A/N: Thanks to Sparrowhawk8.20 and IDon'tFreakingKnowYou for the follows/favs.
"Lei-ya."
"Oh, look at all the dirty dishes. I should wash them before the food dries. It hardens, you know, and becomes a pain to scrub off."
…
"Lei-ya."
"Ah! So much dirty laundry! Does anybody have any clean clothes left to wear?!"
…
"Lei-ya..."
"Kuzuri, let me help you clean your room. It's a pigsty."
…
"Lei-ya…"
"Oh, Bepo, are you hun—"
"LEI-YA!" Law half shouted.
"Yes, Law?" Lor asked sweetly, as if she hadn't been avoiding him for the entire day.
He scowled.
"Bepo, are you hungry?" Lor turned, ignoring him once again.
"No, he isn't," Law snapped.
"But—" Bepo began, but the moment Law sent him a glare, he slinked away with a weak "I'm sorry".
"Law, that was cruel," Lor said, eyes already searching for a new escape route.
"Lei-ya, we need to talk."
"That's the worst thing someone can ever say to you, you know. Break ups, pregnancies, marriage problems, business problems… All discussions about bad things begin with that line," Lor said absently, taking a step towards Skua's room..
Only to have Law grab her wrist.
"We need to talk," he repeated firmly.
She looked longingly at Skua's door for a moment, before she sighed. "Okay."
Lor followed him reluctantly through the halls of the sub, wondering where Teddy—no, Reindeer and Laska were. They would probably save her from the embarrassing questioning sure to come. Perhaps she could make a break for it—but Law held her wrist lightly, fingers ready to clamp down in case she tried to run.
She stared at his back, discomfort and nervousness swelling up within her. Law was visibly tensed, as if preparing himself. No. As if he was furious.
Would he break up with her? Kick her off the crew? Her heart clenched for a moment, her breath caught in her throat.
But then she forced herself to relax. He wouldn't do that. He needed a cook. And if he was going to do something like that, he wouldn't have been so friendly with her earlier, wouldn't be touching her.
Lor bit her lip, sneaking a glance at his back. It was still tense.
Was he disgusted…?
What was she thinking? Of course he would be disgusted! It was incest. It was something society frowned upon, even pirates. Inbreeding had died out ages ago, even in noble and royal families.
Not to mention Law seemed to hold a vendetta against Smoker…
"In," Law growled, yanking her wrist, sending her stumbling into his room.
He closed the door, and, oh kami, locked it.
Lor averted her eyes, biting down on her lip.
"Lei-ya, we need to talk," Law finally said, for what felt like the hundredth time, before sitting down.
"Oh, for goodness sakes!" Lor burst out. "Just get it over with! Are you going to dump me? Kick me out? Boil me? Dissect me? Cut me into pieces and feed me to the sharks?"
Law froze, taken aback. He blinked once, twice. "Why would I do that?"
"I don't know."
He bit back a chuckle, feeling the tension drain out of him. He knew it wasn't her intention, but she completely calmed him down with that uncharacteristic outburst. Was she nervous?
How cute.
"Well, let's start with something easy, hmm?" Law said smoothly. "When were you a marine?"
Lorelei stared at him for a second, sighed. "They put me into the Academy when I was seven. I graduated when I was nine. And because I only listened to Smoker, they put me on his ship. I stayed there until my parents brought me home at thirteen. And I was forced to re-enlist for a year when I was seventeen."
"What happened between thirteen and seventeen?" Law asked.
He already had an idea, but he wanted her to confirm it and fill in the blanks.
Her eyes went blank.
"Thirteen. Began training to become a housewife, became engaged. Fourteen. Almost-rape by Helios. Slept with Smoker because I knew Helios would try again, and I would rather give my first time to the only person who cared about me," Lor paused. "In hindsight I was right."
Law's fists clenched and unclenched as he was reminded of the monster. If he ever met Helios again…
"Apparently my parents said Helios had the right to do that, so Smoker helped me run away from home."
Law held back a growl. If he ever met her parents…
"Long story short, sailed the Grand Line, ended up on Kuraigana, met Mihawk—in a really creepy abandoned castle, by the way—and joined his crew. It was…" Lor paused, a small smile on her face. "Probably the happiest years of my life."
Law felt his brow twitch, fought back a scowl, fought to keep his face blank. What was he, mushy sea king dung? Then he blinked. Okay, horrid image. He must never think that again.
"Then we got caught in a trap. Without Mihawk. And Helios… Humiliated me. And he forced me to kill Rolo," Lor said quietly. "I will never forgive myself for that. My crew won't either. I don't expect them to. I don't even know why Mihawk could treat me normally after that."
"How…" Law began, then hesitated.
Those were obviously bad memories. Did he really want to ask how someone could be forced to kill someone else?
"It was my fault. I could have chosen to fight. But I wasn't thinking right. Not after…" Lor paused to clear her throat. "And he made me choose between killing one of them and him killing everyone. So I killed Rolo, and the others went free."
Who was 'he'? Law wanted to ask, but he had the niggling suspicion that he knew. And he also knew that she had left out quite a bit. Including the reason why she freaked out when he tried to… scare her that time.
"Lei-ya," Law said softly. "Enough."
She almost met his eyes for the first time since entering his room, and he stiffened. Her eyes were overly shiny.
"Ah, shit," Law spat out the rare curse word, then felt like he had to repeat it. "Shit. Lei-ya, don't cry…"
"I'm not crying!" And she contradicted herself by giving a small sniff and swiping away the unshed tears. She paused, added, "Idiot."
"Of course you aren't. So how many times did you sleep with Hakuryou-ya?"
"Don't patronize me," Lor pouted, and glanced sheepishly at him. "Five."
"Five." Law's face went blank.
"Five," Lor repeated, nodding. "I went to him the first four times. He came to me once. Stress."
It went against the image he had of the marine. Strict, rule-following, just. Definitely the last man he would ever think of committing incest.
Five.
"It wasn't his fault! I went to him!" Lor continued, eyes growing hard. "So if you dare blame him…"
"Have you slept with anyone else?" Law asked, then added, "Willingly?"
"No."
"Do you love him?" Came the unexpected question.
"Yes."
"More than me?" Law's fists clenched, dreading the answer.
"It's a different love," Lor corrected.
Then she stiffened, eyes wide with horror. Law frowned, cocking his head. She was turning an interesting shade of red…
And then he was forced to turn his face aside, one hand covering his nose and mouth.
"Law… Law, I didn't mean…" Lorelei began. "I mean you can forget I said that if you want. I mean…" She blinked, the words trailing off into confusion. And amusement. "Law, are you blushing?"
"No," Law snapped too quickly, turning further away.
She said she loved him. Kami, she loved him. His heart thundered so loudly in his chest that he just knew she could hear.
And it felt… quite good.
"You are," Lorelei said, moving closer.
Law retreated.
And suddenly her face was practically in his, and he could feel her warm breath fan out over the back of his hand. Smirking mischievously, she tugged his hand away, pinning him to the chair.
"You are," Lor breathed.
"Shut up," Law growled, feeling the heat in his cheeks.
Lor laughed, and he felt his heart lift even more, if that was possible.
"How cute," she said, pressing her forehead against his. "Does this mean you don't want to forget I said that?"
Law responded by catching her lips with his, in an almost desperate kiss. The questions he had left flew out of his mind.
She loved him.
"Love you too," he murmured, and knew it was true.
She froze, and turned pink. He grinned.
"Lei-ya," Law said, tone a lot lighter.
"Hmm?"
Law smirked, reaching to the side and holding up the open photo album. "Interesting pictures. You were just as cute as I expected."
Her jaw dropped, her cheeks turning red in mortification. "LAW!"