Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece. I only own my OCs.
Bepo wasn't sure if he really liked the new chef. At best, he was wary of her. Yes, she cooked delicious food that his crew had forgone for far too long and so far, she hasn't done anything to cause trouble between her and a member of the crew during the past three days. Well, except for Dominick, but only when he smoked near her and even then, it was not like she got in a fist fight or something. Bepo knew that she could have. Call it instincts or plain observation; he was more attentive than he looked, especially if it was regarding a stranger who, as far as he knew, swore no loyalty to his crew. Sera had muscle—Bepo saw it once when he watched her cook dinner, lugging the deer carcasses over her shoulder like nothing.
Bepo didn't know how skilled she was in battle, so if something did happen, would he be able to trust her? Will she be willing to help his crew when times get tough or would she betray them the second she can? Their past chefs were less than adequate; some quit, others not being reliable outside of the kitchen, and one had even gone as far as turning traitor (he still doesn't know exactly what Law had done to the man). Bepo wouldn't be surprised if something happened with her and the crew is left without a chef again.
The Mink glanced at the woman from the corner of his eyes. She was leaning on the wall near the entrance of the submarine, clad in her coat and her headscarf wrapped around her neck and lower face. She was rubbing her gloved hands together and he could see the slight shivers of her body as she tried to withstand the cold ocean breeze.
That was another thing Bepo found weird. The day was not too cold and most North Blue inhabitants could handle this temperature with nothing more than a jacket. Yet, she was acting as if it was snowing. He wondered where exactly she came from. A warmer island? There weren't much of those in North Blue.
His fishing pole tugged and Bepo changed his focus from the girl to the dark shadow beneath the water. Sera had convinced the pirates to go fishing when they ran out of meat, which actually made most of the pirates annoyed. They were behind schedule now. Being behind schedule was not something Law appreciated. However, when Bepo managed to reel in the fishing line and saw the large, struggling salmon, he found out that he wasn't too angry….
Sera brought her hands to her face, lowering her headscarf away from her mouth in order to blow some hot air to her gloved hands. Her lips had gotten chapped and there were dry spots on her skin that were so tempting to scratch. She had only been in the North Blue for a couple of weeks, but that seemed to be enough time to ruin her skin.
"I just had to run out of moisturizer..." she muttered to herself as she finally gave in and scratched an itchy spot on her jaw. Her eyes, however, stayed glued to the pirates leaning on the railings and fishing. They had made the job into a sort of competition as to whoever catches the heaviest amount of fish. Bepo had probably caught the biggest one, which had spurred the rest to try harder and a few sent the polar bear a few competitive words that made the bear gloom over his victory. Dominick and Alice were personally competing against each other, but then Penguin and Shachi butted in and showed off their joint work of a large bucket of mixed fish halfway full. The four mechanics were now arguing, destroying the peaceful air. One of the medical assistants - Indigo, she believed - was silent and hadn't spoken a word, but she saw that he had already filled his bucket with fish and looked like he was now napping. Shachi had noticed the quiet man drifting asleep and he blew a raspberry in his ear, causing him to yelp and fall back onto the deck, eliciting a laugh from the rest. Indigo only slapped Shachi on the head with his fishing pole before he decided to sleep on the deck on the exact position as he had fallen.
The scene made her smile. They remind me of a weird family.
She sensed someone approach and turned her head to see Law leaning on the doorway, arms crossed and clad in his usual jeans, hoodie, and fuzzy hat. Sera frowned; how was it that these pirates were able to handle such cold weather? Oh, how she terribly wished that she was in the East Blue. People said that that weak sea was nice and warm, like spring.
"You don't think we caught enough fish?" he asked with a dry smirk. Law was still annoyed that they had to stop in the middle of their journey to the next island, but he understood why it was necessary. His crew would complain if there wasn't enough food.
The brunette looked at the buckets of fish. By some good fortune, they had anchored at a fish feeding sight where there were hardly any currents. The pirates were surprisingly good fishers as well. They had probably caught enough to make a grand feast.
Sera shrugged and said, "With all of your stomachs, this would only last us a day."
"You're exaggerating."
"No, I'm not." She knew she was.
Law shook his head, that smirk never leaving his face. "We would have arrived at the next island by nightfall if we didn't stop. We could have ate inland and done our shopping then."
"Oh? Then we'll save money." Sera sniffled and rubbed her hands together. Her teeth clenched together as she shivered, a brisk wind making her hair fly over her face. She pulled her hair behind her ears and sniffled again.
Law looked at her with analytical eyes. The tip of her nose was turning red, her lips were chapped, and he saw a couple of dry spots on her tanned skin. Her eyes watered from the cold wind.
"Are you not accustomed to the cold, Julienne-ya?" he asked, although the answer was obvious.
Sera shook her head. "I was raised in the humidity and I never had to handle cold weather most of the time."
Law's lips twitched. That proved one of his suspicions. Law had figured she wasn't from Paw Island, simply because her and her brother's darker complexions were different from the other natives. However, now that made him wonder where exactly she had come from. He also wondered why she was in the mansion in the first place, but he never seemed to have a chance to ask her. It was as if she had been avoiding him.
Before he could ask any of his questions, she said, "Are you heading to the Grand Line?"
The question caught him off guard, but he didn't show it. She looked at him with her hazel eyes slightly squinted, possibly from the sunlight that was peeping through the clouds and hitting her face. He noticed how her eyes looked a bit greener.
"Did Alice-ya mention it to you?" he asked. His female mechanic loved to babble and he wouldn't be surprised if Sera now knows every adventure and misadventure his crew had gone through the past months.
"No…it seems like every pirate wants to go to the Grand Line and find One Piece, that's all."
Law raised an eyebrow. "You've met other pirates?"
"…A few. Then there's that stereotype, too. Pirates want treasure and One Piece is supposedly the greatest treasure in the world."
"It is the greatest treasure in the world. There's no other treasure that could compare."
This time, a smirk appeared on her lips, as if she knew something he didn't and found his words amusing. He narrowed his eyes at the thought.
"You think you can find the One Piece and become pirate king?"
Law's smirk was so full of confidence, Sera almost believed that he could. "I know I can."
"Such a crazy dream," she muttered, looking back at the other pirates with a small smile.
"Dreams aren't worth chasing if they don't have a semblance of craziness in them," Law said, although he did feel slightly miffed at her comment.
Sera couldn't find it in her to disagree. She was about to say something else, but then she sneezed twice, completely cutting herself off. Law studied her for a while longer before he sighed and pushed himself off of the doorway.
"Go inside," he said. "I'm not going to risk the chef getting sick."
Sera smirked slyly at him. "Aw, you care about me."
Law raised an eyebrow. "If you get sick, then nobody will be able to cook."
"What? You don't want charcoal and gunk as your main course anymore?"
"I don't want to lose any more years of my life, Julienne-ya."
"I'm pretty sure drinking twenty mugs of wine would have done that already." She winked at him, grinning slightly when he glared at her.
Then he smirked again. "If that's the case, then you would die before I would. I seem to recall our alcohol storage having depleted the past few days. You don't happen to know what happened, do you?"
Red dusted her cheeks. Damn he's on to me, she thought. "I think I saw rum bottles grow legs and walk the plank...you know...for the better good of our health. They told me to tell you that they were sorry for deserting, but you were a good captain, so you shouldn't take it personally."
Law's lips twitched and he almost coughed up a laugh at her odd reply. "Flattery won't get you anywhere with me, but nice try."
Sera gave him an odd look. "Oh? I wasn't trying to flatter. I don't think you need any more ego-boosting, Mr. Sixty-Million. Although, I do think we should go get those rum bottles. I think they secretly wanted to commit mutiny. Who knows what they would do?"
This time, Law didn't bother to hide his amusement. She was starting to act like how he had first met her in the inn the morning after the drinking competition, although maybe a bit weirder. He wasn't sure if she meant anything by her words. Law didn't try to decode them; instead, he leaned forward and gave her a dark, mischievous look that made Sera freeze.
"Oh, I'm not worried." His smirk grew at Sera's inquiring look. "If anybody gets in my way, I will give them hell before I kill them off. And if you dare to try to run, Julienne-ya, you won't be an exception."
Sera stared right into his eyes, her own hazel eyes slightly wide as she felt a shiver go up her spine. She hoped it was from the cold and not the predatory look that came with the threat. The way the brim of his hat shadowed his eyes, making the grey orbs stand out, and the lopsided quirk of his lips that showed off a bit of his canines...it reminded her of a feline ready to pounce on a mouse. The thought of the wretched creature made her hands twitch and she gave an awkward smile.
"Oh, okay. Got it. No running. No worries. Bye-bye!" she said all in one breath and she scurried off inside. She could feel her pride chipping.
Law watched her leave, confused at what had just happened. She looked...frightened. Had he really scared her off with his comment? He wondered if she did plan to run off before her debt was paid. Maybe that was what made her nervous. "She can try to run," he said smugly and proceeded to watch Bepo catch another giant fish. The chances of her escaping him was slim. No one gets away from Trafalgar Law, after all.
Sera stopped and stood near the mess hall's door, head slamming against the metal wall. To say she felt pathetic was an understatement. "Geez, when I was actually enjoying the conversation with the guy," she grumbled, taking off her headscarf so she could tie her hair up again. His cat-like look flashed in her mind and she shivered again. "Oh please don't let him be like those demons...oh, that's probably a useless prayer. Rumor says he's sadistic..."
Alice had told her stories the past few days and Sera realized why the Heart Pirates had sounded so familiar: they had been on the news a week ago after they had raided a Marine science facility for some equipment that they wanted to use in their submarine. They had destroyed a Marine base and annihilated an infamous pirate crew before that. And if the newspapers were any accurate, those unlucky enough to end up in Law's hands were dealt in unnatural torture.
Sera then slapped her cheeks and she shook her head rapidly. I'm being crazy again. He's human, not a C-A-T. Sera took a deep breath and counted to ten, calming her racing heart. Resolving to forget the last part of the conversation, she instead thought about what he had revealed about himself.
"Pirate King, huh? Such a silly dream," she muttered as she went into the galley to prepare some onigiri. Pirates had often underestimated the Grand Line, even those who were native to the sea. Did he know exactly how dangerous the sea was, that just because he had made a name for himself that he was ready for the Grand Line? Sera was no expert, but she had seen enough to know that the Grand Line deserves its nickname as the "Pirate's Graveyard."
However, looking at the small kitchen that she had finally cleaned and organized to her standards, her smile reappeared and she laughed sheepishly. "I suppose I have no right to talk."
After all, how can she make fun of his dream when she herself wasn't any better, searching for a sea that, in all likelihood, was probably what it was claimed to be: a legend.
I was originally going to start the next island adventure in this chapter, but I thought it would be better to have something happen in between to show a bit of character. Not a lot would have happened in between the two island, especially since I imagine Sera not interacting with the pirates outside of the food and medical situations...as of now.
Well, like always, review and tell me what you think!