Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece

To Guest: I believe it is pronounced Ari-un.

Start

I plopped down on the deck next to Law and took out my sketchbook. I also took out a pencil and opened to a new page. Law looked at me with a raised eyebrow and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Drawing," I answered while taking a look at Bepo and began to sketch him.

"What are you drawing?" He asked making me glance at him before looking back at Bepo.

"Bepo," I drew his head and facial features first.

"Why?" I felt some annoyance at the questions.

I pushed that annoyance back as I continued to draw and answered him, "Because I haven't drawn him yet and it'd be a shame if my sketches didn't contain the precious bear."

Law chuckled and asked, "Have you drawn anyone else yet?"

"Shachi and Penguin," I replied as my lips twitched at the thought of that sketch, "I've drawn Buck as well,"

"And me?" I shook my head, "Why not?"

I shrugged my shoulders in reply, "I haven't felt the need to. I'm sure I'll end up drawing you soon," I absentmindedly added, "It'd be a shame if I didn't add your interesting eyes to my sketches."

I immediatly froze as Law mumbled, "Interesting eyes?"

Oh shit I said that aloud?! I blushed lightly and tried to ignore the look Law was giving me. Bepo shifted in his sleep while murmuring, "Fish..."

I giggled at Bepo and wondered just what he was dreaming about. The small amount of drool leaking out of his mouth told me that it was about eating fish. I stopped giggling and looked at Law when he touched my shoulder lightly. I blushed slightly when he asked, "You think I have interesting eyes?"

"It's the first thing I really noticed about you," I admitted while mentally kicking myself for telling him this stuff, "I've never really seen that color on anything other than clouds," I ran a hand through my hair before returning my attention to my sketches, "It was so interesting that I kinda forgot about my trust issues and wanted to see what would happen when I flirted with you,"

Law stared at Ariun in surprise at her admittance of that. Sure he had recently wondered why she would flirt with him after the shit that happened to her in the past. He would admit that the way she acted most of the time made him forget about her past until something happens. The thoughts swirled through his mind prompting him to ask, "Why do you act the way you do?"

Ariun froze with her pencil to the paper before looking at him with slightly guarded eyes, "What?"

He disliked repeating himself, but even he knew that he hadn't asked the question right, "Ariun-ya you usually act like nothing happened to you in the past. Why is that?"

Ariun's eyes lost their guardedness and she sighed while putting down her sketchbook. She stared at the pencil in her hand for a few moments, "I...I guess it's because I don't want Kuro and Maki to worry about me," She then shook her head, "At first, it was because I didn't want them to worry about me. Then, it became a habit. After a few years, I became the person I was trying to hide behind."

"You hid yourself so deeply that you became your facade," He realized and looked at the woman sitting next to him a new light.

She smiled in a gentle way and turned her eyes towards him, "Yes and no. Over time, I realized that I didn't want to be stuck in the past among my demons," Her eyes were soft and bright, "I didn't want to fear every person I met and see the worst in them. I wanted to see the good things too. I wanted to bury my past and act as if it wasn't there."

"Which is unhealthy," He pointed out causing her to laugh softly.

She shook her head as amusement showed in her mismatched orbs, "I know that. My 'facade' as you put it was unhealthy and I realized that after a year of using it," She looked at Bepo and reached out to run her fingers through his fur, "I had nightmares every night no matter what I did and I could see my friends suffering because of it," She frowned deeply, "I didn't want them to suffer because of me, so I ran away," She let out a soft laugh, "Little good it did. Kuro and Maki caught up to me a month later. Pissed off that I left them."

"How did they find you?" He asked making her smile.

"Maki has a devil fruit," She explained with a slight grin, "A creepy as fuck devil fruit, but a useful one," She shook her head, "Anyway, I tried to tell them my excuse for leaving them and Kuro punched me," She reached up and rubbed her jaw, "Fucker managed to knock out three of my baby teeth and almost broke my jaw at the age of ten. Hurt like a bitch, but made me listen to them," Her eyes were slightly glazed over, "They called my excuse shitty and told me that I was running from my problems. Told me that I was an idiot and that they would help me through it even if it killed them," She shook her head and looked at him, "Kuro and Maki helped me through my past. They helped me find some of the other people that got experimented on. I faced my past and became stronger because of it," She picked up her sketchbook and resumed her drawing, "Sometimes, I get lost in my past, but those days are few and far in between,"

Law felt like a weight that had been on his shoulders lift the longer she spoke until it was gone. He realized that they had more in common then he had thought.

Ariun and Bepo walked with him once they had docked the sub. The crew had split up with half of them guarding the sub and the other half getting supplies. Ariun was looking around the island with a look of awe on her face causing him to chuckle. She looked at him and asked, "What's so funny?"

"You look like a child," He answered teasingly.

She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest as Bepo snickered beside her, "Hey you would be too if this was the first time you've been on a spring island."

He chuckled though admitted that it was slightly true. Bepo patted Ariun's head making her cheeks puff out, "It's alright Ari-chan. You can act like a child if you want. Captain's just being mean"

"Captain needs a boot to the ass then," Ariun grumbled making him snort.

"Captain can hear you," Law smirked at her as she glared at him.

"I'm aware," She looked away from him before gasping and pointing, "Can we go there?!"

He turned his head and felt like facepalming. Ariun was pointing at a fish shaped restaurant and Bepo was looking at him with puppy dog eyes. He closed his eyes for a second to get rid of the urge to facepalm before saying, "No. We need to get supplies remember."

"Oh right," Ariun pouted along with Bepo.

He felt the urge to leave both of them behind, but controlled it while wondering why they were acting so childish.

I was carrying a group of bags filled with books, new weapons, weapon care kits, and some new clothes. The new clothes had been Law's idea since I didn't have anything for the summer and desert islands we were likely to encounter when on the Grandline. Law had also made sure that to inform me that I needed to get our jolly roger stitched into every piece of my clothes. I set my stuff down in my room before heading back outside. Law was staring at one of the navigators. I can't exactly remember his name, but I knew he was the one Law had sent for information about the island. I moved beside Law as I asked, "What's going on?"

"Apparently the logpose sets in a week," Law informed me with slightly narrowed eyes.

"A week?" I murmured while trying to figure out if that was a bad thing, "Okay..."

"Apparently a storm is going to hit the island in two days," I still didn't think it was bad, "The storm apparently happens once a month and lasts for five days,"

"So right up until we leave the island?" I asked and gained a nod, "What's the problem with that? It's just a little rain storm right?"

"An electrical storm," Law corrected me and I immediatly saw the problem.

"We live on a sub," I bit my lip before asking, "What are we going to do?"

Law sighed while the navigator said, "They have a shelter made for ships like ours set up on the other side of the island. Only thing is, we would have to pay through the nose in order to dock our sub there."

I felt a small burst of anger and asked, "Why the fuck would they do that?"

"They're greedy assholes," Law sighed deeply, "In from the person in charge that we'll pay for it,"

"Aye Captain," The navigator ran off while I turned to Law.

He looked at me and smirked, "Ariun-ya we'll be stealing our money back once the storm is over."

My lips twitched into a grin at the thought, "Sounds nice. I assume we're also going to be stealing anything else of value as well?"

"We're pirates so what do you think?" He asked making me giggle.

"Might I say that I enjoy being a pirate," The thought of stealing after so long was very appealing, "Will I be able to keep anything I find interesting?"

Law seemed to consider it, "Only if you show it to me first."

I nodded having already planned on doing so, "Of course."

Law watched as his crew made fools of themselves in the bar nearest to the docks. Ariun was sitting next to him and seemingly ignored everything that was going on around her. He would have been fooled had it not been for the occasional twitch of her slightly hidden leopard ears. She looked up at him from the book she had brought with her and asked, "Is there something wrong Law?"

"No," He watched as her eyes did a swift check around the bar before focusing on him once more, "Why would you think there was one?"

"You've been staring at me for the last eighteen minutes," She deadpanned gaining a frown from him, "I assumed there was something wrong,"

He felt a bit of annoyance, but amusement overlapped it. He smirked at her teasingly and asked, "Do you have a problem with me staring at you?"

She snorted and reached for her drink, "No, but it is a distraction from my book."

"Which book are you reading?" He looked at the cover.

The cover annoyingly enough only had a crescent moon on it and the title 'Night of the crescent' gave no indication of what it was about. Ariun smirked at him and put her book away, "An adventure romance book."

"Ah and you brought it to a bar?" He asked feeling his smirk grow.

She shrugged her shoulders and leaned back against her chair, "Bars are boring."

"Why did you come with us then?" He felt slightly intrigued.

"People's tongues loosen up with alcohol," Immediately he began to understand why, "If we want to get a really good haul, we need as much information as possible," She winked at him as she grabbed her drink, "Alcohol is also a reason. Plus, this," She waved at the rest of the crew, "Is amusing,"

Feeling highly amused and interested in what she was saying, he asked, "What have you gathered so far?"

"Nothing much. It seems that these people aren't the ones we need to be drinking around," She looked faintly annoyed for a few moments before it faded away, "All I got is that they won't be gathering any money until the day before the storm hits,"

He filed the information away before asking, "Where did you pick up a skill like this?"

She shrugged her shoulders, "I used to work as a protector remember," She tapped her ears lightly, "I needed to hear if someone needed one and why. If I was pleased with what I heard, I would go over and smooth talk the potential client into taking me on as their protector for however long they were on the island."

"How many times did you work as a 'protector'?" He asked using air quotes for the word protector.

She hummed and continued to drink, "I lost count after the 1000th time. It just blurs together."

"You were good at your job?" He asked feeling slightly shocked by the amount of times she played guard.

She nodded with a smug smirk, "Oh hell yeah. The only time someone died was because of their own arrogance," She snorted and closed her eyes, "I don't work for idiots that think they're untouchable just 'cause they have some hired muscle protecting them."

"Did you enjoy it?" He tried to think of ways he could use this experience of hers to his advantage.

She nodded with a slight smile, "Pay was good and I got to hear about my clients travels if they were comfortable enough around me."

End