Stubborn
Breakfast the next morning was oddly quiet but for the exception of their forks clanking and scrapping on their plates. The events from the previous day were playing again and again in all of their minds. Their questions about the girl just kept piling up one right after another. Yet no one would asked them since they all knew most of their questions wouldn't be answered unless the girl spoke to them. And after yesterday, they knew it was going to be a long time for her to speak up, if she ever did speak to them.
"Shachi, will you take her something to eat?" Law then asked, breaking the stiff silence among their crew.
"Aye, Captain," Shachi said. "What would you like me to take her?"
"Just some broth and bread," Law said. "With how malnourished she is we're going to have to be careful with what and how much we feed her. She needs to be back to a healthy state as soon as possible. And those are my orders for her. No one is to slip her extra food for any reason."
"Sounds like she's going to be here for a while then," Bepo said, causing the rest of his crewmates to tense up.
"That might be possible," Law said, dropping his eyes down to his empty plate. "I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with her yet."
"Why not just drop her off on an island like you originally planned?" Conner asked.
Law drew in a breath. He wanted to do that. He really did, but every time he thought about ditching her somewhere the memory of Corazon beside her would pop into his head. He had to know why he kept seeing that dead man around her. But how was he going to get the answer? It's not like Corazon could answer him. And the girl wouldn't know about that man at all. Or he didn't think she would know about him. She didn't look old enough to know Corazon. But he could be wrong. After all Corazon used to travel a lot with the Doflamingo family so he could have met the girl at some point. Most likely she would have been a child at the time so if they did meet it was possible she wouldn't even remember him. He was going to have to ask her at some point about Corazon. His eyes lifted up to his subordinate. He said, "I'm not going to do that. I want her here."
"But why?" Conner asked.
"Let it be, Conner," Archer said. "I'm sure the captain has his reasons. It's not our place to tell him what he can and can't do."
"I'm not doing that at all," Conner said with a glare. "I just want to know why she's here."
"I can't answer that right now," Law said. He stood up and shoved his hands into his pocket while walking away from them. "And I'll hear no more on the subject. The girl stays." He paused to look back at them. "Understood?"
"Aye, Captain," they all said.
Law nodded then left the galley.
"Well, I guess I'll get her some broth warmed up," Penguin said. He stood up with a sigh, taking his dishes and his captain's over to the sink.
"You seemed a bit stand offish from her when we talk about her," Archer noted. "Or is it just my imagination?"
"No, I'm not," Penguin said. "It's your imagination."
"Do you hold a grudge against her for kicking you?" Conner asked.
"Not at all," Penguin said. "I wouldn't do that to her. She was scared when she woke up here. The poor thing was beyond terrified. I'm just not sure how to react around her I guess. I'll figure it out eventually. She's going to be here a while."
"Sometimes I think you're a little too forgiving for a pirate," Conner said. He put his hands behind his head and leaned back in his chair while crossing his leg over his knee.
"That's Penguin for you," Shachi said. "He's always been the forgiving type. And he's always been the big brother type."
"Not always," Bepo grumbled.
"Get over it," Shachi said. "We've apologized multiple times for bullying you."
"I know," Bepo said. "I was just stating the truth."
Penguin shook his head. He still occasionally felt guilty about how he and Shachi treated Bepo. But it was a mistake he had learned from. He was never going to treat anyone like that again. And this girl was no exception. Sure he wasn't really sure how he was going to react when he was around her. None of them have even been in a situation like this. It was clear they all were going to have to be very patient with her and learn as they go along. He also wondered how the girl was going to react around him after she kicked him. Would she be sorry? Would she not care? Would she hate him for holding her down? He thought it would be better if he kept his distance for a while so she could adjust to the new world around her.
He nodded then focused on his task of getting her something to eat ready. He opened one of the cabinets and peered inside. He hummed in thought while trying to decide which flavor of broth she might like best. He decided on the vegetable flavor in the end. After getting that shimmering on the stove, he pulled out a loaf of bread and cut off a piece about the size of his palm. He figured she wouldn't eat much of anything. And what he knew from being around his captain, the medics, and all of the first aid treatment training they all went through, she had a long road of recovery ahead of her. At that point another thought struck him. How was his captain going to handle the girl? His captain was a patient man, but he also had his limits. Law was also known for being sadistic towards his enemies. This girl wasn't an enemy, but how long would it take for Law to snap and become more sadistic towards her? Would Law become like that? He did after all want the girl on the sub. Penguin sighed. "I hope everything will be fine."
"Hey, what's taking so long over here?" Shachi asked. "Are you going to finish the girl's meal or not?"
Penguin jumped at hearing his friend's voice. He didn't realize he had gotten so lost in thought for so long. He scrambled around grabbing a bowl, a spoon, and a tray to sit everything on. Once it was ready, he held it out for his friend. "Sorry."
"You're so scatter brained today. Maybe you should let someone else do the cooking for a while. We wouldn't want you to burn yourself," Shachi said, taking the tray. He headed for the door. The murmurs of his fellow crewmates faded away from him as he walked down the halls of the third floor. Not wanting to drop the tray, he opted to walk up the ramps they used for moving crates from level to level instead of using the stairs. He by passed the second floor then the main floor until he reached the very top level of the sub where the medical bay was. He walked down that hall and paused at the girl's room. The door was closed. He wondered if she was awake or not. He wondered if she has tried to escape her chains. He wondered if she's succeeded in escaping her chains and was just inside waiting for her chance to escape. Surely not. He took a deep breath in and released it. Lifting up his hand, he reached for the doorknob.
…
Inside of the recovery room, unaware of the company that would soon come to be in the room with her, she opened her eyes once again to the strange sky above her. Her body ached from all that struggling that she did against the men from a little while ago or whenever it was. She didn't know anything about the time or how long she had been sleeping. She didn't even know where the men were right now as she looked around the room. It was empty. The only other companion she had was the beeping from the strange machine she was once again hooked up to. Since no one was around maybe she could escape from this place. The door was just right there. And from what she could remember there was also a door in the hallway just outside of this room. She should be able to escape now.
With a tired, frustrated groan, she tried to move. She winced in pain when her arms and legs only moved a little bit. Confused at why she couldn't move much, she propped up on her elbows and found the reason she couldn't move. A cold grip of fear ran through her body when she noticed thick cuffs and chains were locking her down to the bed. The beeping increased with her panicked breathing. She tried pulling on the chains to get free. They wouldn't budge. The only thing she succeeded in doing is notice there was cloth wrapped around her ankles and wrists, just under the cuffs now attached to her. With panicked determination, she continued to jerk on the chains in hopes of getting free. She was so focused on them that she didn't even notice the door opening to the room. Nor did she notice someone walking into the room with her. She jerked the chains harder, pressing the cuffs into the cloth hard enough that she was starting to feel it on her skin.
"You really shouldn't do that. While the captain did place some cloth between your skin and those cuffs you can still hurt yourself."
She jumped at the sound of his voice. Her determination was quickly replaced with panic and fear as she did her best to try and pull away from him. Although she closed her eyes and turned away from the man, she got enough of a look at him to remember him. It was the guy with shoulder length hair, cap, and sunglasses, one of the three men who held her down. Her body trembled uncontrollably at his presence.
…
Shachi paused in his motions to turn the knob and enter into the room when the heart monitor started beeping loud enough for him to hear out in the hall. Slightly panicked about what the rapid beeping could possibly mean in terms of her health, he quickly opened the door and stepped inside. His eyes landed on the girl. He relaxed when he realizes she was only panicking because of the chains on her. It wasn't a medical emergency at all.
He watched her for a few seconds, trying to give her the chance to notice him before he approached, but she didn't notice at all. She was too focused on the chains. While he didn't really want to speak without her looking at him first, he didn't want her to continue pulling on the chains. He knew if she did she would eventually hurt herself despite the cloth his captain added underneath the cuffs. So he walked forward to get closer, but not too close. When he was about five feet from her bed, he made himself known. He said, "You really shouldn't do that. While the captain did place some cloth between your skin and those cuffs, you can still hurt yourself."
He watched as she jumped, startled from his unexpected presence. He carefully studied her and kept his position. It was obvious she was afraid. That was a no brainer. And it was also obvious that she was trying to get away from him despite being chained down. He knew that they were going to have to be very patient and careful with her. He knew that he and the crew were going to be able to do that, or most of them will. He wasn't so sure about Conner. And he wasn't sure about their captain either. He knew the infamous Captain Trafalgar Law could be patient, but he had his limits. The captain was a man who wanted what he wanted and always got what he wanted. He just had no idea how long his captain's patient would last on this girl since it was clear it was going to take a long time to gain her trust. He wondered if his captain would revert to his sadistic ways to get what he wanted from her. After all, his captain had more practice in getting what he wanted through means of torture rather than a softer approach. He sighed. Only time will tell on all of that.
For now, he had a more immediate problem to handle. How exactly was he going to feed this girl? Yesterday was a clear indication she didn't want to be touched by anyone. He wondered why. Whatever the reason, he was going to do his best no to get too close to her so he could show her he meant her no harm. So he walked carefully forward. He noticed her flinching and trying to pull away more when he was close enough despite the fact she still had her eyes closed tightly. He ignored that and kept a calm exterior, hoping she would sense it.
He placing the tray down on the nightstand then pulled the chair his captain had brought into the room over to the bed. He sat down and waited. There was no way he could feed her while she was in her current position of turning away from him. He stayed quiet for a while to allow her to adjust to his presence in the room. He waited for a couple minutes. She showed no signs of calming down at all. Which wasn't a good thing. Her broth was already cooling off. He didn't want her to eat a cold meal. So he tried another approach. He decided to try talking her down into a calmer state. Who knows? Maybe that would help her. Keeping his voice as low and calm as he possible could, but still loud enough for her to hear him, he said, "Hey there, sweetie. My name is Shachi. We actually met yesterday but I didn't get a chance to properly introduce myself to you because of… er… well… I bet you must be hungry by now. You haven't eaten in a while after all. And that's why I'm actually here. I've brought you something to eat. It's only bread and broth. It's the captain's orders. He doesn't want you to get sick because you haven't eaten in sometime. Don't worry thought. Once you've gotten stronger you'll get other things to eat. It's all a process to help you get healthy again."
Much to his surprise, she parted her eyelids and cautiously looked at him from the corner of her eyes. Her body was still trembling, but at least she had shown a sign that she was listening to him. So he reached for the bowl of broth. He spooned some of the liquid into the utensil then brought it up to her lips. He sighed when her entire body jerked in another attempt to get away from him. But the chains held her strongly in place. He felt so sorry for her. He couldn't even begin to figure out what could have possibly made someone so scared of other people that it would put them into a state like this. He tried soothing her by talking again. "We really are just trying to help you. The food's not poisoned or anything. It might not be the best food in the world, but it's eatable. Wouldn't you just try it? Please? Just a little bit? I promise you'll feel better after you get some food inside of you."
He tried again to give her the food. But still she refused to even look at him. He sighed and placed the spoon back into the bowl. He tried to figure out another way to get her to eat. The only way he could think of was to force feed her. But he really, really didn't want to do that to her. He felt that he had tortured her enough yesterday. Before he could get any farther with his thoughts there was a knock at the door. "Yes?"
The door opened and Bepo stuck his head in. He said, "The captain asked me to come up here and check on you two. Did she eat, Shachi?"
"No, she's refusing it," Shachi replied with a shake of his head.
"Okay," Bepo said. "I'll inform the captain about it right away. He'll be here soon."
Shachi watched Bepo disappeared back out the door and close it. With a silent sigh he turned back to the girl. He opened his mouth to speak to her, but paused when he saw, or though he saw, a calm look in her gray eyes. But it was gone far too quickly for him to really know whether or not he saw it. She jumped when realizing he was looking at her again. Her eyes closed and she turned away from him.
"You really don't have to be scared of us, sweetie. That was Bepo. He might be a bear, but he's very friendly," Shachi said watching as she scrunched her eyes tighter and tried to curl into herself in response to him. "Look, a friendly word of advice, our captain can be patient, but if you don't give him what he wants you will regret it. It would be best for you to just submit to him sooner than later. He's very good at getting what he wants. And he will become sadistic to get it if he has to. It won't matter that you're a little girl, injured and scared."
Shachi went quiet after that. There was nothing else he could say or do right now. He had no choice but to wait for his captain to come up here and take over. So he just sat there quietly studying her scared form until the door opened again. Knowing his captain would be the only one to come in without knocking, he turned his attention to his captain. He nodded to his captain when the man nodded at him. It was his cue to leave the room. So he placed the tray down on the nightstand and left without a word or another look at the girl.
…
Law waited for Shachi to leave the room before walking closer to the bed and the girl with his hands in his pockets. He looked at the tray. It was clear that she hadn't even taken one single bit from it. He clicked his tongue. That would not do at all. He picked up the spoon and stirred the broth. "I've been told that you are refusing to eat. You know that's not going to work. You will eat."
Law dropped the spoon, letting it clank against the bowl before pinching off a piece of the bread. He brought it up to her lips noting how she immediately jumped from the contact. He watched as she tried to turn her head farther away from him. Her neck was so stretched he knew it had to be hurting her at least a little bit. He huffed at her lack of obedience. This wasn't going to be as easy as he liked for it to be. "Don't make me force feed you. Yesterday should have been a huge indication that you are going to do as I say."
With that he shoved the bread in-between her lips. He was already anticipating her to spit it out like she did with the sedative yesterday. So before she could do that he pinched her lips and nose closed with his fingers. He couldn't stop a smirk as she fruitlessly struggled against him while stubbornly keeping her eyes closed. "You are either going to eat that bread or pass out. The choice is yours."
It was easy for him to guess which one she was going to choose to do. So he patiently waited for her to pass out. With in about a minute and a half to two minutes, her skin started turning blue and her body went completely relaxed. He rubbed his temple in annoyance and hoped this child didn't give him a headache. He then pressed his finger to her chin and opened her mouth, removing the piece of bread from her mouth he placed it on the tray. He really didn't want her to choke on it while she remained in this state.
While waiting for her to wake up, he studied her current position of being chained down to the bed. She was going to eat for him one way or another. And if he had to feed her like a mama bird does for her baby like he did with the sedative, then so be it. He quickly set to work on rebounding her into a better position for him to dominate her. He needed her into a sitting position so he grabbed some extra pillows from the medical storage room and placed them behind her before unlocking the chains from her wrists. He crossed her arms over her stomach then put the chains back on her.
He then waited for her to wake up. A few minutes later she showed signs of stirring. He wanted to be on the bed before she woke up completely so he ditched his boots before crawling on the bed with her and straddled over her legs. Sitting down on his own legs, he waited for her to wake up. He watched her opened her eyes and jump at his unexpected closeness. Through her eyes he could see fear pouring into her very body and soul. She jerked in a fruitless attempt to get away from him. Her eyes dropped down to her arms. His eyes drifted over to the heart monitor. Her heart rate was now off the charts. He didn't like it so high but this was necessary. He brought his eyes back to her. She was still struggling to get free. "You are quite the stubborn one. You'd think by now you'd notice you aren't going to break those chains. You're far too weak to even come close to doing so. So stop fighting me already. You will eat this time."
His eyebrows rose on his forehead when she suddenly stopped struggling, the beating of her heart began to slow down. If he hadn't been paying attention he would have missed her actually speaking again since her voice was so low and scared. She said, "I-I won't."
Law leaned down to her ear. He could feel her tensing up, her heartbeat increasing once again at his closeness. Out of nowhere he smelled something sweet. His eyebrows curled in confusion. He had no idea where this sweet smell was coming from. He knew no one had any snacks and Penguin wasn't making any. He shook his head. That really didn't matter right now. His breath brushed over her ear as he whispered dangerously low to her. "Yes, you will, my mysterious, stubborn little girl."
He chuckled deeply and pulled away from her. Reaching for the bowl of broth, he pulled it into his hand. He then spooned the now cold broth and brought it up to her lips. He saw a flicker of stubbornness in her eyes. She was planning on passing out again. He said, "If you think that you'll just pass out like last time, you are sorely mistaken. I've given you a chance to obey me. You didn't. You have no choice anymore."
He didn't give her time to do anything or respond in any kind of way. He just jammed his thumb into her still tender stomach then forcefully shoved the spoon into her mouth when she gasped at the pain. With lightning fast moves, he pulled the spoon out and pressed his lips to hers and pinched her nose closed. He then tilted her chin up with his other hand, he caused the broth to trickle down the back of her throat. He could feel that she was going to choke on it unless she swallowed it. A grin spread across his lips when she finally swallowed. He pulled away from her. "Good girl."
He watched as tears streaked down her cheeks. For a split second, he almost felt sorry for her. But he reminded himself that this had to be done. She had to eat. This was not a time for him to go soft no matter how small and scared she was. At least he found a process that would work in feeding her. Well, it would work for the broth anyway. His eyes drifted to the remaining object on the tray. It wasn't going to work with the bread. She could just press it against her mouth with her tongue and never swallow it. There was only one thing he could do. He crumbled it up in the broth then stirred it around. Once it was soft enough he shoved the spoon of broth and softened bread crumbles into her mouth and pressed his lips back to hers, repeating the process until the bowl was about half empty. When it got to that point he could feel that she had enough, he also sensed her energy lowering from the exhausting procedure. He too was feeling a bit tired in repeating this process, his legs were starting to go numb as well. So he stopped. If he gave her anymore it would make her sick.
"There," Law said, moving off the bed. He placed the bowl down on the tray and pulled his boots back on. "That wasn't so bad, now what is?"
When he turned back to her, she was biting her bottom lip as tears freely flowed down her cheeks. Ignoring her tears, he decided to try and question her. "Now, I'm going to ask you some questions. I expect you to answer them. And you will answer them." He gave her a few seconds to absorb his words before continuing. "Who are you? What's your name?"
He studied her but she just remained quietly sitting there. Her eyes were surprisingly open, but she was staring down at her legs. He expected to see some kind of plan forming in her eyes, but he didn't see anything. They just stared blankly at her lap almost as if she was actually staring through her lap. She was just really spacey.
"Where are you from?" He noticed her flinching at that question. "Where are your parents?"
Law caught something shimmer out of the corner of his left eye, he whipped his attention towards it. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Everything looked normal. But something didn't feel normal. He quickly noticed that something felt different about the room, he felt an odd pressure in the air. He continued to carefully scan the room for the source that made him feel so uneasy. After finding nothing unusual and nothing out of place, he settled down a bit and turned his eyes back to the girl to continue to question her. "I was told that the previous island we were on was not your home. Where is your home?"
Her head dropped so low that her chin was now touching her chest.
"Did something happen to your home?"
More tears began to flow down her reddening cheeks, she gritted her teeth and clenched her hands at her sides. Law caught this. He watched her body tremble. Was he getting somewhere with her? He continued. "Was there a war? Did pirates or bandits or even the navy destroy your home? Did they kill your parents? Is that why you're trying to kill yourself?"
Just then he saw something snapping inside of her. She started to jerk violently against the chains again. She screamed, "Let me go! Just let me go!"
"That's not going to happen." Law crossed his arms and continued to study the girl. He felt like he finally gotten somewhere with her. Okay, going by her reactions to my questions something did in fact happen to her. And it has something to do with where she's from. But what exactly was it? What would happen to cause someone to be like this? Was it pirates? Perhaps marines? Bandits? Some kind of accident maybe? I've dealt with my own share of turmoil with what happened in my hometown, but my reaction wasn't like this at all. I had the opposite reaction to trauma than she did. She's completely closed off to people. I wanted to kill everyone. Knowing he wouldn't get anywhere with his own thoughts, he continued to question her. "Did you even realize that you should have died with that cut on your neck you made?"
She stopped screaming and jerking at that question. A quick flash of a question ran across her eyes before she ducked her head again.
Law hummed in thought. She might have just given me a clue. But what does it mean exactly? Does this mean she really doesn't know why she hasn't died from her suicide attempts? Could that possibly mean she has a devil fruit power but doesn't know about it? "Do you know why you heal so fast?"
She didn't answer him. She just went back to staring at her lap.
"Do you have any other family? I would be willing to drop you off with them if you just tell me where they are."
"Let me go," she whispered, she begged. "Just let me go."
"That won't be happening," Law replied. "There's something going on with you. Something inside of you, I'm guessing. How is it possible that you haven't died from all of your suicide attempts? What's going on inside of you? What secrets are you keeping?"
"Let me go," she whispered and begged again. "Please, just let me go."
Law sighed. He reached out and ran his finger over the cuff that bound her right wrist. He felt her flinch violently then stiffen when his skin made contact with her skin. He noticed she swallowed her desire to scream out from the touch but chose to ignore it as he traced his fingertip on her hand before taking a hold of her index finger. She flinched again when he pulled her finger back. "I am losing my patience with you. I will ask you one more time and only once more. If you don't answer me, I will start breaking bones until you spill every secret from every corner of your soul. Who are you? What's your name? How is it possible for you to heal so fast from such deep injuries? Why are you trying to kill yourself?"
Law paused for a while. Giving her plenty of time and the chance to answer him. But all she did was keep her head low and eyes shut. He clicked his tongue. "Very well. I've given you multiple chances to do as I ordered you to do. Since you refuse to comply…"
Law started to bend her finger back more. She winced at the pain that entered into her hand. He went to make the first break, but paused at the sight of a familiar hand placing itself on his fingers. He froze at the familiar touch of them. Coldness over took his body. His breathing hitched in his lungs. It wasn't possible. He wouldn't possibly be here. Again. Slowly, he turned his eyes up. He forced himself to smother out the gasp that tried to force itself up his throat and passed his lips. His heart took a painfully sharp jolt in his chest upon seeing the man standing there. He swallowed hard, his throat feeling like sandpaper begging for water. Still one word managed to stumble out of his mouth. "C-Cora?"
Stunned he watched as Corazon lightly shook his head at him. The dead man then tapped him on the hand. Law's eyes dropped down to the girl's trembling hand. He was beyond confused at why Corazon was bringing his attention to her trembling. She was also trembling when he was in the room. He looked back up in time to see Corazon lean over to the girl and place a gentle kiss on her head. Then, somehow, his body filled with an unfamiliar, indescribable feeling. He knew that she wasn't trembling because he had intimidated her. It was something else. Something far worse than any injury he could possibly inflict on her.
He dropped his eyes back down to the girl. But how did he know this? How could he know this? Or was it because of Corazon? Did Corazon, dead Corazon, somehow know what happened to this girl? Was Corazon trying to tell him something? He knew he was. But what was his old friend trying to tell him?
He looked back up, expecting to see Corazon standing there. He wanted to see if he could ask Corazon what he knew about the girl. Much to his dismay, and annoyance, Corazon was no longer in the room with him. Like before, the man had disappeared. He sighed, almost growled, in frustration and wanted to once again kill the already dead man. He pinched the bridge of his nose to gather his thoughts. He shoved his hands into his pockets and turned back to the girl. He said, "Very well then. I won't hurt you. But I do expect you to submit to me. And you will submit to me whether you like it or not. So get use to the idea and just do it already."
With one last look at the girl he noticed she was starting to become sleepy. He was glad. At least she wouldn't try to cause any trouble when she slept. He picked up the tray and left the room. His mind repetitively went over what just happened in the recovery room. Silently, he cursed Corazon for everything he was doing to him now. Dang it, Cora! I must be losing it! That's the third time I've seen you! Why?! Why do I keep seeing you around this girl?! What do you know about her?! Or do you just want to torture me from beyond the grave?!
Before he knew he was down on the third floor and next to the galley again, Shachi and Penguin's voices invaded his thoughts. The two men turned their attention to him. Shachi was the one to speak first. He asked, "Were you able to get her to eat?"
"Some," Law casually replied. He sat down the tray on the counter for whoever's turn it was to do the dishes later. He turned to his two subordinates, expecting more questions from them. He watched them exchanged looks of concerns and silent questions about his decisions to keep her on board. But they respectfully remained quiet. He was glad that they were obeying his orders, but he was also disappointed that they were too. He really wanted to talk about seeing Corazon. His crew held a great deal of respect for him. And he held a great deal of respect for his crew too. He wasn't like other captains who ruled with an iron fist and fear. He had a relationship with his crew, but he wasn't exactly their close friend either. He didn't really feel like he could open up and talk to them about certain things. He was just like that. The closest one he is to would be Bepo. And he knew he was more likely to open up to Bepo than anyone else on the sub. He just wasn't sure he wanted to, at least not yet. Still, things were really started to get to him he was wondering if he should tell Bepo what was going on with him. Bepo would keep a secret for sure. "Where's Bepo?"
"Uh, I think he went to his navigation room to scout out routes to the next island," Shachi said.
"All right. I'll be there with Bepo for a while if anyone needs me," Law said as he headed back for the door. "And from this point on I'll be the one who takes the girl her meals. Penguin, I'll write up a meal plan for her later and put it in here for you."
"Aye, Captain," Shachi and Penguin said.
Law stepped outside of the galley. He paused when he heard Shachi start talking again.
…
"I really don't get it," Shachi said. "Why is the captain keeping this girl? There's no way he's actually going to make her a crewmate. She's too weak for that, at least right now. But we don't know anything about her. She could possibly become a strong fighter…"
"Just let it go. There's no point talking about this anymore. I'm sure he has his reasons despite saying he doesn't know," Penguin replied, his voice taking on noticeable sympathy when he spoke of the girl. "It's obvious that the girl has gone through something very terrible. I wish there was something we could do to help her."
"Well, the only way to do that is for her to talk," Shachi said. "And after what's happened you know there's no way that's going to happen."
"It will," Penguin said. "She just needs to learn that we're not here to hurt her but to help her."
"I wonder if she ever will." Shachi sighed. "I'm not so sure she will, but as long as she's with us, we will help her. You know that. And since the captain's order is to keep her onboard, he must have a plan."
…
Shachi and Penguin continued talking, but Law started to walk away. He had heard enough. Plan, huh? For once I don't actually have one of those. Reaching the stairs he made his way down them slowly. He wanted to get to Bepo but he really wasn't in a hurry to get to him either. By passing the fourth floor, he heard sounds of training coming from the open door of the training room. His crew was cheering on whoever was sparring with each other. Their loud voices faded as he continued to descend down the stairs to the fifth floor. Things were a lot quieter on this floor. With his hands still in his pockets, he wandered down the hall until he reached the room he was aiming for. He stood in the doorway just taking in Bepo as the bear stood over the table that was in the middle of the room. It took about a minute before the bear even noticed him standing there.
"Oh, Captain," Bepo said, looking up from his map. "I didn't know you were there. Did you need something?"
"Not really," Law said, walking into the room. He leaned against the table and crossed his arms over his chest unaware of the confused look Bepo was giving him. After several minutes of silence, he spoke up again. "I saw Cora."
"Huh?" Bepo blinked.
"With the girl," Law said. "I've seen him with her three times now." His hat fell over his eyes. He could feel Bepo's confused stare at him. "I know it sounds really weird, but I really have seen him."
"I'm not really following you, Captain," Bepo said. "Isn't Cora…"
"Yeah." Law nodded. "You know me bringing someone on the sub like I did with that girl is out of the ordinary."
"Aye, Captain," Bepo said. "Well, I guess that would make a little more sense about you bringing that girl here. It was a move you wouldn't do on your own."
"So you believe me?" Law turned his eyes to the bear. He wasn't sure what Bepo was going to say now. And he was actually nervous about it. He could feel his palms sweating.
"Yes," Bepo said. "I know you wouldn't make up a lie about Corazon. He means too much to you. But why would he appear to you now after all of these years? And around this girl?"
"I don't know," Law said in a low tone. "All I know is he wanted me to bring that girl onto the sub and keep her with me."
"Do you think she's someone he knew?" Bepo asked.
"I also thought of that," Law said. "It's possible if she's old enough. But I don't know her age. And she's still not in a position to answer any questions right now."
"So you tried to question her," Bepo said it as more of a statement rather than a question.
Law nodded. He knew Bepo knew what his typical means of getting information consisted of. What he didn't know is how worried Bepo would be over the girl. He saw it when he looked back at his navigator. Bepo was clearly worried that he had hurt the girl. He sighed. It looked like two of his subordinates were already growing attached to the girl despite his desire for them not to. "Don't worry. I didn't hurt her at all."
"Oh, okay," Bepo said, his voice filled with relief that he couldn't possible hide. "I know we keep asking this question, but what are your plans for her?"
"For the moment, I'm going to try and gain her trust," Law said.
"That's not going to be easy, Captain," Bepo said. "Think you can handle it? We're pirates after all. Being gentle isn't exactly at the top of our to do list."
"I know," Law said. "But I have no choice. At least until I figure out her connection to Cora, I can't let her out of my sight."
"Wait, if she knows Corazon is it possible she knows Doflamingo, too?" Bepo asked.
"That's a possibility," Law said. "But I doubt it."
"What makes you say that?" Bepo asked.
"I'm not really sure. It's just a feeling," Law said. He pushed off the table to grab himself a piece of paper and a pencil. He then claimed a chair and started working out a menu for his mysterious little girl.
…
Law wandered into the galley with his left hand in his pocket and his right hand holding his sword against his shoulder. Just like he knew, Penguin was already inside cutting up the girl's snack for the hour. He walked closer to his subordinate just as he finished cutting up a mango.
"Here you go, Captain," Penguin said, holding out the tray.
"Thanks," Law said. He took the tray and headed back for the door without another word. It's been three days since the girl woke up on their sub. And not much had changed. Only occasionally Penguin, Bepo, or someone else would ask how she was doing and he would reply the same. She still refused to talk and eat. He was really getting tired of force feeding her. But he continued to do so. He knew her will wasn't as strong as his was. He was going to win her submission no matter how long it takes him to get it.
Upon reaching her recovery room, he entered to find her like always, looking over at the door until noticing him coming in. She would then look away or closed her eyes. Occasionally, he'd come in and find her sleeping, but she'd always wake up when she sensed or heard him in the room. Today she looked away from him. His eyes dropped down to her bandages and the heart monitoring patches. He really needed to check her wounds and probably even sponge her down since it's been a few days since she was washed. He really needed to get her hair cleaner than it was too, but that would really need to be done in the shower. And there was no way he was going to let her into the shower, at least not yet. He was going to have to figure out another way of getting her hair washed, preferably by someone else. He was also going to have to get her out of bed and walking around some. He didn't want her muscles to become weak from lying around all the time. He also didn't want her to get bedsores.
"I brought you some fruit," he said walking over to her. Once again she flinched and tried to pull away from him. He mentally chuckled. He wondered when she would realize she wasn't going to get away from him. Sitting down on the bed, he kicked off his boots. The action had become more or less automatic in just the few days of doing this. It came from having to force feed her multiple meals a day. Propping his sword against the wall, he picked up a piece of fruit and brought it to her lips. "Eat."
She turned her head farther away.
Growling in annoyance, he straddled over her again. Touching his finger to her face, he felt her jerk violently. She screamed. She seemed to do this a lot when he touched her. He would use it to his advantage and shoved whatever food he had into her mouth then pinch her lips and nose closed. He was expected her to pass out like she always did a lot of the time. But this time she started chewing only after a few seconds of refusing to acknowledge the food in her mouth. He was surprised. Was he starting to get somewhere with her?
"I'm going to change your bandages now and give you a bath," Law said, placing the now empty plate, cup, and tray down on the nightstand. He left the room to gather the supplies he needed to wash her off. When he returned he placed it all down then took off her bandages. He eyed the scars carefully, noticing they were still healing rapidly, before washing her down. After that was all done, he put medication on her wounds and wrapped her back up. He eyed the bandage as he wrapped it around her torso. Since she was staying with them for an undetermined amount of time, he was really going to have to find her some clothes. No one on the sub was small enough for their clothes to fit her properly. For the moment she was fine dressed in the bandages since she was completely covered with them, but she needed something that would fit her. He was also going to have to get her some menstrual supplies assuming she was old enough for that.
His eyes then landed on the heart monitor. He really didn't want to put her back on that thing. He was started to get a headache from how often she made it beep so rapidly. He decided to leave it off of her. He then began to gather everything up to put it all back in its proper place when suddenly a loud boom exploded outside the sub. It rocked the vessel violently. He was thrown back against the wall, everything in his hands scattering onto the floor.
"Captain!" Archer's voice said over the PA system.
Law's eyes went to the girl. She was trying to curl into herself from the man's loud unseen voice and the sub rocking. Another explosion happened once again rocking the sub. He cursed. "What's going on?!"
"We're under attack!" Archer said. "A pirate ship snuck up behind us! They're firing on us with cannons but appear to be preparing to try and board the sub!"
"Prepare to attack!" Law ordered. "Get ready for battle!"
"Aye, Captain!" Archer said. "All hands, prepare for battle!"
Law pushed himself off the wall. He grabbed his sword and ran towards the door. He was half out of it before he paused and turned back to the girl. He hoped the pirates didn't shoot at this room. That was the last thing he needed. He was going to have to end this quickly. He bolted through the sub. When he finally got outside, he found some of their attackers were already moving over to his sub by swing from ropes. Apparently the ship was closer than he thought. His own crew was already in combat. Guns were firing, swords were clashing, moans and grunts from getting punched filled the air as did blood. He turned his eyes to the ship. He looked up to the flag first, determining he didn't know this group so most likely they didn't have any bounties on them or their bounties were very low. He dropped his eyes down to the cannon rooms. Some of the pirates were reloading the cannons and preparing to fire them again. Those things had to go before they damaged his precious sub. He held out his hand. A smoke ring formed underneath his hand before spreading out with a blue film dome that cast over both water vessels. He held up three fingers, twisting them in a motion of switching two objects. "Room! Shambles!"
Several splashes came from the sea below. He smirked when the enemy crew shouted out their confusion as to where their cannons went and why their rivals were now in the cannon room with them. He then warped himself over to the rival ship. Still with his Room activated, he pulled out his sword and divided several of the men's bodies up with in seconds.
"Ah! What did you do to us?!"
"I'm still alive?! How is that possible?!"
"Let us go!"
"You're the ones who started all of this," Law said, resting his sword on his shoulder. "If you're so weak then you shouldn't have came after us."
"Who are you?!" the captain asked.
"Trafalgar Law," Law said, smirking when all their faces turned blue. "The Surgeon of Death." He warped some more of his subordinates over to the ship. "Take everything they have!"
"Aye aye, Captain!" His crew scattered. One ran up to the helm to move the ship closer to the sub while the others ran into the ship to find whatever valuables they could. It didn't take long for them to link the two vessels with a gangplank and carry their booty over to the sub with practiced precision.
"You're going to pay for this, Trafalgar!" the captain cried out.
"If you weaklings manage to survive the harsh seas of the Grand Line. But with how easily you went down here, I don't see that happening," Law said. He kicked the gangplank off his sub. It fell, hitting the side of the sub with a clank before making its splash in the sea. "Just be thankful we're leaving you alive. We could have easily killed you if we wanted to."
"See you later!" Shachi and Penguin sang. "Thanks for the treasure!"
"Yeah! We'll be sure to put it to very good use!" Conner said. "Bye!"
The rival pirates released several strings of curses as the Polar Tang pulled away from them. Law then turned to check his men out. He said, "Report. Are there any injuries?"
His crew started sounding off. "Just a few bruises here."
"I got hit in the stomach, but no damage."
"I got sliced with a sword on my arm."
Law walked over to his subordinate to check the wound out. "It's not very deep, but you're still going to need stitches and have it cleaned immediately."
"Aye, Captain."
The Heart Pirates then chatted in happiness as they started moved their booty on into the sub. "This is so great!"
"I know! This treasure has to be worth at least a hundred million."
"I'm ready to hit the next island and party!"
"I hope the island has lots of beautiful women!"
"Yeah! I can't wait until we get there!"
Law watched his crew heading back into the sub before letting his eyes wandered up to the top of the sub, to the medical rooms where the girl currently was. He felt an odd sense of relief that nothing bad happened here. The sub was safe and so was she. His mind then drifted back to her walking. He would have like to have her walk around today, but after this it would probably be best if he waited until tomorrow to have her do that. He brought his attention back to his injured subordinate and headed inside to tend to the man's wound.
…
The next day Law was up a little earlier than usual. It was four thirty in the morning when he walked out of his room and made his way up to the medical bay. He entered into the girl's recovery room. The room was quiet since he had removed the heart monitor from her. She was currently still sleeping. Today was the day he was going to have her walk around the room. And he knew she was going to be stubborn about it. He figured he was going to have to force her to walk by leading her around like a dog. He couldn't let her walk free just yet. Not even with him in the room. He wanted to test her and she what she would do. After that he would most likely let her walk around the room completely chain free. He, of course, would be guarding the door so she wouldn't escape.
With that settled in his mind, he stayed with her for a while longer. Sitting on the bed just watching her sleep while trying to figure her out. He couldn't help but notice she looked so calm and peaceful in the moment. He also couldn't help but reach out for her. He placed the tips of his fingers on her cheek. Her skin was surprisingly soft. He hadn't noticed that before. Her skin was also slightly cool to the touch. He wasn't sure why thought. It was rather warm in the sub at the moment. He continued to watch her in the silence of the morning and contemplating all of his questions on her and why she felt so inhuman.
He didn't notice how late it was getting until the sun lifted higher into the sky. It poured into the porthole and right into his eyes. He shielded them and looked out the porthole. He stayed longer than he had intended to. His eyes then went to his fingers. Somehow, at some point in time, his hand had wandered down to hers. He had a hold of the tips of her fingers, brushing his thumb over her fingernails. He pulled back. Shaking his head in confusion, he stood up and headed for the door.
Down in the galley his crew was still going on about the booty they gathered the day before. So it was just another ordinary day on the sea, minus the girl up in the medical bay. He ran his eyes over his crew. He needed to pick someone to wash her hair. Someone that would be gentle enough and calm enough to handle the girl. Then he was going to have to have them go into the girl's room so she would get use to his presence there. He decided Shachi would be best. She had already met him.
"Shachi, I want you to come with me when I fed the girl from now on," Law said.
"Aye, Captain," Shachi said. "What for?"
"I want the girl to start getting use to others being around," Law said. "Also, I want you to wash her hair when she's calm enough. It probably won't be for a few more days though."
"Oh, okay, Captain," Shachi said. "That makes sense."
After they all had eaten, Law got the girl's breakfast and headed upstairs with Shachi in tow. The two quietly walked through the sub and into the recovery room where the girl was waiting for them. She was staring at the door again when they came in. And like always, she turned her eyes away from them. Law placed the tray down then propped the girl back up on the pillows. He waited for her to notice Shachi before speaking. "He's here so you'll start getting use to him. He'll be washing your hair soon."
"Hello, sweetie," Shachi said with a wave. "How are you this morning?" She didn't answer. "Well, the captain has your breakfast. It's really good this morning."
Everything then settled back down into their normal routine. The only difference was Shachi was in the room. He awkwardly stood at the door. He didn't want to get any closer to her. She was already nervous enough with two of them in the room. When Law was done feeding the girl, he dismissed Shachi. "You can go now. And take the tray back down to the galley."
"Aye, Captain. See you later, sweetie," Shachi said before leaving the room with the tray in his hand. "Behave for the captain now."
"All right, little girl," Law said when his subordinate was finally gone. He got up from the bed and moved down to her feet. "You're going to walk around for a while. I don't want your muscles getting weak from lying around all the time. I'm going to unlock the chains from your ankles but the ones on your wrists are staying put. If you can prove to me that you'll behave, I'll let you walk around the room on your own soon. I'm going to unlock your chains now."
He reached for her right ankle. He was anticipating her to try and kick him, so it wasn't a surprise when she struck out at him once her ankle was free. But, since she was so short, she had no chance of reaching him. He did a rough measurement when she was unconscious and found her to be around five foot two or so. Despite that, he still grabbed her foot, making her jump and jerk violently in an attempt to get free of him. "Settle down now. You're not going to escape from me."
He freed her other foot. This time she didn't kick at him. He moved up to her right arm. Once that was unlocked from the bed, he held on tightly to the chain while moving around to the other side of the bed. Once she was freed from the bed, he pulled her into a sitting position. "Come on. Off the bed and on your feet."
She didn't move.
Sighing, he tugged her off the bed by the chains. She hit the floor on her feet at first but then dropped to her knees. He knew she just lost her balance. With the way she struggled against him and his men, he knew she was strong enough to walk. He pulled her upon her feet and started walking her around the room like she was his stubborn little puppy. She was keeping as much distance from him as she possible could. He didn't mind just as long as she walked. Suddenly the girl pulled on the chain, but he had a tight enough hold it was impossible for her to get away. He turned around to see her trying to get to the door. He jerked her away from it. "Stop that. How many times do I have to tell you you're not going to escape from me before you understand?"
He watched her drop to the floor. She curled into herself and cried. He almost felt guilty for treating her like this. Almost. Sighing, he gave her a few minutes to calm down before pulling her back to her feet and continued to walk her around. After about an hour, he finally allowed her to get back on the bed. He chained her back down to the bed, leaving her in a reclining position on the pillows since he was going to be feeding her again fairly soon. Before leaving the room, he noticed her growing very tired very fast. He stayed in the room for a few minutes and just watched her sleep. He then left unaware of the girl's face twisting in horror from the nightmare running through her head.
