Yellow

Characters: Ikkaku, Law, Penguin, Shachi. Rating: K. Warnings: none

There were many things Ikkaku liked about her new crew. They were friendly, boisterous and protective of their own, unafraid to play pranks and have a good time but unforgiving if anyone hurt their nakama. The captain was quiet, almost brooding, but it didn't take her long to realise that didn't mean he cared any less. If anything, Law probably cared the most.

The flag appealed to her, too. Simple and to the point (whatever the point was), there were none of the ridiculously complicated flourishes she'd seen many other crews sporting. The grin, despite its similarity to other, less pleasant crews, felt kind to her. She'd got a knowing smile from Penguin and Shachi when she mentioned that before they'd declared she definitely belonged.

The one thing that didn't quite make sense was the ship. A submarine was great – she had no objections to the submarine, nor did she have an issue with the underwater wonderland it gave them unique access to – but when she thought of spending long periods of time deep underwater, she associated it with hiding.

Why, then, was a ship so suited to hiding and concealment, painted an obnoxiously bright yellow? Not that the Polar Tang didn't suit the colour – Ikkaku couldn't actually imagine her another colour, although Bepo had told her the submarine used to be grey before they redecorated her – but it seemed rather counter-productive.

"Is yellow the captain's favourite colour?" she found herself asking Penguin one day. As well as the ship, a large proportion of their captain's wardrobe appeared to sport the colour, and the jolly roger decorating their boiler suits were also tinted yellow. Penguin chuckled.

"You mean, 'why is the Tang bright yellow'," he corrected. Slightly abashed, Ikkaku nodded, and he shrugged. "I haven't a clue," he admitted. "When we repainted her, Law just turned up with barrels of yellow paint. He never told us why."

"You never asked," the aforementioned captain commented, making Ikkaku jump. She hadn't realised that Law was in earshot. Penguin didn't show any surprise at all, leaving her to wonder how long her captain had been there for.

"I'm fairly sure we did," Penguin countered. "You just ignored us." Ikkaku hadn't thought you could talk to your captain like that, but Law didn't seem offended at the accusation.

"Maybe I did," he allowed thoughtfully. "For the record, yellow is not my favourite colour. I don't actually like it that much."

Ikkaku gaped at him, and out of the corner of her eye she could see Penguin's face mirroring her own.

"Then why the hell did you pick it for the Tang?" he exclaimed, loudly enough to draw the attention of the rest of the nakama in earshot.

"Why did Law pick what?" Shachi asked, gravitating towards the trio of them as if he'd appeared out of nowhere. Ikkaku later learnt that Penguin and Shachi had a habit of randomly appearing wherever the other was.

"Law doesn't like yellow," Penguin explained, and Shachi joined them in gaping.

"The hell?" he flailed. "But everything is yellow. Because you picked it!" He pointed at his captain accusingly. "And don't you dare say 'just because' because I know you better than that."

Law avoided their stares for a moment, glancing down at the ground and then around at the rest of the eavesdropping crew before pulling himself up to his full height to stare them down. Ikkaku began to feel as if she'd opened a forbidden box with her innocent question and opened her mouth to apologise.

"It was my sister's favourite colour," he said, without fanfare, and Ikkaku's head swam with the implications of that sentence – Law had a sister, he used the past tense, Law no longer had a sister – as she vaguely noticed Penguin and Shachi stiffen besides her.

"Law-" Penguin started, but their captain waved him off.

"Don't worry about it," he said, before making his way past them in the direction of the kitchen. Ikkaku quivered, the aura Penguin and Shachi giving off making her feel like that was something Law never talked about and feeling horrendous for bringing it up, before a hand landed on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it," Law repeated quietly in her ear as he passed. There was a small smile on his face. "Care to join me for a coffee?"

She could find no reason to refuse, so trailed behind him as the rest of her crew dispersed. She could hear murmurs of 'captain had a sister?' before hissing noises from Penguin and Shachi muted them, but Law seemed unconcerned.

"There's no need to be scared," her captain told her as they entered the kitchen. "Asking questions is fine on this crew, although you won't always get an answer." Ikkaku nodded numbly, watching the water debate how quickly it wanted to boil. Not fast enough, apparently. "If you do get an answer, it's because they chose to share it, not because you pried." The water finally started to bubble and Law poured it into two mugs, passing one to her.

"I didn't know you had a sister," she admitted, wrapping her hands around the mug. "I know I'm just new, though."

"Until today, the only ones that knew were Bepo, Penguin and Shachi," Law told her, taking a gulp of his own drink. Ikkaku's stomach churned. "It hurts to think about her much." Ikkaku opened her mouth to apologise, but he cut her off. "But trivial facts like her favourite colour not so much anymore."

She shut her mouth with an audible clack, biting back more questions. She hadn't earnt the right to ask Law any more painful questions, nor did she want to disturb the smile on his face as he stared off into space.

Smiling herself at the sight, even though her brain still insisted she needed to apologise, she returned her attention to the mug of cooling coffee in her hands and decided to appreciate the rare silence. In the distance she could hear the boys laughing at something or other, and was reminded again why she loved her new crew.

Yellow. Why a yellow submarine (aside from a Beatles reference)? Yellow is hardly subtle, even though I get the impression that the Heart Pirates generally like subtle as a thing (a Supernova crew with only two bounties between them at the end of Paradise, and one of them only 1000 beris?). So why yellow? Time for more Flevance/Lami influences :D

Thanks for reading!
Tsari