A/N:

This one-shot takes place within an idea that I've been playing with for a full novel fic, but haven't fully developed. I needed a break from my other works, and was given the advice to try something totally new and this is what came out. If you like it, please review, and I may turn it into a full story! Thank you for your continued support and enjoy the fluffy goodness!

Captain of My Heart

Submarine air was cool, but dry and stuffy. It was difficult staying submerged when I wasn't used to it. I longed for the open air; the fresh breeze carried across the ocean. I sighed softly, staring at the captain of the ship.

"You're staring, again," he said to me without looking up from his meal. I gasped and averted my eyes, then pouted, embarrassed and indignant at the same time. We'd gone under water only a few hours ago and I was already itching to ask if we could resurface again, but he seemed perfectly content where he sat in the mess hall. He chuckled, knowing me too well, "Give it until tomorrow morning. We need to catch some fish, anyway." My gaze shot back to him as he stood, a smile reaching across my face. I opened my mouth to express my thanks, but a small cough came out instead.

He was at my side in an instant, his hand to my forehead, a deep look of concern reflecting in his eyes. I giggled as I brought his hand down from my forehead, squeezing it lightly, "I'm fine. The dry air, perhaps?" He had been this way ever since I boarded his ship and consented to let him treat me. His protectiveness only intensified after a particularly close call. In a way, it was rather endearing.

His frown only deepened at my words. Keeping hold of my hand, he stood me up and dragged me behind him as he made his way across the submarine. It didn't take long for me to realize we were headed for the control room. I dug my heels into the floor, halting our progression, "Oh, no. You said to wait until morning and that is what I am doing. We are not surfacing because of that little baby cough." He stared at me silently a moment and my face heated with a bright blush. He stepped close to me until our faces were barely an inch apart. My face grew hotter.

He suddenly leaned his forehead against mine, "Perhaps I should take your temperature. You're quite hot." I felt my head explode as he continued dragging me towards the control room again. Now I was mad.

"You dummy! I don't need my temperature checked! I'm just blushing!" His pace didn't slow as he glanced back at me with an amused smirk on his face. I gaped, "You jerk! You wanted me to say that!" He faced forward, again, silently. I knew he was laughing at me, but I couldn't stay mad. Not at him. We finally approached the control room and the navigator looked up at our arrival.

"Captain?" he asked curiously.

"Bring us to the surface." No other words were needed as the navigator saluted his captain and went about bringing the ship slowly upward.

I sighed in exasperation, "I told you I can wait until morning." I suddenly realized that he had not let go of my hand even though we'd stopped. He caught me staring at our hands and, rather than letting go, laced his fingers with mine. He gave me a small smile, the slightest of blushes touching his cheeks, before turning his attention back to our ascent. I felt the heat return to my face full force.

After a moment, the navigator announced that we'd breached the surface. I felt a new thrill pass through me at the thought of the fresh salty air of the ocean. Other members of the crew were starting to gather in the control room, curious as to what was going on. They were instructed to grab their fishing poles and an excited buzz soon filled the ship. It was infectious and I soon tugged on his arm, "Come on! The sky is calling us. Can't you hear it?"

He seemed to consider this, but no matter how I pulled, he wouldn't budge. Finally, with a tilt of his head, he smiled, "I think I do." I froze, my eyes wide as I stared in amazement at the man in front of me. He was always surprising me in the simplest of ways, "Best not to keep it waiting," he said and I squealed as he lifted me over his shoulder. No sooner had he picked me up than we were transported to the top deck.

A soft breeze touched my face and I was set down on my feet. I frowned up at him, "You know I don't like that…" I half-heartedly berated him. Rather than respond, he lightly pushed my shoulder and turned me around. I gasped, the view taking my breath away. Many of the crew members were already running about the deck, yelling back and forth to each other, but I barely noticed as I made my way to the deck railing. The sun was just starting to set, painting the sky in reds and oranges that reflected in the water as it sparkled in the remaining light. He was suddenly beside me and wrapping his arm around my waist, completing the moment. "It's beautiful," I breathed. He said nothing, his grip tightening slightly on my waist.

When I looked up at his face, he seemed far away as he stared at the ocean. I studied his features from the slight curve of his stern brow to the angle of his cheekbones and to the hard line created by the seemingly perpetual frown his mouth was set in. Sure, he smiled from time to time, but the moments were rare. A small smile formed on my lips as I continued to stare at this amazing man. It was moments like these that made me wonder if he didn't use my previous illness as an excuse to give in to my every whim. He spoke suddenly without facing me, "I'd like for you to stay in my cabin tonight so that I may keep an eye on you." Or maybe it was so he could give in to his own. I felt my smile grow into a grin at the implication of it all. He caught my stare out of the corner of his eye, "You really should work on that staring problem of yours."

I huffed indignantly, "I don't want to work on a problem I don't have. I like staring at you." He turned to me with an incredulous look and I returned it with amusement, "You mean, you don't realize how handsome you are?" A blush filled his face and he quickly turned his attention back on the ocean. I giggled softly and brushed my lips against his jawline. He held me more tightly to himself in response. I decided I would give him some reprieve from my searching stare and turned my gaze back to the ocean. The sun had nearly been covered by the horizon now, deep shades of pink and purple joining the red and orange. I sighed, leaning into his side.

"The ocean." He said, breaking the quiet between us.

"The ocean?" There was a heartbeat of silence before he responded quietly.

"It doesn't compare to you." My head snapped around to face him and unexpectedly met his dark gaze. His eyes gave away nothing. This handsome, yet stoic, man rarely ever gave anything away. It was the reason I spent so much time staring at him, hoping to glean as much about him as I could. I sometimes found myself amused at the irony of the name of his crew. His other arm wrapped around to meet the one already at my waist as he held my gaze and I thought he might kiss me. The moment didn't last, however, as crew members suddenly surrounded us, excitedly showing off their catches and contesting which of them had caught the bigger fish.

His arms released me and I was swept away by the crew and their boisterous excitement.

It was late into the night by the time the submarine plummeted into the sea and went back on course. Much of the crew had already disbursed, but a few still mingled about shouting 'good night' to each other as I made my way through the belly of the submarine. I had been separated from the captain on the deck and I hadn't seen him since.

Feeling rather apprehensive about going to his cabin, I headed for mine instead. He didn't really need to watch over me. He would see I was just fine in the morning. A cool rush of air brushed against me and I shivered. Suddenly, I wasn't walking through the hall anymore and was instead sitting upon a bed laden with a nest of soft blankets.

"Did you think I would forget?"

I squeaked in surprise at the sound of his voice to my right where he sat in an armchair beside the bed. "Or maybe you thought you could just sneak by me?" I met his stare as I attempted to answer him, distracted by the heat I found in his dark eyes. Was he angry with me? I couldn't fathom why… which kind of made me angry.

I finally found my words, "You don't need to watch over me, I'm not sick! You made sure of that, remember?"

He made an annoyed sound as he stood from the chair and loomed over me, "Did you really think that I thought you might be getting sick? You should have better faith in my skills." My brow furrowed as I watched him kneel on the bed beside me, his hand coming up to gently, but firmly, grasp my face, making sure I couldn't look away from him. "I didn't want you here just to keep an eye on you…" his words were quiet now as he trailed off.

Oh.

His mouth met mine in a kiss that was light as a feather, testing my response. He dropped his hand from my face and drew back. The initial shock of the kiss left me and I brought him back before he could go too far, my lips crashing into his. His hand shot to the back of my head, fingers tangling in my hair as he deepened the kiss.

The kiss was an explosion of the pent-up passion that had built up between us over the past several months. Neither of us sure in our steps towards one another. Now that we had met, however, we were unstoppable. Before I fully realized what had happened, his body covered mine, fitting to mine like a puzzle piece I didn't know was missing, and we dove into a world all our own.

When I awoke, I knew that the night had passed, but it was impossible to tell how long I'd slept. The heavy blankets that surrounded me fought off the chill in the air. What was warmest, however, was the man whose chest my face was currently buried in. His arms encircled my body, holding us tightly together. I looked up into his face, still serene with sleep, and smiled. I would let him sleep as much as he needed.

I sighed contentedly, watching him sleep. Tonight, I would have to count my lucky stars to have met this man. All the things he'd been through, so many times he could have died, and he was still here. Miracle of all miracles; a miracle that was now being shared with me. My heart ached for the suffering that his had endured. I placed a soft kiss on his chest over his heart, sending all of my good thoughts with it in hopes that he would not have to suffer the pain of heartache ever again.

When I looked up at him again, I found his eyes watching curiously. I blushed hotly, suddenly embarrassed. His lips brushed my forehead, "What were you thinking just now, Kit-ya?" I huffed at his reference to my devil fruit power, but grinned at his use of the honorific. I held his gaze, unable to find any words at first.

"I was just wishing well on your heart." I finally managed. He stilled, his gaze holding mine intensely. His eyes didn't yield to his thoughts and I wished I knew what he was thinking. After another moment, he sat up.

"Room." His territory spread out to surround us and I sat up with him, curious. As I watched him bring up his hand, his heart popped out of his chest, still beating.

"Oh!" I had seen him do this to enemies before, but never to himself, "What are you –"

"Take it," he held out his heart to me. I hesitated, unsure of what he was offering, "Take my heart and guard it. Protect it from any harm that may seek it."

My eyes widened as I looked up at him from his beating heart, "Are you sure?" I whispered. His response was to gently press it into my open hands. "Won't you be vulnerable without it?"

He smiled softly, "Only to you, so long as you hold it."

I gasped at his implication, tears welling in my eyes, "I am honored to receive your heart and I vow to keep it safe and whole until the day you should ever desire to take it back." He leaned in and kissed me briefly, then rested his forehead against mine.

"Guard it well, then."

I nodded and sighed, "I shall find a way to carry it with me. Perhaps a small container of some sort…" I trailed off, staring at his heart thoughtfully.

"You may want to figure it out before the day is out. We will catch up to the Straw Hats by then." My gaze snapped up from his heart, he was up already and getting dressed.

"So soon?"

He paused, "Yeah."

"When will I see you again?"

"Couldn't say, but it's not unlikely that we'll meet up again."

"Then I'll write to you. Every chance I get. If I don't see you before the end of my journey with the Straw Hats, then I will seek you out when it's all over." I took hold of his arm, turning him back to face me, "When I find you, I'd like to join your crew," I took a deep breath before finishing boldly, "As your wife."

A deep blush slowly crept across his face and he put on his hat to hide his face. He chuckled lightly, "How bold you have become. Every day that passes I swear you become more and more so." He grinned at me, finally looking up, "But we will see, when the time comes."

I grinned and tugged again on his arm, "Then let us not waste what little time we have now. Come back to bed and let me hold you until I am unable to anymore."

He hesitated a moment, but then, "Perhaps I really should make sure you don't have a fever."

I laughed whole-heartedly as he came back to me, his weight now familiar, and his lips met mine with a fervor, a desperation, to remain unending. Separation from him was going to be the hardest thing I'd ever done, but at least I could call him mine. While he was not my captain… he was the captain of my heart.

A/N:

Oh, that was just perfectly sweet. Law is such a difficult character to capture, but I adore him.

Fun little tidbit: While watching the show, it clawed at me that I didn't know what the honorific '-ya' meant that Law kept using with the Straw Hats, so I asked my Japanese teacher. What it means is that he is tacking on 'dear' to the end of their names. So, when he says 'Straw Hat-ya', he is actually saying 'Straw Hat, dear'. I nearly died when she told me that. Too funny!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. Please review if you did and would like to see a full novel fic made out of this. I purposefully did not include names during the story because I didn't want to go through the trouble of naming a character that I may never use again. Thank you, again, for your continued support! 3