Well, I have up to 9 chapters written already, so I figured I'd give another update now since I'm making such good progress. I finally give you a little bit of action this chapter, plus some fluff (sorry, can't help it, really trying to keep their relationship slow rather than just jumping into it), so hopefully you enjoy it.
The next couple of chapters after this one will focus more on Law and Nami bonding a bit more, so there will be some more humor there, and less action. And yes, the Straw Hats will appear in a few chapters- I haven't forgotten about them.
Disclaimer: These are annoying, but as you all know, I do not own One Piece or the characters, I could only dream to have Oda's creative genius.
Law was stunned speechless by the sight before him. He never thought he'd witness something like this happen to his own crew; it was too far out of the realm of possibilities for them. There were no words to describe his disbelief at their behavior right then.
"Come on, Law," a bright voice called out before a pile of bags was thrust into his arms, "my new clothes aren't going to carry themselves."
They had just that morning landed at their island destination, and somehow Nami had convinced his crew to join her as she shopped for some new clothes in case she had to continue traveling with them for a while longer. His crew happily obliged after a simple bat of an eye by the sly navigator; Law, on the other hand, had stated that they were there to get information on her crew's whereabouts, not shop.
"But you said yourself, he may not be here," she had answered back, leaning into him slightly as she convinced him to join them. "Anyway, we can always ask around as we go."
In the end, he gave in, agreeing to accompany her and his crew through the town's shopping district, under the assumption they would also search for the Straw Hats. He never expected he'd end up watching her talk every vendor into giving her a 90% discount, then turning himself and his crew into pack mules.
"Nami-ya," he practically growled at her, succeeding in getting her attention away from the windows of the next shop, "we're supposed to be looking for your captain."
"Yes, but he's obviously not here," Nami answered, "It's too quiet."
Law found himself snorting in agreement at her reasoning. If Luffy was in fact on that island, or had been there for any length of time; the harbor town would be in ruins as the Straw Hat crew searched for their missing navigator.
"So, what do you suggest we do from here?" Law asked, still holding her bags as they stood on the sidewalk while the rest of the crew stood around them, more bags happily loaded into their arms.
"… I think we need to go back to the other island," she answered after a short pause, looking away slightly as she chewed her lip nervously. "He might have led them there."
The pirate captain nodded in agreement before turning back to the docks and his ship, signaling to his crew and 'guest' that they were done there. As expected, they all followed, even the once again sullen woman.
As they neared the docks, Law found himself glancing back at the navigator, a strange feeling overtaking him as he watched her follow. She seemed to be fighting something, but he couldn't tell what; all he could see was her faced locked in concentration as she stared at the ground before her. The look unsettled him as he felt that there was something there that didn't belong, someone unwelcome.
He knew he was right to be concerned when Nami suddenly stopped in her tracks, her hands flying up to grip the side of her head as she screamed out.
"Shit," Law cursed, dropping his load in favor of moving towards Nami, taking hold of her head as he forced her to look at him. The foggy and glassy gaze she returned signaled to him that she wasn't there anymore, her mind had been seized by whatever outside force he had been sensing. "Nami! Nami!"
"NO!" She suddenly screamed again, lashing out at the captain before bolting away from him, "I won't let you take me!"
"Get the ship ready to leave!" Law ordered his crew before taking off after the sprinting navigator.
Nami raced into the woods surrounding the town, intent on escaping the man chasing her. Some part of her was screaming at her to turn around and go back, that the one following her at that moment wasn't the one she needed to fear. But the visions fought back against her reason, bore down on her psyche and brought a sense of panic unlike any she had felt before. She had to escape.
"Nami!" She heard her pursuer call out to her, another stray thought trickling into the panic telling her how odd it was that he wasn't using his normal honorific.
The dark doctor was amazed at how fast the woman was running from him, but he knew he was faster in the end. With his devil fruit powers he quickly switched his position so he would cut her off, tackling the hysterical woman before she even realized what he had done.
"NO! Please! No!" She continued to scream, thrashing under him as he pinned her to the ground.
"Nami! If you don't snap out of this yourself, I'll do it for you!" Law warned, hoping that he might get some hold onto her rational mind in that moment.
Instead she screamed out again and doubled her efforts to get free of his tight hold. Once again he cursed under his breath, strangely unwilling to follow through with his threat. So he did the only other thing he thought might work to break the hidden devil fruit user's hold on the woman, and teleported them back to his ship, to her bed, and ordered his crew to submerge as fast as they could. He hoped the sea surrounding them would prevent her attacker from using his abilities on her any further, the natural weakness for powers of this kind.
"Nami!" He yelled at her again, pinning her down on her bed as he watched the evidence of the illusions fade from her eyes. As her screams died, and her body relaxed, Law waited for her to turn her once again clear, brown eyes to him. He wished he hadn't, though, as he caught sight of the pure fear that still gripped her mind. He knew that whatever she saw had just instilled a strong sense of distrust in him, and he figured his position atop her wasn't making it any better.
"What did you see?" He asked the slowly calming woman, letting up on his hold slightly, but not yet daring to completely free her lest she lash out again.
Nami flinched beneath him and looked away, closing her eyes as she regained some composure, even as her body tensed again at the reminder of her most recent bout of illusions.
"Nami-ya," Law prodded, releasing his hands from her as he sat back on his knees, crouching over her as he waited. "I need to know now what it is I'm up against here."
"You betrayed my trust," she answered, turning her head just slightly to look straight at him, "you handed me over to him; you even helped him torture me. He showed me that you were behind it all, that every cut, every bruise was from you."
Law sighed and began to lift himself from his position over Nami when she paused, but froze when she gave one more, quiet remark.
"You killed Luffy."
He went wide eyed with shock at her final comment, sinking back down as he turned his attention to her barely restrained tears. He felt insulted, not by Nami, but by her pursuer. Law had every intention of taking down his ally when the time came, but that was still a ways off, and he certainly wouldn't go about doing it in such a cowardly, roundabout way.
"Nami-ya," he sighed again, feeling oddly remorseful for having to say this, "someday I may have to kill your captain. When One Piece is found, we will fight over it; you know this." Law paused here, letting the navigator nod in understanding before he continued. "But you should also know I respect Mugiwara-ya, and your crew, enough to fight him man to man over it. And anyway, I'd be committing suicide if I went after you or the others first."
His honest reasoning seemed to work well enough in calming Nami again, so Law finally let himself move completely off her to stand next to the bed, watching her as she sat up, pulling her knees up to rest her head on them.
"I'm causing you so much trouble," she mumbled, once again sinking into a melancholic state that Law felt didn't suit her.
The dark doctor surprised the woman by placing what seemed to be a comforting hand atop her head before leaning down to level his face with hers.
"Don't worry so much about it, between you and your captain I'm used to it," Law said, smirking at the pouting navigator in the hopes that it'd at least piss her off enough to forget her problems, adding a chuckle as he continued. "Anyway, if I ever felt it was too much for me to handle, I'd just throw you overboard and be done with it."
Nami continued to pout, but he could see a light in her eyes again that told him it was more playful, his confident and laid back aura setting her at ease with the situation.
"Get some rest, Nami-ya," he ordered after tousling her hair a bit and pulling away to leave. Law was surprised, though, when he felt her grab his hand and pull him back to her bedside. Turning his surprised eyes back to her, he could see her fear coming back.
"Please don't leave me alone," she begged; her weakness, something he would normally find to be rather pathetic, managing to successfully pull at his heart.
Law was certainly uncomfortable with the situation in that moment, narrowing his eyes at the navigator as he thought about what was happening. He knew he couldn't leave her, not as she was, and he hated to admit that a small, but rapidly growing, part of him wanted to stay.
So, with one last sigh he sunk down next to the navigator, leaning back against the wall at the head of her bed as she settled in next to him.
As Nami drifted to sleep, obviously exhausted after her latest run-in with illusions, Law found himself wondering why she continued to hold his hand, and, more importantly, why he didn't want to let go.
Oh, and collective thank you to all my reviewers so far.