well, better than you thought you could. And when you were done, you handed Law the envelope.

"I'm thinking of opening it when we're on the move." You said. "I think it'll be easier then."

He flipped it over in his hands again and again, keeping himself busy as he searched for the right words to say. "I've been in your position (Y/n)-ya, I understand what it's like to lose everything, how fast it can happen but I can promise you, no matter how annoying they may get, the crew will become your new family. They're no replacement for the old one but they're still a good one."

"I know." You felt yourself smile at the thought of the crew. You definitely missed them and their antics and Law was right, they were your new family. "They've filled that position since the day I joined you guys."

He pat your thigh as he looked towards the Strawhats. A few of them were waving you over, sensing what you were talking about was done.

"They're a lot of energy." Law sighed.

You let out a small giggle. "They're worse than the crew from the looks of it."

"You don't know the half of it."

"What do you say we have a little fun with them before we get back to work grumpy man?"

"I'm not grumpy." He pouted, proving your point.

"Whatever you say." You rolled your eyes and stood up, leading Law towards the Strawhats by the hand.

Despite his unwillingness, his fingers interlaced with yours naturally and he followed along, voicing a couple complaints.  You didn't care, you missed having other people around. This would be good for you and you had a feeling Law knew that as well.

(A/n)
One more chapter to go my dudes! I'm excited to finally get this story done after working on it off and on for such a long time~