Chapter 10: THE Law

Tuesday occurred just as Law had predicted. Nami didn't go to school. She avoided any conversations from Robin that asked about what happened yesterday. But ultimately, she just wanted to be alone. Somewhere in Robin's gut, she knew Sanji was the reason but said nothing.

At around two in the afternoon Law came over as promised. He took off his shoes and headed straight to Nami's room.

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

"Nami it's me. I've got your homework."

He looked to his side to Robin.

'Is it open?' he mouthed to her.

Robin nodded and Law entered her room, closing the door behind him. Nami was asleep, curled into a ball with her air conditioner on full blast. He made his way to the edge of her bed and did a look-over on her room. It was clean and very orange. Her furniture was brown but the room had orange things everywhere. It even smelled slightly of oranges. She must have really liked oranges to go out of her way to decorate her room this way.

He looked at her sleeping face and sighed. Her eyes were extremely puffy and there were dried tear stains on her cheeks.

"Nami. Wake up."

She stirred slightly with a light hum but didn't wake up. He started to nudge her gently.

"Nami, it's time to get up." he said gently. It was loud enough to be heard but it was a very nice tone of voice he used.

She still didn't wake up. She only nestled into her blanket and pillow even more. Law was losing his patience. He knew how she felt but this wasn't going to get him anywhere. He didn't want to be there but he felt guilty if he wasn't.

Then he thought of something. He went to the other side of the bed and began to roll her towards the edge. Nami had just started to wake up when she realized she was at the edge of her bed. She heard Law mutter under his breath, "one...two…"

"Push me over and I'll find that knife I promised you." she grumbled.

"Well good morning sunshine." He bit with sarcasm "It's two-something in the afternoon. Get up. You haven't eaten anything yet right?"

Nami sat up and rubbed her eyes. Sleep had been sinking back into her as she bobbed from left to right. She really did sleep most of the day. She looked over to her left to see Law kneeling next to her.

"Oh hey, when did you get here?" she asked tiredly.

'Is she seriously asking that? What happened to her threat?' he thought.

"Not too long ago." He got up from her bed and began to rummage through a plastic bag that sat next to his school bag. He grabbed out a plastic container of mini doughnuts and handed it to her. She sat there staring at the doughnuts like they were aliens while he grabbed at his math book. He figured he'd give her the assignment while she ate.

"So there's not much homework. Just read through the chapter and do practice problems one to twenty five. That's all." he noticed her face was still fixed on the doughnuts like they weren't from earth.

"Nami, they're doughnuts. Do you know doughnuts? They're small fried cakes of sweetened dough, typically in the shape of a ball or ring."

"Shut up I know what doughnuts are. But what's with these flavors? Ube? Bacon? Mango? And what's this? Orange?" she picked up the orange looking one and sniffed it slightly, sighing that her guess was right. At least one row of doughnuts seemed edible.

"Hey, be grateful I brought you anything at all. So eat it or pay up." he chided.

"Pay up" wasn't an option. She quickly popped the orange doughnut into her mouth and chewed slowly. Her mouth was extremely dry because she had just woken up so she didn't want to take any chances of choking.

"So? Am I right? This is the first meal of the day?"

She didn't say anything but nodded to answer his question.

"You slept all day?"

She bounced her head from side to side indicating a 'yes and no' answer. She finally finished chewing her doughnut and looked at Law. He was obviously uncomfortable in there.

"Thank you… for yesterday… and for the doughnuts..."

"Yeah you better say "thank you". I could have left your ass on the sidewalk but I'm just a really nice person. Besides, I've been in your shoes before. Though, I didn't have anyone to carry me home. I had to force my ass to walk for thirty minutes in order to get home. So consider yourself lucky chick."

"Lucky, sure… But you are right about one thing, you're a really nice person." She smiled.

Law smiled but sighed soon after.

"Nami, I'm not going to pry into your personal shit. You can talk about it if you want but its not my business unless you want it to be. I honestly think its something you should talk to Robin about since she's your best friend."

Nami looked down at the container of doughnuts and grabbed another orange doughnut. She contemplated on the idea as she began to chew into it. She looked at law with a pleading face and glanced at the door.

"Oi, now you're being spoiled. You get her."

Nami only looked back down onto the doughnuts and Law sighed.

"You know, she's pretty worried about you. She was hovering over me the afternoon I dropped you home." he said as he quietly made his way to the door. "Plus she's been hovering at the door since I got here." he suddenly opened the door to see a slightly embarrassed Robin standing in the doorway.

Nami giggled through her doughnut when she saw Robin. Law had shuffled back to the edge of Nami's bed when Robin spoke up.

"Well hello Nami. It's good to see you're awake. Do you want something warm to drink? Your room is colder than the rainy weather outside." Robin said rubbing her arms.

Nami nodded with an appreciative smile and Robin went to get them some warm drinks.

"See. You have a girl to talk to. So that means I can head out."

Law moved, ready to leave, when Nami quickly grabbed onto the sleeve of his hoodie. He looked down and his lips formed a thing frown line. She hadn't let go but that wasn't what was bothering him.

"Hey, don't wipe your fingers on my clothes." he muttered.

She felt embarrassed and let go immediately. "Sorry, I just didn't want you to go…"

"Then say so. Don't just expect people to read your mind." he lectured.

Robin had entered with a tray of drinks and set them on Nami's bedside table. Law looked at her like she was super woman.

"Robin that was fast. Were you preparing for this moment?" he questioned as she handed him his mug.

"Everything is instant and the water was already hot. Take it or leave it." she responded with a smile.

"Thank you." Nami said with a smile as she was handed her mug.

Hot chocolate was her favorite beverage on cold days like these. She always liked sweet things so this was perfect.

"Nami, if you don't mind, can I ask what happened?" Robin asked, with a look of compassion, concern, and curiosity.

Nami hesitated for a moment and then explained her feelings about Sanji since high school and then proceeded to what had happened Friday night. Law tried to maintain his composer at the part where she said, "Sanji fell asleep before he could finish the job", but found himself laughing hysterically. Nami's face was red with embarrassment and furry. In an attempt to defend her friend, Robin pinched his nipple.

"Ahhhh! I'm sorry! I'll stop laughing! Just stop pinching! It's still bruised from when Nami did it!" he pleaded.

"Nami, I will admit that part is funny but I find it unsettling. And I can understand your feelings. Zoro has done it a few times and I have to say that-"

"HAHAHA! Both you and Nami sure have bad luck with the men you set your sights on huh!" laughed Law.

This time both women grabbed and pinched at his nipples.

"I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY! I WON'T LAUGH ANYMORE! I PROMISE! JUST PLEASE STOP! IT HURTS!" he shouted.

As they released him, Law sighed heavily in pain. "Man, what's with you two pinching nips?" he asked as he covered his tenderness.

Nami only looked down at the rest of the doughnuts on her lap.

"Nami, was this perhaps your first time to attempt something like that?" Robin asked in a gentle tone.

Nami nodded.

"Wow, I wouldn't have guessed that your cherry wasn't popped yet. Your appearance and confidence says otherwise." Law said as he quickly covered his nipples. He was a bit unsure if he would get another pinch. "Sorry, that comment was uncalled for…"

Nami then continued with the rest of what had happened and how she ended up back home yesterday.

Robin sighed in disbelief. She didn't think Sanji could act that way towards Nami. She knew Sanji held the same feelings Nami had. Why was he acting this way?

Law placed a hand to his chin and hummed lightly to himself.

"I never thought he could be a dick to women. He always spoke of chivalry and shit like that."

"..."

"So Nami," Robin said as she placed her hand over Nami's. "…what do you plan on doing?"

"What do you mean? It's clear that I'm a "mistake" he made. I'm just going to pretend nothing happened. It'll be hard at first and awkward but eventually things will be ok."

"Nami, that's going to be painful." Law interjected.

"I agree Nami. That sort of thing is like rubbing salt on an open wound."

"I know but what else can I do? The least I can do is to try and get back to that basic friendship we had. Besides, being able to stay beside the one you love is one of the privileges of being a friend, right?"

Robin smiled softly as Nami's story pulled on her heart. Her actions were very commendable; even if it meant pain along the way.

"Nami, why don't you just force your love on him instead? Just because he's being a dick right now doesn't mean he won't eventually come to love you." Law suggested.

"Law, I don't want him to hate me any more than he probably already does."

"Ok, ok, I understand. Well, if you ever get tired or finally decide to move on I can-"

Robin cut him off before having him finish. She didn't like the sound of what he was suggesting.

"Law, I approve that you're a good friend to Nami now. But I hope I don't see you two together as a couple. Especially during her time of need. I know about your reputation and I'm quite fine with you being her friend but I'll have to draw the line as anything more than that."

"R-Robin that's out of the question! Trust me, something like that won't happen!" Nami stammered in defense.

"She's telling the truth. Although that's a reputation that haunts me, it helps maintain my image."

"Image? That's a bad image to have. Why not make another reputation as being a one-woman-kind-of-man?"

"Because I bat for the same team." he said so nonchalantly.

Robin's expression never changed but a blush across her cheeks said a lot of other things.

"Oh, I see. So is that the reason for the sudden addition to our table?" she giggled.

"Yup."

"May I inquire who it is, that you have your sights set on?" Robin was very interested in this newly discovered piece of information.

"Chopper." he said with confidence.

The blush on her face intensified slightly as certain scenarios crossed her mind but her face remained emotionless.

"I see. Well I think you'd make a lovely couple."

"What a change in decisions! You were so against me and Nami as a couple!"

"Yes, but now that I know your reputation is just there for image purposes, that means you're actually quite the devoted partner aren't you?"

"Thanks for your blessing." he said dryly.

"But I have to tell you, I don't think Chopper has even realized whether he likes girls or boys. He hit puberty a little later compared to most fifteen year olds. He was still short with a child like appearance and a higher pitched voice. The first summer after Nami disappeared, he went on a family vacation with his foster mother and came back, well, developed. To grow that much in three months is a little unbelievable but there are all sorts of hormones and supplements in today's foods so it doesn't seem that farfetched if you really think about it."

"What really? This is the first I'm hearing this!" Nami exclaimed in surprise. Robin only gave her an apologetic look for not saying anything. Weird things were something of the norm to the group and it didn't faze her to tell Nami.

"But Law," Robin continued, "I want Chopper to find out his orientation first. Even if he discovers he likes women, its not impossible for him to swing your way. Instead of pushing him one way, we should let him discover himself first. But I will say that Nami and I will help you out as much as we can. So for the time being, just be his friend. I can see he already looks up to you so its not impossible for some sort of bond or relation. Also, he's seventeen. You can't touch him legally. There is a law you know."

Law only nodded to show he understood. But he had to crack a joke.

"Yes I know there's 'a law' because I'm 'a Law'. That makes me 'THE LAW' since my initials are T. Law"

'How lame can his jokes be?' both women thought as they grabbed for his nipples.

"Ok! Ok! I'm sorry! It hurts!" he yelped.