He remembers that in the beginning everything is difficult. He doesn't know how they made it really. A tiny boy and an even tinier girl. They should have died that night. His body was literal dead weight. They should have died in that cave. But when he came to he was warm or rather she was warm and holding his dead hand.
Wolf had saved them. It was some mercy in that man's heart that he didn't bury the boy immediately and maybe something else that he didn't bury that boy the next day either. That dead body showed no signs of decay. Maybe it was something Wolf had done—maybe he'd already replaced the body with a dummy. He'd later know what really happened.
She starts working for him in exchange for food and shelter. She isn't nearly as smart as he was, but she puts forth a good effort and labors hard. When she returns from her day of labor, she shares her portion of warm food and water with him even though his body can't swallow on his own. She recounts her day to him, squeezes his hand and then crawls into bed next to him, whispering her plea to wake up soon.
He had wondered then if he should speak up to her and tell her to stop. But maybe that would have been even more cruel. He was dead. It was wrong of him to leave her behind like that, but he couldn't let her die. And he was still here...sort of.
It's the fourth day since he's been dead that Law really catches Wolf trying to prepare to bury his body. It's when she's asleep, but he's awake. He can sort of see through her, sort of feel what's around through her. He can't hear though and it's a strange thing, but it makes sense since she can't even hear himself.
Wolf gently pulls the sheets up and checks his body. For a moment they're both stunned when his arm hangs limp as he lifts a hand. The body is colder than hers, but there are no signs of rigor mortis. He is dead. He knows this. He can feel it. There's no other way to explain what is going on, but the body in front of him, besides being all too still, shows no sign of death.
She wakes while the blanket is pulled back and a chill covers her arms. She yawns too quietly as she sits up in confusion. For a brief moment, she wonders if she's going to be beat. He can sense it in the panic that sets in her bones when she looks up to see Wolf.
But the old man sits down beside her and crosses his fingers underneath his chin.
"I...he's dead you know."
The panic dissipates and he feels her suddenly awash with confusion as she reads his lips. She shakes her head and starts a little too loudly that there's no way he's dead.
"He's just asleep," she says, her voice reaching a quieter tone once she realizes there's too much force behind her voice. He frowns a little to himself. He knows that she understands death. She was going to be in the academy soon before they had left. There's no way she doesn't realize he's dead.
It's as if she can hear him scolding her naivety that she frowns. She looks down and places her tiny hands over her heart, "He's not dead. I know he's still here. I just don't know how to get him here."
This time, it is their turns to be confused, "Right?"
He doesn't do anything at first, not that he can really do anything. Does he dare reply? Try to stretch his thoughts? He feels his metaphysical body swallow in nervousness. What did he have to lose at this point?
'Lami?'
The brunette seems to immediately perk up as he calls her name and he can feel that nervousness shift into excitement. She can hear him! Maybe.
He later finds out that it is no so much that she hears his voice so much as she feels his voice and intentions. Of course he apologizes for scolding her before and she only smiles. He feels dumb for a few seconds and almost wants to cry. Lami was his everything and he's so glad she didn't die. He'd saved her, but it cost him his life. He thought he'd be in this limbo in her heart? forever. Some limbo alone, but no, Lami was talking to him and she could hear him—sort of.
At some point Wolf cuts in. He is smart enough to not interrupt. There is something bigger than a child's imagination at play. It certainly explained how she was mostly unaffected by the boy's assumedly dead body.
He asks her about any strange fruit she may have eaten and she looks away from him immediately. She clenches her nightgown, which is just an oversized shirt, so tightly her hands go white. She shakes her head, but they can see how her body shakes.
They can tell it is a lie, but they do not push the child shaking like a wet cat. Law feels his blood go cold and then hot with fury. He doesn't do it today or tomorrow or even this month, but eventually he gets it from her. She was forced to eat a fruit and instructed that if she ever told anyone, his body would surely burst into flames on the spot. He knows who did it. And he knows that Lami believed it with all her heart because it takes Wolf to find her crying in the snow, too afraid to see if his body had come aflame.
But, for now, Lami keeps her mouth shut about it and he and Wolf start thinking of what devil fruit it must be that she ate. He thinks Wolf knows more than he does about it, after all, he didn't even think about the potential for devil fruit till Wolf had mentioned it.
She's put to bed again and he tries his best to keep quiet and calm so that he doesn't keep her up. It works and eventually she is asleep, breathing softly with the shallow rise and fall of her chest.
He experiments immediately.
Tries to get her to move. Too much maybe. He tries to focus on just her finger. Nothing. He tries to ask her to move, quietly of course. But he stops when he can feel her stir a little. No 'talking' then. He tries to imagine himself lying down and he starts to feel a connection so he chases the sensation. He tries to imagine himself in Lami's tiny body, lying down, lying still. He closes his eyes as he feels that strange humming connection align itself closer.
When he opens his eyes, he hears nothing but he can see the roof. Like see the roof. It feels strange at first, but he sits up and looks at his hands, at her tiny hands. They shake a little, but he's able to open and close them like normal. He imagines this is how it would be like post surgery after losing both your arms.
It is a little jarring to see his own body lying down next to him. He reaches out and checks for a pulse. It's weak, but there. Was it his devil fruit or hers? He's so curious, but for now he has another focus. He climbs out of bed and makes his way to Wolf's study.
He's given a curious look but he's not turned away. Wolf waits for him to get settled in a chair that's too tall for him before writing something down on a sheet of paper and presenting it. It was easier than reading lips in this dim lighting and he was unfortunately not nearly as good at it as Lami was.
"Who are you?"
Wolf is sharp. He knows that something is amis and he doesn't try to hide it. Instead, he takes the pencil that's offered to him and writes in shakey script, "Trafalgar Law."
