Hello~~
Sorry for being late; as a gift for that little trouble, what would you say for making this chapter extra long? :) As usual, thank you all very, very much for your feedback, especially reviews - they're really the only things that're keeping me up with writing that story. Hope you're liking it so far:)
Oda won't share, no matter how much I beg. Seriously, just one night with Traffy being mine... And it's my birthday tomorrow, Oda-chin, come on, give me that much! XD
Don't think me perverted, it's just about Law, btw:P
Oh, and, I should apologise in extent for next chapters - I'll do my best to keep them coming once a week, but seriously, my history exams are nearing dangeruosly, so I'd hardly have time for writing. please, be patient!
Enough of boring authors' talking, on with the story! Enjoy! :)
...
Inside the submarine was quiet. Captain retreated to his quarters just after breakfast, asking Penguin how long it would take them to reach the next island. He did that continuously for last four days, ever since the party. There wasn't a single reason for such behaviour – they were fully stocked thanks to that last plunder, and resurfaced frequently, so life wasn't so cramped as it used to be. The only cause of Captain's distress Yuki could have think of was she herself, and that worried her, worried her a lot.
She wasn't sure if she interpreted Captain's words at that time after the party correctly, and, the thought that made her blush, was it the right thing she kissed him, even if it was only on the cheek. From what Yuki knew, Law wasn't exactly very touch-feely person and could easily misunderstood something... This, or he simply wanted her off his ship.
There were another reason for Yuki's inner turmoil. Even few "another reasons", actually. First was that today Penguin's answer was finally "In few hours, Captain.", and she seriously couldn't bring herself to pack. And she needed to, eventually. Of course she won't stay on that ship any longer than needed. Of course.
Second reason was much more serious than that (not that she was going to confess it was the first one she was thinking of the most). After the plunder her newly gained memories started to cause her troubles. She wasn't sleeping very much – even though she didn't want them to worry, Shachi, Penguin and Bepo spotted it on day one, and continuously tried to make her feel better and as sleepy as possible. Soon, the rest of the crew followed pattern, and she seriously needed to tell them to stop, or she was going to hate good, hot milk with honey for the rest of her life. Only Law remained oblivious to her state, even when her bags under now tired and unfocused emerald eyes became bigger than his.
There was a reason for that lack of sleep she was not going to share with anybody. Every night since she got her memories back, the nightmares would come; terrible, scary dreams, and always the same. It would start innocently – she would find herself looking at small, pale girl with raven hair. The girl would sit quietly, playing and painting something on the huge, blank pages in front of her. She would paint some figures, of humans and animals, all in beautiful, bright colours. Then, two strange figures will come; the first one will take the girl and start... dancing with her, or maybe just make her dance, tugging at her hair and hands painfully, and the other one will hold the paintings, ready to crush them. Then, the girl... no... suddenly, it was her who was being manipulated into that painful dance, and she would try to escape; she would push that first madly grinning figure away, ripp those... strings she was attached to it by, and turn to look at her paintings getting slashed and burned by that other person. And then, the blood; sticky, scarlet liquid will start to spill at her hands from remains of her work and she would wake up with a quiet scream.
Back to the present; Yuki started to look through her few belongings. She couldn't take all of the clothes she gained, so she needed to choose. Again.
After exactly one hour of having peaceful (or not so, given the fact she wanted to tear every damn thing to shards quite a few times) packing time, her door were widely opened, revealing Shachi. Her personal Mad Hatter looked around the room with disapproving look and crossed his arms. "Packing?"
Yuki didn't let that get to her. She would not admit she didn't want to leave the merry company she got herself past these few days. God, it was only few days... It certainly felt like ages. Who was she kidding, really... In only such of a short amount of time the yellow submarine became her home. Impossible. "Obviously."
Shachi made a face. "Yuki-chan..." She didn't answer. "Erm... we'll be landing in two hours." And, what surprised her, Shachi didn't say anything after that. He just sighed and left.
Yuki zipped small, black bag she borrowed from the Heart Pirates and went to close the door. Having nothing else to do, she laid on her... no, just on the bed and tried to be positive.
Let's face it. She didn't want to leave the crew. She wanted to stay, to be their nakama, to spend forever listening to Shachi's jokes, trying to make Penguin show any kind of emotion, laughing at Bepo's constant apologising. And even though she didn't want to think about that, she also wanted to keep going out in the nights, to sit on the railing and sing her own sad song; to wait patiently, because maybe Law will go out again; maybe he will sit beside, hand her something to drink and they will talk; or just keep quiet. They will tease each other, secretly having fun, but trying their best never to show any sign of it to the other.
She wanted... she wished she could stay.
But Yuki was sure of one thing; she couldn't be there, on this, ship, if Law didn't want her here. And he obviously didn't. That's why she'll quietly leave, and try to forget; she forgot almost everything from her past life, all that's left in her mind are scenes of pain and death; forgetting these few warm memories should be... easy, right?
Her eyes closed, and then opened again, looking at small package she took out from her jeans pocket. Yuki planned to give this to him long ago; just after the successful plunder, actually; but never really found right moment to do so. She went to get them to captain's quarters on that ship, being absolutely sure it was the place where the most beautiful and valuable treasures are being kept; and she wasn't wrong.
Her pale fingers roamed over the cold surface of gold. She discovered Law's ears were pierced, during first breakfast with all the crew; due to the fact he and Shachi started some kind of heated argument, she took her time properly observing ever-smirking captain, and came to the realisation that even though he could have, he didn't wear any earrings, as well as having a strange thought about how nice would simple gold look on the background of that tanned skin. Conclusion: golden earrings = perfect 'thank you' gift for Trafalgar Law. Problem was, how to get some nice jewellery in the middle of the ocean (AND, beneath the surface, to make things funnier); you could say that ship back then fell from heavens to her. And, oddly enough, she found just what she was looking for. The remaining problem was – how to give those things to Law.
Well... Not that she didn't have an idea how to overcome that one.
…
Shachi and Yuki burst into the latter's cabin, collapsing on the bed and trying to stop laughing their heads off. Yuki was giggling especially happily – she was grateful it was Shachi whom she caught on her way to captains' quarters, so she could spend these last few hours doing silly things with him and loosen up atmosphere a little.
Shachi started to quiet a little, and was actually able to say something. "...that was... the most ridiculous thing I've done in a while..." he laid completely on Yuki's bed, breathing still heavy from running.
"...Did you count... playing strip poker with Penguin... who should've been nicknamed 'Mr. Poker Face'... on the party?" Yuki managed to say between giggles. Shachi paled.
"I really did that?"
"Yup."
"You saw that?"
"Yup."
"...kill me..."
Yuki laughed and patted her friend lightly on his back. "Don't worry, you always play counting just hats anyway, and then you tried to make Law play along, so the game ended."
Shachi looked at her with panic starting to bloom in his eyes. "I really tried to make Captain play strip poker in front of you?"
Yuki nodded, faking serious expression. "He didn't want to, though, and told you he would strip you of your insides if you ask again."
"...and next? Man, just how much booze did I drink back then?"
"Then you promptly stopped asking, and the answer is: fifteen cups till poker tournament."
Shachi closed his eyes. "And I was still conscious, huh... New record. But, coming back to present, Yuki-chan, can you explain me simply and without long words, why the heck couldn't you just simply give him that 'thank you gift'?"
Yuki turned on her belly, so she was facing the ginger "Oh, come on, Mad Hatter, like it's so simple to just come to a guy who's been avoiding you for last four days and say something like 'hello! I've got something for you!' and give him a present."
"Mad Hatter? And, isn't it?" Shachi furrowed slightly, trying, like many others before him, to actually understand woman's logic.
"You don't like a nickname? I think it's nice... And yeah, it is. Maybe not for you, but for me certainly yes." Yuki smirked, but looked with curiosity at Shachi's trying.
"No, it's quite alright, I guess... Wait, so, because it's not easy thing to just simply go and give something to captain, you needed to tiptoe to his quarters, snuggle in, trying your best not to wake him up, leave the package on the desk, covering it with his papers, and escape, stealing one of his hoodies on the way? Why you took it for, anyway? And why the hell did I have to do all of the above with you?"
Yuki looked at him with guilt in her eyes and took the stolen hoodie from under her own, packing it swiftly in her small bag. "Yep, I think it was quite a good plan. And, it worked. And, I took the hoodie because I like it, which means, along with me being a pirate for now, that I could took it without permission. And, you did all of the above 'couse you're my friend and you just couldn't let me risk my life all on my own."
Shachi sighed and rolled his eyes. "Did that make me a decoy?"
"Kind of. Sorry. Harshness of life."
"...I hate you."
"Oh, no, you don't..."
…
The island was small and covered in thick mist. It had quite a big town, some villages, and no particularly important name. People there liked to sing, but it's really all there was to it.
Yuki jumped down form the submarine's deck. The ground felt foreign to her feet, and for a moment, she needed to be careful not to lose her balance. Yet she started to move towards the town, not looking back, not daring to. She could almost sense Shachi's disappointed expression and Penguin, patting his back. They were the only ones that saw her off; she didn't want the rest of the crew to know it's a final farewell. They anchored just a second ago, and all the guys were still inside, preparing for joy and rest the town was going to get them.
The girl was slowly reaching her destination – one of the smallest taverns in this town. She knew, that the pirates would go straight for the biggest one, so she decided to book a room somewhere far from it. The bartender and owner in one was nice enough and stopped flirting with her just after five minutes. He then told her some things about the town they were in – it was apparently called Abhean, and only thing the natives could be proud about was giant library in the centre.
Library... mused Yuki. Perfect. Just what she needed to solve few mysteries – namely, such philosophical questions as "Who the hell am I?".
…
Law was spinning on his chair, round and round, trying to actually think. Last few days he did nothing else – he skipped most meals, spending as much time as possible in his room, trying to fucking think.
The reasons of his inner turmoil were few and far apart. How to proceed when he was finally nearing the Sabaody Archipelago; what to do with Doflamingo - cunning man won't let him forget his presence for too long, especially when that idiot Bellamy went and allowed himself to be beaten by some weakling from East Blue; and, finally, what to do with no one else but a troublesome, highly annoying and teasingly sarcastic individual he lately got himself on the ship – namely, Yuki-ya.
The weirdest thing here – the latter case seemed to be the one he found the most hard to find resolution for.
Normally, he would just kick the patient out of his ship as soon as they anchored to another island, if not sooner. But this was no normal case. And few were the arguments saying so. Law closed his eyes, deciding to logically think it all through. Again.
First: his crew. He couldn't sail the Grand Line without a crew, and what annoyed him, they all got highly attached to that stupid Yukionna. What he would do if they were to rebel against kicking her out?
Second: the girl herself. She was a fast learner, he could say by the fact he actually caught her piloting the submarine when Shachi was off making coffee once. She was smart, had a wit, and was one of the best teasing toys he met so far. Plus, she was quite good with swordsmanship, so it wasn't like she would be a burden during their constant fights.
Third: … Law sharply opened his eyes. He didn't just thought about that time his cheek got mysteriously heated up, did he? He frowned, wondering. Surgeon still hadn't discovered what could've caused it, even after searching in every medical book on the ship.
And, finally, fourth: there was no way in Hell, and seriously, if there should ever be one, he would die and brush it off of the Hell's landscape, that Trafalgar Law was going to personally ask some weak, teasing and highly annoying girl to stay on his ship.
No. Fucking. Way.
He sighed, and decided to go for a walk. There was no point in sitting in a cramped submarine just so he could replay all those thoughts over and over again in his mind. Maybe, he should find some nice, quiet and peaceful inn and rent a room? No kidding, soon those bags under his eyes would get bigger than his face. Law could really use some nice rest, which sadly, despite being great way to travel the seas of Grand Line, his submarine just couldn't ensure.
Nodding to himself in appreciation, he stood up from his rolling chair and looked around to see where his hat and favourite hoodie was. Fuzzy thing he localized soon enough on top of some waste-paper on his desk – but hoodie probably went missing for good. Darn, that room could really use some cleaning, he thought. Taking the hat and adjusting his clothes, the Surgeon of Death got ready for going out; or he would have, if not for a small, black package that slipped off the desk and landed precisely on his foot, causing him to groan; if not in pain, then in pure annoyance. He picked it up though, and curiously read a note attached.
To Trafalgar Law.
Thank you for saving my life.
Even if I didn't want that, you allowed me to start again.
I will never forget how much of a gentle person you are.
Let's meet again, someday.
Yukionna.
Opening a package with an unreadable expression, he stared for few long minutes at it's contents. Then, he sighed and massaged his temples, trying to fight completely illogical urge to grin like an idiot. "Oh, fine!" he growled in a general direction of the ceiling.
...
Let's just say the Heart Pirates were a little surprised by the plain rings of gold adorning their captain's ears, two in each. Not that they particularly cared about what kinds of jewellery he wears. Only Shachi looked at the little circles with knowing smirk, thinking just for how long will he need to wait for his new-made friend to come back now.