“I thought,” a voice comes from the corner, “that this was going to be a private corner, but it seems like everyone’s had that same idea.”

“Ina, could you get the red and purple dress ready? With the sequins? She changed her mind again—”

The door to the hotel suite, currently in a state of organized chaos, bursts open to admit a distraught Bon Clay towing a misanthropic Sir Crocodile in his wake.

It was after dinner that Kiku decided to seek out her brother. They’d arrived together, of course, but had been seated apart for the dinner—Kiku with the group that was known as the Nine Akazaya, and her brother with his own group.…

“Are you sure I can’t peek yet?” Koala asks.

Sabo is much too busy fiddling with the dress to hear her as he makes final adjustments to fit her perfectly.…

Bonney knew that, technically, she was a Princess. Papa was King, and always busy running the country, which meant she was a Princess and when she grew up she’d be Queen. But she didn’t really feel like a Princess, most of the time.…

Jinbei had no idea where the large crowd came from. One minute he was entering the building behind Robin, following her into the lobby, and next thing he knew he had been pushed to the back, far away from his friend.…

Law was leaning against the wall of the ballroom, silently nursing a single glass of wine and watching the people around him. There was a band playing a complicated classical piece, but no one was dancing, or even listening.…

…and you remember the code, don’t you?

Yes, of course. Kalifa waves a dismissive hand. She’s not an amateur; Kaku needn’t fuss over her so much. Like an elderly grandmother, the way he flits about, straightening her fur stole, the hem of her dress, as though she hasn’t spent the last hour making herself look presentable.…

“Welcome to… oh! Your majesty!”

Otohime waved off the sudden bowing that the clerk in the shop seemed insistent on performing. “Please, none of that,” she said, sweeping into the mostly empty shop entirely alone.…