A/N: Long writer's note at the bottom. Some stuff is important. Other stuff isn't. I'm sorry to ask this of you guys, but excluding the review replies, please at least skim through all of it. Danke. :)

Pick Your Poison
Chapter 19

Pandora's neck cracked as she stretched her sore muscles. She groaned before yawning. The sun had barely risen. She'd stayed up most of the night with Law but habit made her wake up this early. Law himself was already out of the bed when she awoke. Probably with Gale since they were setting sail very soon.

She felt surprisingly more calmer than she thought she would about the trigger she would create to set off the chain of events. Maybe it was the sex. It had been great but really tiring. Really good when Law had done that with his tongue...

...And I should stop thinking about it before I go crazy... Pandora thought. She yawned again. There was one more thing she had to do before she left the island. Shachi and Penguin hadn't given her much to do to prepare. She supposed it was because they thought she would like to spend time with as many people she could in her hometown. She chuckled into her hand, touched by their consideration despite how misguided they were.

She had an hour before her meeting, so she thought a detour to a certain someone's house wouldn't be so bad. It would be the final loose end she would tie up before her departure. Any possible feelings of apprehension hadn't surfaced. It was the first time she felt confident that was she was doing was right when she normally would have had about a million doubts in her head pop up. She yawned as she knocked on the door to the house. She probably was too tired to think of this as a situation that warranted being nervous.

She patiently waited as she heard some shuffling inside the house before the door opened. The man before her was staring at her politely with a touch of concealed wariness at the strange woman on his doorstep.

"...Yes?"

"You don't remember me..." Pandora said airily, though a little disappointed. Her re-entrance into his life would have seemed more dramatic if he recognized her immediately.

"No, I..." He stopped, now examining her more closely. Particularly her eyes and hair. His eyes widened in shock.

"Pandora? Maxwell Pandora?"

"Ding ding. Give the man a prize," she responded cheerfully. And give him a prize she did. There was a split second of peace where the man opened his mouth to most likely ask her what she meant. She didn't give him that chance. Pandora roundhouse kicked him to his ribs. He fell and she promptly stepped forward to use the toe of her boot to kick him in his chin. It was satisfying to her to see the amount of pain and confusion the guy was in. It was a little worrying that she was satisfied. She had used to care. When had that stopped?

Law really must have been rubbing off her.

"W-what are you doing to him?!" someone shrieked.

"What?" Pandora couldn't help but let out at the sight of a woman with short black hair rushing down the steps with a baby swaddled in a blanket and in her arms. She reluctantly removed the boot on the man's solar plexus and stepped back a mite. Even though she had heard from Claus that he had moved and that he had gotten married and had a kid, she couldn't help but not believe it until she saw it.

The woman was crouching over her groaning husband. She snapped her head up to Pandora.

"Seriously, who the hell are you? If you don't leave right now then I may just call the Marines on you, you b-"

"Wait," the man wheezed out, putting a hand on his wife's hand. Maybe Pandora had gone overboard by smashing her boot to the man's chest, but whatever. "Just... wait."

He had a lot of difficulty getting back up. Pandora merely watched silently as the other woman did her best to help him despite having a sleeping infant in one arm. She wouldn't let guilt overtake her. He deserved it. Absolutely deserved getting beaten up by her.

"Haha..." He was swaying unsteadily. "I guess I deserved that, didn't I?"

Pandora couldn't conceal her surprise.

He smiled, but then shortly winced. "Let's talk outside, why don't we?"

"I'm not letting you go out with that crazy witch!"

"Sweetie," he consoled his wife. "It's all right. I'll be fine." He turned to Pandora. "You aren't going to try anything anymore, right?"

"Not unless you provoke me," Pandora responded honestly.

"See?" The woman still looked very hesitant at Pandora's half-assed words. He grinned, trying to reassure him. "If it makes you feel better, we'll be right by the mail box. You can watch us from here."

Pandora was ushered out before anyone could say anything.

"I didn't think you would come back, let alone seek me out," he told her honestly. "It just doesn't seem to be like you."

Was he calling her a coward...? Arguably, she thought she was kind of a coward, but she didn't need someone like him telling her that.

"I met someone and have stayed with him for a while now. He's strong, so he kind of... inspired me to take action, even if it was just against you," she explained truthfully. Pandora knew that he was just tippy-toeing around what he really wanted to ask. Frankly, she wanted to stop talking to him as soon as possible, but she needed this closure.

"Why did you call me out?" Personally, she wouldn't talk with someone who had just beat her up.

It was a little surreal.

"You've gotten blunter, haven't you, Pandora? I wanted to..." he trailed off. She waited for him to get out the words he wanted to say. She already had a hunch of what he wanted to tell her though, but wanted him to say the words himself.

"I wanted to say I was sorry," he finally said, struggling to find the words yet completely sincere. "Sorry for getting together with you and then breaking up under such circumstances." He looked away from her, who was staring at him steadily. "It was a bet at first, but I grew to like you after a while," he explained. "It's just that I..."

...

"I got scared of being isolated like you." The boy—no, man was frowning uncomfortably. "The 'sorry' may not mean a lot, but I just thought that I had to say it."

She was still flabbergasted that he had just apologized, but then she realized something. Before he broke up with her, she had thought him kind. That's why she had liked him.

"I already knew why," Pandora stated. It wasn't like alienation involving her was weird in this town. It was common, so she wasn't shocked about why he just apologized. The fear of being alone was also understandable. She'd experienced it enough times to understand him. Even just a little. "That's why I forgave you."

"...Then why did you hurt me just now?"

"Even if I forgive you, I still can't forget the bit of pain I went through, you bastard," she deadpanned at his bewilderment. "I'm not about to let go of an opportunity to repay a 'debt'."

"Touche..." he trailed off and was looking at something. Pandora turned in the direction he was looking and saw his wife staring at them suspiciously from the window. She saw love in his eyes. Her heart clenched in jealousy. "She's worried you're going to attack me again," he explained mildly.

"She doesn't have to worry about it anymore. I'm leaving."

"So soon?"

"I just came here to tie up a loose end," she replied. It was also almost time with her appointment. "And now that it's tied up, I won't have any regrets."

"...You're travelling with those pirates that docked the other day, aren't you?" Her silence was enough of an answer for the young man. "...Be careful."

Pandora couldn't help it but be a little tiny bit touched. She gave him a small smile. "Thanks, but you should know my middle name is Careful."

"See you around?" he replied. His tone wasn't hopeful, but wasn't unwelcoming either. She was happy about that, even though she knew she wouldn't be able to see his face again without thinking back to lost days.

Her smile disappeared. "I don't think so."

She wasn't coming back to this island.

"Ahaha, you actually came," Claus bolstered out as he set down cups of coffee on the table. Before him, sitting on the other side of the desk, was one of the infamous Eleven Supernovas. "I'm surprised!"

"It's only common courtesy that I come." Law was observing the room they were in. It was obviously not a place for entertaining guests. It was a practice. Books lined the shelves of the room. He read some of the titles, recognizing a few that he had read himself. The two men were sitting at a professional desk.

"Are you a doctor?" Law gazed pointedly at the therapist couch sitting at the corner.

"Technically I am, but not to the extent of what you are, I'm afraid. A therapist, you see." Claus drank his coffee. "I just got my license a few years ago. Judging by how young you seem, I very well may have gotten it after you had gotten your license!"

Law didn't touch his at all. "What did you want to speak to me about?"

"Youngsters, these days. Cutting right to the chase." The old man sighed. "I want to tell you more about Pandora." The wrinkled skin around his eyes crinkled. "She came to Vernon when she was about 7 years old. From that moment on, she and Sasha were pretty much isolated from everyone else."

"...Why was that the case?"

"Her father is a fool. An incredible fool," Claus growled out. "He got into a fight with one of the equally foolish men in this town. One thing led to another and he accidentally told Sasha's secret. I don't even know how." The old man rubbed his weathered forehead, probably remembering the past and that day.

"Sasha's... killed before."

"...I see."

Claus blinked in surprise at the pirate captain's reaction, or lack of it. "You don't seem quite as surprised as I thought you would be." He chuckled. "I couldn't say I was surprised either, but that was only because I knew the three of them before they came on the island."

"This seems like a peaceful village," Law trailed off purposefully. "...Yet Miss Pandora and her mother were allowed to stay despite the apparent contempt for them."

"That was because of me," the other man said. There was no haughtiness, only a factual tone. "Before I went into the profession I'm in now, I was an advisor on the town's head council. Fought tooth and nail for them, especially since they had nowhere to go."

He saw the look that was given to him and laughed. "Now, I wouldn't go out of my way to defend someone I didn't know! It's because I know Sasha from before, as I said. I was in her debt and decided to repay it right then and there."

The pirate captain nodded once in understanding, but that was all. To Claus, the young man seemed impatient. He supposed that was part of the plan Pandora was telling him about earlier.

"But I could only get the town to tolerate their presence. Pandora's father was gone a lot, so that may have helped matters. I only met him a handful of times during that time." The old man hesitated. "So you now may have guessed by now that..."

"That she was alone during her childhood," Law finished concisely. "I've already guessed all that for a while now, Mister Claus. Could there be a reason for you telling me this?" He leaned back against the chair, elbow on the arm rest while his fingers cradled his chin.

Claus blinked at the pirate before he smiled resignedly. Yes, the man was much more intuitive than he was given credit for.

"First, I should clarify that Pandora was never alone." The old man shook his hand. "And she never thought of herself as alone. She had her mom and, well, me. I know we weren't much. Not the same as having kids as friends, but we were something." He thought back to when he first met Sasha. "It's a terrible thing when you're completely alone." The memory of the first meeting faded like a dream that he did not bother to cling onto. "Now to answer your question..."

"I just thought I'd tell you about Pandora when she was just a kid." Claus's eyes darkened with wistfulness of days gone by. "You two seemed pretty close from what Pandora told me, so I thought it only right to tell you a little. Whatever else she tells you will be her choice." To him, it was apparent that they didn't suit each other very well. It wasn't like Pandora was a saint, but a jump from a semi-normal girl to a pirate seemed strange to him. He didn't think it was by choice that Pandora joined the pirates and even though she seemed fine with it, Claus wondered if she necessarily approved of everything that he had read in the newspapers about Trafalgar Law and his crew.

...

The old man reasoned out loud, more to himself than the other man in the room. "Pandora wouldn't stay with you if you were not only heinously cruel but also unreasonable. You seem like a reasonable fellow to me."

The pirate stood up.

Claus raised an eyebrow. "Leaving already?" he asked.

Law turned away from the door. "Is there anything else you wish to say, Mister Claus?"

"..." The old man stood up unsteadily and reached for his cane. He shook his head.

"Nope, Mister Trafalgar, nothing at all."

His bushy brows furrowed in worry at the speed the young man went out.

He followed after to the door, intent on visiting an old friend.

"You're too conspicuous..."

Bepo's mouth opened into an 'o' at Liam's words. Liam rolled his eyes. Was it really that big a surprise? He was wearing a blindingly orange jumpsuit for god's sake. Being a polar bear didn't help matters either. He turned back to the person they were spying on. Pandora seemed to be wandering around the place, as if trying to waste time... or something else? He couldn't put his finger on it, but she was acting really weird.

Admittedly, the Pandora that he knew was being perfectly normal when he kicked that guy's ass. Liam didn't know why she kicked that guy's ass, but it was the only normal thing that she had done all day.

"Sorry..." There was a pause as the bear contemplated Liam's words. He wondered if it would be best to just take off his jumpsuit. But on the other hand, that would be going practically naked. He had become so accustomed to wearing human clothes that it was awkward for even such a fine specimen of a bear like himself to only go in his bare fur.

"Ah!"

"You sound like you're choking. You okay?"

Liam gave Bepo a peeved look, but otherwise ignored what he said.

"Look! She's finally doing something that looks as if she's actually doing something."

While Bepo contemplated what the boy just said, Liam scurried after her. He slowed down when he saw that what she went into was a bar because: 1) Pandora didn't go into bars often of her own free will and 2) He was hoping that this wasn't one of those damn bars that had age restrictions on them because if it was, he was going to-

Bepo's head cocked to one side when his fellow pirate whooped after seeing a sign beside the door.

"Weirdo," was what was muttered to himself before he ambled after his two subordinates.

Pandora had been wandering around the town for a while. She wore a hat, tying her hair and tucking it all under the cap until not even a single lock could be seen. The lethargy of the morning had been replaced by anxiety, but also determination.

Vernon was a nice town. What little she had told Law had only been the tip of the metaphorical iceberg. While she didn't want to dismiss that little incident that had happened when she was a kid, she also realized Vernon was, overall, a good place to live. It was the aftermath of the incident that had been hard to deal with but her mother had helped her along quietly, as always.

She used to be jealous of the other kids, but there were a lot of things that she was thankful about when she was a kid, like the mental fortitude her mother had instilled in her younger self. It was one of the aspects of her child self that she admired. After she had died, well, her mental fortitude had gone down by a considerable degree.

Pandora pressed the heel of her palms to her eyes. It was a problem when she started to admire the maturity of herself when she was a little kid.

She had parents that had loved her. An old man that had treated her as if she was his own granddaughter. A mother that had raised her well, sans the part where she taught Pandora how to do moves like the drop kick. Pandora wasn't very sure what to classify that as...

Oh.

Her eyes darted to a gaze meeting her from the dirty windows of the bar. How did he get past me? Shaking her head, Pandora made her way purposefully to the establishment.

"Hello," she greeted, sitting down across the man. From what little she could see of his face not covered by a dark scarf, he was not an attractive man. His eyes were black and beady and he had a shiny head, clear of any hair and covered in liver spots here and there. He reminded her of a fat frog as he smiled at her, crow's feet showing. She shuddered as he took a deliberate look up and down her body before his crow's feet became more prominent. Rotten. This man was as rotten as the organization he worked for. Smelled like it too. His dark brown clothes were loose around his form. The sleeves slid back as he held his hand up to shake hers. It revealed the very hairy arms of the man.

She shook his hand quickly, his fingers lingering a little too long as he released her.

Pandora tried not to stare at the stereotypical definition of Shitty World Government in front of her. One would think CP would try to win her over with a clean cut agent instead of someone like this. She thought of Claus for a brief moment. Reverse psychology, maybe? That if she saw this man, she would think that the World Government couldn't possibly be that bad if they were willing to hire someone like him.

"You already know my name." Pandora tried to discreetly wipe her hand on her skirt. It was people like him, with a fine film of dirt covering his hands, that made her so thankful to be a tidy person. "And you are...?"

"...You don't need to know my name." The man's voice was low and quiet like a tranquil forest. It was the polar opposite of his appearance and his mannerisms. She was surprised and a little wary. Having a nice voice juxtaposed the memory of his eyes trailing down her body. "All you need to know is that I'm from the World Government's Science Unit." He leaned forward, baggy clothes shifting around him. "What I need to know is your answer, but I'm assuming by you contacting us that you've accepted our offer."

She thought a moment of what her decision could do to Law and the others, and then she thought of her family.

"I accept," Pandora said evenly. "I'm going to help the World Government capture the Heart Pirates."

"I'm required to ask you for your motive."

"Blood is thicker than water." Blood was red while water was clear and pure. Blood stained whatever it touched and couldn't be removed that easily. The blood running through her veins had drawn her to her decision. She looked at her hand, tried to imagine the veins with the red life fluid running through and tried to trick herself into believing it was less important than it really was. She couldn't.

The man deliberated her answer before nodding slowly.

"Then I'll tell you."

He conveyed all the plans that his superior, Sentomaru, had made. This included how she would relay which zone's port the Heart Pirates were docking in and more detailed descriptions of the ambush that was to come.

"After that, you'll give information on my father, right?" Pandora leaned forward.

"Yes," the man agreed, a smirk playing on his lips. "We'll give you what you want after the mission is done."

The pair both heard the front door being opened again, but ignored it in favour for a stare down.

"You aren't lying, are you?"

His smirk widened. "You're just going to have to trust us, aren't you?"

...

"I guess I'll have to," she finally answered. The day that she would trust the World Government had as much of a chance of happening as a snowball surviving in hell. But she didn't say that.

He stood up. "Then I'll be taking my leave now." He made it one step before he seemed to remember something.

"I forgot to mention that the CP9 agent assigned to you planted something on you the last time you met."

He grinned, or at least looked like he grinned judging by how the scarf shifted.

"Nothing to worry about, my dear. It was just a tracker. We wanted to get rid of the Heart Pirates before they got to Sabaody, but it seems that all we did was raise the bounty on their Captain since he managed to defeat all the Marines sent to him. Oops, is all that can be said at this point." He shrugged like it was not big deal.

Pandora's eyes widened at his words but she didn't say a word.

"Until Sabaody, dear."

He tipped his hat and left through the back.

...

Pandora's lashes lowered as she stared at her clasped hands on the table.

She... hadn't known. She should have. She shouldn't be caring though. Her initial goal was to find her father by any means, and if that meant throwing pirates to the Marines to be served justice, she shouldn't be hesitating at all. She pressed her palms together in front of her face and looked up at the dirty ceiling.

Right. She wouldn't hesitate anymore.

"Pandora?" A voice interrupted her chaotic thoughts.

She turned to see Liam and Bepo staring at her, shock apparent on their faces.

She commanded herself to look at them steadily. Right in the eye. Right in the eye, Pandora.

"Pandora," Bepo finally said. His ears were flattened to his head as he looked at her sadly instead of the anger on the shaking Liam.

"...What are you doing?"

Half an hour from town, there was an old man hobbling along the horizon. He exited from the thicket of trees that made up the forest and walked along the river. The setting sun burning uncomfortably on his back, but he continued on his journey. He felt the weariness settle down in his bones while he leaned against his wooden cane with every step. When had that happened? When had he grown old?

He could remember everything like it was yesterday. The day Sasha died. The day her and Pandora arrived on their quiet island despite it being the few that was one of the final pit stops before the Red Line. The day he met a young girl with black hair and blue hair arguing about the inability of the World Government, suffering in her eyes at both her own stupidity and injustice

Unfairness had robbed his wife away and old age had robbed away his strength.

He breathed in deeply as he bent down slowly. He carried a satchel full of a simple bottle of water and a sturdy handkerchief. His weathered hands traced the words before he got down to cleaning. Good, honest work reminded him of his early days when he was just starting out as a fresh and enthusiastic young Marine. He missed those days when the line between what was 'good' and 'bad' had been clearly defined. The naivete that came with youth.

He stood up again, arching his back and was mildly perturbed at the loud crack. Honest work brought up nice memories, but at his age it was hard on him.

Sickness had robbed a friend away and duty had already robbed the daughter from him.

He began speaking to the stone, starting with an anecdote about just what was simply happening in his life like always. One aspect which included a certain young woman visiting him for the first and last time in more than five years.

"I just wanted to tell you that I have no idea what your goal is," Claus admitted out loud. "But Pandora is going to be betraying her nakama for your silly request. You know as well as I do that the man is harder to find than, well, One Piece. She'll be alone after her betrayal, at least for a little while. The fact of the matter is..." He paused, thinking of careful words for the tombstone as if it was a person.

"She won't stay alone. She's not you, Sasha. She never will be."

The thing about the whole inheritance of your parents' traits had never sat right with him. He couldn't believe it. He didn't believe it. That was why he was confident she wasn't born to be alone just because her mother was Sasha. Whereas Sasha carried a quiet fragility and low esteem of her own life was definitely not carried on to Pandora. Ironically, it was because Sasha loved Pandora too much to pass on her own, twisted views of life. How big her love must have been to prevent her beliefs from tainting her daughter. How big that bastard's love must have been to help her realize her beliefs were twisted and still accept her.

He sighed.

Sasha had been alone for almost her whole life but –call it a gut feeling— he knew Pandora wouldn't. He didn't know why. He didn't know how.

He just knew.

A/N: Yep. We be reaching the end! I've begun writing drafts of a LeviOC (Shingeki no Kyojin) and AkashiOC (Kuroko no Basuke) as a break from this story to refresh myself, yee, but this is still my main focus, I swear! If you're confused, then please keep in mind that it is in the viewpoint of the person And also, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for the huge, long, big, ginormous wait. I don't want to give any excuses. All I can do is apologize for the wait. :( Pick Your Poison is almost done. If some stuff seems disjointed, please tell me. It's been a while since I've touched the story, so I'm hoping the flow's still alright.

LASTLY, SUPER FLASHY IMPORTANT LAST NOTE! After a lot of debating (with my multiple selves. I know. I'm crazy), I decided to hold a mini-contest. I don't really like calling it a contest. It's kind of a combination of a thank you and a change of pace for myself (my secret ulterior motive, haha) Here are the details:
Alright! So how you enter is review between now and Monday at 10PM! It's a short time frame, but I only have winter break before I go back to school, so I need that time to write. /: I'll be picking two winners. One will be random and another will be based on quality. The category, quality, may be broad on purpose. It'll be based on a lot of stuff like sincerity, detail and most LIKELY length (as you can see, I've thought thoroughly about this contest, haha). You have no obligation to suck up to me and compliment everything. You can offer well thought-out critique and that would be fine too. :) The prize will be a one-shot no more than 10,000 words on almost ANYTHING, including your own OC, canon pairing, etc. Some limitations would be yaoi, yuri and hardcore smut. I think those are all the limitations... that I can think of. Also, I have to know the fandom well enough to be able to write. I've read A LOT of manga and read some books and watched some movies, so the winners can try just requesting from anything and I may have a good chance of knowing about the fandom. Depending on some circumstances, there may only be one winner. /:

Since I neglected to respond to reviews (after a year, darn it), I'll be replying to all of them here. Once again, I'm sorry for not sending individual messages. I feel like if I say I'll respond later, it will NEVER happen, hahaha... ._. Ok. Yes. I tend to babble, so prepare for looong replies. Plus there is so much backlog from my lack of replying, but I'd rather reply than never do it. Here we go!

SucreTeen123: Yes. That is all. ;) the everchanging: Thank you! I really enjoyed writing that PandoraLaw scene, so it makes me happy you liked that part. :) Chemistry-Deaf: The edited version is a lot more subdued, but hopefully it conveyed the same atmosphere :) Blobfishington: SPEAKING OF NOT UPDATING FOR A LONG TIME, I hope the flow is still there. I'm kind of worried about that. Haha, I've read erotica and I think I would be too embarrassed to write it. I knew it was you! I recognized your display picture. And speaking of pictures, I finally saved the fanart you drew for the story onto my computer, yay! Chococatx33: And you in turn gave me feels as I read your review. Unfortunately, the story is coming to an end. :( Deactivated-AxC: I hope the edits will make the description more appealing and thank you for reassuring me about the confession scene. :) To be honest, I didn't think the scene was extremely bad, but it's just EXTRA embarrassing when re-reading, haha. Death's Eternal Rose: Noo, don't hate him. I'm hoping the edits leveled out the playing field between Pandora and Law, though Pandora does more outwardly frustrating things that she ends up 'losing' most of the time, haha. She seems to end up apologizing most of the time. ;_; No girl power in terms of their arguments. 10th Squad 3rd Seat: AHAHA, he is a man with a pretty woman, so maaaybee. Guest: Eek, LOL. I know how hard it is to comment on smut, so thanks for the feedback. I'm glad to see that you enjoyed it. I'm so glad you like Pandora's name. A loong time ago, someone else commented on her name. Personally, as the writer, I REALLY like her name. :) writrgr: Yee, I'm outside of your window right now. Hide yo' kids, hide yo' wife (erm, you may not have either of these though) and hide yo' boyfriend! Oh my glob, a cowboy hat! I shall keep that in mind. By the way, there are so many references in this reply, haha. AceIsTheOnly: Ky-freaking-yah. You're not the only one who was embarrassed! I remember being embarrassed when I was writing it! PhoenixRage92: It is understandable if you're not as glad that I'm back, especially since I've been gone for so long. :( It seems to be ending as soon as it has begun. Oops. ;_; akagami hime chan: Omake is gone now, unfortunately, but thanks for the compliments. ;) ANYWAY, wow. You have so much willpower! I'm not saying my fic is especially good or not, but when I get a notification from my Alerts, I just have to read it immediately! Wutzit2yah: I like your username LOL. It left me a little flustered too. D: Thank you for your dedication. We're almost to the end, so please continue with your support if you could. Thank you! VeraVera: Thank you! Munchkin: Erm, it has kind of been more than a few months now, ahahahaha... D: fritillary252: Thank you for all the reviews. I really appreciate it. One of my more favourite scenes were Liam's speech and the pyramid adventure, so thank you for commenting on that! Haha, you're not crazy. I usually like long hair too. More ways to style it. :) This is the end, my only friend, the endd~ (This is an inappropriate, morbid song reference, by the way LOL) Sakura Ichigo Morihiko: Bahaha, nobody but Bepo will find out, unfortunately. :( At least, no one on the crew will find out! rabiosarabiosa: It was a little hasty if you were looking at it in that way, BUT hopefully my edits from earlier in the summer will make everything a little clearer. ^ ^; This is a review for the original version, but thank you for your compliments on the smutiness. :) Girl-luvs-manga: Thank you! More interesting things to come. :) Caramel27: Bwahaha, there is quite a lot of mysteries in her family! Shiningheart of ThunderClan: I don't quite remember what is original and what is edited since chapter 18 was one of the more heavily edited chapters. It has been a long time, haha *gets shot*. Anyway, short answer is that Law is a big softie, but doesn't want to know everyone's a big softie. Little does he know, he helped Pandora tie up a loose end, yay. The answer to your last question: Law's a smart, intuitive softie. Sorta. If you ignore how he cut out the hearts of 100 pirates. :D phoenix: Haha, definitely. Chocolatluver4ever: Thank you and finally updated! JustChan: Yes... yes it has... haha... i88: Thank you! Louietot: I haven't! I swear! Sora Tsuiki: Y-your review seriously warmed my heart! From a writer's standpoint, these kinds of reviews are the best, especially when they're writing an original character. I'm glad you like Pandora! :) I have that kind of pet peeve too! I hate it when people just insert the OC and then regurgitate the lines. I REALLY hate it, so that's why I wrote precanon. Once I get into the canon timeline, it'll be kind of hard to figure out how to write that. Oh, you know... school, laziness, part-time job, laziness, other excuses. xD It is! Or was! I fixed it. Thank you so much for pointing that out. I lost the file with all the island names before so that's why I got them mixed up. ;_; DarkAngelLida: "Haha, if only this fic was M-rated..." That is what I think whenever I read some stories LOL. Kaappimorso: D'aww, I love when there are repeat readers! ThexWhitexPhoenix: I feel like I'm building this up really big only to disappoint you guys. :( I'm very happy you like the story though. That's wonderful of you. It was embarrassing, haha. koori no hime: Thank you! I'm really glad you're enjoying how I'm writing the characters since that's one of my weaknesses. ._. I updated! It took quite a while though... Velonica14: Thank you for the multiple reviews. :) Liam getting kidnapped was hilarious when I was writing it. He's actually really cute and handsome, though this hasn't been explicitly mentioned in the story, haha. Winston is a posh snail, he is! Rayleigh comes in later. That's all I'll say. ;) Girl-luvs-manga: It was meant to be, especially "in a sense" kind of way so thank you for commenting on that! :D Diclonious57: The cutest polar bear ever, he is! Whimsical Omelettes: Thank you, Miss Omelettes! I'm glad to see you find this fic convincing. :) reddevil47: Yes! Victory! Thank you for this compliment *bows*

It was great re-reading all of these reviews. Once again, apologies for the length due to my lack of replying. :/

Thanks for reading!