One Piece 1. Authors Note

**AUTHORS NOTE ABOUT THIS STORY ****:)**

**This story is completely dedicated to two of my besties and me :) No wait not just besties, we're sworn sisters ;) Well three OC's naturally, named after us. It's an Highschool AU, with Zoro, Law and Ace as the guys. Ratings will probably go from T to M. **

**It started off as the Yaoi-crazy friend begging me to write a ZoSan drabble, but I was like "nooooo, but I can do you and him." **

**To cut a long epic saga of text messages short, and my loopy brain imagining the possibilities, the end result is three best friends at school who fall in love with guys :) **

**I'd like to take this time to say that these two other girls in this story mean the whole freaking world to me. They've kept me going even when I wanted to just end it all. We've done the craziest shit together, and I'd really like to say that no one else can bring the hyper me out like they can. And most importantly, when I need them, they're there for me to vent and scream and cry. I love you two a lot as my sisters, and p.s, I know you two are smiling like the awesome idiots you are while reading this ;) .**

**(Of course, I love all my other friends too~!)**

**Well, as an author, I hope everyone enjoys this story, laughing, yelling at the bad guys, blushing away at **_**those **_**scenes and maybe even shedding a few tears.**

**Warmest Regards, **

**AnimeXCats333.**


	2. Chapter 1 Three Crazy Girls

Chapter 1: Three Crazy Girls

**Whelp first chapter, hope you like it, R&R please :)**

**-A.X.C333-**

The girl sat on the rich leather chair, reclining a little. The paper in her hands hand been streaked by the bright neon colours of highlighters. The duller tones of midnight blue belonged to the pen that was now resting on the crook of her ear.

Her hair was tied in a neat plait that reached down to her upper back, and she had a pair of dark eyes that carefully looked through the notes in her hands.

She was absolutely oblivious to the figure, stealthily padding towards her from behind. As she began to reach for her pen to jot down another note, she felt a pair of clammy cold hands slam down on her shoulders.

The silence of the library was broken by her utterly shocked scream.

…

Regene was falling over herself laughing, while the not so amused Yuen Yeng walked beside her, face utterly red.

"You should've… seen your face…!" Regene managed to say, her sentence broken up by the uncontrollable chuckles that racked her body.

"SHUT UP! Did you hear what the librarian said? I'M BANNED FROM THE LIBRARY! WHERE ELSE AM I GONNA GET AN AWESOME RED CHAIR TO STUDY IN?"

"Hmm… The furniture shop down the road?"

"My beautiful… precious red chair… why…? My darling nothing will get in between our love but I"

"Oh shut up. Let's go find Nic already. Class would be starting soon anyway!" Regene interrupted her friend's moaning, and led her back to their class.

…

The pair bounced into their classroom, that was already filled with the buzz of the students, like insects in a forest.

However, despite all the noise, one girl had put her head down to sleep on her desk, eyes shut tight, blind to the world going on around her. Suddenly a woman, age fifty perhaps, with lanky brown hair and a black dress that looked more like an old unwashed curtain that she had draped over herself instead of a dress.

Regene and Yuen Yeng decided to leave their friend to continue napping for a little while, and returned to their seats.

"My name is Ms. Moryonaligelica. Ms. Moryon for short. I will be taking your class for mathematics from now on. Are there any questions?"

One hand shot up.

"Yes Mr…?"

"Roronoa Zoro. Just curious, did your parents really hate you or something?"

A few sniggers escaped from the lips of the other classmates. The source of the brief moment of humor was a well-built boy with green hair. He was slumped in his chair casually, apparently not caring about the built up look of rage on the teacher's face.

Ms. Moryon looked just about ready to blow her top, when she and all her silent fuming was interrupted by a _very _loud snore. Turning to the source of the disturbance, she saw the girl sleeping on her own desk.

"Would you," She pointed at Regene, "Kindly wake up your sleeping friend before I have her down for detention?"

An evil grin took to Regene's face and she picked up her bottle. Unscrewing it, she tipped the contents of the bottle onto her classmates head. It drenched the unsuspecting girl's hair and clothes completely.

"YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE YOU BASTARDSSSSS!" The rudely awoken girl shouted, waving the pen in her hands around like it was a sword or something. Then she looked at the board, squinting her eyes as if she couldn't believe what she just read.

"Ms. Moron? Pleased to meet you." She said grinning at the teacher.

The class burst into howls of laughter, some slamming their desks in their ecstasy.

"WILL YOU ALL KEEP QUIET?" The woman at the front of the class shrieked, instantly silencing the students.

"YOU THERE! Stand up! What's your name?"

The girl stood up, an air of defiance surrounding her.

"Well, I go by the wonderfully bestowed name of Nicole Doyle, but for you, it would be Your Worst Nightmare. Absolutely wonderful that we should meet today, Ms. Moron."

"How dare you…! I will let you off with a warning, but any more cheek out of you and it's the detention class! CLEAR?" Ms. Moryon threw a sideways glance at Zoro, intending the message to reach his ears as well.

"Absolutely," Nicole grinned, before she sat down and murmured under her breath, "Ms. Moron."

"Now, take out worksheet 5 and we'll continue from where Mr. Sanders left off."

While the rustling of papers filled the classroom, the teacher noticed that Nicole was staring idly into space, drumming her fingers on the desk.

"NICOLE DOYLE! DID YOU NOT HEAR ME?"

"Oh are we at it again? Well you see, actually your melodious voice did perchance reach my ears. But the reason I cannot carry out your noble request, would be that unless I know the ability to simply magic a completed worksheet out of thin air, is simply that in all my free time and languishing around the house over the weekend, I simply could not bring myself to undertake the demanding task of looking for the value of 'x'."

Ms. Moryon shot a glare round at the class that was beginning to snicker again. Then, she turned her steely gaze onto Nicole, face quite red.

"You. Will. Come. For. Detention. This. Afternoon." Every word was said in danger of it's speaker exploding like a volcano.

"No. Ms. Moron. I. Will. Not." The girl said in plain imitation of her teacher.

"Do not attempt to imitate my voice, or your punishment would be even more severe. And why, may I ask, will you not attend detention?"

"Sheesh, and here I was, thinking that imitation was the highest form of flattery. Well your answer is that I must bring myself to say with so much regret, that I have no intention to waste my time in detention.

Isn't the oh-so important aim of this school to…" she waved her hand around as if looking for the answer, "To help students to make their lives into productive and contributing to society is it not? I hardly see what good writing one hundred lines will do."

"Very well then. I shall write to your parents about this. How can I contact them?"

"For my father, you'll have to write a letter to Merry Lane Cemetery, grave number 44.

My mother, is currently in the critical care ward of an asylum. She can't read or write without drawing horses everywhere.

And well, my older brother, is currently in jail for gang activity. Although he really has nothing to do except contemplate life or moan about the lack of alcohol, I think you won't get more than a couple of insults and the availability of your mother, if you wish to talk to him.

And that, Ms. Moron, is the state of my family. I really don't think you'll be able to get a sane response from any of them, my sincerest apologies."

**End of Chapter 1**

**Yay done! I'll be updating this story every Wednesday and Saturday, thanks for reading this chapy.**


	3. Chapter 2: Old Enemies

Chapter 2: Old enemies.  
**  
It's official, I can't stick to schedules or plans. I was just thinking after saying "Update every Saturday and Wednesday," : hmm... Oh screw being organized, I'll update when the hell I want.**

Another thing is that I'll be changing the "main" characters every update in story characteristics. Meaning one week it'll be Zoro and Ace, the next it would be Ace and Law and finally Law and Zoro. Repeat process. Not necessarily related to what actually happens in the chapter.

**Slight language this chapter :P**

So Yoshhh hope you enjoy :)

-A.X.C333-  
  
"Why the zoo? I absolutely hate the zoo. Of all the places they could've chosen for a stupid surprise mandatory outing, it had to be the zoo. The freaking zoo. Have these fools of teachers got no better ideas anymore?"

"Are you done?" Regene asked the moaning Nicole who was gloomily trudging along.

"No. The stupid zoo absolutely stinks. I hate it."

"Aw come on! It's kind of interesting."

"Mehhhhh."

Later on the bus...

Nicole sat on the blue chair of the chartered bus. The seat in front of her had been torn and tattered. Someone had even carved 'fuck' in clear, angular letters.

_Charming._

She turned to Yuen Yeng who was sitting on her left. Across the aisle, Regene and a boy from their class, Luffy, were in danger of going hyper together.

Watching either go hyper could cause permanent damage to an unwary individual.

"Hey... Did the teacher say that all classes had to go for the outing?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"_They'll_ be there."

"Oh."

"Well whatever. We can avoid them or something. I won't necessarily bump into them."

"Yeah."

_And so, the bus arrived at the zoo, much to Nicole's futile annoyance._

"Remember. You will easily be singled out as students. The staff members know that our school is coming today! Please refrain from mischief! And remember to choose an animal for your essay on."

The teacher in-charged droned on about the morals of the school, until finally they were dismissed to roam around.

Nicole, Regene and Yuen Yeng pushed through the visitors that was filled with a variety of people. Young children and families, other students, and adults who had come for a day out. All of them came together in a crowd, a masterpiece by modern art's standards. Probably.

"So what're you gonna write about?"

"Cats."

"Something in the zoo you fool."

"Lions."

"You really have no imagination."

The trio of friends walked together. As they passed by the giraffe enclosure, they heard an argument erupt from two students.

"Like I said Jyabura, Giraffes are way cooler than wolves!"

"Hahahaha. Oh you make me laugh so much Kaku."

"But they are cool! More so than a pack of mangy grey dogs anyway."

"WHAT WAS THAT YOU LONG NECK HORSE FREAK?"

"I SAID THE TRUTH, STUPID MUTT SUPPORTER!"

The two began bickering and the poor giraffe that stood behind them had to put up with it.

"GO WOLVESSS!" Regene shouted, whooping a little. Kaku looked rather miserable, while Jyabura was doing a little "in-your-face" dance.

No sooner had they walked away from that clash, they heard Nami, the class' top geography student, scolding Luffy.

"NO! YOU DO NOT TRY TO KILL A LESSER GREEN COW FOR A BURGER!"

"But it looks tasty..."

"I SAID NO."

"I'm hungryyyy..."

"Oh come on, let's go get a PROPER burger."

The redhead dragged her friend by the ear, storming off to the nearest food stand.

"Well at least someone's enjoying themselves." Nicole sighed.

"Stop whining. Let's go check out the insect kingdom. It's next to the wolves enclosure anyway." Regene interrupted her friend before she began another long moan about her "predicament".

"That's near the bears too, okay let's go!" Yuen Yeng said cheerfully, while the third friend only continued her complaining.

...

The dark corridors winded round the various glass terrariums, which were the only source of light in the insect trail.

Nicole stared at one of the cages, only to reel back in disgust when an amazon cockroach poked it's head out of one of the artificial logs.

She felt herself bump into someone, and opened her mouth to utter a brief apology, but stopped cold when she heard the owner of the voice.

"Watch it you bastard!"

Eustass Kidd. Things were about to get complicated soon.

_They_ were here.

In the darkness, she groped around for her two friends. If _they_ knew that the trio were here...

Well she'd rather not think about it.

But then she caught sight of something that caused her to rearrange her list of priorities.

The whole gang was there, standing in front of the black widow cage. She caught sight of the cold grin on one of their faces.

She knew from experience, that they never_. Ever._ Took a project seriously. The fact that they were interested in any specimen in the zoo, was unsettling in itself.

_They couldn't be..._

Inside, however, Nicole knew her fears were right.

As she neared the group, she caught wind of their conversation. It only confirmed her suspicions.

"How long does it take a black widow to kill it's victim? Let's find out shall we?"

One of the figures raised his hands, before Nicole jumped for it, knocking the hand aside.

For a few seconds, she found herself staring straight into the sharp, frightening eyes of Arlong.

Just then, her two friends came running over.

"What's going... Oh." Regene began, but stopped when she saw the reason.

"Well if it isn't the traitor? How's it going?" she heard a sneer from another of the guys in front of her.

_Was that Lucci?_

"Much better than it would've been with you. What the hell are you trying to pull now? Kill everyone in the zoo?"

"Sorry, we were doing our research on a spider. Do you have a problem with that?"

"If your so-called research didn't involve trying to murder visitors, yes. But it does, so I have a big problem."

"So you won't mind if we try to murder you?"

She definitely recognized the mocking voice this time.

"Actually, Doflamingo," she snorted as she said his ridiculous name, "I do fucking care."

"Oh-ho! Looks like someone wants to fight. Shall we?"

"You guys even bully your old friends? Miserable little gits." a new voice interrupted.

The gathered group turned to the intruders, and saw Luffy, his brother Ace and their friends. The one who spoke would be Zoro.

"Looks like you can't even stand up for yourself. How low you've fallen. But, there's always a place for you here. If you can become the old you again."

Nicole glared after the gang as they walked away.

"There was no "old me". There was just a me without good friends."

Zoro walked over.

"You girls okay?"

Yuen Yeng and Nicole felt themselves nod, but Regene didn't move at all. After Zoro left, Luffy and friends in tow, the two friends looked at Regene.

"Oi what happened? Regeeeneee? Are you- Ah. I see." Nicole said after taking one look at her friend's face.

"What?"

"Her eyes have completely turned to hearts."

**End of Chapter 2!**

**Thanks for reading again~! Will update soon. **


	4. Chapter 3: Meet my Brother

Chapter 3: Meet My Brother

**Heeee this chapter is a favorite :)**

**-A.X.C333-**

The house was empty apart from herself. It had been empty for a long time.

But not for much longer, Nicole thought, Today's the day.

She looked at her calendar, which had a cat theme, and looked at the date circled in red.

This afternoon onwards, the house was going to have one more occupant.

Later, after school...

"Soooo... You wanna go get a coffee or something?" Yuen asked after the trio had dumped their books in their lockers.

"Love to, but I have something else to do right now." Nicole said while shoving a couple of math worksheets into the recycling bin.

"You really should do at least one of those one day. Why aren't you free?"

"Meh. I gotta pick up my bro from jail. His sentence is over."

Regene blinked, before replying.

"You want us to come with you?"

"Nah. I'll manage. He probably won't try to do something stupid."

"Okay then. Call us if anything comes up."

...

Nicole walked on the familiar and worn dusty path, that on windswept days could be a pain. A few cigarette butts lay on the dying grass beside the route, some still giving off their last ashen puffs of smoke, fitting the mood of the quiet, desolate path.

When she reached the grey building, she saw the plastic letters of the prison's name 'Impel Down' attached to the bland walls. The letter 'P' was hanging on for dear life to it's place on the walls.

The prison had once been a famous high security prison, well known for being impossible to break out of, until one day someone did. It all started going downhill for their reputation then.

After getting through an extremely persistent guard who seemed to think that she most definitely was a terrorist or something, she was directed to a meeting room.

Inside the room, which was as dull as the prison's exterior, she came face to face with the warden, expression ever so blasé.

"Sign here," the warden said, her annoyingly high-pitched voice that contrasted so greatly with her gruff demeanor nearly caused Nicole to laugh," And then someone will bring your brother here.

Mind you, he got into a fight this morning. But despite the fact that we all know it was him who provoked it, "evidence" and even the witnesses insisted that it was the other guy who started it. So we had no choice but to leave it at that."

"So, Aniki's been a bad boy even in jail huh? Tch bad aniki. I have to punish him later." Was the only response the warden received while Nicole signed on the dotted line.

One of the metal doors swung open, and a young man was led out by a jailer. He had plenty of tattoos all over his arms, though Nicole's personal favorite was the letters 'D' 'E' 'A' 'T' and 'H' inked onto his fingers.

His eyes were shadowed as usual, and he still had his perpetually emotionless face.

"Yo Law-aniki!" Nicole grinned widely while he merely gave her a glare.

"Soooo we can go now?"

"Well yeah. But I wouldn't be surprised if your brother came back. Still, you can keep him with you. Two of the other inmates tried to commit suicide because of him during his stay."

"Oh I believe anyone exposed to him long enough would try to do that." Nicole smiled darkly at the warden.

And with that, the pair of siblings left, the girl skipping ahead childishly, and her brother unenthusiastically walking behind her.

_Finally, at home..._

"We're homeeee! Oh wait, there's no one else here. Damn." Nicole called out after swinging the door open, slamming it against the wall.

"I'm surprised the neighbors haven't taken to the hills, screaming their heads off."

"Oh actually, the neighbors have changed at least seven times now."

"Makes sense."

"Now. You. Have been a very baaaad boy!" Nicole told Law, wagging her finger at him like he was a little child.

Law sighed and sat down on the couch.

"Tch. You shouldn't lecture your older brother."

"Don't 'tch' me. Jeez I took my eyes off you for one moment and what do you do? Join a gang, and try and beat up random members of the public. You aren't going to make mum's condition better like this."

"I'll live my life the way I want to."

"No, dearest brother, you will not. Mum told me to watch over you and not let you stray. So... From now on you'll be going to school."

"Hah. Like you could get me into a school with a jail record and what not. Plus I hate school."

"Oh yes I can~! Mumsie dearest was best friends with our principal." Nicole waved a sheet of paper in front of her brother's face. Law narrowed his eyes, and read it out loud.

"I, the principal of Sunny Go Highschool, solemnly swear that Mrs Julieta Doyle's children will always have a place in my school, regardless of a criminal record or disability."

The school's official seal was imprinted in the bottom of the paper. There was a moment of silence, before Law broke it.

"You know what sis?"

"Hmm?"

"Fuck you."

"I love you too, brother dearest~!" came the cheerful reply.

...

The next day at school, Regene and Yuen Yeng headed to the biology lab, with a Nicole who seemed overly hyper.

"Oi what's up?"

"You'll see~!"

When they stepped into the lab, most of the students had already gathered. They could hear murmurs and squeals amongst the class.

Then, Yuen Yeng looked at the lab table and realised why. Every counter had a sickly coloured lump of green on it.

She felt her stomach flip when she realized it was a dead frog.

"Today class, we will be dissecting a frog~! But first, let me introduce you to a new student who will join your class! Please welcome Trafalgar Law!"

At that moment, Law walked into the lab. Nicole waved extremely hyperly at him, to which she only received the birdie, and a cold glare. Meanwhile, they could hear some of the girls in class whispering amongst themselves.

"Who is he?"

"Why is Nicole waving to him?"

"He looks sexy..."

The biology teacher interrupted them.

"Well as you know, our class has always had an odd number of students. As a result, that trio over there," she waved to Regene, Yuen Yeng and Nicole, "Have been grouped together. But now that we have a new student, we can resume a normal seating arrangement. Yuen Yeng, you will be Law's lab partner. Be nice you two!" she chirped merrily.

Immediately, Yuen Yeng felt the hot burn of nearly every girl's glare on her back.

"No way! Why does bookworm get to sit with him?"

"What a waste. Oh well I can hit on him during Lunch."

"Why is he sooo hot?"

Yuen Yeng picked up her books and shuffled to where the new student had already sat down.

"Now that that's settled, you can begin dissecting your frog! I've already taught you how, so treat this as a small assessment of your skills! Have fun~!"

Yuen Yeng looked at the frog, her breakfast threatening to leave her body the way it came in.

She put on the latex gloves and gingerly prodded the frog. She heard Law sigh, and stand up. Holding the frog in his hands, he picked up the knife and made a long incision in it's belly.

His lab partner stared at him in shock horror as began pulling out its insides, occasionally squishing one or two to feel its texture.

Yuen Yeng was very certain that she would puke. And then suddenly, she realized that he had shoved a small maroon object towards her. She felt the taste of bile rise into her mouth when she realized that it was a heart.

"Hold it. And stop staring at it like it's about to eat you."

Trembling she held the organ while Law proceeded to further disembowel the frog. The longer she stared at the heart, the more evil its presence seemed to her.

Finally, he snatched it out of her hand, and cut that up.

"Interesting..." he muttered.

"Gruesome." Yuen Yeng said, turning away from the gory scene.

What had been a frog was now an assortment of mangled limbs, small splatters of blood and tiny unidentifiable bits of cut-up reptile.

No doubt at the end of the day, the pair scored the highest. They even got a caramel frog each.

Yuen Yeng immediately gave it away to the first person she saw after that. Which would be Law naturally.

She was very certain that she'd never look at those little chocolates the same way. Every time she bit it, the caramel would feel like blood in her mouth. And the little nuts were... The cut-up bits. Bits of the poor frog.

That day in math, she found herself scribbling in her notebook:

"RIP Froggy.  
Dissected cruelly by my new lab partner. I think he'd dissect every last living creature that existed if he could.

What a miserable future I have in biology class this year."

**End of Chapter 3~ **

**Did you like it? Yup I'm sure you liked it :) But even if you didn't, that's fine too. But I'm very certain you liked it :) **


	5. Chapter 4: Pikachu Hair and Ink Whiskers

Chapter 4: Pikachu Hair and Ink Whiskers

**In case for some random reason you don't know who Pikachu is, he's that black and yellow mouse Pokémon. The most famous one. He's awesome. I wonder if Law would agree. No, no he wouldn't. **

**Do I make Law seem ooc? Maybe. Hee :)**

**-A.X.C333-**

"You can begin writing your essay about the animal you want to from the zoo. I hope that I can give at least half of you passes. And Nicole, would you _please _make an effort to do it or bring it to school. The aliens stole my homework is not a valid excuse." The English teacher said, before the bell rung to dismiss the class for the weekend.

_At the lockers…_

"Let's all go to my place to write the essays." Nicole declared, and Regene nodded in agreement.

"NO. YOUR BROTHER IS A CREEP." Came the immediate objection from said sibling's lab partner.

"Aww come on. He won't dissect you. Probably." Nicole said in a most unconvincing tone.

"Fine. If he stays. AWAY FROM ME…"

"I find it so amusing that while every other girl in the level has a crush on him, you're trying to avoid him so much. You literally walked the other way when you saw him yesterday. I think he's sad now."

"Does he even have emotions…?"

"Why yes he does, you stupid girl. He just doesn't show them."

_And so, that Saturday,_

"BAH I GIVE UP! I CAN'T WRITE THIS SHIT ANYMOREEEE."

"You've hardly done anything, stupid Nic."

Nicole stuck out her tongue, and then hopped over to her brother's room. She knocked on his door, and the expected call of 'go away' came from inside. Regardless she swung the door open and strode into the room. Her brother was lying on his bed, but sat up when he realized his request had been ignored.

"Who's your English teacher? She needs to teach you to understand that go away means get the hell away from my room."

"But you know I don't listen to my teachers anyway~! So what're you doing? I'm bored."

"I was trying to take a nap, until you barged in like the little brat you are, demanding I entertain you."

"Oh fine. I'll leave you to sleep and be all emo."

She bounced out of his room, and a few seconds later he yelled something very rude about not shutting the door.

"So you guys done yet?"

"No, we've only been at it for five minutes."

"Meh. I know something much more interesting to do."

"Like what?"

"Oh I dunno… Dyeing my brother's hair to look like Pikachu maybe?"

Nicole watched as Regene's eyes lit up and gleam like diamonds. That girl absolutely _loved _pranks. Essay completely forgotten, Regene headed straight for the storeroom, knowing very well where the hairspray was kept.

Moments later, the girl returned with a yellow can. Shaking it violently, hearing it rattle, she also picked up a black marker.

"Let's add whiskers too!"

"Awesomeee…"

Yuen Yeng didn't quite share her friends enthusiasm about the prank.

"Uh guys… You really sure you want to do this?"

Her blood ran cold when she saw the smiles on her friends' faces.

"But of course Yuen, but of course!"

The trio crept into Law's room. They could see the rhythmic rising and falling of his chest, signaling that he was asleep. Quietly, Nicole opened the window to ventilate the room.

"Shhh… he's a heavy sleeper but still, be careful!"

Then slowly taking some of his hair, she sprayed the strands till they became a bright shade of yellow. The room was silent save for the soft hiss of the hairspray and the occasional muffled giggle. Finally, their masterpiece was complete and they walked out of the room, closing the door behind them.

_An hour later…_

They heard him wake up, and stumble around in that daze when you're still in between the waking world and dreamland. But soon, there was that silence, that told them that Law had just realized something. And then at last, the extremely angry shout.

"NICOLE DOYLE, WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO MY HAIR? AND MY FACE? YOU BETTER NOT BE OUTSIDE BECAUSE IF YOU ARE…"

He swung the door open, and his face had gone quite red. When he saw his younger sister making a pathetic attempt to look innocent, he charged at her, hands posed to strangle her.

Nicole's two friends watched as brother and sister ran around the room in a mad frenzy. It was rather comical, seeing Law with such an enraged expression, and yet looking quite so ridiculous.

"Aniki-sama! Violence isn't the answer! We can settle this-."

"SHUT UP YOU LITTLE TWERP! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

_Surprisingly enough, Nicole finally escaped from her elder brother, locking herself in her room. Regene and Yuen Yeng had already run off, slightly worried that Law might turn to them in his fit of anger._

_And so, when they saw the two siblings turn up at school that Monday, the girls couldn't help but laugh when they saw the streaks of yellow that had remained in Law's hair, and the faint black markings on his face._

Nicole was still laughing when she reached her seat. But then her smile dropped from her face like a theatrical mask, to be replaced with an emotion she could not name. Was it fear or shock? _Neither._ It was more of… something that ran cold through her.

She fingered the piece of paper that had been left on her desk, the drawing of the small playground slide, with ivy drawn in detail onto the side of it, would've been meaningless to all but the person who drew it, and her.

"_It won't be hard to forget! The ivy that grows round the side of this slide will be a special symbol between us. No matter what happens in the future, when we see a drawing of this slide, with the ivy, we have to meet back here."_

**End of Chapter 4**

**Bwahahaha. Don't you just loveeeeeee cliffys? Well anyway. It'll be updated soon. But I have to concentrate on mah other stories too.**

Aniki- Elder Brother


	6. Chapter 5: Love We Lost

Chapter 5- Love We Lost

**Well… This chapter's gonna be a bit Limey. Not ready for Lemon just yet. But there is Lime. Yes. There is Lime. Bahahahaha why am I laughing like a sadistic bastard? Hmm… Just ignore my ramblings, I'm crazy. 8D**

**-A.X.C333-**

The rain was falling from the sky, speed never quite stable. The cold droplets occasionally strayed from their straight path to the ground, and landed on her face. Sometimes she would flinch, and sometimes she wouldn't even notice.

Nicole walked, with an air of apprehension towards her destination. She was still in a state of shock from the reason she was going this way. _Why had he asked her to meet him now? _

The faint grey outlines of the playground were becoming clearer, and she became concious that she would receive her answer soon.

When her feet had finally carried her to the abandoned playground, she looked around for him. The slide still stood, with a green cloak of ivy wrapped thickly onto the singled out the sound of the swing, creaking as it lifted the person higher and higher, and then falling back to Earth.

Slowly, she walked over to the swing. For a few moments, the sun was shining again, and she saw two children as they raced around the playground, laughing at their naïve fun. But then the rain began to fall again, and the bittersweet memory ended, reminding her that the past was the past.

He was there, on the swing. His black leather shirt was unbuttoned as usual, revealing his well-sculpted chest, something that had changed so greatly from the days of a cotton shirt with things like animal prints on it.

She became aware that she herself no longer wore sweet pink dresses with ribbons and flowers, instead she wore a grey tank top with a v-neckline and denim shorts.

It felt like something that she had let go of, the childish innocence of her memories. Did he feel the same way? Would he ever admit they played games like hopscotch and tag when they were seven?

"Times sure have changed, eh Dofla?" She said, in the same tone as her memories, nostalgic. It was different from the way she had yelled at him at the zoo.

"You have too." Came the reply. She saw him stand up in the corner of her eyes, but she was focusing on the rain.

"Hah. Are you anyone to talk?" Her eyes closed as she felt Doflamingo's tall frame behind her, and his arms wrapped around her.

"Guess not."

There was more silence as he held her in his warm arms, and she tried to think of more memories. The rain pattered all around them, and drenched them in it.

"Why can't we go back to those days? When we weren't part of any gangs or anything, just young and innocent."

"People grow up, and you know it."

She could feel tears in her eyes, blurring her vision. Everything at school, the carefree laugh, the rebellious attitude, they both knew it was a mask. She turned around and buried her face in his chest.

"I've wanted to talk to you for a long time… But not in front of the others. Your friends and mine. They don't know about us, what we once were."

When he said nothing, she continued.

"I really did love you then. But…"

"But you chose other friends over me."

"You made me choose. Why did you guys want to do that? You _especially_ knew that it was a painful decision."

"Why did you choose them instead?"

Nicole hesitated, but then she decided to give him his answer.

"I didn't want to take the same path my dad took. Or my mum. Or my bro. For my dad and bro, it was joining a gang. For my mum… It was falling in love with a gangster."

"What does it matter? Maybe your dad wasn't lucky, but your brother was fine."

"If you consider going to jail fine." She said bitterly.

She took a step back, glaring up at him a little. Then he broke into a wide, hollow grin, and whatever warmth she had from the memories faded. That rare moment between them, when he actually seemed to have feelings and when she wasn't trying to kill him, had passed.

He pushed her against the side of the slide, the desire in his eyes unmistakable.

"Perhaps, we can't love each other. But there's always room for lust." Doflamingo purred into her ear.

His warm breath on her neck was really turning her on. She could feel goose bumps forming of her skin, her body that was so close to his own.

His lips crushed against her own, and the pair fell to the floor. With him on top of her, she could feel the pleasure rising, and a feeling of want in her lower abdomen growing more and more each moment.

She was helpless against him, and her mouth opened to give him entry. She felt his tongue roam in her mouth, and chilled when it touched hers. His aroma of vanilla spread into her senses, it's musky scent arousing her further.

The pleasure was rushing through her veins, and her breathing pace doubled in speed. She tried to look into his eyes, but everything was blurred by the raindrops the size of bullets that hammered down on the sodden blades of grass beside her.

He pulled away at last, and he could see it in her eyes that she wanted more. But all he did was grin, and tell her one thing:

"You know, I think there are benefits to growing up."

_That night, she lay in bed, sneezing a little after having been drenched to the bone by the rain that afternoon. She cringed a little as more memories flooded back to her. Something that she never said aloud was that she always pictured them in a dreamscape._

_It was a fantasy, the days she had spent with Doflamingo when they were children. When he had been the same person, when the things she loved had still been there._

_What was left now for her to love?_

_She knew the answer to that, no matter how much she was frightened of it._

_Nothing._

**End of Chapter 5**

**Next chapter, story focus will shift to Yuen Yeng! :) Hope to update it very soon!**


	7. Chapter 6: Another Kind of Love

Chapter 6: Another Kind of Love

**OH GOD MY FRIENDS ARE CRAZY THEY'RE THREATENING ME TO UPDATE THE CHAPTERS AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE HEEELLPPP! Oh wait. Readers won't take my side either because if I update more, that's good for them… *sobs***

**-A.X.C333-**

"How many times have I told you? You have to get straight A's for your tests! Otherwise, how are you going to beat the competition out there?" The middle aged woman shrieked at Yuen Yeng, who was in a pitiful position.

"But ma… I'm already one of the top students…" Came the pleading voice.

"Top students? TOP STUDENTS? There is a girl in your level who always scores higher for History! ALL THE TIME! I'M GOING TO GO GET ANOTHER TUTOR FOR YOU! NOW DO YOUR REVISION!" Her father hollered at her, and she flinched from his sharp tone.

Suddenly, the girl's phone flashed, indicating a message from one of her friends. In a fit of fury, her mother snatched the phone up in one swift movement, and threw it to the ground. Yuen Yeng watched in horror as it shattered into different pieces.

"It's because of CRAP like this and your lazy bad influences of friends that you're such a miserable excuse of a student!"

Yuen Yeng clenched her fists, trembling slightly. She could feel the lone tear roll down her cheek, and further angry shouts from her parents fell on deaf ears. Finally, she released all the pent up frustration that she had felt.

"I DON'T CARE IF YOU BELITTLE ME, BUT PLEASE DON'T BADMOUTH MY FRIENDS!"

There was a pause from her parents, and then her mother strode forward, eyes flaring with a fire that threatened to burn, and she slapped her child across the face, so hard that she fell to the ground. The woman's voice came in an outraged screech.

"HOW DARE YOU TALK BACK? GET OUT OF THIS HOUSE, AND COME BACK WHEN YOU WANT TO BE A GOOD DAUGHTER!"

_Yuen Yeng, frightened like a little animal, face pale and eyes wide, fled from the dreaded place she called home. _

She ran through the rain that had fallen since that afternoon, her tears mixing with the rainwater. She was wailing out loud, but no one was there to hear her. Finally, the rain stopped, but her tears continued streaming down like waterfalls on her face. She stumbled through the roads, utterly lost. She had no phone, no sense of where she was even.

A few streetlights flickered on the lonely street. Glancing at the watch that had been on her arm before she left the house, she realized that it read '2:38 a.m.' Where could she go?

She was so frightened. So afraid of the people she called 'mom' and 'dad'. Leaning against the brick wall of a block of apartments, she buried her face in her knees, sobbing softly to herself.

Then, she heard footsteps, approaching her direction. Her first instinct was to run away, but then she just gave up on the notion. Her parents wouldn't care if she got raped. They'd probably disown her, if anything at all.

So she tilted her head up to see who had come across her so late at night.

_A drunkard? An old man?_

It was neither. She nearly let out a gasp when she recognized the face of Law, who was leaning down to see her. He seemed to have an expression of confirmation on his face, as if he had somewhat guessed that it was her beforehand.

"What're you doing out here girlie?" The term he had named her by wasn't an insult, nor a term of endearment, but just something to go by.

"Nothing…" She sobbed.

She felt his hand lift her chin up, tilting her head to face him. His grey eyes pierced into her own, as if they were searching for secrets hidden behind the tears.

"Don't lie. Take your time, and tell me."

"What do you care? You hardly even know me."

It was true. Apart from the lessons together in the lab, the two hadn't really talked much. Yuen Yeng wasn't one to really socialize. She was a wall flower during parties, if she even managed to attend one, with her maniac parents.

"Sure, but I don't just come across a crying girl and walk off. Let's go to that bench over there. You can sit down properly, and tell me everything."

As he guided the trembling girl to the wooden bench underneath a tree, he heard her murmur a 'thank you'. Then she sat down, and began her story.

"My parents always pressure me to study hard, and to ace all my exams. They want me to end up marrying someone of very high birth. I know… I know this isn't the age where marriages are arranged by parents, but they've already picked a few suitors out for me. None of them suit me… They're all arrogant playboys.

If I don't do what they make me do, or fail to do well on a test, I'm usually grounded or beaten. Tonight… well tonight they insulted your sister and our other friend, so I lost my patience with them…

And then they kicked me out. I don't wanna go back, but there's no one out there who will take me in. I have no living relatives who live in town. But what's the most frightening… is that sometimes I'm afraid that they'll really hurt me terribly, and then… then…" Her voice went all quiet, unable to continue.

She saw flashes of the times with her best friends go through her head, the times when she was laughing. But now, she felt so lonely, so far away from those days.

"So… you lived a life without any love from them…" Law said, his eyes trained on the stars in the sky above. One of them fell across the sky, and yet not disturbing all the other stars.

He turned to look at Yuen Yeng who was still crying softly to herself, and then, without warning, he put his arms around her.

"Law…! What…?" He put his fingers to her lips, shushing her like she was a child.

"It must've been hard… All those lonely nights of tears and angst. You've been loved by your friends, but it isn't nearly enough in your life.

_Will you allow me to give you another kind of love?"_

**End of Chapter 6**

**Well I hope it wasn't too abrupt or anything. Please review and tell me what you think of this chapter :)**


	8. Chapter 7: Romeo and Cinderella

Chapter 7: Romeo and Cinderella

**I kind of based this couple on a vocaloid song, which shares the same name as this chapter. Yup. Huge vocaloid fan here. To be precise, the Kagamine twins :) I'm not sure if it's clear but anyway, Yuen Yeng is technically a noble in One Piece terms. But a Sabo-like noble. Doesn't like her own kind :P**

-A.X.C333-  
  
"Law…"

Once again, a gentle hush escaped his lips. His gentle hand was holding her head close, something of comfort to her.

Raindrops began falling from the dark skies above again, the steady beats of droplets hitting the ground gradually increasing. Clouds began to cover the moon, the brief pause from the shower over.

Yet the wind and rain would not break their embrace.

"I'm not good with words but…"

It was the girl's turn to quiet the boy this time.

"I know what you want to say."

She never wanted to let go, she wanted to run away with the boy who held her close and safe in her arms.

But sometimes… Sometimes things didn't go the way you wanted them.

Yuen Yeng had already sensed the person before the interrupting cough. She turned around to see one of the servants of her household carrying an umbrella.

"The master and madam have requested that I bring you back home. I'm afraid I will have to tell them about this little incident." Her voice was laced with sarcastic amusement.

Yuen Yeng began to stand up, trembling a little.

But then, she felt Law's hand hold her back. He stood up, and kissed her lightly on the forehead. She felt her cheeks flush red, but still she closed her eyes and let the warmth of the kiss spread through her.

"Please wait for me, my Juliet."

"Don't call me that. Romeo and Juliet had a tragic ending. Call me... Cinderella."

He nodded, a thin quaver of a smile on his lips.

Then, with one last trusting, but at the same time nervous, glance at him, she walked away into the cold night.

When she had returned home, and her parents heard about the exchange with Law, neither could so much look at her.

She was locked in her room, but she heard their voices as they walked by her door.

"I had hoped this could've waited till she was out of school."

"But we must, for the sake of upholding the family honor."

Then their voices faded to a dull hum in the back ground, leaving Yuen Yeng to only dread what was in store for her.

When she woke up the next day, she looked at the calendar and realized that her birthday was only a week away, that Friday.

_18 at last…  
_  
Climbing down the tall marble stairway, she realized her parents were siting in the living room.

"Good morning..." she called out, voice cautious.

"Come over here."

Slowly she shuffled over to the dinner table. She realized that her parents were looking through magazines with white gowns and sorts. A horrible lump began to form in her throat, and her mother began to speak.

"Your father and I have decided to marry you off. The wedding ceremony is this Saturday, the day after your birthday, since your legal age to marry would be eighteen."

"We have chosen your husband too. He's the son of a rich businessman. After school, you will go to pick out your wedding dress. Oh yes, this will be your last week at school. With that happy note, why don't you leave for school now?"

Yuen Yeng couldn't wipe off the blank look of shock as a maid hurried her out of the house. Walking to school, everything she saw seemed to be a shade darker, as if shadows had been cast all over the world.

When she arrived at school, lessons passed in a blur of voices, lights and words that held no meaning to her memory. Pretending to smile, faking her laughs. Only until she saw Law, sitting under the branches of a wispy beech tree, did her real emotions begin to pour out like an overflowing jug.

Slowly she stepped over to him, hands held close to her heart and eyes beginning to feel a little damp. When he had noticed her taking nervous steps towards her, he beckoned her with a gentle smile.

She sat down next to her, and began to tell him everything about her wedding as an unwelcome birthday gift. Crying onto his shoulder when she had finished talking.

But when she cried, it felt like every tear carried a little of her pain, slowly leaving her body like tides that receded from the shores of a tropical beach.

"Will you believe in me? I promise I won't let the bad people take the magic away from my sweet little Cinderella."

"But this story doesn't have a fairy godmother to help Cinderella…"

"We can still run away when the clock strikes twelve. Only this time, Romeo will run away with his princess."

Yuen Yeng let her head rest against his shoulder. Stretching out her hand, she caught a crisp brown leaf in between her fingers.

"I believe you."

…

That day, she had gone to a bridal boutique to browse through wedding gowns. Some had flowing white monsters of skirts, whereas some where tightfitting and short-sleeved. All of them, whether they were endowed with silver roses and the emblems of both families, or had a plain but still attractive silver sheen to the dress, carried a painful weight with them, the burden of marrying someone she did not love.

…

Friday that week had felt extremely short. Even throughout lessons that did not normally hold much excitement for her, she felt such a sharp pain each time the bell signaled the end of a lesson.

No one, apart from Law, knew about it being the last day in school. She could not bring herself to tell even her closest friends, afraid of how they might react. Besides, they seemed to be having their own troubles. She had seen Nicole and Regene slumped in their desks, with dark panda eyes proving a lack of sleep.

Finally, the end of the day came, and she picked up her books, and for the last time shut them in her locker.

She took each step towards the gate of the school with apprehension and fear for the next day.

But then, like light that broke through stormy clouds, she saw the face of the person she wanted to see most waiting for her under his usual tree. She ran to him, resisting the urge to hug him incase someone saw.

Law passed her a pen, and smirked cheekily.

"Would you sign this magical contract, madam?"

"What…?"

"But I'm afraid you can't look." He gently shut her eyelids, and passed her the pen. She signed, and when she opened her eyes and gave the boy a quizzical look, all he did was smile.

"Tomorrow, Cinderella, you will see your wish come true."

_And then he left, carrying the mysterious 'contract' with him._

**End of chapter 7.**

**Will update tomorrow hopefully :) Lemon in a few chapters, advance warning.**


	9. Chapter 8: The Clock Struck Twelve

Chapter 8: The Clock Struck Twelve

**Sorry for the slight delay :)**

**-A.X.C333-**

The female attendant slowly adjusted the flowery white hairpin into Yuen Yeng's hair, and combed down a few loose strands.

She ignored the attendant while she made comments about her elegant appearance that mattered not to her.

All she saw in the oval mirror was an anxious girl, worried about what would become of her after the ceremony was complete. She tightly grabbed the hem of her white skirt, remembering the promise Law made to her.

_That's right, I should believe in him._

When all enhancements to her face were done, she stood from her seat and looked into the floor-length mirror in the room. She saw a beautiful woman, dressed in a sophisticated white gown, with an intricate swan embroidery on the silky fabric.

"Stunning." Yuen Yeng heard an amazed gasp from the attendant.

"_Choking," _She thought to herself, _"And definitely not me."_

The first half of the ceremony, held in the lobby of a hotel, went by in a sickening blur of greeting the guests that her parents had invited. The well-wishes, the laughter, all of it seemed like a grotesque form of torture. Everything was so wrong to her.

What she hated most was how everyone seemed to accept the wedding. One guest had particularly annoyed her with his conversation.

"Congratulations, my dear. A wonderful age to be married, sweet eighteen. My father once told me, if she's not young, she's as common as dung." The man kissed her on her hand, before laughing at his own joke.

Yuen only felt the urge to slap the man for his sexist comment.

But then her mother came up, with the assumed graceful walk of a lady, and took her by the arm.

"First, we will sign the legal documents, and then we will hold the exchanging of the vows. Come now my dear, to the ballroom."

Her voice was nearly as repulsive as the previous man.

_All of them! I can't stand them! But… Where is Law?_

Entering the grand ballroom, she saw more guests standing around, holding champagne flutes in their hands, enjoying the occasion. She was guided to a table where her husband-to-be sat, apparently bored with the whole procession.

Trembling, she picked up a black pen, and looked at the document. She could see the other signature in clear ink besides her own empty dotted line.

"Now if you'd just sign here…" She heard a lawyer say, but she was losing focus.

_Just sign… Here… Exchanging of vows… Stunning…_

Voices were echoing in her head. The dull throbbing pain was resounding throughout her mind, like a wrecking ball breaking down everything in its path.

_Think straight… Law…_

"STOP THE WEDDING!"

The sound of doors being flung open now filled the silent room, quieted by the sudden disturbance. She saw Nicole, Regene, and the one she was waiting for burst into the ballroom. The latter held a sheet of paper in his hands.

"I hope I'm not too late, Cinderella." She heard his playful voice.

She realised that all three of the intruders had now been dressed up. Regene wore a sleeveless blue evening gown, with a velvety texture. Nicole wore a crimson cocktail dress, and attached to her waist was a black bow.

And Law… a jet black tuxedo, highlighted with a gold outline. His hair had been styled into a wild, but ever so attractive anyway. Yuen Yeng heard herself gasp "Wow."

He was simply breathtaking.

The priest had quizzical look on his face, and voiced out the question all others present had in their minds.

"What ever do you mean, 'Stop the wedding'?"

"I'm afraid this ceremony cannot legally go on. You see, Miss Yuen Yeng here is already married to me, Trafalgar Law."

He held up the paper, which everyone discovered with utter shock, was a wedding certificate. Next to Law's, Yuen Yeng's cursive signature was imprinted onto the paper.

That's when she felt the pieces falling into place. Law's 'Magical Contract' was a wedding certificate.

"Who can prove your outlandish claims? If there are no witnesses to the signing of this document, it would be considered null and void." This time, it was her mother who spoke, anger rising in her voice.

"We can." Nicole smiled deviously at the middle-aged lady.

"Who are you and what hole did you crawl out of?" The woman sneered at Nicole.

"My my, such language for a lady of such a noble family," Nicole retorted with just as much venom in her voice, "My companion Regene and I, Nicole Trafalgar Doyle, happen to be the close friends of your precious daughter. As my name suggests, I am also the sister of your new son-in-law."

Nicole chuckled a little, finding humor in the pun.

"Is this true?" The priest asked Yuen Yeng calmly.

"Yes…" She felt tears of joy spring to her eyes. Taking one step, and another, towards the man she loved, "YES!" She repeated loudly, running now towards Law. His warm hand held her steady as she ran into his arms.

"Would you marry us now father? We need to exchange vows before it is complete."

The priest, smiling just a little, cleared his throat and began speaking.

"Do you, Trafalgar Law, take Choo Yuen Yeng, to be your wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do you part?"

"I do." She heard Law's voice, steady and true like his promise to save her.

"And do you, Choo Yuen Yeng, take Trafalgar Law, to be your husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do you part?"

"I… I do."

Regene bounced forward, and pulled out a ring box from her pouch. She opened it and Law slipped a silver ring on her finger, and she gingerly put one on his finger.

"Then I now declare you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

She felt his lips pressed up against hers, the warm feelings inside her rising like flames in the hearth. She returned his kiss, holding him close. Everything felt right again, like the sun had finally shone from behind the dark heavy clouds.

Then he released her from the kiss, and smiled.

"Now Cinderella, we will run away from the ball together, with pumpkin carriage and fine horsemen- women." He corrected himself when he heard the 'ahem' from Nicole.

And all four of them, the newlyweds and the two friends, ran out of the hotel lobby laughing, while those who remained stared after them, completely dumbfounded.

End of Chapter 8.

Wheee I guess I never explained Nicole's name much. Yeah her full name would be Nicole Trafalgar Doyle. But I'll explain why she omits the Trafalgar later on. :) Lemon next chapter :)

Byeeee for now :)


	10. Chapter 9: Love Today, Lust Tonight

Chapter 9: Love Today, Lust Tonight

**Yep. This chapter has lemon. It's my first time publishing Lemon, so don't expect it to be **_**that **_**great.**

**-A.X.C333-**

They were still laughing when they had all piled into the car, and drove off, leaving the hotel and Yuen Yeng's fears behind.

Nicole took the wheel and drove through the streams of cars of the nearing evening rush hour.

"You guys really came..."

"Silly girl of course we did. What kind of friends would we be if we didn't? Anddd..." Regene began, before she stretched out her clenched fist, and whacked Yuen Yeng on her head.

"Owww! What did you do that for?"

"It's from me and Nicole. You didn't tell us about this at all! Nicole only found out when Law asked her to witness you signing the paper. The next time you try and hide something like that, not even Law can protect you." Regene smiled deviously and waited for her friend to nod hesitantly.

"Good girl!"

"It's just… I thought that you guys had some problems of your own…"

There was an awkward silence for a few moments, and Yuen Yeng could swear that the temperature in the car had dropped a few degrees.

But Nicole broke the silence, laughing nervously.

"Still! You have to tell us if anything bad happens, even if we seem to be troubled. We're friends remember."

Suddenly, the car screeched to a halt, and Law felt himself thrown forward into the driver's seat in front of him.

"I am never asking you to drive me anywhere again." Law growled at his younger sister who merely laughed again. Law and Yuen Yeng got out of the car, and the latter realized that they hadn't come to Nicole's house.

"Why are we at a hotel?"

"Because your parents won't look for you here. Considering their position in society, they'll have easy access to where I live. Nicole won't be going home tonight either. It's just safer."

The girl nodded. She knew just how vicious her parents could be, especially her mother. It would be dangerous for her friends now that they had made an enemy of her family. With that new knowledge, she felt rather guilty of the risks her friends had taken.

"Don't look so down. I'm used to danger, and I'm sure your friends can handle themselves."

…

Law had been well prepared. The room had already been booked, so Yuen Yeng didn't have to be seen in her wedding dress for too long.

The first thing Yuen Yeng did when she reached the room was to run to the toilet and strip off her heavy, scratchy and generally uncomfortable wedding gown, leaving only her undergarments on. She opened a cabinet to find a bath robe folded neatly on one of the shelves.

She put it on her, and took a moment to stare at the mirror.

_She was really free. Free from her parents, free from her old life. It was somewhat hard to believe… but she was still free at the end of the day._

Opening the bathroom door, she saw Law standing by the window. The sky was now a brilliant mix of orange, pink and purple, so perfect that no painting could compare. The sun was now a sinking orb of fire, nearing the seemingly endless horizon.

"What a beautiful way to end today…" she sighed, looking at the vivid sunset. He smiled and nodded, pulling her close as they enjoyed the sight together.

She realized that Law had taken of his jacket, and had unbuttoned the white shirt he wore underneath. His black tie hung loose around his collar.

Yuen Yeng couldn't resist the urge to stretch out her hands, and slip of the shirt. If he had been a prince charming earlier, now he was just plain sexy. She could almost hear his smirk in his voice after she had left him topless.

"You're playing a dangerous game here… You'll find that your Romeo has quite a wild side as compared to the usual nice guy." He whispered into her ears, tongue barely touching the edge of her ears.

"I don't mind. I'll be the naïve little girl who strayed a little too far. I want you tonight…"

"I won't stop once we start…" He breathed down on her neck, making her feel hot everywhere.

In response to his final warning, she pulled the curtains together in one swift movement of her hands. A sultry smile crossed his face, and he advanced on her, nipping her along her neck and shoulders.

She let out a throaty moan, grabbing tightly onto his back. At some point in time, the bath robes dropped to the ground, leaving her skin exposed for Law to attack.

His hands traveled from her chest, all the way down to her legs and her panties, burning a hot track across her bare skin. He pulled her into a passionate French kiss, tongues rolling over each other, while his hand unhooked the clasp of her bra. It fell and landed on top of her robes on the floor.

He pushed her onto the king-sized bed, kiss still unbroken, and she fingered at the annoying button on his jeans. Once that was undone, everything else came off. He too had pulled away the remaining piece that had clung to her lower regions. He had noticed that they were slightly wet, and to this he smirked.

Now Law was on top of her, hands fondling her breasts, and hand rubbing against her trembling womanhood.

"Beg for it…" He purred into her ear, his hand flicking teasingly at her wet clit.

She dug her nails tightly into his back, pleasure twisting through her body like a cold fire.

"Please…!"

"Louder…" His voice had pretense boredom in it, and she could tell he enjoyed tormenting her that way.

"PLEASE!"

This time, he relented, and began to push his member into her, evicting a loud moan from Yuen Yeng as it began to plunge deeper and faster. Her vision became hazy while the desire pulsed from her racing heart.

She discovered that Law indeed had his sadistic side, torturing her until she could barely stay sane. But she had to admit, she liked this twisted Law… a lot.

Two bodies pushed together as one, the taste of libido in the heavy air, the scent of sweat as the two embraced in the intimacy of the night.

By the end of it, she was barely concious, her heavy breathing mixed with his, and they fell asleep, holding each other in their slumber.

_Yes. She was definitely free now._

**-A.X.C333-**

**Once again, first time writing Lemon, so I didn't really go into that much detail. Hope it was okay :)**


	11. Chapter 10: Drowning in a Bottle

Chapter 10: Drowning in a Bottle

**Sorry for the late chapy. Been very unmotivated recently. But it's come back, that fire of inspiration :) Well enjoy~ Lemon in this chapter. A bit more hardcore? Don't really think it's smut anyway. If it is… ahaha well whatever. **

**-A.X.C333-**

Usually, the East Town Bar never received well-paying customers. It was a small business, and the owners were probably going have to turn the plot of land over for mortgage soon.

However, tonight's customers would keep them afloat a little longer.

It started with a girl, who looked barely old enough to drink, bursting into the pub and demanding a dozen bottles of beer. They usually never received such a large order, not even around festive days.

But she was still a customer, and they were more than happy to sell off some stock.

...

Regene lifted the bottle to her lips, feeling the bitter but pleasant taste of beer flow into her mouth. Downing the drink in seconds, she reached forward for another dose of the liquid that dulled her once raging emotions.

But she felt another hand clasp her own trembling and unsteady arm, and looked up with mild annoyance. Though she just burst into high-pitched giggles after five-seconds, unable to really stay mad at the person.

She registered his green hair first, it was his most noticeable feature. He seemed to be frowning, but it really didn't bother her. Instead, she continued grinning like an idiot and waved dreamily at him.

She giggled some more, until he grabbed the bottle out of her hand. She watched as he chugged the frothy liquid down, then pouted as he slammed the bottle onto the table.

"You didn't leave any for me you bastard! What're you doing here anyway?"

"There's plenty left. We can buy some more if that runs out. I always come here every Friday."

"Hahahaha yay! You know, I only came here coz the other one near my house got closed today."

"Sure... No wonder you're already that drunk on three bottles."

"Bah I'm not drunk. Hey how about this, we should get completely wasted tonight! The one who drinks the least pays."

In reply, he tossed her a bottle, slightly grinning. A rare sight for the man with such a cold demeanor.

"You're on."

They spent the rest of the night, drinking to their fill. Eventually, she had managed half a dozen, whereas he had polished off twice that amount.

And he was still slightly sober. She on the other hand, was quite drunk indeed.

"Another!"

"Take it easy. What are your parents gonna say when I have to drag you home?"

She frowned when she heard the word 'parents'.

"I'm not going home tonight. Don't wanna see 'em. Can't stand another minute of their freaking fights."

"And so you intend to sleep over at a bar?"

"Well yeah that was the plan, but now that you're here, I'll just go home with you."

"Are you sure that's such a good idea? How d'you know I'm not a wolf who'll try and eat you when you're least expecting it?" Zoro's voice had dropped to a sultry whisper, bending a little closer.

"Who knows?" She licked a stray drop of beer off his lips, "Perhaps I want to get eaten by the wolf."

...

They pushed the bedroom door open, barely managing to keep their hands off each other. He pressed his lips up close to hers, biting it so that she gave him entry. His tongue slid in to her mouth, roaming around, and caused her to moan in pleasure.

She in turn, pulled him closer, running her hands through the green strands of his hair, letting his tongue waltz with hers.

"You don't mind tasting the alcohol in my mouth?" she asked when he had briefly come up for air.

"My dear, the taste of alcohol is like a shot of ecstasy to me."

Zoro began to nip along her shoulder and neckline, which would require a change in her closet for a few days. Oh well. Turtlenecks were pretty fashionable as of late.

He pushed her forcefully onto the bed, but she only giggled in delight, enjoying the rough treatment. His hands quickly tore off her clothes, leaving only her beige panties on. His hand trailed over her arms and legs, and then pinning her arms down harshly.

He posed himself above her, and while she pulled his loose-fitting trousers and boxers off, he was licking her all over like a lollipop, as well as removing her panties off in a slow and tantalizing manner. She was beginning to sweat, face flushed and her eyes lustful and hazy with desire.

Zoro began thumbing her, and her back arched, enjoying the jolt of raw pleasure his hands were giving her. He added another finger, that plunged deeper into her depths, and by now she was clutching him, so hard that her knuckles began to turn white with the pressure. His other hand was clutching her breasts, occasionally tweaking her nipples, and she was moaning in delight.

"Oh my god… Stop teasing me…"

He flipped her onto her back exposing her extremely wet pussy, already dripping with her juices.

"You're a naughty little girl aren't you?"

Purring a little at first as he began to slide in, and then pleasure like fire that coursed through her veins, increasing her heart rate promptly. With each thrust, it brought more and more of the unearthly pleasure, and she tilted her head back to cry out in the shock of the sensual feeling rippling throughout her.

His own throaty moans were synchronizing with hers, like they were in their exchange, almost like one person in perfect symphony. Zoro came inside her, and she barely managed to remember that he hadn't put on a condom in all their need to get it on earlier.

_Oh who gives a fuck? I'm on those pills anyway._

She felt herself coming too, and when she did, she was riding on top of the world, on that wave of pure bliss.

Now that they had reached the climax, they began to settle down, though he ended it with another passionate kiss.

She was afraid to say it out loud before, but now… Perhaps it was the beer giving her that confidence, or maybe because they just had sex.

Whatever it was, she whispered into his ears, "I think I love you."

She could hear the grin in his voice.

"You know the funny thing is… I think I do too."

Regene smiled, and she curled up against his warm, rugged chest. His arm wrapped around her comparatively small figure, and she liked the protection it gave her. Like he owned her, and wouldn't let anyone touch his precious treasure.

She had to admit, she liked that feeling.

**End of Chapter 10.**

**Wow. Hope it was okay :) Next chapter's gonna be more serious, and probably won't have anymore lemon for a little while. Hope it'll be more frequent! Sorry again for the delays!**


	12. Chapter 11: Morning After

Chapter 11: Morning After

**To people who thought everything was rushed last chapter, here's your answer. Sorry this chapter took so long! **

**Mild language use this chapter. And lime. Harhar xD**

-A.X.C333-  
  
The two girls slumped over the lunch table looked extremely tired. Nicole, who had a perfectly peaceful night watched as her two friends pinched themselves black and blue to stop falling asleep.

Nicole sighed, shaking her head.

"What the hell did you do last night?" although she already knew the answer.

"Sex." the pair answered in unison.

"You guys had a threesome or something? I don't remember Regene getting married yesterday."

"Nah... I had it with someone else... Fuck I was drunk! What the hell..."

She stood up from her seat, rubbing her bleary eyes. She had a slight hangover too.

"I'll go talk to him. It'll be best if I sort things out."

Regene soon found Zoro and his group. He looked equally whacked. She motioned for him to come over, and after he excused himself, he joined her in the quiet corner of the cafeteria.

"Hey... You know last night... What I said... At the end... I don't know if you should listen to me. I mean we hardly even know each other and..."

"It's okay, I get it. But you know... I think I knew what I was saying. So... You won't mind me trying to ask you out someday?"

"Give it your best shot, big bad boy." she grinned, albeit a little weakly.

"I was just wondering... You've done it before haven't you? I mean nothing against that, but you weren't a virgin right?"

"No. I wish I had been though. I lost it to some jerk, who went out with me before. He was my senior by two years, and I have no idea what I saw in him. He pressured me into sex and well... I was naive. A little after that, he completely broke contact with me."

"Oh... You okay though?"

"Yeah. Figured there was no point crying over someone who wouldn't care even if I kicked the bucket."

They stood in silence for a couple of moments. Conversations weren't really his strong point.

Then he remembered the other thing he wanted to ask.

"You know, there must be a reason you wanted to get wasted last night. You mentioned something about your parents arguing?"

She sighed deeply and inwardly, collecting her thoughts. She couldn't run from the truth after all.

"Yeah. Mom wants a divorce. But my dad's really violent and selfish. He doesn't want half the estate going to her. Nor does he want a custody battle. And when I say custody battle, I mean who get's stuck with me. I'm kind of... Their so-called mistake, another reminder of the past."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Well I wish you luck."

Her tight smile said more than she could put in to words.

"I'm going back to my friends now! See ya around."

"Sure."

While walking back, Regene could see Yuen and Law laughing together as they walked off.

She still couldn't really believe that they were married. It _was_ Yuen's legal age and all but... Oh what did it matter?

When she got back to the table, Nicole seemed lost in thought. A few lines creased her forehead in her frown.

"Hey I gotta take care of something. I'll catch you guys up later okay?"

She waved a little as her friend wandered off to elsewhere. Another thought cropped up in her mind. Was it just her, or did it feel like Nicole was getting more and more estranged? She had been busy after school, during lunch she didn't seem to be quite as talkative either.

_Could it be that...?_

She shook her head. There was no chance that Nicole had actually gone back to those guys.

_Or was there?_

When Yuen Yeng returned, she had a wide smile on her face, eyes lit up. Obviously Law had made the girl happy about something.

"Yuen. Did Law mention anything about Nic?"

Yuen's expression darkened a little, a shadow crossing her face.

"Actually... Yeah he did. He asked if she was going out with us a lot more. Said she came home late and stuff. Shut herself in her room and things like that. I hadn't really noticed it before, but now that I think about it, she seems stressed about something. Hey... You don't think she...?"

"I dunno. Same thought here. Yuen. I just remembered something. You remember that day when we were at Nic's house? I... I went into the storage that day to get the hairspray. There was this picture, really dusty... So I wiped the dust off and… A young Nicole and Doflamingo smiling together under a tree. We don't really know how she met them do we? I mean we always assumed she just joined them like that. But maybe... Maybe they did have some history. Or at least those two. They always clash the most, when they see each other."

_In the dark room at the back of the school, where all the relics from old competitions, forgotten days of heritage were stored to collect wispy cobwebs, there was a soft whine coming from behind a large statue of a sheep.  
_  
"Flamingo-chan... Give that packet to me... You'd promise you'd give me some after I sucked you off...!" Nicole, her voice unusually high pitched, was whacking the arm of Doflamingo, while he effortlessly held a small packet of white powder over her head.

"I gave you one, as we can all see."

"You're stingy! I'm running out of fixes, and you're the only one who can get them for me."

"Really? Too bad then."

"Don't sound so casual about it! It's a matter of life and death!" she giggled, making another tittering jump for the drug.

He laughed, taunting her with the packet, dangling it above her.

"I'm surprised that I have such a usually resistant girl wrapped around my finger, all over a drug."

"Bah! I can go without you! The rainbow cookies say so." Her vision was hazy now, the climax of her previous dose kicking in.

"Really?" his voice was a lazy drawl, "Then no one's gonna get fixes for you are they? What do the rainbow cookies say now?"

He lightly shook the packet of white powder, and she eyed it, brown orbs gleaming at the one-way ticket to nirvana.

"Come on Flamingo-sama..."

He threw his head back as he laughed maniacally, finding amusement in the fact that she had used such a suffix to nearly beg for the drug.

She jumped for the packet, hoping to catch him off guard, but instead pushed him to the ground, landing on top of him. Her lower abdomen was positioned right above his crotch, and she realised that he had gone hard.

Meanwhile, her hand fingered a few strands of his blonde hair, purposely pushing the weight her chest down onto him a little more.

He grinned from ear to ear, tongue lolling out from the side of his mouth. When her hand began to caress his jawline, he immediately licked and sucked on her finger.

"You're playing a dangerous game here sweetheart."

"Am I? Sounds fun, as long as there are rewards."

"Rewards eh? Okay."

"But you're just gonna lie again aren't you? So hand it over!" She motioned at the packet of white powder, letting out a few giggles again.

Even if she was stoned, she could still get what she wanted.

"Oh fine..."

"I don't think so." Another voice interrupted, and the speaker stepped out of the shadows, glaring at the pair on the floor.

Nicole narrowed her eyes at the interloper, but she was finding it hard to focus on him. Doflamingo on the other hand, was sober, just about made out the figure in the dim lighting.

"You're that straw-hatted squirt's older brother right? Ape or Ass or something like that."

"It's Ace. I honestly don't see the point in trying to insult people's names when your own is so... Hilarious really."

"Fwahahahaha Oh Good one Ace! Or Ale. Or whatever. You remind me of myself! An' that's a compliment! But it'll take more than that to make Flamingo-Chan annoyed."

Said rouge grinned at Ace, while Nicole trailed off into speaking in a hushed tone about poisonous jellyfish.

"So, Ace, mind telling us what you're doing here? Snooping around because you're a goody two shoes who wants to get us all in trouble are you?"

"Actually, I happened to be getting something of my own. And then I came across you two."

"And that gives you the right to interfere?"

"Yeah! Flamingo-chan was gonna gimme a fix! It took me so much to get it from him!"

"That stuff will kill you. Honestly, you're lucky I found you guys, and not a teacher. You'd end up in jail for sure."

"No I won't, because I can fly!" Giggles bubbled at the back of her throat, while she tried to mimic a plane. All that resulted in, however, was her tripping over a few paintings, letting out a squeal in her excitement.

"I could always call the police though."

"Man you're such a mother fucking party pooper." Doflamingo took a few strident steps towards Ace, the latter well-aware of the difference in height.

Without warning, Doflamingo lifted his clenched fist, and threw it forward into Ace's jaw. The boy was sent flying across the room, caught unawares by the sudden punch.

"Why don't you keep your nose out of other's business? I get it, perhaps you want to get revenge on us for that little incident some years ago? Is that it?"

"On you maybe, but not her. I just care that she's going to get herself hurt if she starts hanging out with you guys again. Which is already happening."

Doflamingo let out a snort of mocking laughter, his smile as empty as a carcass.

"You all crack me up. Suit yourself, mister lone crusader, but I'm afraid," He waved his hands absentmindedly in the air, "This little girl is completely in my power, with or without drugs."

With that, he left the room behind, leaving a trail of his cruel laughter bouncing off the walls. Nicole, who was beginning to sober up, was moaning pitifully from her spot on the floor.

"He held out on me again… And it's all your dumb fault. If you hadn't barged in…" She genuinely sounded as if she was on the verge of breaking down.

"I'm sorry, but it's for your own good. I have to intervene when someone nearly makes the same mistake again. Remember how hard it was to leave drugs before? Not just drugs, that whole gang too." His face turned soft and comforting, and his voice sank to a gentle murmur.

"But you hate me don't you? Everyone else does. It's not fair that my friends can get boyfriends and all, and the only person I care about doesn't even like me."

"I don't hate you, I said that earlier. That time, you were against it too weren't you? I'm… somewhat glad, it was that incident which made you leave them."

Ace closed his eyes for a moment, and that scene replayed in his mind.

_His brother was lying next to him, blood dripping slowly down from his temples down to his chin, turning the grass around them a sickly shade of red. Luffy's eyes were closed, unconscious._

_He could tell that a few ribs had cracked inside. His breathing was heavy, and he was losing consciousness too. Shifting his gaze slightly, he could see the bicycle overturned, bent out of shape, and one wheel slowly spinning around, suspended there._

_Somewhere in the background, he could hear gleeful laughter._

"_That was hilarious! Their bodies flew so far! Such a wonderful sight, wouldn't you agree?" _

"_You're quite the sadist aren't you?" A deeper voice spoke this time, though it had masked amusement hiding inside it._

"_Nothing's more pleasing to my ears than those shouts, and all that blood. Such a wonderful game."_

"_It's not funny! They could've died! You're lucky they didn't break their necks or something!" _

_Ace recognized that voice. It was the only girl in their gang, Nicole. She was always the reluctant one, he wondered why she even joined them at all._

_His thoughts were interrupted the sharp sound of skin hitting skin, followed by the thud as someone fell to the ground. He could only guess how painful that slap must've been._

"_You want to join them darling? All we have to do is sit you on a bike and down the hill you go." _

_There was silence for a moment, before it was interrupted by Doflamingo's menacing laughter._

"_Guess not. Well don't make me." _

_After that, the voices began to fade, as if they were leaving the place. But he could hear the rustling of grass as someone walked over. Ace turned his head slightly, and looked at the swiftly approaching figure._

_It was Nicole, to his relief._

_She was fumbling with some bandages that she apparently carried around. Well-prepared, or perhaps it was planned from the start._

_As she carefully wrapped one long white strip around Luffy's forehead, and then his arm, which was bleeding too, he could feel tiny droplets falling onto his arm._

"_Get it properly treated at a hospital. This is only to stop the bleeding. Please don't report them… It's for your own safety. If you cross them… they might really kill you. I'm sorry."_

"_You should leave them. You don't want to hang around them anyway." His voice was reduced to a croaky rasp._

"_Maybe I will. I want to get some real friends. Those two new girls in school seem nice enough. Perhaps, unlike the others, they won't hold a grudge against me."_

Ace smiled up at Nicole, who sat there downcast, eyes devoid of joy. Apparently, she had recalled the same memory.

"Trust me. Things will get better soon. They always do."

**End of Chapter 11**


	13. Chapter 12: To the Amusement Park!

Chapter 12: To the Amusement Park

**ANDDDDDD I'M BACK! Yup after a super duper long break, I'M BACK! I'm so sorry guys D: I had a major writers block for most of my stories. I finally got an idea for this one. And others. **

**Just a little note, I'll probably update my stories once every week from now on, unless I get motivated.**

**So anyhows, ON WITH THE CHAPTER! Lot's of RegenexZoro fluff in this chapter, but the ending's a little twist.**

**-A.X.C333-**

A month had past since that day in the storage room of the school. Neither Ace nor Nicole had spoken about it, but their relationship had changed. Ace found himself looking out for the girl from a distance, making sure she stayed with her friends, her _real _friends.

Nicole, on the other hand, out of guilt for Ace, had avoided both drugs and the gang. It had been hard, but she had her brother to help her. She smiled as she remembered his reaction to her confessing to doing drugs. He'd whacked her on the head, then held her close, pleading with her not to be so reckless.

She continued to smile and laugh, writing the new chapter of her life for the better. It seemed, perhaps a dark cloud had passed. Ace had a hand in writing that chapter too, trying to change people's opinions of her little by little.

The pair of them would never have dreamed that they were slowly thinking more and more about the other. And they weren't the only couple that were laying the foundations to something more.

Regene lazily threw herself onto the bed, reading a book she'd picked up from the library. It was a horror themed story, in poor taste, and she'd barely turned a few pages before she flung it across the room.

As she tried to think of a useful way to spend her Saturday morning, she heard her phone buzz. Sighing, she picked it up to read the message. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the sender's name.

_Zoro._

She and the green-haired teen had been taking it slow since that night. But her insides still fluttered when she caught a glimpse of him in school. Instantly, she flipped herself over onto her belly and opened the text eagerly.

"_Hey, I hope I'm not bothering you. I know you probably want to get out of that house with your parent's and all, so d'you want to help me babysit my younger cousin? My address is 10 Easting Avenue."_

She made a quick reply of "Sure, I'll be there!", and quickly changed into something more comfortable, a pair of grey sweatpants and a black tank. She walked through the mess of her upturned house, the collective result of fights that involved hurling things around.

She didn't bother to leave a note, her parents wouldn't even notice she was gone. As she left the flat, she tripped over a pair of feminine shoes. She didn't recognize them, but she guessed her mother had probably bought them recently; she was a shopaholic. She gave no more thought to the new pair of shoes.

Regene took a cab to Zoro's house. His parents worked overseas in big corporations, he had been cared for by a family servant up until lately. Although she hadn't seen much of it when she'd first been there, when she arrived on his doorstep, she found herself looking at a modern mansion.

His doorbell was electronic, complete with a little camera and intercom. There was a set of buttons labeled with numbers, but she guessed that was for Zoro himself. She pushed the silver button to the doorbell, and she heard the speakers buzz to life.

She grinned into the camera, and the gates swung open. Walking up the driveway leading to Zoro's house, she could see two figures standing at the door. The first was Zoro, and the other was a little boy around the age of seven, hiding behind Zoro's legs.

Regene couldn't help but giggle at the way the boy hid behind Zoro. He had positioned himself in a way that he was both peeking at her and hiding, but confused the two actions. As a result, he only hid half of his face behind Zoro.

"Yo!" She called to the pair, skipping towards them. "Is that your cousin? He's really adorable!"

At the word 'adorable', the little boy started blushing furiously. Comically, he began dancing.

"I'm not cute you jerk! _Ehehehehe…_ NOT CUTE! _You think I'm adorable~!"_

She heard Zoro chuckle, ruffling the boy's dirty blonde hair. His blue eyes sparkled up at Regene, still blushing from the comment.

"He always does that if someone compliments him. His name's Chopper, he's usually shy at first, but he'll open up eventually. Glad you could come!"

She grinned at him. "Anytime! Say, why don't we go somewhere for the day? Like maybe the amusement park?"

Chopper's eyes lit up. He began tugging excitedly on Zoro's sleeve, jumping up and down.

"Can we? Please? They have cotton candy and rides and-"

There was a resigned sigh from the older male, who nodded briefly. "Okay okay, go get dressed."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

The amusement park was in the Sabaody district, on the edge of the city. It was a large place, spanning over 300 square kilometers, and was really large enough to be a town on it's own.

The district was divided by numbered trees, that people had first settled around rather than cut down. These giant trees reached the skies and above, their enormous stature was partly because of the exceptionally nutritious soil they grew on. Even then, they were abnormally large, and local scientists were still trying to figure out the cause for their growth.

Sabaody Park, as the fair was dubbed, was a name that put a sparkle in a child's eye. It was humongous, filled with rides and games that made it seem like a place out of a fairy tale. One of it's main attractions was the towering Ferris Wheel, the tallest in the world.

However, it was also notorious for the kidnappings that occurred there. The dark side of the Sabaody district was that it was the base of many dangerous gangs of kidnappers. There were slave-trading posts, some even under the direct protection of the government, kept away from the watchful eyes of the public.

It sickened Regene that anyone could sell humans for a profit guiltlessly. Rumors had it, though nothing more than rumors, was that Doflamingo had been associated with one of the more major auction houses.

She put the unhappy thought out of her mind, focusing on enjoying her day with Zoro and Chopper.

They worked their way in a large circle around the park, and finally headed to the center where the Ferris Wheel stood. There were so many different rides everywhere, and Chopper wanted to try everyone of them. Regene herself had only been here once when she was very young, when her parent's relationship was still amicable.

Chopper, she found, absolutely loved cotton candy. You could give the boy a thousand belis, and he'd still spend most of it on the pink fluffy treat. (The rest he'd put into his savings for doctor school for when he grew up.)

He was still munching on it when they hopped into one of the pastel coloured capsules on the Ferris Wheel. Regene and Zoro sat on the seats, watching as Chopper excitedly looked through the window. The sun was setting, painting the sky a brilliant melody of orange shades. The soft glow of the sunset was comforting, giving a nice mood to wind down with.

"This is really nice… Thanks for today." Regene murmured into Zoro's ears. Unknowingly, she had put her hand on his, holding it. She only realized when he clenched it back, but she didn't pull back. She leant over, resting her head on his shoulder.

"I'm glad you're happy." He replied softly looking down at her smiling face, while the capsule slowly approached the summit of the wheel.

She looked up at him, staring into his eyes, while he looked back into her own. Their two heads moved towards each other, and just as Chopper happened to turn around, sunlight flooded into the capsule, concealing what came next..

When that moment was over, the couple were back to smiling at each other. The little boy had turned away, face flushed completely red.

Later, the trio walked hand in hand out of the park, Chopper in the middle. They caught a cab, and decided to drop Regene off at her flat first.

When the cab pulled up on the curb of Regene's home, Zoro helped her out of the vehicle. There was a call from inside the cab: "You know, if you two get together, you have my full approval! Thanks for taking me out, Regene onee-san!", which made Regene's cheeks tint a rosy red.

Zoro smiled, planting a small kiss on each of those cheeks, draping his jacket around her. She appreciated the small gesture, and made a mental note to return it to him the next time she saw him.

"Goodnight, see you in school on Monday."

"You too. Get some sleep for once, you're always tired in school."

He chuckled at that, and climbed back into the cab. She watched as the cab drove off into the distance, a small palm waving at her from the rear window.

Then she headed back to her apartment, humming one of the tunes from the park. She passed by her block, and looked up to the window belonging to her parent's bedroom.

Just in time to see the silhouette of her father bringing a bottle down on her mother's head, illuminated like a shadow puppet play.

**End of Chapter 12.**

**Couple of notes, onee-san means big sis in Japanese. Shadow puppet plays originate from Indonesia, they're a unique way of telling stories with the shadows of puppets. You should check it out if you're interested!**


	14. Chapter 13: (title is too long)

Chapter 13: Afternoons are great, Evenings are hell.

**Whooo I should be writing a few more chapters today! Hopefully. Enjoy~**

**-A.X.C333-**

There are moments in your life when you just want to freeze time. Not because you enjoy that particular moment, but because you just want a moment to ask yourself _what the fuck just happened?_

Sometimes, this need comes when you get sent flying by a car. Or when a gun pointed at you releases its bullet. For Regene, it came as she watched the scene through the window progress like a little play.

Her mother stood up, apparently not dead yet. And then another character appeared on stage, another woman. Briefly, the image of the foreign pair of shoes she had seen that morning flashed through Regene's mind.

And then her father hit her mother again. This time, she did not get up. She watched as the other woman put her hand to her mouth in shock, and her father apparently freaking out. And that eventually degenerated into a fight between the couple.

The body count in this grotesque play went up again, when her father brought a bedside lamp down on his mistress' head. For a second, all was silent. Then her father turned around.

Too late did she realize that he had turned to look out of the window. He had opened the curtains now, and he was looking down at her. Glaring would be too weak a word in this case. And then his face disappeared from the window.

"_Oh shit…" _

Fear. Cold fear coursing through her veins. Running through her like a river in the early hours of the morning, leaving her rigid.

Some animal sense within her, like when an animal knew it was being hunted by a predator, caused her to turn on her heels and run. Regene had never been more afraid in her life. She clutched her hand to her mouth, holding back the screams that tore through her lungs.

She pulled out her phone. _Who to call? _Names ran through her mind, each being replaced by the next. And yet, one name stood out amongst all the others. **Zoro.** It felt like hours, but in reality it was only a few seconds before he picked up. She was still running as she conversed with him.

"_Hey wha-"_

"My father… My father… He's going to kill me!" Her voice trembled and broke as she cried into the phone.

"_WHAT?! Where are you now? Stay there! I'll come get you!" She heard him tell the driver to turn back._

"Please Zoro! Help me…! Help me… I'm so afraid…" She spoke in between choked sobs, trailing off.

"_You're brave. I'm turning back now! Have you called the police?"_

"No…"

"_God damn it you idiot! Call them now! I alone can't protect you!"_

"I'm sorry…"

She had no chance to continue, the phone was knocked out of her hands as she felt her body being flung aside like a rag doll. She heard the phone clatter a way away from her, and Zoro's voice trying to sort out what happened.

"_Hello? Regene? Are you there? Shit! Hang on, I'm coming! Don't you dare die!"_

Regene tried to push herself up, but her arms screamed at the mere movement. The suddenly, she felt herself being lifted up, and pushed savagely against a wall by her head. All thought flushed out of her while the pain tore through her head, the vice-like grip on her head only serving to cause her more pain.

Though her vision was blurred, she would recognize the disgusting breath that was currently breathing down on her anywhere. She could make out his many tattoos inked all over his hideous body.

While he lacked a shape except a pot belly, he still had tons of brute force in him. He could snap her bones into two like they were twigs. And that fear was killing her. This run-in with her father was very likely going to end with her death.

"Hello darlin'. Have you been seducing another boy from school, you little slut?"

She cringed. She remembered how hard he'd hit her when her parents had found out about her losing her virginity. He could've killed her then if her mother hadn't begged for her life.

"Please… Don't kill me… I won't tell anyone… I haven't called the police…" She croaked out weakly.

"But you told one of those men didn't you, begging him to save you right? What are you going to do, pay him with your dirty body? I bet you love him fucking you like the bitch you are. He probably shares you with-"

"NO MORE!" She screamed at him, tears streaming down her face. "I won't let you talk about him like that! I don't care what you think about me, but Zoro… you don't have any rights to insult him, you dirty cheat! He's more a man than you'll ever be!"

She recognized the expression on his face. That demonic sneer, just before he lifted his fists and began to beat her up so cruelly, her body would be unrecognizable by the end of his attacks.

Each punch, bloodied her a great deal more. In the senseless torture, she knew he'd bitten her, thrown her against the wall, and so much more. At one point, she registered the monster beginning to tear and rip off her clothes, and the very thought of what he was about to do made her stomach churn with horror. With one last act of defiance, she spat a mixture of saliva and blood at her aggressor.

The darkness began to swallow her consciousness, and her last thought was: _How lucky I am. I won't be alive to suffer the pain. I'm sorry… Zoro… Thanks for this afternoon. It was great. _

**End of Chapter 13**

**Ehehe it's a short chap and cliffie, I'll update very soon. Like in two hours or something, so please bear with it for a little while! :)  
**

**Sorry if you found any of the content in this chapter repulsive, I wanted to portray Regene's father as a cruel and despicable man on so many levels.  
**


	15. Chapter 14: Please wake up!

Chapter 14: Please wake up

**Well a few hours turned out to be a day. If the first bit of this chapter seems confusing, it'll be explained in due time.**

**-A.X.C333-**

_Why is it so dark? _

…

_What happened? _

…

_Am I dead? I can hear voices._

…

_I don't want to open my eyes._

…

_Is someone holding my hand?_

…

_I like that._

…

_It feels safe._

…

_Safe…_

_That's what I want right now. _

…

…

Regene shrieked as she felt water being dumped over her head. Groaning as she heard the childish giggle she knew too well.

"Nicole you idiot!"

"What? I'm getting back at you for a long overdue debt."

She looked around. It was her classroom. Nicole was grinning cheekily down at her, Yuen Yeng was standing next to her with a smile. All the other little groups in her class were gathered at different tables, voices coming together in a vibrant buzz.

_What was I just thinking?_

"Stop stoning already! We were just about to discuss our plans for the holidays!" Nicole whined, snapping her back to the present.

"Holidays eh? Sure… I'd love to get out of the house. Can't stand my parents."

Yuen tipped her head to one side.

"Parents? I thought you only lived with your mother."

"What? I… I dunno I feel fuzzy…"

She flinched as Nicole put a hand to her head, checking for a fever. Regene smacked her friends hand away, and continued to try and sort out her messed up mind.

"You sick or something?"

Shaking her head, she replied hastily. "It's probably just the summer heat."

"Weird…" She heard Nicole murmur, "Well anyway, free period, in other words, school is ending soon. I'm going to beat the crowd to the lockers, see ya!"

She half-heartedly waved to her friend who skipped out of the class, hearing the sigh of disapproval from her other friend.

"One day she's going to get in trouble for that."

Regene laughed, though her thoughts were elsewhere. _Am I going mad? Can't be. _

A strangely familiar shade of green caught her eye from across the classroom. Instinctively, she bounced over, and poked Zoro in the side.

"What d'ya want Lu- You're not Luffy. Well?"

For some reason, she felt hurt by the coldness in his voice. It was like there was some sort of bond between them, yet she couldn't quite lay her finger on it. Unthinking, she randomly spouted out something to break the ice.

"Uh… How's your cousin? Chopper I mean."

She saw an expression of muted shock on his face, before he narrowed his eyes dangerously at her.

"How do you know about Chopper? You've never even met before."

Thinking about it, she didn't even know what she was talking about. She'd just pulled the name out of her mind in her need to have a natural conversation. Now she just felt horrible. She was talking about things she didn't even know about.

"Uh… I'm sorry. I don't know what I'm saying right now."

For a few moments longer, the awkward silence lingered. Quickly she excused herself with another embarrassed 'sorry', and ducked away, returning to her table. She could still feel his gaze burning holes on her back while she spent the last few minutes of school chatting with Yuen.

_What the hell is wrong with me today?_

Regene walked home that day feeling all the more uncomfortable and out of sorts. When she finally reached home, she opened the door, just wanting to bury herself under her blankets and forget about that horrible conversation with Zoro.

She certainly didn't expect to be nearly strangled to death in a tight hug, and have a kiss planted on her cheek. It felt so unnatural and queer. Her whole body went rigid in the embrace. Neither did she expect the high-pitched, fast-talking female voice that ensued.

"Hello sweetie! How was school today? Did you have fun? Oh there're some cookies in the fridge, I baked them this morning." The owner of the voice gushed, ruffling her hair.

"Mom?"

"But of course dear! Who did you think it was, the Cookie Monster?"

Regene recognized the middle-aged lady who stood in front of her. She, did not, feel comfortable at all with the overly excited personality this woman took. It felt so alien.

"Where's dad?" She cursed at herself inwardly, remembering that she apparently didn't live with her father. Today was not a good day _at all. _

"Why on earth would you ask that dear? He's in the army, being a proud man of honor. He won't be back for a long time. I'm so happy I married your father,"

She tuned out as her mother recounted her entire life story. _Army? _For some reason, the only image she had of her father was a slob, a despicable man who fooled around.

Shaking her head, she sighed, heading to her room. She would sleep this strange phase off. As she collapsed into her bed, she wondered what could've possibly gotten into her.

Regene continued the next few days, slowly getting used to normal. She still occasionally thought of something out of the blue that didn't fit in. She avoided Zoro in the hallways, and yet some part of her continued to hurt because of that. She dismissed the feeling, annoyed with herself.

What bugged her the most was her father. While she had definitely been able to label the eccentric woman who had welcomed her home after school as 'mom', the man she saw in many of the photographs around the house simply didn't ring a bell.

She'd stared at the pictures so long that her mother (jokingly) worried that she was crushing on her father.

Eventually, Saturday rolled around, and she found herself staring at her phone, reading through all the messages to kill time. It was then that she discovered an unread message from an unknown number. How weird. She definitely never ever ignored a text, even if it was from a person she didn't know.

She opened it, and began to read it.

**Regene… I don't know if you'll hear me. Everyone's really very worried about you. Please wake up soon! We want to hear your silly laughter again! It's Nic here, in case you can't tell in that state.**

_Nic? Wake up?_

**Hey baby girl. Please snap out of that coma. You're safe, the doctors say you can recover. But you've gotta wake up first! We need you back! I love you lot's kay? I'm Yuen, guess I'd just tell you.**

_Coma? Doctors? What's going on here?_

**Zoro here. Her heart skipped a beat. I'm sorry I took so long to get there. I called the police after you got cut off, and I arrived first. Your father was trying to violate you. I don't remember what I did to him, but I only remembered being so mad! I wanted to protect you! I feel so terrible for being unable to help you back then. You're safe now. Please, please, I beg you. Please wake up.**

By now, tears were flowing to her eyes. There were images flashing through her mind. She half-remembered them, but with each photo she felt the event being pieced together, like a painful movie.

The last part of the text was short.

**Regene-onee-chan… Please wake up! I want to go to the amusement park with you and Zoro again. This is Chopper! I'm waiting for you! **

_Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! _

Her consciousness was slipping. But she let it go. She was escaping from this world. This world where nothing felt right.

_**WAKE UP!**_

Suddenly the scenery changed completely, and she was lying down in a hospital bed. She was looking up at many familiar faces, their expressions changing from worry, to shock, to glee. She felt the warmth of someone's hand wrapped around her own.

Tilting her head weakly, she came face to face with Zoro. There were tears in his eyes. She laughed.

He leant forward and kissed her on the forehead, never letting go of her hand.

"You're awake. You're safe." He murmured to her, caressing her cheek with his one free hand.

"I know. Thank you, so much."

Regene couldn't remember the last time she had cried and laughed so much at the same time.

**End of Chapter 14**

**Okay~! I'll just explain the whole structure of this chapter. There's this theory that when a victim of severe violence/torture falls into a coma, their mind will automatically give them the illusion of living in a parallel world. That world is almost exactly the same as reality, except the only thing different is the source of their problems in the real world is gone, and they'll live their life there.**

**However, they will find a note of some sort telling them to wake up and face real life. They can choose to ignore that note, or wake up and return to real life. I changed that note a little into a text, containing what Regene 'heard' during her coma. **

**Hope it wasn't too confusing!**

**Bye for now!**

**-A.X.C333-**


	16. Chapter 15: A New Morning

Chapter 15: A New Morning.

**Hahahaha I'm so late aren't I. I can't believe there are actually people who read this I mean come on you should be doing better things with your lives I don't understand you guys but seriously the people who read this make me feel good thank you so much! 3 Anyway here you are~!**

**-AXC333-**

There's the first streak of orange across the sky, and slowly that rises, giving way to shades of pink and yellow. The blue lightens gradually, leaking into the other colours as minutes pass.

It happens at such a slow pace, and yet when it comes to pass it seems like the time just flew by. How long had it been? Half past the hour or barely five minutes? That's the funny thing about sunrises and their counterparts, sunsets. You lose track of time as it happens.

There aren't that many people who stop to watch the sun rise. Most are still asleep, others too busy to care.

But there are times when you do stop, and watch. And you wonder why you keep missing out on little moments like these, when they're right there waiting for you.

That's what Yuen experienced as she looked out of the window in the young and inexperienced hours of dawn, watching as the sun made it's way into the sky. It was partially blocked, however, by several high-rise flats that lined the part of town she stayed in.

No longer in the richer part of town, she'd moved to Law and Nicole's house,. Although she doubted that the skirmish with her parents would be over just yet, she'd been able to live a normal undisturbed life.

Well, normal apart from the fact that she was married.

She still found it hard to believe it. She remembered being a little girl who wanted to marry a prince charming when was old enough. But as she grew up and experienced the world for what it really was, she dropped the fantasies. A few years ago, she didn't see herself getting married.

Even now she couldn't exactly say that she'd married a _prince. _

Law wasn't quite a chivalrous knight in shining armor. Blunt, sadistic, superficially emotionless, and pretty much hidden under a veil of secrecy. Even though they were together, there were things he didn't tell her.

Yuen couldn't say she minded, and anyway, she'd been able to see the other side of Law. He was charming in his own way, even if he didn't openly show it to the others. Contrary to popular belief, he was human and had a heart, despite enjoying taking dead creatures apart whenever the chance arose.

Said man was lying next to her in bed, nearly completely naked and fast asleep. She ran her finger over his well-sculpted albeit lean body, careful as to not wake him up, yet. Then she tickled his goatee, giggling as he let out a soft groan.

"Morning sleepyhead. It's Saturday today, what do you wanna do?" She asked, voice playful.

"I dunno, maybe spend time doing stuff?" There was a husky note to his voice, and she knew very well what he was alluding to.

Sure enough, he flipped her underneath him, lustful eyes boring into hers. The close proximity was making her feel so tempted to just rip off the few pieces of clothes she had on.

"Oh, stuff you say? What stuff might that be?" She murmured, punctuating her words with the tip of her tongue ghosting across the shell of the ear.

He grinned, though never got to answer her. There was a very foreign sound that was a little like a cross between the noises of a dying animal and a spluttering cough from the doorway, causing the couple to jump out of their position, and they turned to the intruder, Law's sister.

"Oh sorry, did I interrupt the two lovebirds? Too fucking bad now come get your breakfast before it get's cold. I need to leave for some shit so don't try and make food for yourself either."

"Who says I have to listen to you? You're not even older than me for Christ's sake!"

"Ahahahaha that's a good one, you know very well you why you have to listen to me. We all know what happens when you try to even touch the stove, a k a why you can't make breakfast."

When her brother stared quizzically at her, she mockingly smacked her palm against her face.

"The damned apocalypse happens!" She flashed him a toothy smile.

He deadpanned at her, not amused by her attempts at humor. He returned to the bed, staying underneath the covers, ignoring his sister's subsequent protests. Finally, Nicole rolled her eyes, and then walked off, calling "Don't blame me if you don't get any breakfast! And I don't want to come home to a house smelling of sex too!" as she left. Footsteps that echoed down the corridor, soon followed by the front door slamming.

For a moment, the room was still, the only movement belonging to Yuen who shifted herself into a more comfortable position. Eventually, Law crawled out from under the covers, looking almost like a cat as he peeked out from under the covers.

"Come on, you need to eat."

"But her cooking sucks. I'd rather starve."

"Then I'll cook."

For a moment, Law thought she was kidding, but realized she was being serious when she stood up and stretched. She smiled down at him, enjoying his rather surprised expression.

"Pancakes? And yes, I can cook, just a little."

She left the room, humming a little tune to herself, although rather off-key. Law heard the sound of cabinets being checked in the kitchen. He lay in bed, staring at the ceiling for a little while longer, before the scent of pancakes wafted temptingly into the room.

Sighing, he removed himself from the bed, his only guide being the delicious smell from the kitchen. He was greeted by the sight of Yuen standing over the stove, flipping one of the golden-brown pancakes over. It seemed to be the last one she was making, three other pancakes already stacked on a plate.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the "breakfast" his sister had prepared, and was honestly glad for Yuen's cooking skills.

Slowly, he crept up to her, keeping his stance quiet as he padded stealthily, and then throwing his arms around her neck. This caused a squeal and he received a whack on the head with the handle of a spatula.

"God! How would you like it if someone did that when you're dissecting a frog?"

"I'd stab them in the side, probably."

"Well maybe next time, I should just dump the entire pan on your head."

"But you wouldn't do that, because you wouldn't be able to feed me otherwise." He chuckled, putting his hand on hers, and moving it to carry out a series of actions- which eventually led to her putting a piece of pancake in his mouth.

Yuen didn't object, on the contrary she picked out another small piece and put it near his mouth. Just as he thought she was going to give it to him, she reeled her hand back and placed the morsel in her mouth. She stuck her tongue out at him giggling to herself.

"Silly girl. But they taste decent enough."

"Would you only be pleased if an award-winning chef cooked for you?"

"I could search the world for all the gourmet chefs, but there wouldn't be one who could replicate your unique taste."

"Is that a way of telling me my cooking is especially terrible?" Yuen pouted, still not satisfied.

He cuffed her on the ear, nearly laughing to himself. "No silly. I'm honest about it, I love your cooking even if it isn't the world's number one." Seeing the smile creep onto her face, he knew he'd won.

"Well come on then. We better eat them before they get soggy." She gave him a small peck on the cheek as a sign of her appreciation to his talk.

"I'll feed you. You worked so hard to make this anyway." He smiled at her, placing the last pancake on the plate before leading her out of the kitchen with one hand, effortlessly balancing the plate on his other.

**End of Chapter 15 **

**Ahaha I think I'll take a break from any drama for a while. Gonna be fluff for a while. :)**


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One Piece, Friendship, Romance