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It was a pleasant morning when the Heart Pirates woke up, fully rested and ready to work. Of course, it helped that breakfast was hearty and delicious, Lor having woken up a few hours earlier to cook enough food to feed an army of sea kings. Law wasn't too happy about her rolling out of bed, but there was nothing he could do. He recruited her as a cook, so she was going to do her job. He could only grumble and try to decide between going with her or going back to sleep.

Needless to say, he chose the latter.

Law got a few more hours of sleep before the smell of breakfast woke him up. Slowly, the Heart Pirates migrated towards the kitchen, drawn by the delicious scents. When they got to the mess hall, they marveled at the sight of food. It wasn't every day that their cook made such a spread, usually preferring to make mass quantities of food with as few ingredients as possible, considering that they never knew what situation would come up that could strand them at sea for days, and that in some places, ingredients were really expensive.

"Dig in," Lor said.

With a cheer, they practically dove for the tables. She suspected they would have eaten direction from the serving plates if their captain had not cleared his throat rather pointedly, and glanced over at the stack of plates. Sheepishly they rose from their seats to grab plates and utensils before they once again, more politely this time, sat back down.

That didn't stop the feast from being devoured in fifteen minutes flat.

Law raised his eyebrows at them before poking a pancake. Did that count as bread? Because Lorelei knew he hated bread, yet there were dozens of bread products. Pizza, calzones, curry bread, anpan, yakisoba pan… His gaze shot over to her and he glared, only for her to send him an innocent smile. Law's eyes widened. She knew! She was teasing him on purpose!

Law scowled at her for a moment before digging in, piling everything that wasn't bread onto his plate. As much as he wanted to punish her and tease her in return, if he didn't eat soon, his share of food would disappear as well. He mentally shook his head at his crew. They behaved like they hadn't eaten for days. For a moment, he wondered if the meals Lorelei usually made satisfied their hunger, but he shook that thought off. If they ate like this every day at every meal, he would have a crew of extremely obese pirates on his hand. Besides, it wasn't like they had lost any weight since Lor became their cook. In fact, he could swear most of them gained a few pounds.

He took a bite. His eyes widened.

The pirate captain ate more quickly than normal, practically shoveling food into his mouth like the rest of his crew. It was only when he finished did his eyes wander over to the only female on board, wondering if she had eaten. Well, he mused, glancing at the overly full bellies and empty plates, it wasn't like there was any food left even if she hadn't eaten.

"Alright. Get to work," Law ordered. "We should get to one of the main marine bases today."

"Captain," Kuzuri called out. "Is any one okay?"

Law raised an eyebrow. "Yes, as long as it's a major base. They will deal with the details within themselves."

"Aye, captain. Leave the troublesome work to the marines," Kuzuri grinned.

It was amusing to see the crew in motion for the next hour. They were so stuffed that they were almost rolling instead of walking, their bellies jutting out in a way that could not possibly be comfortable. Law sat back to let the food digest. It was one of the perks of being a captain and the doctor—at times like this he didn't need to do anything.

Alas, there was still other work to be done.

"Lei-ya, come help," Law ordered the moment she finished washing the dishes.

She sent him a deadpanned look. "Help me dry the dishes first."

Law's jaw slackened, but then his eyes hardened. "Are you ordering me around?"

"You did first," Lor shrugged, then turned back to her work.

He sighed. It had been awhile, so he had almost forgotten that she hated being ordered around just as much as he did. For a moment, he wondered how Mihawk and Smoker had gotten around that when they were her captains. Maybe he should call and ask.

Still, he stood and grabbed a cloth and a wet dish. Lorelei's eyes widened and she stared at him in shock. Was Law actually helping? And after she had 'ordered' him to? Lor frowned and put down the dried plate before reaching out for his forehead. He didn't feel overly warm. Just normal human temperatures…

"I'm not sick," Law grouched. "I just want this done so you'll come help."

"Hm."

The work went quickly after that, both of them drying off the dishes efficiently before replacing them in the cupboards to secure them in case the submarine hit a metaphoric bump. And then Law led her to her room. It wasn't difficult to think of what he wanted help with.

No, nothing sexual. He needed to label and bag the hearts.

Lorelei sighed and got to work, placing hearts in separate bags before folding up the bounty posters neatly and sliding them into the appropriate bag. She had no idea how Law had the time to display all the hearts in her room and put the according bounty poster under it, but no time to put the hearts in bags. Lor tightened the strings on top of the bags and tied them securely before placing the hearts gently into the crate. Just because they were handing the hearts to the marines did not mean the pirates had to be in pain from a bruised heart.

They arrived in the afternoon. The crew gathered, save for the helmsman, as the submarine rose to the surface. Law smirked. He could practically see the marines panicking, could actually hear the alarm bells ringing, calling all the marines on hand to the seaside.

Good.

It was perfect if many marines saw his little 'gift'. The more witnesses, the harder it would be to deny what had happened. His eyes moved to Bepo, and the bear obediently picked up the crate. Law opened the door and stepped out onto deck, and smirked down at the panicking marines.

"Room. Shambles."

In that split second, the crate stood in front of the marines, and Law on the harbor several feet away. His hand casually held his nodachi, and he had a look of complete confidence on his face. The marines were completely terrified, even before opening the crate. His status as one of the Worst Generation helped a lot, and Lorelei's presence on deck didn't hurt either. They were infamous.

"W-what is…" A brave marine approached the box after hearing a strange noise coming from inside, as if something living was inside.

The box jumped, and jumped again. A shaking hand reached out to pry off the lid. The marine leapt back in terror as the bags throbbed. Law's smirk darkened sadistically as the marines backed away step after step, too afraid and creeped out by the Surgeon of Death to go anywhere near him.

The crate was full of hearts, living and beating.

Frowning, the Admiral of the base pushed forward. Law's smirk faded, and he could practically feel Lorelei tense. The man's eyes scanned the box before flicking to Lorelei, lingering for a moment too long. Only then did he look at Law.

"Are you delivering her too?"

Law smirked darkly, sadistically. "Not a chance."

As much as he wanted to kill Lor's father, this wasn't the time or place. Without another word, he returned to the sub, everyone went back inside, and it sank out of sight.

Nobody pursued them.