ONE PIECE

Two Worlds, One Family

A young woman struggling to find her place in the world wakes up to find a bunch of cats in her room...cats that turn out to be the characters from her favourite TV show, One Piece! Bound to each other, whether they like it or not, and trying to figure out a way to find a certain somebody's lost Nakama and get everyone back to their home, what follows is bound to be chaos, friendship, tears, romance - and, adventure! (Kind of a re-write of Straw Cat Pirates).

CHAPTER THREE

An Interesting Day

The three cats watched as Emma dashed about, feeding the dog, putting books in a backpack and getting dressed (well, they didn't actually see that bit, but she disappeared for awhile and then came back, dressed in black jeans and a medium-blue blue singlet with a long black jacket and scarf).

"Well, I'm off now, so I'll see you later!" She said, grabbing a Mocha Chill out of the fridge since she couldn't be bothered making a coffee.

"Hold it!" Ace cried, barring her way into the laundry.

"What?" Emma gave him a Look, and then she remembered. "Oh, right, your breakfasts..."

"And yours." Law reminded her, as she walked into the pantry, grabbing the first thing that she came across, which happened to be tuna. Oh well, at least it was meat (with sweetcorn and mayonnaise!).

"Nah, I don't need breakfast, I'm gonna be late." Emma assured him, spooning tuna into three bowls.

Law narrowed his eyes, and vanished into the laundry. He reappeared a moment later, carrying Emma's keys in his mouth.

Emma stared at them. "How did you know I need them to leave?" She asked him.

Law didn't respond, and Emma sighed. "Law-San, I cannot be late today, now give me back my keys."

Law's eyes darkened and the space around them turned blue; in that instant, Emma looked down, and saw that her right hand was detached from her body.

She gasped, seeing it floating next to Law, and moved her fingers. They moved, but she couldn't bring her hand back.

It was disconcerting.

Law gazed at her. "You were saying?" He said.

"I was saying that I'm going to need my hand back if I'm going to make myself a piece of toast." She responded weakly, and Law's smirk grew.

While they ate, Emma dared to ask: "Say, Law-San, you...don't like being told what to do, do you?"

He didn't respond, but his eyes flickered over to her in confirmation.

"How come?"

He shrugged. "I don't have to give a reason."

"Fair enough." Emma sighed, and then clasped her hands (she'd gotten her right hand back, thank God, and hadn't dared to look at her right wrist when Law had detached her hand, even though it hadn't hurt). "Well, can I at least I ask a favour."

"Such as?"

"Can you please keep an eye on these two brothers while I'm out today?" Emma begged him.

Law raised an eyebrow. "Ace too?"

"Especially Ace, but ESPECIALLY Luffy!" She emphasized.

"I think it would take a power greater than I."

"Law-San, please!" Emma bowed her head, overly-dramatic. "I don't want my parents to come home next month and find that all their alcohol's gone!"

Law sighed. "Sure."

Emma smiled. "So...what do you three intend to do now?"

The three cats stopped eating, and stared at her.

"What do you mean?" Ace asked her, sounding surprised. "We're staying here."

"Yeah, you're our nakama now, mainly mine, of course!" Luffy added. "You're gonna join my crew!"

"I never said that." Emma stated.

"No, I did." He replied simply.

Law narrowed his eyes slightly, but calmly said: "It seems we have nowhere else to go and, somehow, you brought us here."

Emma just stared at him.

He smiled. "Looks like you're stuck with us, Emma-ya."

Emma didn't say anything, because she was busy thinking about all of the problems she now faced, like what to do when her parents got home, and how to turn these three back into humans. She just finished her toast, and grabbed her coffee.

"Where are you going, anyway?" Ace wanted to know, as he finished his tuna.

"TAFE," Emma responded and, when she was met with blank stares, she elaborated: "It's a place where people go to study a certain trade, so that they can get the qualifications of that trade in order to gain employment ACE WHY ARE YOU ASLEEP AGAIN?!"

"Narcolepsy." Law stated, prodding Ace with his paw. Ace fell over and continued sleeping.

Emma and Law dead-panned, and then the dining room clock struck once, signaling that it was half-past seven.

"Aiyee, I'm gonna be late!" Emma cried, grabbing her backpack off the floor. "Stay out of trouble! Bye!" She grabbed her keys and dashed out the door.

Law watched her go, smiling.

Ace suddenly woke up, stretched, and yawned. "Ah...hey, where'd she go?"

"Out." Law replied.

"That's great..." Ace looked around him. "Where's Luffy?"

"He jumped into Emma's backpack when she wasn't looking." Law tried not to smirk, and failed miserably. This was too good.

Ace nodded. "He jumped into Emma's backpack when she...HE WHAT?!"

Oh yes, this was priceless.

At the station, Emma didn't have the luxury of waiting for a W-stopping pattern, which would have ensured her a seat by the window on the riverside. She was forced to go for the C-stopping pattern, and there were never any seats on an express train during rush hour, so her feet were hurting as she walked swiftly through the city. She reminded herself that she had martial arts that evening, and that she should save her energy, but the prospect of being locked out of one of her favourite classes forced her to keep walking, that is until she paused briefly to change songs...and heard a small meow.

Fearing the worst, Emma turned to face a corner, slipping off her backpack and opening it up...

It was just like the scene from last night, when Luffy bursts out of the barrel only, in this case, he was a cat, and he burst out of a backpack.

Emma nearly screamed, but checked herself just in time, as the little black cat with the bandages sat on the straw hat he had somehow managed to stash into her bag, grinning cheekily.

"Hello, Emmy!" He chirped.

"Ssh!" Emma hissed, glancing around, and hoping that nobody could hear the talking cat. She looked back, and leaned in, speaking in a very low voice. "Why did you stowaway, Luffy?" She asked him.

"Well, to be honest, I wanted to see what your TAFE-place was like, Emmy." Luffy replied, trying to see past her. "Is this it?"

"No, we're not there yet." Emma told him, and then face-palmed. "Wait, did I just say 'we'? You are not coming with me, Luffy, I have to take you home, right now!"

"But, what about your classes?" Luffy wanted to know.

Emma groaned. "Oh, I know...okay, fine!" She told him, and held up her finger firmly. "But you have got to keep quiet, understand?" Luffy nodded obediently, still smiling. "You can ride in my pocket, if you'd like." She added, and opened up the pocket of her jacket. Luffy immediately climbed in, and snuggled up.

"It's warm!" He exclaimed.

"Ssh!" Emma hissed again, glad that she'd decided to wear her snake bracelet today. She took the straw hat, and shook it out to get its shape back from being crushed into her backpack, and put the straw hat on her head. "If anyone asks, it's International Dress Like A Pirate Day..."

"Shishishishi! That sounds cool!"

"Ssh!"

Somehow, Luffy was able to keep quiet all morning, but maybe that was just because Emma had promised him meat if he didn't let the cat out of the bag (literally).

The morning class was fun - they covered the books that they had bound the week before, and glued cardboard shapes they cut out onto the covers, to be covered with a fabric and pressed in a way that embossed the shapes. Emma gave hers a solar-system-type look.

In the second class, they worked on their interactive comics. Emma's was coming together nicely, if she did say so herself (and, she did), but she was having trouble animating a ball of pink wool - the lecturer helped her with it, and she added a bouncing sound-effect, which was hilarious.

Luffy was good as gold, and kept quiet. The temptation of meat must've been enough to make him go OOC.

When leaving the TAFE, however, Emma made the mistake of taking the exit she didn't usually go by, and overhearing a conversation.

"What was with that hat she was wearing?" Emma recognized Georgia's voice, and froze.

"She said something about International Dress Like A Pirate Day." Sam replied. "Like, you know, Straw Hat Luffy?"

"Oh, right, that anime." Georgia laughed. It was a mocking sound. "That's weird."

Emma lowered her head, and walked back inside.

"Emmy?" Luffy whispered, poking his head out of her pocket.

"Luffy..." Emma muttered back, before making a decision. She went back into the classroom, which was empty save for a girl in the corner of the classroom who was watching a rock video with headphones on. Emma took Luffy out of her pocket, much to his surprise, and set him on the desk, before she put on a pair of prescription sunglasses. She then glanced at her right shoulder, and sharply tilted her head to the left a bit.

Luffy's face lit up, and he jumped onto her shoulder. Emma then turned and left the classroom, walking straight past fellow classmates Lillica Janes and Trudy Carmichael.

They did a double-take, shocked.

"Was that...that girl?" Lillica blinked.

"With a...cat?" Trudy faltered.

"...Nah..."

Emma walked calmly through Perth City, ignoring the stares that she got. Luffy was looped around her neck, and he purred contentedly, happy to pretend to act like a normal, non-talking cat, albeit a very smart one. Emma didn't know how long it would last, but she didn't care. She was feeling ticked off with what Georgia had said about her and, apparently, so was Luffy.

After buying some tuna sushi and Terriyaki chicken from a nearby shop, and sitting down on some steps outside the church, and after chowing down on the chicken gratefully, Luffy had to speak his mind.

"Oi, Emmy." He whispered to her.

"What?" She whispered back, pausing in her eating of the tuna sushi. Must...eat...tuna...

"That red-haired girl is your rival, isn't she?" Luffy said flatly.

Emma blinked in surprise, before nodding slowly. "H-hai...she is..."

"I thought so." Luffy said thoughtfully. "Why didn't you confront her about it?"

"Some fights just aren't worth it."

"I can respect that."

They finished their meal in silence (Luffy ate three out of the eight sushi rolls), and Luffy was silent as Emma got rid of the rubbish, before walking a few paces to her right, and staring in silence at a random, very expensive store.

Luffy swished his tail, before crawling off of Emma's shoulder, and she instinctively put her arms up, and found herself cradling him in them.

"Cheer up, Nakama!" Luffy grinned up at her.

"Ssh!" She hissed, but in a softer tone, and she was smiling. It was hard to stay melancholic around Luffy. That was when she had an idea. "Hey, Luffy...if you can promise to keep quiet some more, I'll take you to my favourite shop in this city, okay?"

Luffy looked excited, and nodded happily.

Back at home, Law and Ace kept themselves busy while they waited for Emma and Luffy to return. They had managed to convince themselves that the two out there would keep each other out of trouble, but who knew?

Both of them decided to explore the house, completely ignoring the fact that it was quite possibly an invasion of privacy. Both of them wanted to know more about their host.

They didn't have to look far, no matter what room they were in - the house was full of things.

Photos were stuck to the fridge with magnets. There were pictures of Emma with other people, mainly a girl her own age and a girl who was a little bit older, and a younger boy. There was a picture of Emma in an excessively grand yellow ball-gown, a dark-haired girl in a kimono, and another girl in a red wig and a mermaid costume. There was a picture of a sunset and some dark palm trees, a toad, some elephants in a pond, two pictures of the ocean and, for some odd reason, one of a giant chess set. There were pictures of two older people, possibly Emma's parents. There was even a picture of Ranger, dressed in board shorts, a t-shirt and sun-glasses, and standing on a surfboard.

"She loves photography." Ace commented, admiring that sunset.

"She also has a sense of humor." Law remarked dryly, glancing over his shoulder to where Ranger was staring at him from outside.

They moved on to the dining room, which had the same blue carpet as Emma's room. Black leather couches provided comfort, and dining cabinets stood at the walls, filled with glass plates and more photographs. An easel sat on a small coffee table by the window, with a half-finished painting of...something. There seemed to be a lot of blues and pinks and whites in it, though. A piano stood against one wall, and a song caught Law's eye.

Jumping up onto the piano stool, and then onto the piano itself (the keys he stood on played the first few chords of Fur Elise), he examined the lyrics.

~O~O~

No one, could ever see,

The best of me,

Somehow, all I can ever show,

Are the things no one wants to know...

~O~O~

Please take, my hand,

Tell me that you understand,

I need a new start,

I need you to heal my heart...

~O~O~

As Law was studying this, he realised that he should have been keeping a better eye on Ace because, a second later, he heard an exclamation of: "I found the key to the liquor cabinet!"

Law whirled around, standing on the keys that played the Jaws theme. "Don't you dare!"

Luffy was barely able to keep his mouth shut - it was hanging open, but no sound came out, as he sat up very straight on top of the straw hat on Emma's head, staring in wonder at the shop that was Empire Toys. Manga, anime and plushies and actions figures were everywhere, and he didn't know where to look first. Emma took her time browsing through the shelves, grinning over the cute guys on the front of the manga covers, and splurging by deciding to buy the new Sailor Moon manga and volume thirty-five of One Piece. Her first volume of One Piece had been volume four, starring Captain Kuro.

She then realised that her own black cat wasn't on her head anymore, and panicked, leading her to scour the entire shop from top to tail, before finally finding him in a box-full of plushies.

"Luffy!" She hissed, checking to make sure the shop-keeper wasn't watching. She turned back to the box, to discover that Luffy had found something.

"Emmy, look, it's me!"

"She sure buys a lot of manga." Law commented, prowling along the shelf.

"Ah, hey there, Miss Kitty, haven't we met somewhere before?" Ace joked, brushing up against a Hello Kitty plushie.

Law ignored him, reading the titles on Emma's manga. "Fruits Basket, Sailor Moon, Mamotte! Lollipop, One Piece...oh."

Ace joined him on the shelf immediately and, together, the two of them wrestled out a particular volume, volume 59 to be exact.

They opened it up to the start of the chapter, and Ace read the title of the chapter.

Emma walked through the city, carrying Luffy in one arm and the purple bag containing two manga and the Luffy plushie, wondering what her parents would say when they found out.

With some difficulty, Emma adjusted her sunglasses, and headed towards the Cloister (Cloyster) Arcade Newsagency to buy a chocolate before heading back to class.

However, no sooner had she walked into the store, when a lady who worked there barred her way and said that she was not allowed in, because of Luffy!

"Cats are not..." She began, and then peered closely at Emma. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

Emma nearly died. She'd done a job trial here a few years back, but hadn't gotten the job. She didn't want the lady to know that, and just ducked her head and mumbled sorry. She then turned to leave the store, thankful that her sunglasses hid her face.

She came face-to-face with a gun.

Faith was worried, although she would have rather bitten off her own tongue than let her fellow associates know, and she managed to remain poker-faced as their boss entered the room.

"WHERE IS SHE?!"

Boss did not have poker-face.

"We lost track of her somewhere in Ultra-Space." A man with long white hair and a blue face stated - Father Time.

Boss rubbed his temples with both hands, before adjusting his dark sunglasses. "Anything else you idiots forgot to tell me?"

Everyone looked at Faith, and she looked at Karma.

"Do not blame this one me, Faith!" Karma was a cool young woman with golden blonde hair that sparkled like money. "You're the one who had to invite a girl to take a Leap!"

"Inviting people take Leap Of Faith is what I do, Karma!" Faith's blue eyes flashed angrily.

"And being a bitch is what I do." Karma replied, smirking in a way that would have put Trafalgar Law to shame.

"Be that as it may," Boss said, with the air of one who is trying to remain calm. "Faith, you've taken a big risk, opening up a portal between these two dimensions. There's no telling what she'll do, if she manages to get to World 192853746."

"You mean the 'One Piece World'?" Luck, a young red-haired boy dressed all in green, asked. "What are the odds that she'll actually get there?"

"One in a kajillion, for somebody normal." Chance, a silver-haired teenaged boy with blue eyes said in a monotone. "But, she's not normal."

Boss glanced at Luck. "Let's hope that you're on our side. I don't like those odds one bit."

Emma stared down the barrel of the gun, feeling her blood run cold. This was not happening...no, wait, it was...people behind her froze, and a few people gasped. Nobody ran, however, because of the gun.

In her arms, Luffy had gone very still.

Emma stared at the gun, not really seeing the person holding it, until he spoke to her. "Where do you think you're going? This is a robbery, straw-hat-wearing-cat-lady. Get back inside."

Emma didn't move - she couldn't, for she was frozen to the spot. Of all places she picked to go into, it just had to be the one that gets held up at gun-point!

"Didn't you hear me, bitch?" The man growled. He was wearing a balaclava. She couldn't see the colour of his eyes from behind her sunglasses. "I said, get inside! I have gun, and I will use it!" He held it at level with her forehead. "I've shot people younger than you before, and I won't hesitate to do it again! I mean it, I'll fucking shoot you if you don't move!"

Emma suddenly raised her head. "Really? Then why are you still talking? Guns aren't for threats, they're for action!" Her heart was hammering in her throat, which had gone dry. What was she doing, mouthing off to a guy holding a gun?!

People behind her gasped. There was a spell she had set on the moment, a young girl defying a gun-wielding bandit, and nobody had ever seen anything like it before.

The man with the gun growled again, not able to understand why she hadn't moved yet. Didn't she care about herself at all? He moved the gun down, until it was pointing directly at the bandage-wearing black cat in her arms. "Then why don't I just shoot your pretty kitty instead?" His fingers curled around the trigger.

Emma gasped, and the spell was broken. "NO!" She screamed and, before she knew what she was doing, she'd swung her free fist out and it connected with the man's jaw.

She then ran.

She ran straight out of the shop, turned right and bolted down the street, ignoring people who called out to her, and pushing through crowds of people. She didn't stop running until she reached the outside of the State Library, where the water ponds were.

There, she collapsed to her knees by the water, dropping her shopping bags and nearly dropping Luffy, but he clung on, and looked up at her with a bit of concern, as she gasped for breath.

"Emmy?" Luffy asked her.

"He...was...gonna...shoot...you..." Emma struggled to see. Breathing first, talking second... She instructed herself, and took deep breaths, in through the nose, and out through the mouth.

Luffy gazed up at her. "You okay?" He asked finally.

Emma nodded, and took off her glasses, to reveal tears in her eyes. "I was really scared!" She admitted.

Luffy stared at her, before nuzzling against her chin. "You shouldn't have been, that was awesome! Did you get that line from Shanks, too?"

"No, actually, I got it from you." She told him. "I've only seen that part of the episode where you said it to Usopp. It sounds cooler coming from you, than it does coming from me, though."

"No, you sounded cool, too!" Luffy informed her. He stared seriously at her. "See, you are perfect for my crew! You're brave, smart, funny and creative - you're perfect!"

Emma just blinked at him. Nobody had ever called her those things before. They'd used other words, instead - words like pathetic, and freak.

Emma looked down at the cat. "Really? You...you think I'm...perfect?"

Luffy nodded.

She could see nothing but sincerity in his eyes.

Tears filled her own eyes again, but this time they were happy tears. "Luffy, my man...you are the best!" She hugged him tightly, until she remembered his stitches, and let him go quickly. The two of them grinned sheepishly.

Emma and Luffy arrived home at around five o'clock, and announced their arrival with: "Tadaima!"

Emma then proceeded to drop everything she was holding, including Luffy (who landed on all-fours, of course), and stare in horror at Ace, who was passed out drunk, and surrounded by bottles of expensive Midori, Riccadonna and Tequilla.

Law entered, and Emma immediately pounced on him. "YOU! You did this to me!" She screamed, shaking Law furiously. "What happened to keeping an eye on them while I was gone?!"

Law just looked at her. "Luffy-ya stowed away while you were still home."

"That doesn't explain the drunk cat that drank five hundred dollars worth of my parent's alcohol, Law-San!" Emma glared at him, as Luffy prodded Ace with his paw incredulously.

Ace just moaned.

Just then, the phone rang, saving Law from the situation, though Emma kept a firm hold on the scruff of his neck, much to his displeasure.

Emma answered the phone and said: "Hello." Then: "Oh. Oh. Oh? Ohhhh..." It was amazing how many different ways she said the word 'oh'. Her first one had sounded blank. The second one had sounded sympathetic. The third one had sounded suspicious. The fourth one had sounded understanding. She ended with: "Okay then, I'll see you soon. Bye!" She hung up the phone and dropped Law, who landed on his feet and glared up at her, but Emma seemed preoccupied.

"Problem?" Law asked coolly.

"No, not really." Emma replied. "One of my friends is sick and can't make it to our lesson, which has been moved to six, so I have to leave now."

She fed the dog in record time.

"What kind of a lesson, Emmy?" Luffy wanted to know, as she bolted down the hallway.

She returned a few minutes later, and both Luffy and Law stared at her. She was wearing a grey wudang uniform, and had a white belt tied around her waist.

"Martial arts." She said simply.

"So, what's wrong with Mayling?" Emma asked Krystal, as they waited for the mixed-belt's lesson to finish.

"Not sure." Krystal shrugged. She was a tall girl with olive skin and golden brown hair. Some would consider her attractive or even beautiful, but she didn't care about that. Her friends and family and career were all that mattered to her, not finding true love. "It sounded like a cold."

"Well, I hope that she feels better soon." Emma replied, slipping off her shoes. "We have grading in a few week's time."

Krystal nodded in agreement, just as the instructor called them all out onto the mats, and they hurried to join the other white belts.

Everyone bowed to the black-belt instructor, and the lesson began.

Emma wasn't happy, since it seemed that the dojo's air-conditioning was leaking as well, but she was also happy to be doing something she'd wanted to do since she was a child.

It started with warm-ups, which Emma hated, and then moved on to practicing self-defensive techniques, which she loved. She loved learning how to stop someone from grabbing you, and to stop them from hitting you by getting them into a head-lock.

Then, they moved on to developing their different kicks and punches, which Emma had mixed feelings about. On the one hand, it was vital. On the other, she often had no idea what she was doing, and it made her feel nervous. Kicks especially were her nightmare, as she didn't have very good flexibility. Not like her sister, who was practically double-jointed.

Having Krystal there helped, however, and they went through their sets together - jab-cross-jab-roundhouse, and things like that.

Presently, one of the purple belt co-instructors came around to test them, holding the pads against her arms for them to punch or kick into.

When she got to Emma, she smiled, and said: "How about showing me your best jab-cross-jab-hook."

Emma nodded, wetting her lips, and getting into her fighting stance, which she'd found was helpful for staying balanced on trains when they were moving and/or jerking to a stop. "Okay...right...here goes..." She jabbed with her left fists, crossed with her right, jabbed again with her left, and then came around for a right hook.

An image flashed into her mind of what had happened that day and, without meaning to, her right-hook came out a little bit harder than was intended.

The purple belt instructor staggered slightly, and glanced at Emma. A few of the other instructors and a few other students glanced their way, as well.

Emma wanted to sink into the floor, as she took a step back, and that was when another fellow student chose that moment to say: "Aren't you the girl that punched that gunman in the city today?!"

"Whaaa?!" Emma cried, stumbling back in shock, and slipping on the puddle that had been made by the air-conditioning.

As she fell back and hit her head on the wooden benches behind her, she heard that same student mutter: "No way, it couldn't have been her..."

Oh, this is gonna be GREAT for my rep... Emma realised, as she blacked out.

A big tan and grey cat stood, with his fur bristled, and hissing at a dog who was growling at him.

Actually, there were about six dogs ganging up on him, but one in particular was about to go in for the kill. A sign nearby read Elizabeth's Second-Hand Bookstore, and there was a big box of donuts that the cat appeared to be guarding...wait, since when did cats guard donuts?!

Since now, apparently, as the cat opened his mouth, and stated: "Back off, you mangy mutts - these donuts are MINE! Bwa ha ha ha ha!"

He leapt at the leader of the dogs, which leapt at him...

Emma awoke suddenly, seeing many faces swimming into view, with the most prominent one being Krystal's.

"Emma, thank God!" Krystal gasped, grabbing her arm. "Are you okay?"

"H-hai...I mean, yes...I am..." Emma mumbled, feeling embarrassed at having so many people crowded around her. The back of her head throbbed, and she knew that she would have a bruise there. I can't believe I tripped...

Emma stood up slowly.

"Emma, are you sure that you're okay?" Krystal asked her, concerned.

"Yeah, yeah, sure, I'm fine...don't worry about me..." Emma shrugged off the concerns, going over to her Sasuke Uchiha bag and drinking from her water-bottle. Everybody watched her, like she might faint again. "What? I'm fine, really. I'd better go...I want to go home and lie down..."

"Are you alright to drive?" Somebody said.

"Yes!" Emma replied, as Krystal hurried walk her out to her car.

She ended up staggering, and the instructors made her wait for half an hour before leaving.

Krystal then followed her halfway home, to make sure nothing bad happened to her.

It's good to have friends.

Back at home, it didn't end. Emma got some dinner for her and the cats, who watched her quietly. Well, Luffy and Law did - Ace was still out of it, and muttering something about 'Bink's Sake'.

Law was sitting on top of the kitchen counter and, when Emma knelt down to put the plates in the dishwasher after dinner, her hair fell to one side, revealing the back of her neck.

Law narrowed his eyes. "Emma-San, what happened?" He asked sternly, as she glanced back up at him.

"What do you mean?" She asked tiredly, standing up and holding onto the kitchen counter for support.

"You know very well what I mean." Law replied. "You were injured in class, weren't you?"

It wasn't a question, and Emma simply nodded.

Law's voice darkened. "Who hurt you?" He asked, as she continued to look at him without really seeing him.

"Nobody hurt me, Law-San." She said soothingly. "I just tripped and fell back and hit my head on some wooden benches, that's all."

Law glared at her. "Let me see." He commanded.

Emma sighed. "Okay. Come on, then." She led him out of the room, followed by Luffy, who was curious. "I...I think I need to lie down..." She said suddenly, and looked pale.

How she had made it home alright, nobody would ever know.

Law's eyes widened slightly. "Go to your parents' room." He suggested, and she obeyed, trudging up there to where the king-sized bed was.

She lifted Luffy up onto the bed, and Law jumped up by himself. Luffy snuggled down onto the soft golden doona, as Emma merely collapsed onto her stomach, and Law came up beside her.

The doctor cat pushed her hair out the way, and carefully examined the wound on the back of Emma's head. He didn't say anything, but just examined it, before tsking to himself.

Emma, meanwhile, was feeling very sleepy and, so, when Law asked her what she wanted, she said that she wanted to sleep for a year.

As she was closing her eyes, she added: "Oh, and we're going into Fremantle tomorrow, so make sure to let Ace know that he's not allowed to have a hang-over."

"And why's that?" Law asked, as Luffy sleepily nuzzled up against Emma's neck.

"Because his Grandfather won't like it if he does." Emma replied and, as she was going off to sleep, she felt Luffy freeze-up beside her.

"WHAT?!"