Disclaimer: Shiningheart of ThunderClan doesn't own One Piece or any of the One Piece characters. She only owns Nadeen, Derek, Cyrus, Coren, Jake, Sam... Wow, you know, there are more OCs in this story than there are canons... Would that make this an OC-centric story?

Me: Does it matter? I'm going to keep writing it anyway. I doubt it, though, since it takes place in the canon-verse. ON WITH THE STORY!

Chapter 8: Change of Plans and Messing Around

Hours after lunch, all was quiet on the sub. The usual antics of the crewmembers had given way to serious work for all. Shachi and Penguin were down in the belly of the beast, working on whatever it is engineers of a submarine work on. Cyrus was in the navigation room, keeping an eye on the gauges and tracking the ocean currents. Coryn was in the kitchen, working on supper. Law was in his office, doing actual captain things and totally not avoiding Nadeen after her sudden hug and departure from the galley.

No, really, he wasn't. He was actually going over the finances of what they could afford and what they needed. If worse came to worse, they could just steal what they needed and not even have to pay. They were pirates, after all; it was kind of expected of them. But Law didn't want to cause problems unless he had to. After all, some of the crew were still recovering from their last fight. He wanted to give them a chance to heal fully before antagonizing the marines into another battle. Whether he'd include Nadeen in that or not remained to be seen, though.

Actually, now that he thought about it, would Nadeen fight with them when the time came? She wasn't a member of the crew, therefore she had no obligation other than her supposed 'debt'. Which Law honestly found a bit ridiculous. Pirates weren't supposed to be 'honorable'. Even when he himself was being polite, it was more a more mocking respect than anything. He didn't understand what made Nadeen feel the need to save his life in return for sparing hers. But then, he didn't really need to understand, he supposed. If she was willing to throw away her life for him, who was he to say no?

A knock at the door made him look up. Usually his crew knew not to bother him until after dinner, so by deduction it had to be the female currently on his mind. "Come in, Miss Nadeen." The redhead popped her head inside, blinking. "Everyone else that would come up here knows not to bother me unless it's for something."

She opened the door more and went to scratch the back of her head sheepishly. Since she didn't cringe this time, Law deduced her scalp was feeling better. "Should I come back another time, then? It's not really something all that important, but I was hoping to discuss tomorrow, when we hit land." Law waved a hand for her to fully enter, admittedly curious about what could be so important that she's purposefully seek him out. And besides, numbers were beginning to bore him. Nadeen gave a grateful smile before closing the door behind her and taking a seat in the other chair. "Okay, so, I was making my list, like you suggested."

She took a folded piece of paper from her pocket and handed it over to him. Law opened it to see two long columns. There was everything from hoodies to t-shirts to tank tops to shorts to sweatpants to jeans. There were underpants as well, but Law noted a lack of a particular item. "No bras, Miss Nadeen?"

A slight pink took over her ears, but she kept her composure while shaking her head. "Until I gain back my previous weight, I see no need for them. Until then, I can just keep the girls bandaged." Law hummed in understanding and put down the list, leaning back into his chair. "But, see, there's a small problem. I don't have any money myself to pay for this. Whatever cash I did have was taken by those bastards when they found me."

He saw where this was going, and a small smile of amusement overtook his features. "Ah, I see. Are you asking us to pay for you?" The pink turned slightly darker, and she looked down at her lap while nodding meekly. "This is quite a long list, Miss Nadeen. For what reason should I expend money on you?" He was going to do it anyway, really. But after all the crap she put him through in her short stay on his submarine, she deserved the small bit of suspense!

Contrary to Law's expectations, she didn't start begging or groveling immediately. She started to bite her lip, something Law noted she made a habit of when she was nervous, and fiddled with the hem of her shirt. He noted absent-mindedly that he kind of liked seeing her in his clothes. "Weeeeeeellll..." Nadeen drew the word out nervously, as if she was slightly worried over his reaction. "I could get the money myself... but it would include going out with Cyrus and Sam... on the island..."

A small silence came to the room. Law stared at her with narrowed eyes. He thought she understood that she couldn't go on land. She'd listened perfectly in the galley, and even listed the reasons herself why it was for her own good! So why would she risk angering him by even asking? To be fair to her, though, at least she was asking. If she'd gone ahead with them anyway without telling him, he'd have locked her in her room and/or tied to her bed. He had, after all, threatened the latter during supper yesterday.

He turned the idea over in his mind. If she did go, he'd have to assign her a guard that wasn't Cyrus or Sam. They'd be too busy with the actual shopping to keep their sights on her the entire time. Her watcher would have to be more concerned with her well being than her clothes or what looked good. And they couldn't be too easily distracted either, in case she used that to her advantage and slipped away.

Nadeen wouldn't do that, though. She'd have no reason to ditch them, her debt least of all. Aside from Mister Jake, she hadn't had anyone be particularly unpleasant with her. And she'd seemed to find his behavior more amusing than anything. Law supposed he could send Bepo, but his bouts of depression counted as distractions. Even he himself would probably get bored with the job eventually.

-NADEEN'S POV-

With every minute spent in silence, the nervousness in Nadeen's belly grew until she was fidgeting in her chair. The longer Law deliberated over his answer to her request, the surer she was that he was going to say no. Honestly, she was rather surprised he was even considering it. There was no doubt in her mind that it would be better for her to just stay on board and be happy that Law trusted her enough to not lock her up. It had been that thought that had even spurred her on to ask him instead of doing it anyway. Not the locking her up part, but the trusting her part.

Breaking someone's trust was one of the worst possible crimes one could commit in life, at least to Nadeen. What was a crew without trust? Just a bunch of people sailing the ocean together. It was that trust, that bond, that made people nakama. Though she didn't have any of her own, nakama that is, she could sense the love this crew had for each other. At least among the people she'd met.

Shachi and Penguin were like brothers in the way that practically completed each other. Derek was like the little brother that you loved to pick on. Bepo was like the innocent baby of the family that didn't want to see anyone hurt and so took on all the responsibility. It would certainly explain why he feels the need to apologize all the time.

Law's explosive sigh took her by surprise. Enough so that she jumped. Nadeen half-expected Law to make fun of her for it, but the Surgeon of Death didn't even seem to notice. He was rubbing the bridge of nose with his eyes closed, like her request was causing him a headache. It was possible, but he could just as easily say no. "I'm going to regret this..." he grumbled to himself before looking her in the eye. Nadeen was taken aback by the intensity of the stormy gray stare. "Shachi and Penguin shall accompany you. They are to be concerned only with your health. If at any time you feel hungry, nauseous, or weak, they are to bring you back immediately. The same thing applies if there appears to be trouble, either with locals, marines, or bounty hunters. Am I understood?"

She tilted her head to the side a little in confusion. "Wait, you're actually letting me go?" His nod made her laugh once before slumping in relief. "Oh, thank God. I thought I was going to have to give Sammy a crash course in pickpocketing. That kid would be so damn nervous that he'd screw it up his first try." She shook her head with a little smirk. "And Cyrus would be way too damn conspicuous to make a good pickpocket."

Law chuckled before nodding in agreement. "I see Mister Cyrus as more of a mugger than a pickpocket. But you're right about Sam. He's been a pirate for less than a year. He hasn't even had his first battle yet." Nadeen gave him a questioning look. Hadn't the teenager fought with his crew against the marines? Either Law knew what she was thinking or he took a damn good guess at it, because he answered her without her asking. "I told him and Mister Coryn, plus a few others, to stay on the sub and watch for any marines attempting to board. It was mostly to keep him out of trouble."

A little mischievous smile lit up her face, and she teased, "Why, didn't want to see him hurt?" She giggled at the little twitch in his eye. "Aw, that's so cute! I didn't know you could be so sweet, Captain-chan!" The annoyance and irritation darkened and swirled through the room until the air felt like sludge. Nadeen knew it was time to leave and without really thinking about it: "Ten seconds?"

Law's response: "You have five." She was out of her chair and out the door before he even hit three. Nadeen counted in her head and, like a true gentleman, waited all five seconds. Then he roared out, "NADEEN, GET BACK HERE!" The sound of his footsteps banging on the metallic floor followed quickly after her.

A feeling bubbled up inside of her as the chase went on. It wasn't fear or anxiety; it was excitement. She knew that he wasn't happy at the moment. If he caught her, she likely wouldn't enjoy what happens afterwards. But that didn't stop her from laughing. It wasn't a mocking laugh, or even a sarcastic one. It was purely amusement. The sound echoed through the walls, and Nadeen heard Law's footsteps slow down. As if her laughter had caught him off guard.

That didn't stop him entirely, and soon he had sped back up. The few seconds pause, though, had given Nadeen enough time to speed around corner out of his sight. An open door caught her attention and, without looking, sped through it.

-Cyrus's POV-

The taller than average man sighed in boredom, staring down at the sea charts but not really seeing them. As much as he loved his job, and as much as he loved being a member of the Heart Pirates, he sometimes wished things were different. Life got monotonous sometimes at the bottom of the sea. Cyrus's head jerked up when he registered the sound of laughter coming closer to the navigation room he was in. Female laughter. And right behind that, Captain-chan's angry voice. What was going on...?

The redhead in question ran into the room, the biggest smile he'd ever seen on her face. Almost immediately after, Captain-chan came running in after. Where the smile had been on Nadeen's face, there was an angry scowl on his. The two ran around the room a couple of times, Nadeen laughing while Captain-chan was yelling indecipherable threats and insults. What... What in the world...?

The two sped out of the door, leaving the room as quickly as they'd come. Cyrus blinked his eyes in shock, staring at the space where they'd just been. "What just happened?" he said to nothing.

-Bepo's POV-

The first mate of the Heart Pirates was walking around the sub, not really heading towards anywhere specific. He didn't have any place he needed to be especially. Maybe he'd go see if Captain would let him hang out in his office while he was working, if only for something to do. And if he wouldn't, maybe he'd find Nadeen and see if she wanted company. Maybe he could even give her a tour, since as far as he knew no one had showed her around yet.

Laughter and yelling echoed through the walls, and Bepo's bear ears flickered to better catch it. Nadeen was the only female on the ship, so that was her laugh. But the yelling sounded like Captain, and he almost never yelled. The quieter he got the angrier he was. So did that mean that he wasn't angry? A flash of red and black zoomed passed him, and Nadeen slowed down long enough to yell, "Sorry Bepo!"

Captain soon followed after the redhead without a word, who squealed and ran faster. Bepo scratched his head in confusion. "Humans are weird." he finally decided before continuing to wander.

-Shachi and Penguin's POV-

Shachi was grumbling, doing his best to ignore his best friend's snickering. Every step he took, his boots squeaked against the ground. Penguin's snickering increased with each squeak until he had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing outright. "Stop laughing, dammit! It's your fault anyway!" That just caused Penguin to lose it. The pirate howled with laughter while Shachi's ears turned the same color as his hair. "I swear to God if you don't stop laughing I'll-"

Penguin's choked out words cut him off. "Y-You'll what, sic Cyrus on me? Sorry buddy, there ain't shit you can do to make this seem less funny!" He fell back into laughter when finished, quite literally. He had to lean on his knees to stop from falling over.

The redhead gave an out of character snarl before tackling his childhood friend to the floor. The two wrestled on the floor for a bit, cursing and threats going back and forth between the two. Neither registered the laughter coming closer, only breaking from their own little world when a shadow flew over them. They didn't get a chance to look before a body tripped and fell on top of them, creating a little dog pile.

A little 'oomph' was exerted from all three of them, having the breath taken from their lungs. To their surprise, their new 'companion' was Law. He was panting in a way that made them think he'd been running, and they looked simultaneously to see Nadeen panting as well. She seemed to be glowing from a mixture of sweat, amusement, and mischief. They switched their attention to their captain and oldest friend, who seemed to be red with both anger and embarrassment.

Then they exchanged a look themselves before saying at once, "Dude, the hell?" Law pushed himself off of them and backed away, coughing a little to try and dispel the awkwardness. When he didn't seem forthcoming with information, they turned to look at Nadeen.

She giggled a little, still bouncing on her toes, and said, "My fault. I was teasing him in his office and made him chase after me. Now here's my question!" The bouncing abruptly stopped and she looked at Shachi with a deadpan expression. "Why the fuck are you soaked?"

Penguin started to snicker, but a glare from Shachi made him cool his jets. Instead, he gave a little finger wave. "My fault. A pipe burst near where we were working. Shachi here blocked the water, but he was already drenched by the time I could shut the water off." Law seemed to throw off his awkwardness long enough to give him a sharp glance, which Penguin interpreted correctly. "Oh, no worries, it's fixed now."

Shachi glowered a little and said, "No thanks to you, bastard. I had to work on it myself because you were too busy laughing about how I looked like a drenched clown." Penguin and Nadeen both gave a giggle while Law smirked a little. "Oi, not you too!" he whined with a pout.

The submarine jerked to the side suddenly, destroying the mostly light-hearted mood and making the four of them crash into the water. Nadeen cursed colorfully, cradling her ribs with a pain-filled grunt. The sirens started whining and Cyrus's voice came from thin air. "There's a Sea King off to port! It's attacking us!"

-END CHAPTER-

Pages: 6

Words: 2815

Me: Okay, so I lied. They aren't at the island yet. I'm pretty sure this is my first cliffy, and it's not exactly the most anxiety-inducing. Anyway, in regards to the new story, the winner is another Law/OC story. So choose one of the following for me to write, because I'm just a wee bit obsessed with Mister Trafalgar and have multiple ideas for him.

A Little Taste of Freedom - Rated T-M - Romance/Angst/Adventure

Summary: She was born into slavery. Freedom had always been beyond her reach, and you can't miss what you never had. When she's suddenly thrown into a life where freedom is valued above everything, she's as lost as a newborn child. Trafalgar Law, her new captain, seems to have his work cut out for him in turning her into a pirate.

Similar Controversy - M - Romance/Drama

Summary: How can two individuals be so alike, yet so different? Both blunt and sadistic, both manipulative, both hating to be told what to do. Yes where he is ice, she is fire. Calm, cold, and cruel versus fierce, temperamental, and stubborn. Let the chaos reign.

Beggars Can't Be Choosers - T - Romance

Summary: When 22 year old Mikayla Jones wished for a more exciting life, she did NOT mean being thrown into a portal, being chased by the marines, and having this guy with a fuzzy hat doing questionable things to her insides- literally!

Between Heaven and Hell- T - Romance

Summary: Death has a way of changing people. Jade knows this better than anyone. She'd always thought she would go to hell when she died. In some ways, she did. In others? She'd barely begun to live.