Chapter 5

Lyanna woke up and immediately got up to use the bathroom. She felt relieved afterwards and stumbled back to the bed. It had been a few days since she'd arrived now and probably longer since she'd had a proper bath. No one was around, and she couldn't hear footsteps near the treatment room, so she knew she'd have to emerge and ask someone for help.

A big, white thing was walking past when she opened the door. It jumped, yelping in surprise upon seeing her, and Lyanna flinched.

"Oh, you're alive." The white creature said with relief, and Lyanna nodded slowly in answer.

"I wanted to bathe. Can you point me in the right direction?" She asked, feeling a little awkward. She had no idea what it was, but it talked.

"Uh, yeah. Third door on the right."

"Thank you. I'm Lyanna, by the way. Thank you for helping me too." She tried to be as charming as possible, even though she was still pretty exhausted.

"I'm Bepo. That's okay." Bepo smiled and scratched the back of his head bashfully, colour rising to his cheeks.

Lyanna smiled at him, still confused about what he was, but focused more on getting cleaned up. She returned to the treatment room and grabbed her old clothes that must have been laundered. Once she'd grabbed them, she went down the hall and counted the three doors until she found the correct one. Opening the door, no one was inside, so she went in. There were two baths, with dividers and curtains to allow for some privacy, and she disrobed while she waited for one of the baths to fill up. The door opened, and Lyanna panicked, but she heard Ikkaku's familiar footsteps and her voice a moment later.

"Lyanna, are you in here?"

"Yeah, I'm here." Her voice was raspy from lack of use, and she struggled to speak loud enough for Ikkaku to hear her.

"Sorry, I didn't know you were awake. I would have come to help you. Here are some products for you to use. The boys' stuff isn't great so I keep it aside since they'd use it all if I let them." She pushed a small basket of things after lifting the bottom of the curtain.

"Oh, wow. Thank you so much. I'm feeling much better. Getting around isn't so hard anymore." Lyanna was grateful; Ikkaku had been really sweet and helpful.

"Well, if you're sure you're okay, I'll leave you to clean up."

"Yeah, I'm okay. Thank you again. You're very sweet." Although she couldn't see it, she gave Ikkaku a smile, hoping it could be heard in her tone.

Her footsteps retreated, and she heard the door open and close again. Lyanna hopped in the warm bath and sighed at the feeling. The products Ikkaku had given her were everything she needed. Body wash, shampoo, conditioner, facial cleanser and nourishing hair oil to use when her hair had dried. As she cleaned up, she enjoyed the hot water soothing her tense muscles. She was still sore, and it would take her a couple of days to feel normal.

It was the first time since she'd woken up that she had a good chance to consider everything. Trafalgar Law had saved her life, and she didn't want to just up and die after the effort he had gone to, but she still felt like she couldn't crawl out of this pit of despair. In saying that, Ikkaku's small gesture of kindness reminded her that there were still good people in the world. Law didn't have to help her, nor did the rest of his crew, but they did, and she shouldn't throw it back in their faces. This wasn't the first time she had lost people she loved in her life, but last time the Whitebeard pirates had basically just pretended like they had been her family her whole life. Probably because she was a child, though, she undoubtedly didn't understand everything and the gravity of it due to her age.

Now that she was older and truly understood the finality of death, it must have been hitting her harder. Since she couldn't find the rest of the Whitebeard pirates, it made her feel more alone. But she wasn't alone, she realised. These people took her on board their ship, complete strangers, who treated her, clothed and fed her. Law had even asked her to make a deal with him to stay on board for 2 months, so clearly, he had some interest in her being alive. Although it didn't feel like it had when she'd been on the Moby Dick, with people chatting and laughing everywhere, Law's crew was still tight and extremely close. The approach wasn't much different; they had treated her, and been so kind to her. Maybe because there were less of them compared to Whitebeard's gigantic crew that there were less things to keep her occupied. Now she was just old enough to fully appreciate the gravity of the loss she'd experienced.

When she finished the bath, she dried off and did her best to get as much moisture out of her hair as possible. There was a basket to place her dirty towels in, and she made a mental note to determine if there were some duties she could take on while she was on board. She wasn't one to not pull her weight and fully intended to work for her keep. Although she usually survived on her own, she knew about what it took to live at sea and what jobs needed doing onboard. Being on a submarine was a little different, but surely she could at least help with cleaning, and cooking.

As she returned to the treatment room, she brought the little basket of goodies from Ikkaku and placed it next to the cot. She didn't own many things, having not cared about her belongings for weeks, but this would be an excellent start. Although she was tired, she felt like she needed to do something before resting. So she found a cupboard with cleaning supplies and began to clean the treatment room, knowing how important it was for it to be clean and sterile.

While she was wiping down a counter, Law walked in and scrunched his face when he saw what she was doing.

"What the fuck are you doing? You need to be resting." He raised his voice at her with no second thought.

"I'm working for my keep. I've been resting most of the day, but I wanted to do something helpful." She answered without stopping what she was doing and he sighed before replying.

"I get it, but not yet. You can contribute when I clear you." He snatched the cloth from her hand and pointed towards the bed, towering over her.

"Fine." She raised her hands in a gesture of defeat and shuffled to the bed, sitting down.

"While I'm here, I'll examine you." He tossed the cloth elsewhere in the room and washed his hands.

Lyanna sat on the edge of the bed, let him do whatever he needed, and followed his instructions. The process took about 10 minutes, and he seemed to be doing a thorough job. She had no idea what most of it was for and if it was good or bad, but his face didn't change the whole time, so she gathered it wasn't too bad.

"See something you like?" He spoke up, surprising her.

"Uh, just curiosity." She replied, not quite knowing what to say. Apparently she'd been staring the whole time he'd been checking her over.

"That's a yes." He mumbled, but it was definitely intended for her to hear.

"What?!" His candour wasn't what she'd expected, but she realised that he was teasing her and smiled. "Whatever." She scoffed and saw a shadow of a smirk on his face.

"You seem to be recovering fine. But you still need to rest and keep up your fluids." Law said pointedly at her, staring at her until she nodded in agreement.

"I'll be a good girl." She smiled disarmingly.

"Will you, now?" He asked rhetorically and tidied up his medical tools before he left the room and left her to her own devices.

Law had surprised her a few times now. She was beginning to understand why he had such a good and loyal crew, and his medical expertise was highly rated. His 'Surgeon of Death' moniker was given to him because of his brutality, and she supposed that she wasn't seeing that side of him because he had been treating her. It was interesting that he was much more personable than she had anticipated. Even though he was brusque, he seemed kinder and more compassionate than people would assume him to be. Obviously those in his inner circle, his crew, would see this side of him, and her by extension since she was onboard and under his care.

Once she laid down, feeling much better after getting cleaned up in the bath, she guessed that Law was proper. She was too tired to stay awake, so she allowed herself to drift off…