I do not own anything within this fanfiction and any names used are purely coincidental with those of the One Piece anime. All rights go to the creators and editors of the One Piece universe and to its writer Eiichiro Oda.
She looked at him over the rim of the mug. "You don't want to know."
About half an hour passed awkwardly as there was nothing but silence between Timi and Law as she sipped her coffee. Bepo had left to tend to a few things in the cockpit as Law still stared at Timi whenever she ate or drank anything.
"That's still creepy ya know." Timi said, finally breaking the silence after she had finished her coffee.
"I find you fascinating. Am I not allowed to stare?" He asked, his smirk vanishing again.
"What is there to be fascinated about? There's probably other people out there with devil fruit abilities or who have ears and tails like mine. Go find them. I'm sure they'd be more entertaining than I am." She said, getting up to leave and go back to the comfort of Rachael's room. Law shot up and grabbed her hand as she turned to leave. Surprised by his behaviour, he soon let go as he surprised himself with his own actions and without any parting words, they left each other in silence.
As Timi made her way back to Rachael's room, she walked over to the desk. Looking through the books on the table, she picked one out that she liked the look of and began to read. It was a small tome covered in an ivy green colour, gold letters adorning it's cover and spine. It followed the adventures of a spriggan who wandered from place to place and she decided to give it a shot since she had nothing else to do. As she sat down on the bed to read, her face changed expressions many times as time passed. She had gone from smiling in happiness to frowning in question many times as she flipped the pages in succession, completely forgetting about lunch later on.
Eventually, she had laid down on her front with a pillow under her arms as she got more into the story so she didn't notice when Law had walked in and sat down on the bed next to her. Reaching the end of the book after it had taken her a good part of the day to finish, she sat up and accidentally bumped into Law, almost knocking him off the bed.
"What the- how long have you been there?" She asked in surprise, laying the book on the bedside table.
"Long enough. I came in just as you reached about the middle of that book." He replied, pointing to it as he smirked.
"That long ago?! Holy sh- you really are a pervert. You have to stop doing that!" She replied as she made to get off the bed.
"I don't have to do anything." He said plainly, no smirk to be seen crossing his face now.
"At least stop sneaking into people's bedrooms like it's no one's business. If you want to do that, go bother the pervy-twins down the other side of the sub." She gestured behind her with a thumb, now arguing back at him.
"But this room is closer to mine than theirs. Besides, they're men. Why would I be interested in them?" He replied, shrugging innocently.
"Dunno. Are you gay?" Timi replied, smiling to herself as she imagined Law flirting with Penguin for a second.
"Never tried it before. Why? Is it fun?" He asked, widely smirking now as he toyed with her.
"Why are you asking me? I haven't been with a someone of the same sex either you know. I've had guys in the past and each was one disappointment after the next. I'm not looking for anything of that nature for a while. Nu-uh, no thanks." She replied crossing her arms as she closed her eyes.
"Shame..." Was all Law replied as he turned to leave.
"Huh?" Timi asked, confused.
"It's nothing." He replied, leaving her alone in Rachael's room.
"Weirdo." She said, insulting him after he was out of earshot.
Going to his room, he went to the transponder snail. Dialling in a number, he waited as the Den-Den Mushi rang. Eventually his recipient picked up.
"Hey. Where are you right now? I know you're on Sabaody so get your sorry butt to the sub." He ordered in a serious tone.
"Ugh...you woke me up for that. I know you've been anchored off shore since yesterday, I was going to come back to you guys tomorrow morning anyway. Wait until then, ." Rachael's tired voice came through the receiver.
"Lazy. Can't you follow an order for once? You wanted to be part of this crew in the first place." He replied, sitting down in his desk chair.
"I do follow orders when the need arises for it. I'll be back in the morning so be patient for fucks sake."
Penguin and Shachi suddenly appeared, stealing the speaker from Law.
"Hey Rachael! Where are ya, sis? Captain's got a new squeeze so ya got some competition!" Shachi yelled, making Rachael back off from the receiver a bit at the sudden loud voices on the other end.
"Has he now? Don't suppose her name is Timi is it?" She asked, guessing by who she knew Timi's favourite Supernovas were.
"Yeah. But how did you..." Penguin asked.
"She's a friend of mine bro. Treat her good or I'll kick both your asses." She replied, yawning loudly and long.
"She already took care of that." Law replied, stealing the speaker back from them.
"Hehe. Not surprising. Don't underestimate her sense of patience or you'll find yourself at the morgue guys." She replied, sounding like she was going to sleep again as she seemed to be saying her words slower.
"Be here in the morning. That's an order." Law replied.
"I'll be there around midday ish. Morning is too early. Laters." She replied, hanging up on Law before he could argue back.
Timi had been stood outside Law's room eavesdropping since Shachi and Penguin had rushed in. The conversation between the four of them made her smile a wide grin as she walked quietly to the kitchen so she wasn't caught.
"Irwin! I need food! And coffee!" She yelled, sitting down and resting only her head on the table as it suddenly hit her how hungry and thirsty she was.
"Sorry Timi. I'm under orders from the Captain not to give you food until we either surface or you take the anti-pressure pills." He replied, poking his head out of the small hole in the wall where dishes were supposed to be passed through when they were finished with.
"What? Not even coffee?" She asked, hoping he would except it from the order.
"Especially coffee." He replied, a sad expression on his face.
"Excuse me whilst I go and kill him." She replied, a nice but untrusting smile spread across her face as she left slowly. As she reached the corridor, she snapped.
"LAAAAAAAAAW! GET YOUR BUTT OUT HERE RIGHT NOW! I AM GOING TO KILL YOU FOR TAKING AWAY MY COFFEE, JACKASS!" she shouted, stomping throughout the sub as some of the crew seemed to run for cover when they saw her coming for fear of their lives.
"Somebody call?" He asked innocently as he came out of his room, his nodachi in his hand. Her eyes locked on and burned with intense rage. She drew her sword and sent a flying attack at him, her blind fury driving her as the fur on her tail went bushy, her ears stuck half down in an annoyed position. It narrowly missed him as he activated his devil fruit powers.
"ROOM!" he shouted, nodachi drawn as he cut Timi to pieces.
"Fuck you asshole! First you force a pill down my gullet, then you ban me from coffee. Bad move, Trafalgar! Bad move!" She shouted, her now separated tail twitching uncontrollably in anger.
"Says the one in pieces..." he said, looking down at her detached head. Looking at his ankles, she used her jaw to launch her head high enough to bite into one through his jeans.
"Argh! Bitch, give up already!" He ordered, waving his leg around to try and get her off.
"Bite me!" She shouted back at him with her mouth full of Law's leg. It wasn't until she managed to draw blood through his jeans that she finally let go. Looking over her separated body parts with her severed head, she instructed each one to move in turn. She started with her arms and torso, popping her head back on and then moving to construct her lower section. It didn't take longer than 5 minutes before she had fully reconstructed herself.
"Ready for Round 2? I don't make the same mistake twice." She said, back flipping until she was just outside Law's operating space. She brushed herself off like nothing happened, making Law a little annoyed.
"You're really asking for it!" Law yelled, disengaging his room and drawing his nodachi as he launched himself at her. It was now a battle of blades. Though Timi left a few light scratches on him, he left deeper wounds, his skill with a sword showing the difference in their strength as he left a large gash across her right side. After 15 minutes, Law had disarmed her and she couldn't stand anymore. Dropping to her knees from blood loss, she panted heavily. Law touched the side of her face with the tip of his blade, making her look up at him.
"Open wide." He ordered, a serious look crossing his face with a pill in his hand.
She seemed to take it without arguing when he put it in her mouth...or so he thought. A moment later, she spat the pill into his face.
"Go...to hell." She managed to say before fainting.
"Damnit Timi. Why must you be stubborn?" Law asked her unconscious body.
Picking her up, he took her to the infirmary. He cleaned and patched up her wounds, injecting her with a liquid form of the anti-pressure drug whilst she was out cold.
I figured she wouldn't take it. After my first success, she's been more on guard. But if she won't take the pill or the injection, how can I help her? It's like trying to treat a spoilt child.
(The following day, around noon)
Rachael jumped aboard the sub as it surfaced, soon greeted by Bepo and Law as they opened the main entry hatch.
"Hey." Rachael greeted. Law said nothing as he walked up to her. To both her and Bepo's surprise, he slapped her across the face, leaving a large red mark.
"Where the hell have you been?!" Law shouted at her.
She remained silent as she rubbed her now sore face, the usual smile nowhere to be seen on her usually cheery face. Before he could reprimand her more though, Shachi and Penguin came running out onto the wet deck. Tackling her to the ground in a huge group hug, she laughed half-heartedly as the three of them all lay there in the sun. Law noticed her weak laugh.
I know that she'd usually laugh heartier than that. Something must be wrong.
"Come on, you need a check up." He ordered, waving her inside.
"Yessir!" She replied, taking her time as she followed him to the examination room next to the infirmary.
"Clothes off." He ordered, turning his back as she undressed down to her underwear and bra.
"You can turn around now." She said. As he turned, he gasped as he saw all the little red stab marks from where Kidd had gone to town with his knife, the bruising from his beating still a deep shade of purple.
"The hell?!" He asked, feeling his way over her scars gently "How are you still alive, Rachael?! With this many stab wounds, you could kill someone at least twice your size."
"Well, umm...funny story." She said, but before she could continue, he worked his way round to her back.
"What the heck have you been doing?!" He asked, a hand now on her back as he traced the scars of the numerous lashings and cuts she had received back on the island.
"Which answer do you want first?" She replied nonchalantly.
"Tell me everything. No ordinary human could survive this." He ordered, gesturing to all of her.
"Okay. Might as well start at the beginning." She said, taking a seat on the nearby bed.
She rehearsed the same story she had told the Straw Hats before about how they had tortured her and then forcefully fed her a devil fruit. How their torture had continued and her regeneration ability wasn't unlocked until she had recovered naturally from the ordeal. How she had gotten to the Sabaody Archipelago with the Straw Hats. How she had reunited with Rebecca and Timi. Until finally she caught him up to speed with how she had gotten herself stabbed after the concert and why Kidd was now pissed off with her.
Law stopped her before she could say anymore.
"You should know Timi is recovering right now."
"What?! Why?!" She suddenly cried out, jumping off the bed and rushing next door before Law could answer her question. Opening the door hurriedly, she rushed to Timi's bedside.
"Who did this?" She asked.
"I did." Law replied from behind her, casually leaning in the doorway.
"Wha- why?" She asked, now confused.
"She was being stubborn."
