Akane awoke to the nudge of Captain by her side. From the time he was created, Akane felt a connection to the sand being. Captain would always wake up early and would be irritated if the girl didn't wake up at the same time. He would always wake her up at the crack of dawn. She could barely see the light seeping through the dark curtains.
Carefully, Akane slipped around the covers. She kept her eyes on her brother as she tip toed her way out of the room with Captain on her shoulder.
Her brother needed to sleep in for once. If Luffy's cure for more energy was food and Law's cure for energy was reading, she concluded that Kid's cure was sleeping. It seemed to work for her since she felt so much energy this morning.
"Yosh, today's breakfast will be omelet rice Captain. We still have the leftover rice and lots of eggs!" She announced.
Captain gave a silent approval to the little girl.
Taking the eggs out of the large fridge, Akane began to crack the eggs into a glass bowl. She tossed in whatever spices she could find as Captain stirred the mixture. She remembered how her mother use to make omelet rice for them when Kid disappeared. He would often leave for days without telling her. Somehow he would always return on the days their mother made omelet rice. The scars and bruises he came in with didn't go over with her well. They had lived close to town but, the danger of the surrounding forest had still been there. Her mother often told her that Kid went off to look for his mother, that Kid and Akane only had the same father.
To this day, Akane didn't understand why Kid was searching for his mother when she was always at home. She still didn't understand what her mother meant. How could siblings only be half related? Maybe Law would know.
With the flip of the hot pan, Akane slid the last of omelet rice on the table. The job was much easier between two people instead of just herself. The table had been filled edge to edge with the yellow goodness, each having there own little ketchup design. In her opinion, the one that looked like her brother was the best one. The kitchen was a mess but that was something that didn't matter much to her at the moment.
"I think we made too many, Captain." Akane stated.
Before Akane could get another word out, Captain was out the door with a plate in each hand. Catching on to what he was doing, Akane quickly placed as many plates as she could on her arms and head. Both paced themselves as they got off the gothic deck.
The sky had been a mixture of blues and purples. She glanced up at the few stars that remained in the sky as the sun slowly rose.
"This was a great idea Captain! Now everyone can try our omelet rice!" Akane quickly sped up her pace to the yellow submarine. It wasn't hard to balance all the dishes on her. This had been one of a handful of things she was thankful to have gained while enslaved. She remembered the small competitions she would have with the other kitchen workers. Whoever could carry the most plates to the table was declared the kitchen winner for the week. The competition soon stopped after they had been caught by the maids. She never did see the other workers there again.
"Oi! Up here!" She heard someone call out.
She couldn't help but wave when she spotted Shachi on the deck of the submarine.
"Hey! Akane up here!" Penguin waved frantically.
She didn't have time to respond to him. Her body suddenly pushed itself forward before disappearing. With a blink from her brown eyes, she had been in the exact same spot Penguin had been in. Looking over the railings, she could see Penguin yelling about how it wasn't fair that their captain did that.
"Boo." Law whispered.
Hearing the noise so close to her ear had frightened the girl into throwing the dishes into the air.
"Not the food!" Sachi yelled as he grabbed several of the plates. "Haha… safe… food… good food." He cried to himself.
Turning his head, he found one omelet rice splattered on the wooden deck. With some sniffling and rubbing of his eyes, he gave a salute to the single omelet rice that lost its battle with gravity.
Giving a sigh of relief at the saved plates, Akane turned to see Law casually eating the omelet rice that was still balanced on the girls head. Looking up, she saw the doctor giving her a casual wave.
Even if she wanted to, she couldn't blame the doctor for having fun. Kid did it all the time and as long as no one got hurt, she would be okay.
"Is it good?" She asked.
Law could see how happy the girl was over the eaten omelet. He couldn't just say it was good, that would be an understatement and just offending.
"Hm.." He said.
He took another bite as he pretended to think about if it was good or not. He took the spoon out of his mouth and placed it back on the empty plate.
"It wasn't good at all." He said.
The comment had visibly alarmed the girl. Her shoulders sagged slightly at his words.
"Oh…" She responded.
"AHHHH! AKANE NO IT'S REALLY GOOD. SEE! I'M EATING MY SECOND PLATE!" Sachi yelled out as he stuffed his face.
"Hey! I want some too!" Penguin voiced in from below the deck, still trying to climb up the submarine.
"He's wrong Akane." Law said as he kneeled down to her level. "The food wasn't really good. Never let yourself believe that your food is 'really good'.The food you made was astounding."
Her frame popped back up at the new compliment.
"As-tound-ing. That's a good word?" She questioned.
"A very good word." Law said. He silently laughed at the irony of his own words.
"Law! I found something as-tound-ing too!" She chirped.
"Oh? And what was it that you found?" He asked as he led her to the examination room she became so accustomed too. He could hear Penguin sob as he closed the door. Something about how there was no more food for him. Law rolled his eyes at the idiocy of his crew.
Sitting down on the heightened examine table, Akane began to tell Law about her recent dream as he took off the last of the bandages wrapped around her forearm.
Law absorbed the story carefully as he applied ointment. He would need to look into whatever he could find on these lion dog hybrids.
"And they said they would help me protect! I think they are trying to help from here." She said, pointing to her heart.
What an interesting place she had pointed to. The heart.
"Why the heart?"
"Cause that's where they jumped into. That's when I woke up." She explained.
Law gave a nod to the girl, listening as he finished his examination.
"Well it seems that your wounds no longer require any bandaging. They shouldn't hurt anymore. And if they do, tell me so I can treat it." He explained.
So much improvement had happened in the short few weeks. It was nice to see the child genuinely smile after the torment she had gone through. The Red Devil did have his bright moments. She deserved much more than what she received. Revenge may not have room in her heart but, he knew he had much space in her place.
Jumping off the table, Akane stretched out her short arms. Ever since the bandages have been placed, her movement felt constricted. Being able to move her arms outwards had greatly improved her overall mood.
"Thank you doctor! I have to go now! Brother should be up by now. I gotta go tell him my dreams!" She gave a quick hug to his legs before running out the door.
"The heart huh? What an amusing muscle..."
By the time she stepped into the galley on the gothic ship, the room had been cleaned and empty of food. She spotted Wire putting the dishes back into the cupboard.
"Oh… Um. Thank you, sir." She said from the doorway. Even with the weeks spent wandering around the ship, she never did run into her brother's other crew members. The deck was always empty unless Kid would call in a meeting. It was very different compared to Law and Luffy's ship. Both captains seem to have crew members wandering around almost all hours of the day.
Akane gave the tall man a slight bow, unsure with how to talk to the man. She was surprised when Wire passed her and patted her head.
"It's Wire. No need for the formalities." He stated.
She couldn't help but smile at the oddly dressed man.
With the kitchen clean and everyone full, Akane made her way to her Kid's room. If he would allow it, maybe she would visit Luffy. She did promise Sanji that she would come by for dessert.
Opening the door, she found the room dark and empty. The bed had not been made and Kid's usual accessories were missing from the dresser.
"He must be in the office." She muttered.
The way to the small office was one that she often avoided. The hallways were always dark and the floor was always freezing against her bare feet.
Quietly, she tip toed her way across the narrow hallway. The light coming from under the door alerted the girl. The door was ajar allowing the voices to flow out. It was strange to hear her brother whispering. He was a loud man who always wanted everyone around to hear him. Curiosity got the better of her, so she stuck her herself against the wall near the door.
"There's a war coming here Kid." Killer tried to explain.
"Do you think I don't know that?" Kid retorted. "The ship is coated and we leave tomorrow. Our agreement with straw hat and Law is over once sunrise hits."
"Do you think it's wise to not let Akane know of our plan?"
Kid leaned on the table, his hands crossed together in thought.
"It's better for her to be left out of the loop." Kid stated.
"Why is it better for me to be left out?!" Akane cried out.
The door had swung open to reveal the distressed red haired girl.
"Shit." Killer said.
It was a shock to hear his sister shout at him. Never had he heard her raise her voice.
Taking a deep breath Kid began explaining, "Your friend Firefist is going to be executed the day after tomorrow. We all know Luffy is prepared to leave tonight."
"We have to help then." Akane said softly, backing slowly away.
"We can't"
"But we have to!"
"I said no!" He yelled out. He had slightly lost control of his temper. The table he had been leaning on, shattered across the room.
"Calm yourself!" Killer shouted, stepping in between him and Akane.
His choice of action was instantly regretted as he looked at Akane. She wasn't frightened of his action. Instead, her eyes looked tired, as if she had seen this many times before. Her stance was stiff and unmoved.
Kid's face stayed leveled. "This isn't our fight. My job isn't to help them. Only idiots are participating in the upcoming fight."
"He's my friend, brother. We don't abandon nakama." She said thoughtfully.
He heard her words. The frightening true words.
"We leave at sunrise." Kid announced.
Kid narrowed his brown eyes on the girl. He didn't want to make her upset. But he was captain, and his priorities came first. There was too much risk in going against the whole Navy.
"That wasn't fair for her, Kid." Killer spoke as they went up the stairs.
"Well life isn't fair Killer. It's kill or be killed."
He would talk to her in the morning. Right now, all he wanted was to go to bed. He would need to wake up early to buy a new desk before leaving.
If her brother wouldn't help then that was his problem. She stayed in the room empty room for a while. That's what she would do when her master made a tantrum. It was her duty to clean up the mess left behind. Even though Kid had told her multiple times that she didn't need to clean up anymore, she would do it out of habit. Only when the floor was left gleaming did she leave. The moon was already high in the sky when she got off the deck. No one would see her in the dark. The anchor was already up on Thousand Sunny, which meant that Luffy would be leaving soon. Using the sand around, Akane pushed the ground under her. With some minor wrist movements, a staircase was made in front of her. The control she had over the sand still amazed her. It felt more like an instinct than thought to actually call her powers. It was still a struggle to control smaller minerals around her like the ones found in metal, but rocks and boulders had given her no trouble.
"Protect!" The voices in her mind shouted.
Her nervousness shattered as the sand gave her a final push onto the deck of Thousand Sunny. "I'm an idiot then." Akane stated.