A/N: Hello there! I'm back with another chapter, and happy as ever:) I don't know about my grammar anymore, though...
I suppose this chapter won't be so... liked as the ones before, you'll see why ^^ hah, I'm evil.
As always, thanks for great reviews, follows and favorites; and, special thanks for my great nee-san for reading this story even though she don't know One Piece :) Love you!
Ah, one more thing - since we're nearing the moment in which I'll start to write about PH arc, and it's still not finished in the manga, I might be taking short data-gathering break sometime soon. Don't hate me for it!
Yuki shuffled the newspaper she was currently reading. Some quite extraordinary things were happening all over the Grand Line, and she decided that, being, in her own mind, the only person in her whole crew that had at least small amount of common sense, she needed to keep a track on them. She was completely absorbed in her task, and failed to notice the noises left by a pair of black sandals, tiptoeing to her side.
"Anything interesting in that paper?" came victorious voice from behind the sheet. Yuki raised her eyebrows and smiled lightly, not bothering to lower the thing or take off her sunglasses. Not that she didn't like looking at the person speaking. More like she squinted at losing in that little situation – somehow, every little thing with her and Law participating, turned into contest. Millions of small games – 'Who's gonna finish eating first', 'Who's gonna drink more', 'Who's gonna wake up first the next morning'...
"Quite a few things. Seems like Luffy-kun is all good and better. He'd caused quite a havoc in the Navy HQ. Again." she said, skipping through the text. The submarine was at the moment floating in the middle of the ocean, quite nearby some summer island without any particular name. It was one of those few uncommon times when they had nothing to do and could simply relax. Right now, the only problem the Heart Pirates were encountering was the most simple question: whether they will or won't go straight to the New World, but that was for their Captain to decide. Said Captain was at the moment hovering above Yuki's deckchair, dressed in loose, yellow sweatshirt with black spots, simple, black shorts on his long legs.
"Is that so..." he murmured lowly, clearly not paying attention to her words. Yuki finally lowered the paper, looking at him with amusement behind her sunglasses. Few days had already passed since they left the Isle of Women, and since then, something was different between the two. Law would smile, not smirk, actually smile from time to time without any particular reason. Yuki would hum when she thought nobody was listening. They both seemed unusually happy. Funny thing, because nothing really happened. They had that party, shared a dance; one could say, nothing serious.
Yuki went back to reading, and asked, quite off-handedly. "Did you make up your mind whether we set sail or not? I'm quite curious about that New World... But at the same time, I wonder – are the Heart Pirates strong enough?"
"I'm thinking the same." Law sat on the side of her deckchair, stretching in the heat. Being a native from North Blue, he didn't really fancy high temperatures, but these little holidays he decided they can afford turned out to be nice idea. Even if Yuki refused to wear a bikini. "Why? Did you read something of the place that made you wonder?"
Yuki shrugged, and then grinned widely at the lines she just saw. "...nope, just, many other Supernovas are already showing off. Kidd set out from his first island in the New World, leaving it on fire, not that I'm surprised... X Drake-guy's planning something considering the fact he's supposed to be heading for Kaidou's favorite island right now... The girl with pink hair was arrested by Akainu..." Yuki was halted by weight of her Captain leaving her side. She glanced at him again, surprised. Law was frowning, and going in general direction of his cabin, or at least insides of the submarine. What the heck?
"...and where are you going?"
"Well, in case you forgot, Yuki-ya, I've got some duties as a captain of this ship. Feel free to continue relaxing, though; I'll manage everything on my own." he said sarcastically, completely ruining the mood. Yuki sighed and let him be. She wasn't going to argue now, when there was sun to enjoy. But the sudden change in Law's attitude made her uneasy. Did she say something she shouldn't have?
…
Exactly two hours have passed. Law was laying on his bed, looking at the ceiling. Inside the submarine wasn't so hot, and he loved to spend time in his own cabin, peacefully, quietly and without any annoying Yukionna by his side. He sighed, massaging his temples. Who was he kidding, really? Sitting in his room was deeply rooted habit of his, resurfacing every time he was in the slightest mad or uneasy. And the main problem wasn't actually the feeling alone; moreover, it was the fact he was getting like that far too often as of late. Every little thing bothered him, and most of them connected to Yuki. Law checked that up, few times, actually, but he couldn't find any sort of illness that could've caused such a behavior He even tried to find some drugs, but no, none of them. For the first time in his life, with all of his books and medical experience could he not understand the signals his own body given him.
Slightly higher temperature. Rush of blood to cheeks. Increased heart rate, uneasiness, sweating, obsessive behaviors. Periodical lack of blood for brain, causing the feeling of slight dizziness. Overproduction of endorphins. What the heck could it be? Law didn't like to be sick, and even more so, he didn't like to not know the sickness, being the best doctor on his ship.
He sighed again, and decided to go back to where his previous train of thoughts ended (namely, deciding they would need some more time for training before setting sail for the New World), when he was interrupted by very agitated and panicking Shachi, who burst into his room without knocking – scene unusual as it was.
"C-Captain!"
"What is it? What's happened?" Law was quite baffled by his subordinate's behavior.
"We w-were playing, and..."
"I'm busy, Shachi, I can't join you."
"B-but! But Yuki-chan..."
"Do you think that'd convince me? Even if she were to wear a swimsuit, and not that blasted T-shirt she found, I wouldn't..."
"Captain!" Shachi finally shouted, shutting his Captain up. "Yuki fell to the ocean!"
…
"...hah... you..."
"...ha... I'm... sorry..."
"S-sorry? ha... ha... You're an idiot!"
Yuki was currently laying on the main deck, surrounded by most of the crew, and coughing out some persistent ocean water. She was also busy throwing curses at her miserably looking Captain, who was more or less mimicking her actions; droplets of salt water dripping from his soaked form.
"...I know..." he couldn't really argue with that. Why did he run on the deck and jumped into the ocean the moment Shachi's words sank into his mind was beyond him. Everything he knew was that he really did that, and it was by far one of the most stupid things he had ever done. An anchor jumping into the ocean to save another anchor. He really was an idiot.
"You could've died! What were you thinking?" Yuki continued her scolding, making Law feel even more guilty, stupid and soaking wet. He waved the crew off – if he had to be scolded, he'd like it better for them not to hear this. Especially Penguin, who saved both him and Yuki in the end. When they were finally left alone, Law sat heavily on the floor and said quietly, his head down.
"..sorry. I know."
Yuki suddenly started to shiver. Well, at least she didn't start to cry, for what Law was grateful; despite being one of the very best doctors of the world, great Surgeon of Death had no idea how to cope with crying girl. No, all she did was hugging him tightly, mumbling even more curses into his chest; for some reason, Law realized she was scared not because she has nearly drowned, but because he could have shared her fate. That made him immensely happy, even though Law couldn't really comprehend the reason behind that feeling.
"I beg you, Captain, never try to save me again!" Well. Certainly unexpected turn of events, yep. But not half bad. At that point, Law's body decided there's no sense waiting for his mind's commands, and turned on autopilot. Law's arms raised, hugging the shivering girl just as tightly. His hands buried themselves in her wet, raven hair. His lips moved, whispering soothing words. Ten minutes passed, and the girl backed off, seemingly not quite content to do so. She averted her eyes, face bright red, mumbled something about needing to change clothes and almost ran back inside the submarine. Law still sat where he was, thoughtful look on his face. He didn't feel cold or wet. In fact, never in his life had he felt such warmth.
Suddenly, after quite awhile, Law heard all too familiar chuckle. He frowned at the figure that materialized in front of him.
"And what it is you want?"
…
Yuki was swirling in her cabin, not being able to stand still. How all that even happened? And what exactly had happened? Well...
Newspaper. Right. She was reading a newspaper, then Law came. Then he went away, probably sulking, gods know why. And then?
Ah, right.
Bepo came to her, moaning about the heat. He was a polar bear, nothing strange in the fact he wasn't good with high temperatures. So Yuki, being good friend she was, quickly jumped to the kitchen to bring the bear some icy drink, and found some forgotten, brightly coloured ball. When she came back on the deck, Bepo, Shachi, Penguin, Jean Bart and few other guys decided to play water polo. Yuki, now knowing that she's a Devil Fruit user, voted against it, but they found a solution to the problem. She, and one half of the crew, stood on the deck, while the other part swam in the water (Bepo immediately decided he has to be in the water or else he'll melt). It was real fun, since their ship, even being a submarine, was quite high above the sea level, so the ball needed to be hit with great strength. Those, who didn't have enough of it needed to think of something – for example, to throw the ball from the main deck to the water, and in hands of one of her friends on top of that, Yuki came up with quite a tactics – she jumped on Jean Bart's hand, he threw her up in the general direction of the ball, she kicked it down and landed gracefully on the railing. Flawless plan. First few hits turned out to be great, and when after two hours of playing they decided to make last, final exchange, Yuki couldn't decline finishing with her signature move. But, this time, it didn't turn out to be as flawless as she thought it'd be. Namely, while coming to the 'land gracefully' part, everything went to hell. Yuki slipped.
By the time she was in the water, the rest of guys went back up to the ship. First, in the commotion, they didn't realize they were one girl short; in fact, Shachi was the only one who saw her falling, and, panicking, he did what he always did when he was seeing danger – he ran to his Captain for help. Yuki's cries for help firstly couldn't be heard because of talking and cheering, then, she was already drowning, sinking deeper and deeper inside peaceful blue.
She remembered seeing a figure jumping from the submarine and nearing her; one tattooed hand reaching and tightly grasping her own; the look of 'oh, crap...' on handsome, tanned face. And then, being pulled back.
As they told her while Yuki tried to cough the ocean out of her lungs, the sight of their Captain running and jumping off of the submarine made them see she was in trouble. And so, in the next second, Penguin jumped in as well, saving them both.
Yuki smiled a relived smile. The funny thing was, she hadn't been worrying because she was drowning; no, back then, in the complete silence of the ocean's depths, she was horrified, because her Captain could've drown, too. Even so, how immensely happy she was for him trying to save her...
Yuki closed her eyes and grinned, jumping on the bed. She was already in fresh clothes, and decided to take a walk back on the deck. Law's probably still sitting there, maybe even sleeping; she should bring him some garment for changing. Nice weather doesn't mean one couldn't catch a cold, and being a doctor, he really should know this himself... Maybe Yuki could tease him a little about that. And... Yuki halted her movements. Maybe she should talk to him about something else. Law told her to trust him, and she really should; why then did she keep the secret of her alter ego, Emerald Killer, from him? Her Captain proved to be trustworthy; now more than ever. Yuki stood up and headed for the deck, Law's clothes momentarily forgotten.
She was just about to turn the knob and go out, when something told her to stop. There were two voices coming from the outside, one that undoubtedly belonged to Law. And second? Yuki frozen, her eyes wide, fear like needles stabbing her every nerve.
The second voice belonged to her master.
Shivering, Yuki tried to do anything, to run, escape, move, at least not hear what they were talking about; but she couldn't. Words wormed their way to her ears, as much as she wanted to block them.
"I want back what's mine, Law. I waited long enough. How much time it takes for you to achieve anything on that matter?"
"I've been giving you reports, just like we agreed. What were you thinking, Doflamingo? I still need more time; it's crucial to gain some trust before making a move."
"Is that how you're supposed to be addressing me? Well, anyway. How much time do you need, then?"
"...give me two more years... Nii-sama."
"Fufufu... How could I ever say 'no' to my little brother?"
…
The door to the deck opened, revealing frowning and very annoyed Law. As he was strolling to his room, desperately needing some time to form new plans, he didn't realize that so very near, just behind a wall, the very world of one Yukionna was being shattered.
