I've been on a roll writing this weekend, so I figured I'd start posting this new LaNa fic I've been working on. I already have 7 chapters done, and am expecting this story to push about 15 chapters.
This obviously takes place after the timeskip, and learning of Law's background is really helping with my plot, actually. Seeing as we don't know that much yet, just that he was a part of Doflamingo's crew when he was younger, I'm assuming that he got into piracy around the age of 10, similar to Nami (I'm assuming on this since he said Velgo has been on the crew for the past 15 years, and this would put Law's age in early to mid 20s, depending on where in Velgo's timeline he joined... I'm sure we'll get a better idea soon enough, though)- but that is going to help play a role in their relationship's development in later chapters.
Anyway, this story is going to be very mature, so an early warning for those not comfortable with adult content or psychological abuse (don't worry, Law's the good guy), then turn away now. For the most part this fic will be serious drama and romance, I naturally will have some humor sprinkled throughout, but for the most part this is a somewhat deeper plot than my other LaNa stories. This first chapter is a mainly just an intro chapter, the action will slowly build from here, so please be patient with that.
Summary: Law's crew finds a heavily injured Nami abandoned on a deserted island. After taking her in and helping in her search for her missing crew, the pair find themselves bonding far beyond anything they could expect. With a devilish man with a grudge against pirates is after her, though, the two end up facing difficult challenges that can either bring them closer or push them apart.
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or the characters, they belong to Eiichiro Oda.
She was floating, blissfully unaware of where she was. There was a repetitive tone, just barely discernible to her senses, yet nagging her consciousness all the same. She swam through the fog of her mind, content to remain where she was. Remain safe from the pain she instinctively knew was lingering below the surface. Safe from the demon that pursued her, that sent her to this empty sea in her mind. Safe from knowing what harm may come to her friends, her crew, her family.
"Nami!" The memory of her captain's pained scream jolted her awake, swept away the fog, and brought her crashing back into reality as pain overtook her and she screamed out.
"Shit," a deep voice mumbled from near her as hands began to press down on her shoulders. "Hold her down!"
As more hands came to take hold of her limbs, she came to realize she was not just screaming, she was thrashing, tearing at invisible restraints in the hopes of breaking free. The pain was unbearable now. She could feel every cut, every bruise, every painful and terrifying thought that demon had implanted in her mind.
"Nami-ya, if you don't calm down you will die," the voice from earlier informed quietly, but firmly, into her ear, bluntly shocking her out of her hysteria.
She knew this voice; she knew it far better than she ever thought she would. This wasn't the demon; this wasn't the one who inflicted her body with so many injuries she could practically feel death clawing at the door to her soul, ready to drag her down into the pits of hell. No, this voice, while it certainly belonged to a cruel and sadistic man, was the voice of her captain's one time ally. A man whose thoughts were so obscure few could ever understand where he stood.
Her screams died away, her body relaxed, allowing the man to not so gently ease her back onto the bed. Her mind then finally registered the tone that had been nagging her before, bringing her attention to the myriad of monitors next to her, cords running from the machines into her body, both monitoring and preserving her fragile life. A sudden stabbing into her upper arm took her gaze away from her life support to the man who had apparently saved her; busy administering a syringe full of what she could only hope were pain killers.
"Law," she simply mumbled, letting the frowning captain and doctor see she was finally aware of where she was.
"Welcome back to the world of the living, Nami-ya," he responded, an amused smirk melting away his frown as he assessed his newest patient's condition.
"How did you find me? Why am I here?" The Straw Hat navigator asked weakly, her mind becoming fuzzy once again as she realized he hadn't just shot her up with pain killers, but some pretty strong sedatives, as well.
"Hm, those are questions better left for later. I have plenty of my own, anyway." He answered, moving to replace a few of her IVs she had dislodged in her struggle, again not taking any care in her comfort, though at that point the anesthetics he had given her made her happily oblivious to any pain she may have felt. "Sleep now, we'll talk later."
With that one command she blissfully slipped back into unconsciousness, once again sinking into the endless floating feeling, glad to know that she was at least safe for the moment.
When she awoke again later, it was much slower, the awareness of her relative safety from earlier helping prevent another bout of hysteria. As her eyes fluttered open, she gently eased her head to the side, once again taking in the monotonous, repetitive tones of her life support, while lifting her hand to inspect the tubing and sensors maintaining her life. A flash of fur and steel brought her eyes away from her self-examination to spy the tall nodachi that belonged to her new doctor, set next to her bed as if on guard for the pirate captain.
The sound of shuffling, a deep sigh coming from the corner, stole her attention one last time to the owner of her silent bedside guard, the tall man pushing off the wall he had been leaning against. Trafalgar Law had obviously been watching her, observing her; no doubt trying to piece together the puzzle of what happened to bring her under his care, and maybe what exactly had possessed him to help another captain's crew mate.
"Thank you," she simply stated, deciding it best to show her appreciation at the man's rare act of aide.
He only nodded slightly in response as he approached her bed, pulling a chair over with him to take a seat and continue to appraise her silently from up close. The doctor's intense gaze had Nami squirming; she was never one for such open scrutiny, especially from someone who could be so unpredictable. Despite the alliance her crew had with this man at one time, an alliance her captain still upheld in his mind, even as Law continued to remind him that it was over and done, she never could feel completely comfortable and trusting of the man. This captain was known to be cruel and sadistic, yet from her own experiences she had seen him show some concern for others' well-being, even going so far as to save her captain's life, and now her own. That duel nature made her wary and untrusting, always on guard in his presence, lest he decide to turn on them at any moment.
"Tell me, Nami-ya," he suddenly intoned, drawing her out of her nervous musings, "how is it I came to find the Straw Hat navigator, bound and gagged, bloody and bruised, and almost completely naked, in a deserted town on an equally deserted island?"
At his straight forward question, the orange haired beauty flushed and turned away, not wanting to answer, and not quite sure how to, anyway.
"You were on the verge of death," Law continued after a sigh of annoyance at her refusal to speak, "whoever did that to you made quite certain you lived just long enough to be found. If anyone other than myself, or your crew's doctor, had found you first, you would surely be dead right now."
Still, Nami kept her attention turned to the wall next to her, even as she heard the other pirate get up from his chair and approach her. Only when his slender fingers grasped her jaw and forced her to turn back to him did she meet his steely and impatient gaze.
"I'd like to be aware of what I've gotten myself into, Nami-ya, unless you prefer I tie you up again, and put you back where I found you."
At his threat, that she knew he was more than willing to carry out at this point, Nami swallowed thickly before giving him a short nod, telling him she'd answer.
"I'm not quite sure what happened," she began as soon as he removed the tight hold on her jaw and sat back in his chair. "One minute I was aboard the Sunny, the next I was being taken."
"I find it hard to believe your captain would allow someone so vital to his crew to be taken so easily."
"He wasn't aware of it until it was too late."
"…" Law only stared blankly at her, not quite sure how his fellow captain could not be aware of what was happening on his own ship.
"This man, I don't know his name, all I know is that he has a deep hatred for pirates." She continued, "He has a devil fruit power that allows him to create illusions and madness in people's minds. He used that to keep the others from sensing him, Luffy only just managed to notice when I screamed his name, and even then he had too hard of a time shaking off whatever illusion he was in. By the time he realized what was happening, I was too far away to pursue."
"That still doesn't explain why he only targeted you." He stated after a few minutes of contemplative silence, only the beeping of the monitors around them filling the void.
"He said he was watching us, knew who was the easiest to take, and who would also hurt the crew the most," Nami explained. "He wants to take and torture the crew one by one. I was just first on his list; he said he wanted them to find me only when I was too far gone to be saved, make them all too distraught to protect themselves when he came again. In the end, he wants to see Luffy broken, without a shred of resolve left, so he can take him down easily."
"He obviously doesn't know your crew very well, now does he," Law snorted in amusement, a smirk once again adorning his face as he knew what the Straw Hat crew's reaction would have been to finding Nami in such a state.
Nami couldn't help but smile a little as well; their newest enemy was certainly underestimating her friends, and if Law was even a little inclined to help, then the demon man had made a very big mistake in targeting her crew.
"I've had the guys trying to get a hold of your crew since we got you on board," he began to explain while getting up from his chair to leave the room; "we haven't found them yet, though. In the meantime, you'll be safe here."
"Thank you again, Law," Nami said honestly; somewhat surprised that he was so willing to help her.
"I have no desire to ruin our tentative alliance by letting you die, Nami-ya," he explained, amused as she stared back, confusion written all over her face. "As far as your captain is concerned, we still have an alliance. It's in my best interests, at the moment, to not go back on our past agreement."
Without another word, the Heart pirates' captain left her recovery room, shutting the door on the confused navigator. Despite that, though, she was at least happy to know the Surgeon of Death was on her side at the moment, and with him knowing the circumstances, she knew he would be on guard for anything out of the ordinary.
Random note for the sake of randomness- just decided to watch Durarara... I'm officially in love with Izaya's VA... which coincidentally (or not, since it's the reason I started watching in the first place) is also Law's VA. *sigh* I can't wait for Punk Hazard to be animated.
Please review!
