I tugged down the hood of my parka as I trudged through the snow of whatever island I had landed on.

It had been three years since I watched my beautiful kingdom be destroyed and in that time I had learned how to cover up the painful white blotches as best as I could. If I didn't, then the World Government would be called and I would have to change islands sooner than expected.

Makeup, unfortunately, could not completely cover the blotches on my face and my once dark brown hair was begining to form white streaks; another side effect of Amber Lead poisoning.

I was freezing.

The gloves covering my hands and the snow boots on my feet did nothing to stop the cold. It passed right through me and made the constant pain of the white blotches even worse.

The darkness did nothing to help me either. Not even the moon had decided to shed its light upon me.

The wind whipped painfully against my body and my foot fell through a snow bank. I shuddered as the frozen white powder entered my shoes.

If I didn't find shelter soon, I was sure I would freeze to death.

True, it would be a much less painful way to die, but I still had four more years to go. I would try and make them count...

A small flicker of light in the distance caught my attention.

I peered through the darkness to find that it had come from a small shack.

My disposition brightened at the prospect of warmth and I made sure to pull the collar of my sweater up over my nose before dashing as fast as I could to that flicker of light.

The closer I got to the shack, the clearer it became.

It was run-down and broken looking, probably shelter to a homeless man. But there was a fire inside and that was all that mattered to me.

Running up to the door, I banged on it with all my might.

"E-Excuse me!" I called, hoping that someone was indeed inside. "I s-saw your f-f-fire and I was wondering if I co-could come inside! The storm out here is t-terrible!"

For a moment all I could hear was a bunch of shuffling and whispering, but after a minute or so the door opened, revealing a large man in a black feather coat.

"M-May I p-p-please come in and w-warm up?" I asked, my teeth chattering from the cold.

After a moment, the man nodded and pulled out a pad of paper, scribbling on it quickly. 'Yeah, you must be freezing.'

"Th-Thank you!" I breathed in relief, then brushed past the man to get inside. He must be a mute...

To be perfectly blunt, it was a hovel he was living in. The interior was rather filthy and there was a mound of boxes and tarps all piled up into one corner, but the fire was going and it kept the wind out, so it could have been a castle for all I cared.

Plopping down in front of the fire, I sighed through the cloth of my sweater as I felt its warmth hit my eyes; the only part of my skin exposed.

The tall man sat down on the opposite side of the fire and stared at me.

And stared at me.

And stared at me.

Finally, I grew annoyed.

"Yes?" I asked. "Is something wrong?"

The man pointed to his face- which I only just then noticed was made up with gaudy blue and maroon paint around his lips and under one of his eyes- and scribbled on the pad again.

'You know, you'll warm up a lot faster if you take all that soaking stuff off.'

I shook my head. "I can't take it off, sorry."

The man furrowed his blonde brows. 'Sure you can.'

"No, sir. I can't."

'What, is it stuck? You need to take off your parka at least. Here, I'll help.'

The man put his writing utensils down and reached over the fire with long arms to grab my hood.

"Hey!" I shouted, trying to hold my hood back. "What's with you?! Get off of me! I can't take it off- GAH!"

I shouted in alarm as the man's coat caught on fire.

He hissed and tried to pat it out with his bare hands.

"You'll burn yourself, stop!" I exclaimed, moving next to him and patting down the flames with my thick gloves.

Unfortunately for me, they were flammable.

"GAH! GET 'EM OFF ME! GET 'EM OFF ME!" I screamed, flapping my now flaming hands like a retarded seal.

The man grabbed my gloves and slid them off of my hands, then threw them in the fire.

While he did that, I blew on the slightly smoking skin of hands with all of my might, trying to cool them down.

The man gave me a concerned face, but his eyes widened as he grabbed my smaller hands in his large ones.

Only then did I remember that my hands were uncovered, exposing my tan skin and the painful white blotches that covered them.

"Amber Lead Syndrome..." He breathed so quietly I almost didn't hear, his eyes darting up to stare at mine.

I gasped and pulled away, then shuffled back to my spot beyond the fire.

"Please don't call the World Government!" I pleaded, getting down on my knees and bowing to the man until my forehead touched the floor. "I haven't found a way to get off this island yet, so please don't call the World Government! Please believe me! It's not a contagious disease!"

The man stared at me for a moment longer before turning his head to the pile of boxes and tarps.

"Law... I think you should see this."

Was he just pretending to be mute?

I turned my head to look at this Law person, only to find a child slowly making his way out from behind the pile.

He was wearing a jacket and a fuzzy white hat with spots on it, but when he entered the light of the fire I gasped.

His skin was tan like mine, but there were white blotches covering his face and hands.

I felt tears begin to form in my eyes as I pushed back my hood and pulled down my collar.

The boy's grey eyes widened.

I sniffed and let out a hiccup as I began to sob.

There was someone else! Someone else survived!

The boy didn't protest when I scooped up his small form and hugged him tightly. Instead, he patted my back and let me cry.

"You survived!" I sobbed. "I'm not alone!"

I didn't know this boy and he didn't know me, but he held me while I cried, almost as if we had known each other our whole lives.

Finally, after several minutes of sobbing, I pulled away from the child, Law, and sat up to wipe away my tears.

"I'm sorry, it-it's just that I thought I was the only one to have survived...!"

The boy shook his head. "I thought I was too."

He looked up at me for a while. I noticed his eyes darting to my hands, then my face, then to the white streaks in my hair. His eyes softened and his frown deepened.

"You... You don't have much longer either... do you?"

I shook my head and smiled, wiping away the remaining tears. "What are you talking about? I still have four more good years left in me! I refuse to die before I reach thirty!"

I saw the blonde man's eyes widen out of the corner of my eye.

Law smiled weakly at me. "And I want to live past thirteen...!"

I grinned and ruffled his hair, though I cringed on the inside.

He looked to be around eleven years old... He probably only had a year or two left. He must be in so much pain...

"What's your name, lady?" Law asked kindly, tearing me from my terrible thoughts.

"Eva Sofia. And yours?"

"Trafalgar Law." He pointed to the large man. "And that's Cora-san!"

I looked to him and the man gave a slight smile. "Corazon."

I smiled back at him politely and nodded, then looked thoughtfully down at Law. "Trafalgar? As in Doctor Trafalgar? The best doctor in the city?"

Law smiled. "Yup! He's my dad!" His smile faltered and he looked to the ground. "He was my dad..."

The boy started to sniffle and Corazon moved to console him, but I scooped him up again and patted his back.

"Hey..." I whispered. "It's alright, it's alright... You wanna know something awesome? When I was younger, I fell out of a tree and broke my leg. You know who healed it for me?"

Law sniffed and shook his head.

"Your dad." I said with a smile. "He was the best medical student out there at the time. But he was super dorky too! I was there when he proposed to a beautiful nurse. I guess she turned out to be your mom, huh."

Law sniffed again and nodded. "Mother was pretty... Lamie took after her..."

"Is she your sister?"

Law nodded again and I held him out at arms length so I could look into his watery eyes. "See Law, we have to remember all the good times we had in Flevance. And know that everyone we loved lives on with us."

Law sniffed and wiped his nose on his sleeve, then nodded and gave me a wavering smile. "I wanna be a doctor some day, just like my dad was...!"

I cringed on the inside, but gave the boy a cheesy grin. "Well, I guess I'll just have to take the spot as your first patient, huh, Doctor Law?"

The boy nodded egerly and gave me a smile.

I giggled slightly and ruffled his hair just as Corazon sighed.

"Alright, Law. Bedtime."

Law pouted. "But I'm not tired yet..."

His body betrayed his words as he trailed off into a yawn. As soon as he recovered, he gave the large blonde man an even bigger pout. "That means nothing!"

I smiled softly down at him. "What if I sing you a song?"

The boy's face lit up tiredly and he nodded yet again.

I pulled the boy into my lap and wrapped my arms around him once he found a comfortable position. And without further adieu I began to sing.

It was an old sailing song; one every child in our kingdom knew.

"Farwell and adieu, to you Spanish ladies. Farwell and adieu, to you ladies of Spain. For we have received orders to sail to Old England. We hope in a short time to see you again..."

As I sang I felt his little body grow limp and his breathing evened out and by the time the lullaby ended he was out cold.

I smiled softly down at the boy, petting the top of his fuzzy cap as gently as I could.

"Are you a mother?"

The question was sudden, though it didn't take me by surprise that Corazon would ask such a thing.

"I was... once." I murmured, the familiar numbness taking over at the thought of my baby. "It was a stillbirth. This damn disease took it without my even knowing."

Corazon stayed quiet for a few more moments before speaking again.

"And... the father?"

I shrugged my shoulders emotionlessly. "A one night stand. He died not long after."

Silence filled the shack once more.

"Are you-"

"Please, Mister Corazon, don't ask me any more questions. I'm very tired as well and would like to go to sleep."

The blonde closed his mouth and glanced down into his lap.

With a sigh I leaned against the wall of the shack and closed my eyes, my arms wrapped around Law's frail body.

"Rocinante."

I cracked one eye open to look at the man. "I'm sorry?"

He inhaled deeply then turned his back to the fire and layed down on his side.

"Nothing... Goodnight, Miss Sofia."