Doubts
Neo sighed as she laid her pen down on Law's desk. She leaned back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling for a while before closing her eyes. Slowly she felt herself drifting off. She was on the edge of falling asleep when a voice rang through her ears. "Neo?"
Her body jerked when Law spoke her name. "I didn't mean to startle you. What are you doing in here?"
"Oh, um, I was just practicing writing," She looked towards the paper and pen on his desk. He raised an eyebrow at her.
"On my desk?" He inquired.
"I didn't mean to invade your space. It's just that…," Neo's voice trailed off as she looked down. She heard Law walking towards her, but didn't look up at him. She didn't even say anything when he picked up the paper she'd been writing on and leaned against the desk.
Law's eyes dragged lazily over the paper. She was writing the names of the crew down, including his, mostly his. His name was on there more than the others. "You're writing out the crews names?"
She shrugged then nodded.
"What's wrong?" Law asked.
"Nothing."
"Don't lie to me."
"It's really nothing. The crew's been busy lately. I guess I'm just feeling a bit…alone," She confessed. She wondered why the crew was suddenly being distant from her. It was coming upon her one year anniversary with them. In fact, tomorrow was that day. And never in the time she has been with them that she was ever alone. They were always there. Even at the beginning, when she was stubborn and fought against them, when she'd kneed Penguin, they were there. She didn't realized how much she was use to them being around until they weren't.
Law continued to stare at her, as she mulled over her thoughts, until her growling stomach broke the silence. She looked down at herself and placed a hand on her stomach.
"It's about dinner time. Why don't we get it started?" Neo whipped her eyes up to him. She couldn't recall a single time he ever set foot in the galley to cook. He didn't register her reaction as he pushed off the desk. He tossed a look over his shoulder. "Are you coming or not?"
"Yes, sir," She jumped up and hustled to catch up to him. She met him in the hall. The two walked in silence to the galley. She glanced at him, glad to have his company right now. As they walked down the hall, she paused at the rec. room. The crew had been keeping her away from it. She didn't know why. They never would give her a straight answer when she asked them what they were doing or if they wanted to do something with her. She could see from the shadows passing underneath the door that they, or some of them, where in there.
"Neo," Law's voice called for her.
"Coming," She abandoned the door to reclaim her spot by his side. "So, what are we making?"
"Stew. Start cutting up the vegetables," Law calmly ordered her as he pulled out two large pots. She pulled out an array of veggies, washed them off and laid them on the counter. Then she got out the cutting board then slid open the drawer that held the knives and reached for one.
She paused. Her fingers less than an inch from the sharp object's handle.
A couple months ago, Law finally put all the knives, and other sharp stuff, back in their rightful places. Still, this was the first time she was this close to something sharp. The first time Law allowed her to actually touch the potential death item. Her hand trembled as the times she tried to kill herself flashed through her mind.
Unknowing to her, Law watched her carefully and tentatively. She took a slow, deep breath before finally touching the handle. She slid it out of its holder. Her eyes locked on the sharp blade. She took another slow, deep breath before grabbing a potato. She placed the veggie on the cutting board and made the first cut. As the knife slide through the thick spud, her anxiety slipped away from her.
She was able to finally relax after that first cut. Law, satisfied, turned back to his own duties as she proceeded to cut up the vegetables with relative ease. She watched the others cut stuff up so she pretty much knew what she was supposed to do. She was fine until she got to the carrots. Those proved difficult to her.
She hand her left hand holding the stubborn piece of food as she pressed the knife to it. Her slow cuts were starting to make her wrist hurt. She paused what she was doing and sighed. She was so frustrated with the carrot that she didn't even noticed Law had stepped behind her until he placed his hands on hers. She jumped at his touch. "You're holding the carrot wrong. Keep doing it like that and you're going to cut yourself."
"S-Sorry," She stuttered.
"Hold down the carrot like this," Law instructed as he moved her left hand, placing her finger tips on it instead of her entire hand. He then guided her with the knife, making swift movements. She blinked at how easy it was with him guiding her. Then she shouldn't have been surprised as he was a gifted surgeon after all. She could testify to that herself from the times he's taken care of her.
She felt her face get warm at those thoughts. He pulled away from her, taking his warm touch with him. "Try it yourself now."
"Right," She squeaked. She cleared her throat and proceeded with the next carrot. She wasn't a quick as Law had been but it was an improvement from before. After she was done cutting them up, she scooped them up and dropped them into the pot that Law was stirring.
A little while after that, Law was sitting at the table while she continued to stir the pots of stew. The crew came walking in. Shachi was the first to walk over to her. He put his arm around her shoulders as he sampled the stew. "This is good, Neo! Who knew you'd be such a great cook?"
"Thank you. But it wa-"
"If she can cook this good we just might have to make her our official cook," Law suddenly cut her off. She jerked her eyes over to him, but he was intently look down into his cup of tea. He finally looked up at her and smirked. She blinked. Why was he giving her all the credit when they both made this stew? She did admit to herself that she enjoyed making it, but that wouldn't make him give her all the credit.
Neo ate quietly as the crew chatted about whatever they felt like as they devoured their dinner. She stirred her own bowl of stew, occasionally taking a bite, then stirred it some more. She didn't looked up as the crew began to shuffle out of the galley. "Neo?"
She looked up to Penguin's smiling face. She stared at him, wondering why he was so distant. She sighed and smiled at him. "I'm just tired. I think I'm going to go to bed early."
He tilted his head, his smile loosing about half of its brightness. Her eyes went back to her stew so she didn't seen the warning glance Law gave Penguin. Penguin placed his hand on her back and rubbed it a couple times. He then leaned to her and kissed her temple. "You rest then. Things will be back to normal tomorrow. I promise."
"Uh huh," She replied half heartedly. Penguin wasn't sure if she actually heard him or not, but left to join the rest of the crew anyway.
Only her and Law remained in the galley after that. Once she had, finally, finished her stew, she stood up and began to wash the dishes. Law quietly watched her for a while. "You don't have to do that. The others will do it later."
"I don't mind," She replied back, narrowing her eyebrows slightly. "It's not like I have anything else to do and they're obviously busy."
They went quiet after that. Neo scrubbing the dish, while Law continued to watched her silently. His watch on her intensified when she was drying off the knife she was using earlier. She was kneading her eyebrows at it while she ran the cloth over its sharp blade, her image reflecting in the blade when she turned it. Eventually she slid it back into its holder.
She laid the towel on the counter then walked towards the door. "I'm gonna go lie down."
Law frowned as he watched her go.
She paused at the rec. room door. Muffled voices came from the other side. She lowered her head, her bangs casting shadows over her eyes and continued walking. She crawled onto Law's bed and flopped down on her stomach, quickly falling asleep.
The problem with her going to sleep early, it caused her to wake up early. Since the sub was above the sea level, anchored at an island that was nothing but rocks, she could tell that the sun wasn't up yet, but its rays were starting to leak over the horizon. Her eyes drifted to the man sleeping beside her. He was on his stomach, head turned towards her, looking uncharacteristically soft and vulnerable. Without thinking, she reached out and ran her fingers through his wild black hair. The corner of his lips twitched into a small smile as she did this.
She watched him sleep for a little while longer before slipping to the end of the bed. She placed her feet on the cool floor and stood up. She used the bathroom before quietly slipping out of his room. Once again she paused at the closed door of the rec. room. She didn't know if the crew was in there or not. She wanted to reach for the doorknob, but her feet pushed her forwards towards the kitchen.
A chill bit at her skin as a sweet scent hit her nose when she stepped into the room. She didn't register the sweet smell as something out of place and went right over to where the knives were kept. She slid open the drawer and stared down at the sharp objects. Absentmindedly, she ran the tips of her fingers over the handles.
…
Law rolled over onto his back and stretched out his arms with a yawn. Without thinking about it, he let his left arm drop to Neo's side of the bed. When he didn't feel her there he looked over and blinked. He was always up before she was. He didn't think much of it as he got up from the bed to preform his morning routine.
Once done with that, he set out in search of the absent girl.
He scratched his head when he couldn't find her in her usual places. He wondered into the galley where Penguin and Shachi were bustling about making a huge breakfast and chatting all at once to the point that Law couldn't understand a word they said. "Where is she?"
"Uh?" Shachi paused, finally realizing his captain standing there. He jumped and flapped his arms and legs wildly. "Captain! We're not ready yet! She shouldn't be here now!"
"She's not with you?" Penguin questioned when he noticed Neo wasn't at her usual place beside their captain. Shachi halted his protesting when he registered what his captain had asked him.
Law's chest tightened as he promptly walked over to the knife drawer and jerked it open. He peered into it. His fists clenched tight. One of them was missing. He slammed the door closed then turned to his crew. "Find her! Now!"
Shachi and Penguin scrambled out of the room. They got the rest of the crew and dashed around the sub trying to find their missing friend. They couldn't find her anywhere. Penguin started to express his concern over her. "I don't get it. Why would she suddenly disappear?"
"This doesn't make any sense," Shachi added thoughtfully.
"Captain! Captain!" Bepo cried as he ran up to the group.
"Bepo, did you find her?" Penguin and Shachi asked at the same time.
"I didn't," He replied.
"Then why are you calling out for the captain like that?" They demanded.
"I'm sorry," Bepo bowed his head. "I was just coming to inform him that I can't track her scent because it's all over the sub."
"So what do we do now, Captain?" Penguin asked as they turned to find their captain missing. "Where'd he go?"
"Don't tell me we have to find him now too!" Shachi screeched.
"Let's keep looking. Maybe we just over looked her," Penguin suggested, worry clearly plastered his hat hidden face. "She is quiet after all. She wouldn't run away from us. Not now. Not after this long."
"Of course she wouldn't," Shachi patted his friend's shoulder. "Let's get back to looking."
...
Shadows were covering her eyes as she stood alone. She was standing on a cliff. She recalled being in a similar position like this a year ago. She just stood there in the quiet. Unmoving. Not thinking. Until a dark presence appeared behind her.
She didn't have to turn around to know who it was. She'd know his presence anywhere. Still, she had to turn around and face him. She had wondered from the sub, without anyone escorting her. She took a slow deep breath and turned to face her fate.
When she turned around to face him, his dark, storm filled eyes drilled into her. It would have been an understatement for her to think he was angry at her. She expected him to yell at her. To punish her somehow. Or something. Anything.
What she didn't expect was him to dart his eyes all over her body. She didn't expect him to stalk up to her, grabbed her wrists and jerk her body every which way he could. He was looking for something. When he couldn't find whatever it was he was looking for he jerked her back into the right position so she would be facing him. The storm in his eyes died down a bit, but he was still very upset with her. The hold he had on her wrists had loosened too, but remained firm. "Why did you leave the sub?"
"I don't know," She muttered, dropping her eyes to the ground. She yipped at the pain when Law squeezed her wrists.
"I told you not to lie to me!" His voice was as harsh as she has ever heard it. "Tell me now! Tell me why you left the sub without permission! Tell me why you left m-left the crew."
She bit her lip and started to trembled in his hold. "If you don't want me there anymore you all can just tell me."
"What are you saying?" Law's hold lightened up a bit.
"The crew...they have been avoiding me so much. When that happens...t-the people I'm with," She sniffed as tears streamed down her cheeks. "The people I'm with are getting ready to ship me off to someone else. I-I don't want that. I don't want you all to leave me somewhere. I want to stay with you. Please let me stay!"
Law released her wrists. He placed a hand behind her head and pulled her into his chest. "Those idiots. I told them that was a bad idea."
"W-What?" Neo questioned through her sobs and his chest.
"Stupid girl," Law said as he kept his hand on her head and firmly pressed into him. "That's not at all what they were doing."
"T-Then what are they doing?" She tilted her head up to look at him with tear filled eyes. He flinched when she looked at him. She finally had trust in them and that was on the verge of being shattered because of his crew's silly ideas. "Why are they avoiding me?"
He finally released her with a heavy sigh. He took her hand and pulled her back towards the sub. "Come on. Let's go back now. I'll show you what they were doing."
"O-Okay," She rubbed the tears out of her eyes with her free hand while she allowed him to lead her wherever his heart desired.
…
Neo blinked in confusion at the festive state of the rec. room, which included a large cake and presents sitting on the table, as the crew rushed up to her, expressing their concern about her disappearance. Penguin put his arms around her in a hug. Though she didn't noticed as her eyes remained on the room. "Neo, why did you wonder off like that? You scared us!"
"W-Wha...W-What is this?" Neo asked, eyes still on the room.
"This is what my boneheaded crew has been up to," Law informed her as he sat down on the couch, his arms resting on the back of it. His hat was lowered over his head so his crew couldn't see the death glare he was giving them.
"It's a party for you," Bepo shyly said. Neo just stood there, blinking in utter confusion. "Don't you like it?"
"She doesn't know what a party is," Law huffed in annoyance. When the crew finally looked at him, he revealed his dagger filled glare at them. They froze in place, finally understanding their mistake. "You made her cry. And you're going to be punished for that later."
"Oh, Neo," Penguin, broke of his frozen state, hugged her again. "We're sorry! We didn't think about it. We wanted to give you a surprised party. You've been with us for an entire year now."
"We wanted to show you that we care about you," Shachi added. "We never even thought about you taking our secret the wrong way. We're very sorry."
Tears spilled down her cheeks again. The crew flinched. "You guys. I'm sorry I misunderstood you."
"It's ok," They cooed as they group hugged her. Bepo then pounced away from them, cut her a piece of cake and walked it over to her.
"Here. It's vanilla," Bepo handed out the plate with one hand as he held the knife in his other.
"So that's where that went," Law muttered. She took the plate from Bepo then looked over at Law. When their eyes met he immediately lowered his hat, attempting to avoid her gaze. She finally realized what his concern before was really about. It wasn't because she'd left the sub. It was because he thought she had a knife and was going to attempt to kill herself again. He was looking her over for the missing knife and for stab wounds.
She stood in place, fingering the plate in her hands while feeling guilty, as the crew set out to devour the cake. She then walked over to Law and sat beside him. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you think that I was...that I was trying to kill myself. I wasn't. I was just upset and wasn't thinking clearly."
She waited for him to answer, but he didn't. She picked up the fork and speared her a piece of the cake. She slid it into her mouth then slid the fork back out. She made a low 'mmm' sound signaling she liked the treat. She went to fork her another bite when Law's arm came around her shoulders.
He drug his finger along the side of the cake, taking some icing from it, then brought his flavored finger to his lips. In the process of doing this, he pulled Neo closer to him. He stuck his finger into his mouth and sucked off the icing. With his finger still in between his teeth he spoke to her. Low enough that only she could hear. She glanced up at him. His voice wasn't harsh. It wasn't cold. But there was something there. Something out of place. A tone she's never heard in his voice before. His voice trembled? "Don't ever leave the sub like that again."
"I won't," She whispered back her promise. He quickly removed his arm from around her and placed on its former spot on the back of the couch.
"Here," Bepo held out a present for her. She placed her partially eaten cake on her lap and opened his gift. It was a book of the world that held pictures and descriptions about different places in the world. She got a few more books, clothes, a few other items from the crew.
Later that night, she was sitting on the bed and Law at his desk. The book Bepo had gotten her was pressed upon her bent up legs. Her eyes darted over the pages with child like enthusiasm. Occasionally she'd look up and question about something in the book or mention she'd like to someday see these places to Law.
She didn't even noticed he was acting differently as he dutifully answer her questions without any sign of aggravation that she kept interrupting his own reading. Though he did finally interrupted her as she chatted on about islands in the sky. "That's enough for tonight, it's time for bed."
"Okay," She reluctantly crawled off the bed with a little pout on her lips. She hugged the book to her chest and smiled, almost giddily. Blissfully unaware of Law watching her and fidgeting in his chair.
Once the book was back in its place on the shelf, she headed for the bathroom. When she was done with her nightly routine she opened the door to step out, only to get Law's hand in her face. "Here."
She blinked at his hand. In his palm was a small silver circle. She blinked a couple more times before picking the circle up. On one area it had a light blue crystal shape heart embedded in it. She looked up at him. He wasn't looking at her. His gaze was cast to the side as he rubbed the back of his neck, a light red dusking his cheeks. "It's my present for you."
When she didn't reply he looked at her. She had pushed upon her toes so she was about eye level with him. He was about to demand what she was doing when she placed her left hand on his forehead and her eyes filled with concern. "Your face is red. Are you feeling sick? Should I get the others? Do you need some water? O-"
"No, Neo," Law took her hand off his forehead and held it. "I'm not sick."
"Okay," Neo tilted her head. Concern was still filtering through her eyes. He sighed then plucked the ring out of her hand and slipped it on her finger on the hand he was already holding. He then brought his hand up to his lips and kissed the back of her fingers. Now her face turned red.
"There's no need to be concerned about me," He assured her. "Get to bed now."
She nodded slightly. She pulled her hand away from him and crawled into bed as he quickly stepped into the bathroom. As she laid there, she held her hand up and stared at the ring, Law's kiss flashed back into her mind. Her heart pounded in her chest.
Soon Law had joined her. They both were laying on their backs, staring up at the ceiling in silence. "T-Thank you, Captain. It's very pretty."
"Law," Law's voice was barely audible. Neo rolled onto her side and looked at him. "Call me Law when we're alone."
"Law," He couldn't help but smirk at the way she said his name. It was like she was tasting something for the first time and liked it. She pulled the covers up to her lips and giggled like she was doing something mischievous. The chiming bells only made her sound more mischievous.
He chuckled himself before ordering her to sleep. "Go to sleep now."
"Good night…Law," She giggled again.
"Good night, Neo," He watched her as she closed her eyes and quickly fell asleep. As she slept, he reached over and brushed some of her hair out of her face. She was sleeping peacefully, with a light smile on her lips. Blissfully unaware of the emotions she stirred within both of them.
…
Author's Notes: As promised a longer chapter. I think this one's my favorite so far. Too many cute Law x Neo moments! *squee*