Night

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

Ikkaku didn't think anyone would blame her if she admitted her current roommate unnerved her. After having her room all to herself since she joined the crew, suddenly sharing it with another woman was an odd experience. While awake, Nico Robin was decent company. She was intelligent, had a sense of humour Ikkaku could appreciate, and counterbalanced the male Straw Hats perfectly. When the lights were on and her nakama in sight, she could happily spend time with the other woman.

At night, the Tang's halls silent barring the quiet hum of the engine, Ikkaku couldn't help but remember the darker side to the Demon Child curled up on a pile of blankets on her floor. Law would never have let Nico Robin sleep in her room if he thought there was any danger at all, and it was only because of that fact that Ikkaku ever got any sleep, trusting her captain's judgement over the propaganda of the marines.

Still, sometimes not even that reassurance was enough to let her sleep, and that night Ikkaku found herself wandering the halls to the kitchen, seeking a drink of water for the sake of something to do and making up a half-truth when Clione noticed her and asked her why she was out of bed. She would have offered to take his night watch if she hadn't taken it the night before. Law was strict on how frequently they could take the night watch.

Instead, she bid him goodnight and meandered back to her room, and the sleeping assass- their ally inside. The cool water had woken her up, and she was in no hurry to return, two facts which combined to result in an unusual encounter.

Finding Law wandering was not strictly unusual, although he did try to curb it at night, when his nakama were asleep, and Ikkaku braced herself for a silent query about why she was out of bed, the doctor side of her captain never letting anything out of routine slide.

"Ikkaku." It wasn't silent, and Law sounded pained. She headed straight for him, rather than allowing him to bypass her as she'd been contemplating, and realised he wasn't alone. In his arms, asleep – or unconscious – was the limp form of Shachi. In the dull night-time lighting of the corridors she could see he was missing both his hat and ever-present shades, and felt her heart skip a beat.

"Captain," she replied, her voice slightly breathless as she came to a halt before him. "What-"

"He's just asleep," her captain told her, and the fear that something was wrong with her nakama dissipated. "Ikkaku," he said again, and she tore her eyes away from the sleeping – not unconscious – ginger to look at him. "I need a favour."

He still sounded pained, even though Shachi was supposedly fine, and Ikkaku got the sense that there was something larger going on.

"Whatever you need," she agreed, stopping just short of adding on the customary 'Captain'. Somehow, she got the impression that Law wasn't asking as her captain, but simply as nakama.

"Could you look after Shachi tonight?" he asked, and she looked at the sleeping ginger in his arms again, wondering why he needed looking after, and why Law was carrying him around rather than leaving him in his room with Penguin. He wasn't even walking towards their room.

"Is something wrong with him?" she asked, and Law hesitated a split second before shaking his head. He resumed his walk – heading towards his own room, Ikkaku realised – and she followed him without a second thought.

"Zou affected him more than he's letting on," Law eventually allowed, and Ikkaku didn't need to hear more than that. The screams in her nightmares were another reason sleep was elusive. "I don't want him sleeping alone."

What about Penguin, she wondered, but the words never passed her lips as they arrived at Law's room, her captain inviting her in with a tilt of his head as he settled Shachi on the bed.

"Can you stay with him tonight?" he asked her again, and she nodded without hesitation, perching on the side of the bed and letting her hand rest on the sheets by Shachi's shoulder. Law was talking like he had something else to do, and while he wasn't saying what, she could guess.

"I'll look after him," she said, and while Law didn't say anything, even in the dull lighting she could see the gratitude in his eyes before he turned and left the room, closing the door softly behind him.

If she was going to spend the night awake, keeping watch over her nakama was infinitely preferable to fighting night terrors. She pulled herself fully onto the bed, sitting by Shachi's head with her back to the wall, and drew the blankets up to the ginger's chin, covering her own legs in the process.

She wished she could say she was surprised when the nightmares started, Shachi's previously even breathing hitching in his throat to escape with a whimper. Shachi and Penguin were strong, physically and mentally more than fit for their unofficial role as Law's second in commands, but they were only human. Leaning forwards, she rested her hand gently on his hair, hoping to calm him.

"You're okay," she murmured, burying her fingers in the ginger strands and massaging his scalp lightly. At the contact he frowned, brow furrowing in confusion before his eyes blinked open.

"Wha-" he muttered, pushing himself into a sitting position. "Law?" Ikkaku shifted and his head snapped around to focus on her, eyes wide in the darkness. She still couldn't see what colour his eyes were, one of the mysteries of the Heart Pirates. "Ikkaku?" he asked, still sounding half asleep but aware enough of his surroundings. "Why are you here?"

"Law asked me," she told him, spotting a tremble in his arms that betrayed the nightmare not fully gone from his mind. "Try to sleep." The suggestion made him flinch, and she sighed, patting her lap. Obediently he shuffled closer and she met him halfway, sliding down until she was lying next to him and wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

For several minutes he didn't react, but eventually arms wrapped around her in turn and she buried her face in his hair as she stroked it gently. She felt him slowly loosen, tension draining from him as he burrowed against her chest – an action that, in daylight, would be a prank and treated as such; now, half-asleep with his mental armour down, it was the action of seeking comfort and Ikkaku gave it as his breathing evened out and he slipped back into sleep.

She stayed awake a while longer, listening to his breathing for signs of another nightmare that never came before finally falling into a dreamless sleep herself.

I often end up drawing a mental line between the 'core' crew and the rest of the Hearts, especially on the angstier ones, so I decided to cross it this time because they're all nakama. Once again, one of the post-Zou stories, because I don't think I'll ever get tired of them. Where did Law go? I'll be writing that later :P

Thanks for reading!
Tsari