Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece

Answer to Apple Jack:
I've never read that story before, but I thank you for pointing that out. You've said before that you're confused about how Ariun's trust keeps shifting. Can you explain that to me as that made me rather confused.

Start

My fist slammed into Kuro's head the moment I saw him surprising everyone in the galley. Kuro's head was shoved into his plate and I offered Maki a smirk as he asked, "Your tail twitched didn't it?"

My tail wrapped around Kuro's neck as I asked, "What did the idiot do this time?"

"He," Maki began only for Kuro to shake his head.

"Maki!" Kuro shouted with wide eyes, "Why?!"

Maki snorted while I shoved Kuro's head down once more, "I'm not suicidal enough to cover for you," He looked at Kuro with a raised eyebrow, "I may love you, but i'd rather not have Storm pissed at me," He turned to me, "He was talking about your mom."

My tail tightened as my eyes narrowed causing Kuro to struggle against me, "And what did he say about her?"

"That your white hair is one of the only things you have left of her," Maki told me.

I hummed and released Kuro making him move away from me with his hand on his neck. I looked at him in amusement as he gasped and rubbed at his neck, "A problem Kuro?"

"Damn it Storm," He gasped out while glaring at me, "Don't do that to me,"

I snorted as my tail flicked behind me, "I wouldn't have to if you'd stop doing stupid shit."

Before Kuro could retort and I could speak further, Law spoke up, "Ariun-ya I would appreciate it if you didn't strangle your fellow crewmember."

I looked at Law with a raised eyebrow, "You do realize that it's going to be hard obeying the order right?"

"How so?" He looked at me with some amused curiosity.

"When Kuro is acting stupid and my tail tip twitches, I react instinctively," I explained while running a hand through my damp hair, "It's how I've done things for years and suddenly being told I can't do it? It'll take sometime before I can restrain that impulse,"

"Is it only when he does something stupid that concerns you or is it all the time?" Law asked making me hum softly.

"Only when it concerns me," I answered before my stomach growled.

"Go get lunch," Law ordered and I nodded.

Law was sitting in his office after finishing his lunch and informing Ariun to meet him there when she was done. He was somewhat surprised at what happened during lunch and wondered how exactly she knew Kuro had said something. It was a rather amusing reaction and would no doubt provide a lot of amusement over the long days they were stuck in the sub. He wondered just how strong that tail of her's was. It was obviously somewhat strong if it could lift her daggers and throw them long distances. He would have to ask Ariun about that since it seemed to be a rather interesting ability. Law was broken from his musing as Ariun walked inside of his office. She sat down across from him and asked, "So what are we doing?"

"We'll be going down to see our guests fairly soon," He answered while catching sight of her skin paling a bit, "Do you have a problem with it?"

"No," She replied after a few seconds, "Was there anything else?"

He wasn't convinced that she didn't have a problem with it, but decided that it didn't matter. It was her punishment after all. He decided to answer her question, "Ariun-ya what exactly can you do with your tail?

"A lot of stuff," Her tail flicked behind her, "My tail is fairly strong and very maneuverable. I can use it to toss daggers and block harsh blows," She hummed softly, "I can use it to hold things if my hands are either full or I need both of them like when I'm using my staff,"

"How much weight can it hold?" Law asked feeling fairly surprised.

Ariun was silent for a few moments as her head tilted to the side, "I think I can lift around a hundred pounds with it, but I'm not too sure."

"Even if it can hold less than that, your tail is fairly strong," Law decided that it was worth testing and seeing if they could increase the amount her tail could hold, "How exactly did you know that Kuro did something during lunch?"

I looked at Law with some confusion and asked, "Can you repeat that?"

Law's eyes narrowed, "I dislike repeating myself."

"Perhaps, but I trying to figure out if I heard you correctly," I murmured with a frown, "You asked me 'How exactly did you know that Kuro did something during lunch?' right?"

"Correct," Law's eyes stayed narrowed, "Is there a problem?"

"No, but that's an odd question," I struggled to find the answer, "It's instincts I guess,"

"Instinct?" Law looked at me with a raised eyebrow, "How exactly does that work?"

"I don't know," I admitted with a small sigh and ran a hand through my hair, "It's just something that developed over the years of dealing with Kuro's stupidity," I closed my eyes, "I've never really questioned it,"

"Does the same thing happen if Maki is acting stupid?" I shook my head with a laugh.

"Maki doing something stupid?" The thought was just too hilarious, "The world would end or something,"

"He never does anything stupid?" Law looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

I shook my head with as a laugh bubbled up in my throat, "Maki is the only one of us that doesn't have a stupidity impulse."

Law chuckled before stopping and looking at me in surprise, "You have a stupidity impulse?"

I nodded feeling no shame in admitting it, "Yeah though my stupidity impulse more selective than Kuro's."

"How so?" Law asked with curiosity in his eyes.

I smile sheepishly, "I enjoy getting a rise out of people, I enjoy watching explosions, I enjoy stealing shiny things from people that annoy me, and I do whatever I'm dared to do unless it goes against my morals."

After revealing that kind of embarrassing information, we headed down to Law's second lab. A shiver crawled down my spine as we entered and I saw the poor souls strapped down to three table. I wanted to run away almost immediatly, but I kept following Law. I needed to get a grip on myself and get through this punishment. The scent of old blood lingered in the air, yet I could see none on the pristine equipment meaning that Law had killed more than a few in this room. The thought didn't bother me much, but the room reminded me too much of the one I had been in before. I swallowed and watched Law as he took out equipment. He spoke as he did so, "We'll be questioning them for any valuable information as well as experimenting on them."

"Okay," I barely kept myself from fidgeting, "What do you want me to do?"

Law didn't answer my question, but he didn't need to. I was there to observe, hand him the things he indicated, be his second pair of hands should he require it, and a few other things. As he worked, I began to feel numb, but I pushed the feeling down. I watched as he cut into the men, toyed with them, spilled their blood, and so much more. Flashes of memory slammed into my skull as the men screamed. My throat tightened as my ears began to ring. It felt like something was strangling me. Darkness edged at my vision as screams echoed through my mind. Splashes of bright crimson seemed to take over my vision for a few seconds. The scientist was coming for me. I knew that he was. I could hear his insane laughter ripping through the air and his taunting voice listing what he was going to do. The dull thud of his feet on the ground seemed to speed up. No. I couldn't go through another one.

"Ariun-ya hand me that scalpel," Law ordered feeling annoyed that she hadn't done so already.

"N-no," He swung around to look at her upon hearing her stutter that, "N-no,"

He felt his eyes widened upon seeing Ariun's eyes wide and unseeing. They were glazed over and had taken on a bright yellow tint. The yellow tint seemed to grow as her skin became the color of snow. He cursed himself as he realized what was happening, "Ariun-ya calm down."

"N-no..." She was backing away from him towards the wall, "N-no..."

He moved towards her slowly, "Ariun-ya I will not hurt you-"

"NO!" He was surprised by the shout, "No more. Please no more,"

Tears were running down her cheek as her pupil became small diamonds. He moved towards her again only for her to let out what sounded like a cross between a whimper and growl. She backed herself into the wall and was shaking her head. She was whispering no more over and over again with a look of absolute fear on her face. When he stepped forward once more, her eyes closed and she fainted. Cursing softly, he moved over to her quickly and caught her before she could slid down the wall.

Law carefully set Ariun down on her bed and sat next to her. He felt like hitting himself for forcing her into that situation. She had been experimented on and had probably been terrified of the whole situation. He cursed himself for not remembering those facts when he devised that stupid punishment. He pressed a hand to his forehead and muttered, "Damn it. I fucked up," He looked down at Ariun, "I'm sorry Ariun-ya. I should have taken your past into account."

I groaned softly and wondered why my head hurt. I opened my eyes and looked around only to find myself in my room. Odd I could have sworn I was walking down to Law's second lab a few seconds ago. What the hell happened? I carefully got out of bed and looked out of the window only to see darkness. Frowning, I looked down and saw that I was still in my clothes from after my shower. My curiosity grew and I headed outside of my room. The sub was quiet save for the soft hum of the engines meaning that everyone was asleep. My frown grew and I walked up the stairs. Listening closely as I walk down the hall, I tried to see if anyone was awake. My ears twitched as I heard the sound of pages turning and turned my head to see it was coming from Law's office. Taking it as a sign that the man was awake, I knocked on the door. The sound immediatly stopped before his voice sounded, "What is it?"

"Law," I called through the door, "Can I come in?"

He was silent for a few moments before I heard his chair scraping against the floor. Moments later, the door opened and the man was staring at me with an unreadable look on his face. He moved aside after a few moments and I took it as an invitation. Law retook his seat at his desk and asked, "What is it?"

"I was wondering what happened earlier," I murmured after taking a seat across from him, "All I can remember is following you to your second lab,"

Law was quiet, but I was shocked to see regret in those interesting eyes of his. He spoke after a few minutes as I tried to figure out why he would regret something, "Ariun-ya you had what could only be a flashback mixed with a panic attack."

"Why?" My head was hurting making me wonder what I had a flashback to.

"I believe it is because you were experimented on and what I was doing caused memories of your time with the scientist to overcome you," Law explained with a sigh, "You were trapped in your memory and when I tried to approach you, you passed out after backing yourself into a corner,"

A blush stained my cheeks at the phrasing even as disappointment ran through me. I bowed my head and murmured, "I'm sorry for causing you trouble."

"Ariun-ya you are not at fault here," I looked up at him with surprise, "It is my fault for not considering your past when I decided upon this punishment," He looked regretful, "You have my apologies for that,"

I shook my head, "You didn't know it would happen, so there isn't really any harm done other than to my pride."

Law looked surprised before chuckling, "Pride?"

He couldn't believe this woman and the fact she was brushing what happened off. Ariun actually pouted as she murmured, "I can't believe I fainted like that. Panic attack-flashback-thing or not, I shouldn't have fainted."

He could stop the laughter that bubbled up in his chest from escaping. The situation was just hilarious. Ariun joined him after a few moments. They slowly stopped laughing and he murmured, "You are one interesting woman."

She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, "So what? Pride is important."

He chuckled and shook his head, "Ariun-ya I suggest going to the galley and making yourself a snack before going to bed. You missed dinner after all."

She nodded just as her stomach growled. He was surprised when his stomach growled as well. Ariun smiled teasingly at him, "Going to join me Law?"

He stood from his desk as she stood from her chair, "I could use a break."

Law decided that, as he followed Ariun out of his office towards the galley, he was lucky to have discovered her on that island and that she joined his crew.

End