Heartbeat

That first day, after being attacked, Law ordered her a day of rest. After that he had the crew set her up some targets, some moving ones as well, and had her practice her marksmanship instead of combat. Now, four days after the attack, he had her attacking the crew only. He ordered the crew not to attack her at all. She wondered why. They were supposed to be training her, yet this wasn't training her at all. It was like she was training the crew instead.

As she fired attacks at them, some combinations of the elements, they crew dodged them or sliced them to break up the attack. She couldn't help but be impressed at their skilled. She wondered if she would ever reach their level.

"Enough," Law ordered later that day. The crew cheer, though physically exhausted from their training the past few days. He walked over to Neo and looked down at her. He had a cranky expression on his face. "Shower."

She nodded, knowing it was an order instead of a question. Though she didn't think she really needed one. She hadn't done much since she was kidnapped. As she walked back to the sub with Law, the crew snickered. He glared back at them, causing them to quickly change their stances to look as if they weren't doing anything wrong. She casted her own glance over her shoulder at them and wondered why they were acting so weird. She then took a glance at the man beside her.

He'd been abnormally close to her these past few days and cranky, even for him. Usually he wouldn't be, close to her that is. She took that as the reason why the crew was laughing at their captain. They must have found his odd behavior funny.

Once they were back in his room, she grabbed herself a change of clothes and stepped into the bathroom. She did her best to hurry. Though it was difficult as her shoulder was still very sore. When she stepped out of the bathroom, Law was sitting at his desk. His head was low and arms crossed. She didn't say anything as she grabbed her brush and ran it through her hair. She then sat it down and walked over to him, expecting him to look at her. He didn't. "Captain?"

He didn't answer her when she spoke to him. She leaned in to him. That's when she noticed. He was asleep, snoozing peacefully. She pulled back. Totally at a loss at what to do now. She tapped her the toes on the floor before leaning into towards him again. She went to speak again, but paused.

She blinked. He looked different to her somehow. She tilted her head as she stared at his features. He didn't hold his typical smirk or scowl. He face was light, soft and…She couldn't put her finger on what else. She suddenly found she felt very uncomfortable. Her chest tightened. She rubbed it, and without thinking, reached out towards him. She didn't see him move. She only felt pain in her wrist and yipped. "I-I'm sorry."

He had woken up and grabbed her outstretched hand. He looked at her then darted his eyes around the room. He seemed to be out of it. Like he had forgotten where they were and who she was. "C-Captain?"

"Sorry," He mumbled as he released her and stood up. He shoved his hands into his pockets and walked away. "Let's go."

She quietly followed after him. While they walked she stole a glance at him. She knew he took naps, but this seemed different. He always woke up easily from a nap and always knew where he was.

Then she realized why he looked so different to her. He was tired. Like he hadn't been sleeping well or at all. She stole another look at him, wondering why he wouldn't be sleeping.

When they got back outside, she walked over to the ladder to climb down. Once again he picked her up and jumped over the side. She muffled a gasped. After what happened inside she sure wasn't expecting him to do that. She glanced up at him. Shadows were once again casted over his eyes.

Once they hit the ground he immediately sat her back on her feet and continued walking over to the fire with his hands in his pocket. She followed him in confusion and ended up sitting by him, on his left side. He made no objection or noise as he crossed his arms. She looked at him then over to Penguin, who was cooking over the fire and trying to suppress a grin.

She sighed. Frustrated at her own inexperience with people.

Later that night, the crew kept glance over at her and Law then tried to suppress smiles or chuckles. And Law, in turn, would shoot them disapproving glares or frowns. This only added to her frustration at her inexperience with social settings. She didn't have a clue what was going on. The only thing she could confirm herself was that there was some kind of silent battle between the captain and the crew and that Law was eating more slowly than usual. His constant pauses to send threats to his crew probably had a lot to do with it.

After they all were done eating, Shachi gathered up the dishes and disappeared into the sub to wash them. The rest of the crew wondered off, but stayed within sight. Neo found herself staring up at the night sky. It was very clear tonight. Thousands of stars glittered above her. She found herself very calm in that moment. "It's nice out here tonight."

"Hn," Law grunted at her.

"We sure don't get to see the stars like this when we're on the sub," She mumbled more to herself than to Law. The wind blew, teasing her hair. She tucked a strained behind her ear. When she lowered her hand back down her fingers entangled in someone's hair. Still entranced by the stars, she didn't even noticed. "They're very beautiful and kind of mysterious."

"Just like you," She snapped her eyes to her lap when Law had spoke. She then noticed that he, at some point, had laid his head in her lap and her fingers were mindless wondering through his dark tresses. His eyes were closed. He let out a content sigh and mumbled. "What are you doing to me?"

Her chest tightened again as she pulled her fingers from his hair and looked at them. What was she doing? She didn't move until she felt his fingers wrapping around her wrist, pulling her hand back down to his hair. "Don't stop."

"Uh, C-Captain?" She stuttered. When he didn't answer she leaned close to him. He didn't move. Didn't acknowledge her or the current position they were in. He only breathed in and out. She tilted her head. Was he asleep again? She reached her free hand out to him.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed someone reaching for her hand. He wrapped his fingers around hers, stopping her from touching Law. She turned to find Penguin kneeling behind the log, holding a finger to his lips. "Let him sleep."

"He is asleep," She spoke the words as if she was confirming what he said instead of questioning him. Her eyes drifted back to the sleeping man.

"He hasn't been sleeping these past few days," When Penguin informed her of this she whipped her attention back to him. She must have held a worried expression. He chuckled and patted her shoulder assuringly. "Don't worry. After a good nights rest he'll be back to normal."

"But why? Why isn't he sleeping?" She dropped her eyes back to Law only to put them back on Penguin when he chuckled. "What?"

"He'll never admit this, but it was because those mercenaries took you. He's been worried that they might come back and try to take you away from him again," Penguin explained.

"But why would he worry about that? They're gone now. You guys took care of them. I don't understand," She admitted. "Why would that worry him?"

Penguin didn't reply. She narrowed her eyebrows a bit and waited for his answer. She only received another chuckle as he stood up. He patted her head. "You're too sweet and innocent. Try not to think about it, Neo. You'll understand someday."

"Uh, Penguin," She protested, but didn't receive anything more from her friend as he walked off. It was at that moment she noticed that the rest of the crew was suspiciously missing. She let out an annoyed huff before fixing her gaze back on the man laying on her lap. Her annoyance quickly left her as she watched him sleep.

As she watched him, the feeling she felt back on the sub when he had fallen asleep returned to her chest. Then, underneath the stars with this stranger laying comfortable on her lap as if he had done it many times, she felt something else. Something that she hadn't felt in many years. Her heartbeat.

Her heart thumped against her chest. She touched her fingers to her chest as if to check and make sure she actually felt it. It did. There it was. Thumping in a rapid motion inside her body. Her face became hot. She moved her hand up to her head and wondered if she was getting sick. What else could have caused her to feel like this?

She didn't have time to think about it as Law's voice drifted back to her ears and pulled her back to reality. Though his voice was low, his words were very clear. "Lami…get down from there. You'll…hurt yourself."

Author's Notes: I give up on trying to figure out which spelling is correct for Lami's name. I seriously have seen it spelled like five different ways, if not more. So I'm just going to stick with this version and let it go. -.-'