Power Hiccup
Lami sat on a branch and over looked the fight that was happening below her. Her own crew had landed on this island over three hours ago for a quick break from sailing. Twenty minutes ago another pirate ship had landed as well. The opposing pirate crew was larger than her own. But their skills weren't as good as her family's was. They were, however, strong enough to put up some resistance.
She wanted to be right in the middle of it. But Law wouldn't allow her since she was still just a kid. It would be several more years before she could finally join the battle up close and personal. For right now she had no choice but to stay in her sniper position and strike when someone needed her help. Like right now. A couple opposing pirates were sneaking up behind Penguin who was busing fending of two other pirates. Summoning her fire orb she shot out a couple of flames, setting their shirts on fire.
The pirates screamed and tried to bat out the fire before rolling around on the ground. Penguin looked up and smiled a grateful thanks to her. Lami waved back and turned her attention back to the fight. Her eyes landed on Fugu, their resident blowfish. While she still didn't like him she had to admit that he fit in rather well with the crew and was proving his loyalty to them by having their backs when it was needed.
Her eyes drifted to her dad. She watched him for a while. He was adjusting well to his new sword. And it worked very well with his devil fruit powers. After a few months of training with it the sword now was like an extension of his body. He was shocking the pirates by severing their body parts more than he was killing them. She wished this fight would end. She was growing very bored just sitting there like a bump on a log. "This is so boring. My crew is obviously stronger than they are. Just end this already, My Hearts."
Suddenly, a man wielding a sword appeared in front of her. She gasped, unable to move at his quick arrival. "Got ya! Those pirates will lose their will to fight if I have you under my control! You're obviously very special to them!"
He tackled her from the branch. Landing on the ground, he wrapped his arm around her neck before raising his sword to her.
Lami tried to summon an orb. But none of them responded. A cold dread washed over her body. She couldn't defend herself. She screamed, "Daddy!"
Law whipped around. His eyes glared sharply at the man holding his little girl hostage. "Let her go now!"
"I think not," the man said. "Surrender or she loses her head!"
"You can't be serious," Shachi said. The fighting stopped. Everyone turned their eyes to Lami and the other captain.
"Why isn't she using her orbs?" Ika said. "That's not like her at all."
"Something must have happened to her," Penguin said.
"What do we do?" Fugu asked. "We can't just surrender."
"We can't let them hurt her either," Penguin said, lowering his defenses. "Let the captain deal with this. He won't let that man hurt her."
Fugu turned his attention to Law. The captain was beyond furious. Anyone could see multiple plans of torture were coming to this enemy.
"I said to surrender! Drop your weapons or this sweet little thing will lose her head!" the man shouted.
"Captain," Bepo said. "What do we do? We can't really give into him. Can we? He'll hurt Lami."
"I said to drop your weapons!" the man shouted again.
Lami tried to summon an orb again. Nothing happened. Closing her eyes she tried to slow her heart rate and her mind. She had to focus. Getting upset would only make things worse. She was still with her dad and her crew. This man would not get away with threatening her. Though he did have an upper hand at the moment. Come on, orbs. Don't fail me now. I need your help. Please. Strike this man. She opened her eyes. Her earth orb appeared in front of her though she could feel it slipping away. As quickly as she could she grew a vine between the man's legs and shot it up to his most sensitive body parts. His arms loosened on her.
"Lami! Get down!" Law cried.
Lami's body instantly did what she was told. She ducked.
Law swiped his sword at the man, dividing his body parts into several pieces.
"Oh crap!" a pirate said.
"We're in trouble now!" another one said. "He took down the captain!"
"Let's get out of here!" The opposing pirate crew turned tail and ran off.
"Hey! You cowards! Get back here!" the captain shouted.
"You're not going anywhere." Law turned and sliced the retreating men up. "You all attacked us. And you're all going to pay for what your captain did."
"No!" the men screamed. "It wasn't our idea!"
"Not my problem." Law cocked his head, his eyes flaring with hate for the enemy.
Penguin ran over to Lami and knelt down next to her. "You okay?"
"I'm fine," Lami said.
"What happened?" Penguin asked helping her to her feet.
"I'm not sure," Lami said. "My orbs refused to respond."
"Lami." Law walked over. His worried eyes ran over her body multiple times before he stopped with a sigh. "You're okay."
"Of course I am," Lami said.
"Take her back to the sub, Penguin," Law said. His eyes glared once more at the other captain and his crew. "I have to deal with them."
"But I want to stay with you," Lami said.
"Not this time." Law stood up and walked back over to the man who took his baby hostage. "I don't want you to see what I'm going to do to him. And no arguing."
"Okay." Lami sighed. She took Penguin's hand and walked away with him and the crew. Before they even got out of the forest the fearful cries of the enemy rang out. "Sometimes I wonder what Daddy does to his enemies."
"It's best that you don't know," Penguin said. "I'm glad I don't know. I think it would give me nightmares."
"Will he be all right?" Lami looked over her shoulder. More screams filled the air.
"He'll be fine," Bepo said. "He's just very upset that you were taken hostage."
"It wouldn't have happened if you did what you were suppose to do," Fugu said.
"I did! It's not my fault my orbs refused to appear!" Lami snapped.
"What happened with them?" Shachi asked.
"I don't know. I was just disconnected from them somehow," Lami said. "It was weird. Then I managed to get the earth orb to show back up, but it wouldn't stay for long."
"Maybe you're getting sick," Bepo said. "Your powers have had a glitch in them before when you weren't feeling very good."
"I don't remember that," Lami said.
"You were still young," Penguin said. "But that might be what this is. I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. The captain will check you out once he gets done torturing his victims back there."
"Maybe you're right," Lami said. A minute later they broke from the forest. Their ship was still right where they had anchored it. The enemy ship was anchored right beside it. "Are we taking their ship?"
"Of course we are," Shachi said. He and a few others made their way over to the enemy ship. "We're going to check it out."
"Okay," Lami said. Grabbing the rope ladder, she climbed up with Penguin right behind her. Landing on the deck she hung her arms over the railing and stayed there to watch for her dad to come back. Twenty minutes passed and he still hadn't returned. "Where is he?"
"I guess he's just being very thorough in his torture," Penguin said.
"Seems like a waste of time since the captain's just going to kill that man and the others," Ika said.
"The captain's going to get a reputation of loving to torture his victims at this rate," Bepo said.
"Maybe that's what he wants," Penguin said. "He'll be feared all over the seas."
Lami sighed. Finally, after another five minutes, her dad's familiar yellow shirt came through the browns and greens of the forest. "Daddy!"
"See? He's back. Nothing to worry about," Penguin said.
"Yeah!" Lami nodded. She watched as Law made his way to the ship and warped himself aboard. "Daddy, you're worn out from fighting. You shouldn't have warped on the ship."
"You're more important than I am," Law said. "Now, get to the medical room. I'm checking you over."
"It's not necessary," Lami said. "I'm fine."
"No, arguing, Lami," Law said. "What happened put you into a very dangerous situation. Get going now."
"Yes, sir." Lami turned away from the railing and headed for the door at the front of the ship.
"Hey! Captain! We've made quiet a haul over here!" Shachi said from the other ship.
"Fine. Let's set sail," Law said. "We'll sell off that other ship and have even more money."
"Aye, Captain!" the crew said.
Lami opened the door as Law finally joined her. She jumped up on the exam table. She waited and watched as Law moved around the room, gathering all the supplies he would need for her check up. She still thought it was unnecessary. But Law wasn't one to over look abnormalities in his crew, especially when it came to her.
"Here we go." Law carried a silver tray of his exam tools over to the exam table. He placed them down before looking at Lami's eyes.
Lami sat patiently, but in a very annoyed manner while he processed to check anything and everything he could think of. Her heart was good, her lungs strong, her stomach making all the right noises. Her reflexes were normal. Nothing was wrong with her eyes, mouth, or tongue. Everything appeared to be normal.
"I'm going to take some blood," Law said.
"Daddy!" Lami whined.
"No whining," Law said. He stepped over to the cabinets and pulled out the necessary items.
Lami squirmed and squeaked as she eyed the unwanted needle sparkling up at her.
"Just relax. This won't hurt," Law said.
"You always say that. And it's always a lie." Lami turned her eyes away from him when he brought the needled to her arm. She whimpered when the sharp point pierced her skin. "I hate needles."
"Sorry," Law said pressing a cotton ball to the small wound when he got all the blood he wanted. "This has to be done."
"No, it doesn't. You're just being over protective again," Lami said with a pout and watery eyes.
"Get use to it. I'll do it any time I feel it's necessary. And this is one of those times." Law placed a kiss on her forehead before walking the samples over to the counter.
"Am I done here then?" Lami asked. "Or are you going to poke me some more?"
"No, I'm done. And, yes, you can go now," Law said.
"Great! I'm going to go help Penguin! It's about time for dinner!" Lami slid off the exam table and ran out of the room. She headed directly to the galley since that's where she knew Penguin would be. It was time for them to start dinner. "I'm here!"
"I thought the captain would be still be running tests on you," Penguin said pulling a pot from the cabinet. "You didn't escape, did you?"
"Escape? From a guy with Daddy's devil fruit powers?" Lami cocked an eyebrow at him. "That isn't possible."
Penguin laughed. "I guess you're right."
"So what are we making?" Lami asked walking over to him.
"We have some potatoes that need to be used up," Penguin said. "So I figured we'll use them in some fish stew."
"Yum! One of my favorites!" Lami stepped over to the sink and washed her hands. "Shall I peal the potatoes?"
"If you would," Penguin said stepping over to the fridge. "I'll get started on the fish. It should be thawed by now."
Lami gathered up the potatoes from the bin. Placing them in the sink, she washed them with water before moving them onto the table. Then she pulled out a knife, sat down, and started peeling the skin off.
"So how are you feeling?" Penguin asked.
"I'm fine," Lami said. "Though my arm hurts. Daddy was being mean. He drew blood."
"You know that's not true. The captain loves you," Penguin said.
"I know. But he still didn't have to draw blood," Lami said. "I should hide all the needles on the ship. Throw them overboard or something."
"You won't do that. You know they are necessary," Penguin said.
"Maybe," Lami mumbled. "But it's a nice idea at least."
"Just make sure it remains as an idea only," Penguin said chopping up the fish.
"Guess we'll see," Lami said.
Two hours later, the smell of their stew started to draw the pirates into the kitchen. Law was one of the last to arrive. He sat down at the head of the table with an annoyed huff.
"Something wrong, Captain?" Bepo asked.
"I found nothing wrong with Lami," Law said.
"That's a good thing," Penguin said. "Isn't it?"
"Maybe," Law said. "But it doesn't answer why her powers didn't work."
"Maybe it was just a hiccup," Ika said.
"A hiccup?" Fugu cocked an eyebrow. "You're kidding, right?"
"Not at all. Hiccups can interrupt our talking. So they can interrupt a person's powers," Ika said.
"Sounds kind of silly," Penguin said. "But I suppose it's possible. We don't know everything about Lami's abilities after all."
Law hummed in thought. Penguin had a good point. Maybe this wasn't something to worry about.
"Smells good in here," Shachi said as he and three others walked in.
"How's the other ship?" Lami asked.
"It's fine," Shachi said. "We tied it onto the ship so we could eat with you all. We'll head back over when we're done. Which reminds me. The captain's right. With this extra ship we should be able to sell the other one easily. And with the treasure we also acquired from those pirates we finally have enough to get a sub!"
"Yeah!" the crew cheered.
"You'll be getting your own room soon, Lami," Penguin said.
"But I like sleeping with Bepo," Lami said.
"You still can," Law said. "It'll take a while for the sub to be completed. But as you get older you will need your own room. So you're getting one whether or not you want one."
"Okay," Lami said.
"And I want you to go to bed early tonight," Law said.
"What?! Why?!" Lami asked.
"Penguin might be right and this was just a fluke of some sort," Law said. "But I'm still not taking chances. So it's early to bed for you."
"Fine," Lami said. "I'll take my bath then go to bed like you want."
Law nodded in acceptance to her words.
Lami huffed but focused on eating while the crew spoke about their most recent successes. They all were excited about getting a submarine. She wasn't sure about it. It sounded fun. But she was going to save her real opinion until it happened. There was still a lot of stuff that could happen between now and then.
After dinner was finished, the crew remained in place but for Shachi and the three that came in with him. They left to take care of the other ship. Lami stayed a little longer in the kitchen before she was ordered to go take her bath.
"Time to get ready for bed, Lami," Law said.
"Fine." Lami pushed back from the table. Waving to the crew she headed out of the kitchen, descended down the stairs on the deck, and down the hall. She headed right into the bathroom. While they kept saying bath she literally couldn't take one. The ships they had been using didn't have one. They all only have a shower or two. And she always got the shower for herself since she was the only girl on the ship. No one questioned it. And the guys stayed far away from there when she was in it.
Lami stripped of her clothes, turned on the water, and stepped underneath it. She lingered a bit before finally actually taking her shower. Then with a towel wrapped around her body she trudged back to her and Bepo's room. The navigator was still missing. So she changed into some dry clothes then sat down on her bed to brush out her hair. Mindlessly she brushed out her tresses for several minutes before pausing. Narrowing her eyebrows she focused on her orbs. One by one she called them to her. They appeared in front of her body, floating like they always have done. "What happened out there today? Why did you all disappear on me? Is Daddy right? Is there something wrong with me?"
A soft tap on the door brought her out of her thoughts. "Yes? It's open."
Law walked in. "How you doing?"
"I'm okay," Lami said.
"Lami." Law crossed his arms.
"Okay," Lami said tucking her feet under her legs. "I'm worried that something might be wrong with me. And I was…" Tears leaked over her eyelids. "I was scared!"
Law rushed over to her. He sat down and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her onto his lap. "Shh. I know."
Lami clung to him and cried. "Daddy! I was so scared! I couldn't…I couldn't do anything! He was going to kill me!"
"I never would have let him do that," Law said. "You're very important to me. And he's never going to touch you again. We'll figure out why your orbs did what they did. I promise you're going to always be safe. Okay?"
Lami nodded. She sniffled and remained curled in Law's arms. "Will you stay for a while?"
"Of course I will." Law pushed off his boots then shifted back on the bed so he could hold Lami better. "I'm not going anywhere."
"Good," Lami whispered to him stroking her hair. With a deep breath she relaxed against him, falling asleep to the beat of his soothing heart.
Still here. And writer's block stinks. But got it done finally.
