Listening to his proposal was the only thing that remained. Vergo had revealed everything about her secret – her identity and her Devil Fruit; everything that could be desired about her. Any pirate who wanted to change something about their lousy lives now had an option. They now knew who to look for. And even if Trafalgar Law acted smarter than most, she remained on the defensive. Arms folded in front of her chest, she conveyed nothing that could be misinterpreted.
The question of what he wanted hung leaden in the air. Everyone had their dark days. Everyone tried to improve a part of themselves, hoping they could bury the past underneath. But she knew better. Nothing was ever forgotten. Especially not in the life of a pirate.
Perhaps that was precisely why she had agreed to join him in the Straw Hats'dining room. The curiosity of looking behind his facade and catching one of his secrets had lured her. Straight to Sanji in the kitchen – safe from unsuspected temptation.
As the cook set about preparing breakfast, the silence between them pressed into the cracks of the wooden table like a memorial. Law's gaze clung to her as if he wanted to find out something without having to ask. But contrary to his efforts, the answers failed to come. All he could do was ask.
"What does Vergo want from you?"
With a sigh, Naoe propped her head in one hand and looked at her counterpart for a moment. His question was understandable. Thanks to the newspaper, it explained why Vergo was after her. But it reported to no one what he craved – what he had planned in the face of his defeat at Punk Hazard.
"He wants to go back to where you defeated him. That loss and all that followed was the reason he was kicked out of the Navy," Naoe replied slowly. "I'm sure you can imagine that you are high on his list of improvements. He wants you dead. Preferably yesterday."
"If that's how he corners you, I assume he can't just use you. You don't use your power for things you don't see the point behind, it seems to me. Why does he go to the trouble of drawing attention to you when he could just kill you?" The chair creaked slightly as he leaned back and crossed his arms in front of his chest as well. Mouth agape, he made it clear he already knew the answer – despite endless questions piling up behind it. "What do you need to change?"
"Everything, and again, just a little. I need time, memories and order. What do you want me to say?" She leaned forward, leaning further than necessary on the table to counter his gaze as forcefully as he pierced her.
"What are you even talking about?" The plates of breakfast found clattering to the table not much later – Sanji beside them. He dried his hands with a dishtowel while his gaze kept shifting between her and Law. But there was no answer. Instead, Law thrust a second copy of the newspaper – carefully tucked into his waistband earlier – into his hand, unable to release the tension. Naoe's attention followed disapprovingly.
"What I want to know from you is how far you can go. What can you do?"
"What can I do..." She pursed her mouth and leaned back as well. Her gaze wandered around the room. "I can enter anyone's past and, by following the rules, change it. One important point, however, is the number of times I can return. I can only go back to the same place once. It's akin to a memory point replaying a key scene. Temporarily. Mistakes cost an original of me."
"An original?" Naoe's clarification made Law tilt his head to the side. The paper had only listed the most important things: she could change the past. The finer details were still in her hands.
"Exactly. Nothing of great importance. Not to you, merely to me. The only thing you should care about is my power."
Just as he opened his mouth, Sanji interrupted him. In disbelief, the cook slammed the paper down on the table as a "Damn!" escaped his lips. Resembling a breath soaked in amazement and ignorance.
"This is insane. It must be hard to deal with." Sanji's expression darkened. He understood the problem and yet he could find no words to rob her of her worries. The womaniser in him was failing. Only his grinding jaw and fixed gaze on the newspaper headlines conveyed concern Naoe could accept.
With a dismissive gesture of her hand, Naoe pushed Sanji's sight away from her and turned her attention back to Law. He had lured her into the kitchen to make an offer; a proposal that was still pending. "The fact is, I have a bit of a problem and you have a solution, I assume."
"No solution, but I'm offering you a middle ground."
"And what might that middle ground be?"
Law's gaze lost its piercing feeling, seemed all at once as if he'd gained the upper hand. "I'm offering you a deal. You join my crew and you'll be safer. It's better than travelling on alone. In return, you use your power when I need it."
"So you want me to put on one of those uniforms and call you captain? That would be inappropriate, especially since I already belong to someone."
"Then why are you here and not with them?"
The memory made her take a deep breath before she swallowed down the urge to explain herself. She didn't know how much he'd overheard of the conversation and it probably didn't matter. All he wanted was for her to join his crew. Power that would take him further. An offer she couldn't accept.
"I won't join your crew," she put in thus. "But I would be open to forming an alliance. You, your crew and I. You don't strike me as someone who would be flippant with an option like me. I know you think before you act, even if not all your plans are gold." She cleared her throat. Picking a fight wasn't a good idea. "I'm not unwilling to be part of it. That's all I can give you. I would sail with you and be aboard your ship. In return, I'll listen to your plans and make myself available so we can use my Devil Fruit if needed. However, this also means that I have to agree with your idea. Should that not be the case, I will not help you and you will not even think of forcing me to use it against my will."
"Would that even be possible?" It was like a mocking trick question he had answered himself long ago.
"Well?" Unperturbed, she looked at him, hoping for an answer that would play into her hands.
Law, however, stood up, ignoring Sanji's breakfast, and gestured to the door with a nod. "Then we should go."
Naoe complied with his request, rising and giving Sanji an apologetic look. He deserved to have his efforts appreciated. Adding to this, she reluctantly refused the tempting smell of egg and bacon. Although hunger failed her, the picturesque visuals made her want to sample it. For a taste, she wasn't allowed.
The agreement, and the fact she would sail with a crew now, were more important than unsolicited breakfast. Law's crew was far from unknown – Trafalgar as leader, usually on the front page of newspaper editions. Most of the Heart Pirates' rumours revolved around him. About a man who, according to the press, no longer had all his senses together; who had sent one hundred hearts to the Navy's headquarters.
She followed Law with a sigh that grew even longer when she caught sight of the Polar Tang. Death, as it was reverently called by some. He was clearly too attached to Death for a doctor. As if the words haunted him, he had even had the letters tattooed on his knuckles. Besides other black images for eternity on the backs of his hands and arms, she knew there were more under the black shirt he wore.
She kept the question of what meaning each of them held to herself. It was enough that she knew his name and had followed some of his deeds through spies and daily newspaper articles. For revolutionaries, it was important to find out every relevant detail.
"Room!" A dome just large enough to reach onto Death's deck formed at Trafalgar's command. Without further ado, he tossed two small stones over to his ship, then switched positions with a simple gesture so that Naoe was on deck within the blink of an eye. Eyes widening, she glanced back at the Sunny. The magnificent ship was suddenly behind her and while Law was heading for the door to the interior of his Polar Tang, she paused.
His Devil Fruit was faster than hers.
It took a few seconds more to slip through two of her windows. It also meant that Law had the upper hand in the worst case.
If he didn't want it, she wouldn't be able to run. Not without the element of surprise.
"Hey! The crew's waiting."
"Oh?" Her thoughts slipped away as she turned to him. "You were so sure I was coming, you already let your men know? How long have you been working on this deal?" Lips pursed, she put an index finger to her chin. The fact he must have thought about his decision longer than the two minutes she'd been on the phone amused her.
"About as long as it took you to tear up the paper." Waving her off, he turned his back on her and opened the door inside.
It was annoying. Probably the idea had come to him right after he got his hands on the waste paper.
"That's record-breaking," she muttered – about to follow him when he turned to her and tilted his head.
"And just as unnecessary."
"That you want me in your crew?" Outraged, Naoe paused again.
"That you tore up the paper and now walk! Otherwise, the entire world will probably know we've made an alliance before my crew does."
Her eyes darted away from him, somewhere inside the ship, as she complied with his irritated request.
The path led down some steps before a long corridor stretched out before her. Surrounded by pipes and ladders leading upwards, the far too warm and stuffy air didn't escape her at all.
It took some effort to walk on. With each step forward, she was overcome by the feeling of wanting to turn back.
When Trafalgar closed the door to the outside, Naoe couldn't help but turn on her heel. Trapped like a rat, the feeling of uncertainty solidified. She had voluntarily stepped down from the saving shore into the clutches of another pirate. In confidence. Even if he wasn't planning anything negative, the confinement and relentless heat crept oppressively over her skin.
"You'll get used to it." Law noted her doubt in passing. She, meanwhile, was left with only one last glance at the door before she followed him.
Taking a deep breath, she tried to catch herself, to suppress the uncomfortable feeling and not give Law any sign of weakness. The last thing she needed was a supernova just waiting for gaps to open up in her defences.
"You will share a room with Ikkaku. If you have questions, address them to her."
Judging by his undercooled words, Ikkaku had to be a woman. Putting her in a cabin with a man seemed out of the question.
"Then be careful we don't gang up on you." Crossing her arms behind her back, Naoe cast an innocent glance up at him. If he was planning to ignore her anyway, she could at least tease him for the moment; show him he couldn't counter all her words.
But instead of pulling a face, he just looked down at her for a moment. "She was against me taking you into the crew."
"Then it's an advantage that I'm only an alliance."
"It makes no difference."
Silently, Naoe turned her attention away. Maybe he could counter everything after all.
Hastily, she shook her head. It didn't matter. After all, they depended on each other. Getting along was the better option. No one knew how long she would be a guest on this ship. It could be weeks, it could be months. Time passed quickly when you were planning things.
She watched him open one of the closed doors, enter and gesture her to follow. Slowly she complied with his motion, stepping into the oblong space where the Heart Pirates had set up a dining room. The place was acceptable, if not exactly liberating – not least thanks to the men at the table that ran down the centre of the room.
"This is my crew. Twenty members in all." As Law gave her a little push forward, Naoe watched the men jump up and introduce themselves as his crew. Each of them was open to her as a new member – if not uniformly enthusiastic.
Still, she took the opportunity for a friendly start and put on a smile. "I'm Naoe. Thanks to your captain, we are now an alliance and I hope to work well together."
"Ikkaku, show her where she will sleep."
"But we haven't all introduced ourselves yet!" Protesting, one man raised his hand. But Law was already back in the hallway, just glancing over his shoulder and dismissing the objection.
"We have only formed an alliance. There is no need to be more friendly than necessary."
Naoe's low groan followed Trafalgar a little way as he started moving again. His footsteps echoed in the corridors.
Even if he was in the right, there was nothing wrong with being friendly. Not even when her biting comments were wearing on some of his nerves. Her behaviour, her dislike of him, wasn't something she could just pass over. He was too dismissive, too alien, too scary in the face of her situation for that. People who were unassessable were a danger. Their features became unpredictable. Trafalgar wasn't someone to be trusted blindly. To upset him, to fathom all his qualities, was safer.
She had to prepare herself.
"To good cooperation."
A hand was extended to her invitingly, snapping Naoe out of her thoughts and forcing her to raise her brows. The indefinable sound on her lips choked briefly behind her tongue.
Ikkaku, the woman of the crew, offered her a friendly welcome she wasn't about to refuse. Briefly, she grasped the offered hand, squeezed it and let go.
"Come with me. I'll show you the cabin. There's not much room because I'm alone ... but I think we can manage." Before Naoe could say goodbye to the others, Ikkaku grabbed the sleeve of her jacket and pulled her behind.
For a moment, the revolutionary couldn't help but eye her. Just like the rest of the team, she wore a boiler suit that clung airily to the curves of her body. Combined with a yellow and orange cap whose stripes forged a strange chaos, she kept her wildly curled hair in check. A strategy that didn't work. But it made her more likeable than her captain.
Solely because of this, Naoe relaxed, no longer resisting to follow, and allowed herself to be led through the Polar Tang's mazes. All the way to a door, which Ikkaku unceremoniously opened to offer Naoe the lead.
It was true there wasn't much room. Still, the place gave a homely impression. One sensed that someone lived in this place and had filled the cracks with their own charm. A desk with a chair, over which hung a few scattered tops, greeted her. In one corner was the bed – smaller than the one she had slept in before, but large enough for two.
"The men are spread out across the other rooms. They have a common cabin, but ... that doesn't stop them from sleeping wherever there is space," Ikkaku explained slowly. "The captain has his cabin at the very front. Next to the dining room is the kitchen, but only the cooks may enter it. If you go in there, you can expect pots and pans to fly. Our cooks are very particular." Briefly she twisted her mouth into a wry smile. "Our largest room is one floor below. You should only show your face there if the captain expressly allows you to. He doesn't like people snooping around his operating room without permission. You'll find the bathroom right next to ours."
Tersely, the pirate went through the most important spaces. A few instructions still rolled off Naoe. Her enthusiasm lingered in this small room. A porthole opposite her gave a clear view outside. The only bit of freedom that could be pressed against her underwater.
"What about clothes?" Half in thought, Naoe turned back to Ikkaku.
"We'll stow those in the chests." Hastily, she pushed past Naoe and strode to a large wooden box that stood at the foot of the bed. With a quick tap, she clarified her words. "The other one is on the side of the desk."
"Thank you." A curt nod noted Ikkaku's words.
"No problem. We're an alliance now and we should get along."
Honest words that reflected nothing more than temporary friendliness. A fragile gesture, saturated with suspicion and prejudice. Facts that Naoe had to keep in mind.
"And that's even though not everyone in this crew wanted me – no matter what." Snorting, she gave voice to her thoughts.
Her counterpart, however, only put her hands on her hips and tilted her head. "Of course, not everyone was in favour. When you read the article in the paper, you can't help but wonder if it's all a good idea. Some of us want to avoid trouble. But what would pirate life be like if the days remained peaceful throughout? In the end, I'm glad we now have another woman in this crew ... even if you are only an alliance. It's not always easy being the only female on this ship." Shaking her head, Ikkaku folded her arms in front of her chest. "When they get bored, they make fun of everything. Even if it's the whistling pipes of the engine room."
"In the end, you're all more open-hearted than you'd like to believe. How does that work with a man like Law at the front?"
"Oh, the captain's just calmer and more thoughtful than the rest. Even when he's not fooling around with us, he doesn't restrict us or forbid us to be messy with each other. You'll get used to it. Especially when he sneaks up to watch us. Sometimes even with a smile on his lips."
"Are we talking about the same man here?" Suspicious, Naoe tilted her head.
Everyone had their quirks, but Law conveyed the classic image of a loner. She knew he was sometimes prone to odd tempers. It hadn't gone unnoticed by the revolutionaries that he had sliced up a navy ship for no reason. Almost out of joy. But that didn't change the fact that Punk Hazard had left its mark – that loneliness was the best alternative to loss.
"Yes. The captain is only human." Instructively, Ikkaku raised her index finger before passing Naoe. "Anyway. I'm going back to work. I'm sure you'll get to know the others as time goes on."
"What's your position here?"
"I look after the engines. I keep this ship running in the hope we'll have it with us for years to come." With those words, she gave Naoe one last smile before she went on her way.
Naoe, meanwhile, remained standing for a moment. She was just an alliance. There was no task for her in the middle of this crew and thus no pastime to indulge in.
Unnoticed, she shrugged her shoulders, found her way out of the room, and let the door fall into the lock. They were still above water. Something she had to take advantage of as long as they remained on the surface. On the deck of the Polar Tang, it was important to enjoy every fresh breath.
So she turned back in the direction she had come from with Law. Along the corridor, past a few doors that gave occasional views into rooms with hammocks, up the stairs to the exit.
Before she could even open the heavy iron of the door to the outside, it swung open with an insistent squeak. Astonished, Naoe leaned back before recognising the bear before her.
"Ah, Naoe. I'm-"
"Bepo, I know. I know your profile," she interrupted him with a smile. She didn't need more introductions. "You're a known member of the crew."
"Welcome to the Death!"
"Thank you." Waiting, she looked at him, but Bepo made no move to step aside. Instead, he eyed her and tightened the corners of his muzzle. Something was bothering him. "Is everything all right?"
"Ah? Yes!" He shook himself. "Sorry. It's just..."
"It's what?"
"You're confusing me."