Chapter 6

Law didn't sleep at all that night, but he pretended to when the Straw Hat crew began waking up. He squeezed his eyes shut, careful to remain still. The pirates talked amongst themselves, mostly about who was going to make breakfast while Sanji was gone. Law peeked one of his eyes open and instantly regretted it. Luffy, still sitting in bed, was staring directly at Law. He closed his eyes again, hoping Luffy hadn't noticed. Maybe he was daydreaming and just happened to be looking in Law's direction. Well, at least he could hope.

"Traffy!" Law furrowed his brow and looked back at Luffy. The boy was grinning like a goon right at him. "Can you make us food?" Law thought for a minute.

"I can make rice balls," It was all he knew how to cook. Luffy's smile fell, and Law found himself feeling guilty. He wanted to be able to make Luffy smile like that again.

"Well, guess that leaves you Franky," Zoro frowned, clearly unhappy with how the situation had played out.

"SUPER! Time to witness the greatness of Chef Franky!" The straw hat's funneled out towards the kitchen. Law let out a long sigh; he'd just have to go throughout the day without sleep. It wouldn't be the first time he'd done it.

Law walked into the dining area and sat down next to Luffy, the seat had become de facto his in the past several days. Franky stood at the counter and began breaking some eggs. Law struggled to keep his eyes open, falling in and out of awareness. Concerned eyes locked onto him.

"Traffy, you don't look so good," Luffy pointed out. He opened his eyes to a plate of scrambled eggs in front of him.

"Eat up, that'll help," Franky chimed in.

"I'm fine." Law asserted. He took a bite anyway; they didn't compare to anything Sanji had made. The rest of the crew seemed to agree, picking at their eggs half heartedly. Even Luffy was lacking his usual big appetite. Law's eyes grew heavy in his skull, weighing his head down. Before he knew it, his head fell down into the plate of half eaten eggs in front of him.

"Well," Franky spoke to the table, "At least someone likes my cooking." Law lifted his face off the plate and began picking eggs out of his hair.

"Sorry, I didn't sleep well last night."

"Wow I can't make a comfortable bed anymore either?" Franky pouted. "Nothing I do is good enough for you people." Law and the rest of the crew ignored the cyborg. A smirk spread across Usopp's face.

"You seemed to sleep well enough in Luffy's bed," Usopp joked. That caused the crew scattered around the table to erupt in laughter. Law gritted his teeth; he hated being at the butt of every joke. He hated watching the crew laugh at his expense, and his lack of sleep only made him more irritable. The sound of their laughter echoed inside his head. Mwahahaha, Uhahaha, Shishishishi. Aggravated by the situation, Law left the kitchen, leaving his uneaten eggs and the laughing crew behind him.

Law retreated into the library, sure that it was the one room on the ship Luffy would never go into. He scanned the shelves of books, with something particular on his mind. When he was a child, he'd read an expansive amount of medical journals in order to learn the ins and outs of his disease. Reading had solved his problem back then, perhaps it could solve his current one as well. As he perused the lengthy shelves, Robin entered the room.

"Looking for anything in particular?" Robin asked him, grabbing a book for herself. "Chopper's medical books are on the shelf to your right."

"Um. . ." Law thought for a moment, wondering if he should accept her help or not. "I was actually hoping to find a romance book." Law's eyes avoided the woman, embarrassed about his request. She just smiled and walked a couple shelves down.

"This one's my favorite," she said, grabbing a book. Law took it from her, reading the cover; It was titled Ocean of Love. The cover depicted a hyper-masculine pirate leaning against the mast of a ship with his shirt off. Law's face flushed with embarrassment. Was he really expected to read this? Before he could ask for a different book, Robin was out the door, probably on her way to read on the deck. Reluctantly, Law took a seat and opened up the novel.

He sat there for hours reading the book, his face a bright shade of red the entire time. Despite his commitment, Law didn't glean a single piece of useful information from the reading. It was all ludicrous and immodest. He was baffled by the fact that the stern and serious Nico Robin was a fan of books like that. The only good thing that came from his time in the library was that he was not bothered by Luffy. Because of this, Law decided to remain there until he heard commotion outside.

Slowly, he walked out onto the deck and was surrounded by everyone still aboard the ship. He noticed Luffy sitting on top of the lion figurehead; he was looking towards the sky. Law turned his gaze upwards and saw a mass of storm clouds looming in the distance. That morning they learned the difficulties of sailing without a proper cook, and now they'd learn what it was like without a navigator.

The storm was upon them in minutes, raining down on them to an extent Law had never experienced before; that was one of the perks of traveling beneath the waves. Law was very much regretting his poor sleep at this point. He was stumbling around the deck, trying to assist the Straw Hats in tending to what was necessary to remain aloft, but, in his inhibited state, he was not much help. The water flooding the deck was up to Law's ankles. Robin was using her many arms to scoop as much out as possible, but it was falling too fast for them to make any real progress; the best they could do was slow it down. Law moved to assist Robin, but slipped and fell into the shallow water before he could make it to her. Law dipped his arm in the water; he was about to use it to propel himself up when he saw a hand reach out to help him. It was Luffy's. He grasped it in his own and felt his heart flutter as their skin touched. Luffy pulled Law to his feet with ease.

"Thanks," Law told him, placing a hand on the edge of the ship to steady himself. As soon as the words left his mouth, a massive wave knocked against the side of the ship. Law lost his balance as a result and was thrown into the cold dark water below.

When Law woke up, he was cold and wet and lying in the infirmary bed. He looked around and saw Luffy lying in the bed next to him. Not quite knowing what to say, he let his eyes linger.

"What happened?" Luffy groaned as he sat up. What did happen? How did Law get out of the water?

"Well, first, this useless pirate-" Franky gestured to Law, "- just fell into the sea. We were panicked enough with one devil fruit user thrown overboard, but then you-" Now he pointed at Luffy. "- jumped in after him like an idiot." Law sat there in the silence created by them. Luffy had tried to save him. "You both would've been goners if it weren't for my grappling arms." Franky let his colossal hand drop to the floor revealing a chain still connecting it to the wrist.

"Wo-wow tha-tha-thanks Fr-anky," Luffy said through chattering teeth. Law was shivering too. Usopp came into the room just in time carrying a stack of towels and threw one each at Luffy and Law.

"Seriously Luffy, what were you thinking?" Zoro asked, annoyed.

.

"S-sorry," he apologized, although Law wondered if he really meant it given his tone.

"Just dry off and try to warm up," Franky told them. "And don't come to bed until you're dry. We were lucky enough that no water got into the sleeping quarters, and I don't want you two messing that up." And with that, they exited the room.

Luffy wrapped his towel around his body and curled into a ball. Law did the same and tried to keep his teeth from chattering too much. The pair sat in silence, neither finding anything relevant to say, or just too focused on keeping warm to think of anything. After a few minutes went by, Luffy stood up and abruptly waddled over to Law's side. He sat down next to him; he was closer than Law would have liked, or maybe Law wanted Luffy that close to him. It was hard to tell the difference anymore. Luffy leaned his head on Law's shoulder. He could feel his jaw shake against him from the cold. Law laid his head on top of Luffy's, terrified of how comfortable it felt. They were just doing this to get warm. That was all. Right?

The two sat like that until their teeth stopped chattering. Although Law was still very cold, he was certainly dry enough to retreat to his own bed, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. He was so comfortable leaning against Luffy and so tired from the night before. He let his eyes close just for a second, but it was enough for Law to fall asleep for the first time in two days. Law didn't see Doflamingo in his dreams that night; it was as if Luffy could fight the nightmares away the same way he fought the real Doflamingo. It should have been a good thing, but Law was growing more and more worried about leaving Luffy's side. His life just seemed to be brighter with Luffy in it, and that was terrifying.

Author's Note

I've already committed to writing author's notes at the end of each chapter, but I am running out of things to say. I enjoyed writing this chapter as always. Thanks so much for reading! I hope you are enjoying it! Sorry I don't have more to say here!