Chapter 13

When Lyanna woke the following day, she opened her eyes to see Law on his stomach, his arms holding onto the pillow beneath his head. He looked so calm and relaxed, so she did her best not to wake him and stayed put. Eventually, her bladder would force her to move, but she could wait.

The change in their relationship hadn't surprised her, all their back-and-forth flirting giving all the necessary foreshadowing to figure that out. However, she was confounded by how gentle he'd been. Not necessarily during sex, which she preferred to be a bit on the rougher side anyway. But it was the barely there smiles, a kiss on the shoulder, and the look on his face that she found harder to place.

Law had seemed like he was conflicted about the change until she had told him she wasn't going off herself. Maybe he hadn't wanted to get involved with her if she only planned on dying later, which was perfectly understandable. Although she'd only ever been with a few other guys before, it was only sex - just satisfying a physical desire. There wasn't any meaning to it. If she wasn't mistaken by his actions or just reading too far into it, there seemed to be at least an interest beyond the physical. When she had prepared to grab her clothes after the first time they'd had sex, he had stopped her by asking her to stay, even though he'd elaborated with a joke. If he only desired her physically, he wouldn't have bothered. She hadn't really considered that he would want her to stay before that, never experiencing it before with her previous sexual partners.

She'd been surprised at how kind he was. His somewhat violent outburst to defend her and Ikkaku the other day had reinforced that he was a good person, despite his 'Surgeon of Death' moniker. He was the kind of Captain that joked, talked and laughed with his crew, and Lyanna had been part of this during her time on the Polar Tang. The brutal reputation he'd become known for seemed chiefly what he wanted people to see, not the real him. The real Trafalgar Law cared immensely for his crew and had no interest in cold-blooded murder. He certainly had a tendency for cruelty and ruthlessness. Still, from what Lyanna knew about him already, he just did what he felt necessary. He even went out of his way to treat Straw Hat Luffy and Jinbe, taking them from the fray at Marineford and saving their lives. Despite having no direct benefit to him, he still did this, maybe out of a sense of respect for the two famous pirates.

When Law shifted, waking up, she was pulled from her thoughts. She smiled when he focused his eyes on her and looked pleasantly surprised that she was there. He shifted, moving closer to her, then put his head on her chest, taking full advantage of the softness there. Running her fingers through his hair, they talked softly until the need to use the bathroom, drink water and eat something became too hard to ignore. Once they'd both used the bathroom and gotten dressed, they headed to the kitchen, where other crew members gathered.

Again, no one commented on them always appearing together, so Lyanna assumed it might have happened before. With a guy as attractive as Law, it made sense that he might have shared his bed with a woman on board his ship. She supposed they were all adults too, and the life at sea was thrilling, but it didn't exactly give a chance to develop any relationships aside from the people on your own ship.

Lyanna went over to help and began serving plates for breakfast. There were omelettes with plenty of different toppings. She eventually took over cooking when Penguin continued having trouble flipping them. She also ensured everyone had a drink, either juice, tea, water or coffee. She didn't notice since she was distracted, but Law had his eyes on her most of the time.

After everyone else had been fed, she got her own plate and sat down to eat. The only available seat was next to the Captain, so she tried not to feel embarrassed and sat beside him. With a subtlety that she admired, he put his arm over the back of the couch in a gesture of claiming. She found his indirect gesture of affection sweet and gave him a brief smile.

When Law went to help wash up with a few of the others, Lyanna was just finishing her meal. Once everything was cleaned and packed away, Law tilted his head to Lyanna to ask her to follow him. She did as he requested, and they went to the treatment room together.

"I need to write a list of things to stock up on." He said as he walked over to the counter, leaving his sword on the cot.

"Okay. I can do that." Lyanna answered, but Law shook his head.

"I don't want you to do it for me. Just help me." He corrected, and she nodded in response.

Pulling a notepad out from a drawer and something to write with, he began looking through the cupboards and drawers and telling her what to write down. While they completed their task, Lyanna had enough courage to ask Law a little more about himself.

"How old are you?"

"25. Why?"

"Just curious. I thought we were about the same age. I'm 26…Where are you from?" She kept her tone light, but he stopped what he was doing long enough to look at her in surprise.

"North Blue…Swallow Island." He answered evenly, giving her no insight into how he felt towards her line of questioning. "Me, Shachi, Penguin, and Bepo are from there. Bepo and I grew up together. You?"

"East Blue. Can't remember what the island was called where I was born, but I ended up growing up on Braynard Island. What made you want to become a doctor?" She felt emboldened by getting a proper answer to her first question and

"My father was a doctor. I wanted to be like him." It took him a bit longer to answer, and she figured she was reaching the end of what he felt comfortable telling her. Although she didn't want to pry, she also didn't want to be accidentally insensitive.

"Is your family still around?" She asked somewhat hesitantly because she didn't get the impression his father was alive, judging by his reaction earlier.

He took a breath and just shook his head. Lyanna knew there wasn't much she could say, but at the very least, she understood. Instead of saying anything, she just put a hand on his currently resting on the counter and gave him a sad smile.

"Why did you become a broker?" He beat her to the punch by asking her something first.

"I only thought about it after I ate the Lie-Lie Fruit and started figuring out my abilities. Getting information out of people using my ability is not too hard. I guessed it would be a good way to make a living and be able to travel around and see the world." Lyanna answered honestly. "I ate it when I was quite young, and I was stupid and assumed that I would have some crazy powers like the famous pirates or Navy admirals. I might have been disappointed when I didn't have a Logia body or couldn't turn into an animal like the Zoan types." She admitted with a laugh.

"I'm sure you're not the first to think that." He offered politely but laughed anyway. "It took me ages to figure out my power." His gaze turned inward as if he was replaying the memories in his mind's eye.

"Me too. I faintly recall slapping someone thinking that might have made it harder for them to lie to me. I think it only helped because I slapped them, not because it made my ability more effective." Lyanna couldn't remember the name of the kid she'd slapped, but he had picked on her friend. "The kid was an asshole anyway. He deserved it."

Law snorted with repressed laughter before he replied. "I had fun figuring out that I could cut people without killing them. Freaked a lot of people out."

"I'll bet. It scared the shit out of me when you showed me." Lyanna agreed, chuckling softly. "Speaking of. Your sword…" She glanced at it over her shoulder.

"Kikoku." He interjected.

"It's fucking huge. Who taught you to use it?"

"Someone from my first crew." His tone said he wasn't going to elaborate further. "You have a dagger, don't you?"

"Yeah, it doesn't have a cool name or anything, though. It's also normal sized." She smirked in amusement, looking at him up and down exaggeratedly for his height.

"You're just tiny." He replied snarkily, to which Lyanna rolled her eyes.

"I make up for it in other areas." She dropped her eyes to her chest and Law's followed suit. "Like my charming personality."

"What's your favourite food?" He asked after laughing at her.

"Hmm…there were these fantastic noodles I had in Kumejima. I can't even remember what the dish was called." She strained to recall it but failed. "What about you?"

"Onigiri." He answered and touched his stomach as if just talking about it made him hungry.

"Hmm...What's your favourite book?" Lyanna knew that Law was clever and probably read medical texts in his spare time.

"Sora, The Warrior of the Sea." He offered softly.

"Oh, I love that one too!" She laughed happily, surprised by his answer. "My favourite book is called Queen of Darkness, though." She answered his silent question, only a raised eyebrow from him to indicate it.

"How did you get the scar on your shoulder?" He pointed to her left shoulder.

She ran her fingers over it as she answered, remembering that he had treated her and would have seen it. "It's an old one. I got it just after I became a broker. The wound almost killed me, but Marco from Whitebeard's crew saved me." The scar ran from the front over her shoulder to the shoulder blade on her back. "That was from a sword strike I got before I learned Observation Haki. Marco started teaching me while I was recovering, and I just kept practising."

"You can use Observation Haki?"

"Well enough that I haven't gotten any more scars like this one. It's just to avoid getting hurt mainly. I can sense strong emotions in some people, though. That's about it." She shrugged since it wasn't a big deal, but Law nodded as if impressed.

"Can you sense anything in me?" He asked and moved to stand close to her.

"Probably not. You're a bit too stoic." Lyanna knew she probably wouldn't be able to get anything from Law since he was so laid back and calm.

"Try." He stepped a little closer.

Lyanna took a breath in and out and closed her eyes to concentrate. As she relaxed and focused on Law's presence, she acknowledged the subtle feeling she got from his life force and tried to go deeper. It was challenging with him, but she abruptly felt her heart thump in her chest in response to what she could sense. What she could feel was his fondness and desire for her. Despite his seemingly laid-back nature, he seemed to be more emotional than she realised. Her cheeks flushed with colour before she could calm herself, and she lost her concentration, severing the connection she had. Her pulse raced in response, and she kept her head down so he couldn't see her face, chewing on her bottom lip thoughtfully.

"Well?" Law asked, waiting for her to tell her what she could sense.

"Um, I..." She found it hard to form the words and even more difficult when she felt his hands on her waist.

"I'll take that as a yes." He said with a hint of mirth in his tone.

Lyanna still didn't know what to say, but he'd figured it out, so maybe there was no point speaking anyway. She tried to keep her head tilted downward, but Law wouldn't allow it. His hands moved, one to the small of her back, and the other came up to tangle in her hair. He tugged on her dark locks to force her to look up at him, and she relented. After making eye contact with him, she could see the honest feeling she had sensed a minute ago. Maybe he didn't want to verbalise it, but either way, she understood. Daring herself to think it, she mentally acknowledged that whatever it was between them wasn't just physical. They had a genuine fondness, a big difference from their earliest interaction when Lyanna told Law she had nothing to live for. Although unlikely, he may have seen something in her even then, which may have inspired him to make a deal with her to stay on board for a while. She supposed that it was also possible she had seen something in him, hence why she had agreed to the deal. Law seemed to have a somewhat tragic background from what she had gathered through their conversation and prior knowledge. She felt a strange kinship with him for this reason. He understood the gravity of her loss and grief. He didn't make her ashamed for having those feelings, instead encouraging her to feel and accept them. If he had also lost his family, he would know the void left behind very well.

They heard footsteps approaching the treatment room door as they regarded one another. Neither moved until they passed by and continued down the hallway. Unfortunately, the moment was gone, so they returned to their task, spending the rest of the time chatting about anything and everything. As they worked, they stole glances at one another, occasionally touching as they would pass something between each other or moving just close enough to make contact.

The void she felt would never be gone, but it certainly didn't feel as large as it used to...