#burntsubmission

[psychedelic-ink]

Friends? (by lunna-star-8)

I waited. I waited and I wasn’t the only one. Me and, I’m pretty sure, the whole Heart Pirates’ crew were waiting in the hallway for Law to finish taking care of Bepo. The hallway was as quiet as I had ever seen it despite the amount of people that were gathered in that one spot. The tension and silence were broken when Law opened the door and walked out “He’s gonna be ok.” He said and I swear that we collectively breathed of relief. Some of them returned to whatever they were meant to be doing while others had their wounds checked before they did the same but I stayed there, watching them come and go, now wrapped in that same black jacket I had been wearing. It didn’t smell like it did the first time and I missed it.

My thoughts got interrupted when Law came out of his office again, accompanied by what seemed to be his last crewmate in need of band-aids and his golden eyes fell on me “Everyone ok?”

He nodded “Yeah, most of them got nothing but a few scrapes fortunately and Bepo is tough, he’ll wake up later, probably when he smells food.”

I chuckled “Sounds like my brother. Although, sometimes he will stuff his face while sleeping.”

“While he’s sleeping?”

I nodded “Oh yeah, you heard me right.” I almost cross my arms but the fabric of the jacket pulls at my skin and I’m reminded that I need another set of hands to get out of this mess “So… Any other patients to tend to…?”

He raised me an eyebrow “Not that I’m aware of, but I’m sure you could come up with something, huh?”

I waved him off “Pfft… It’s not like it’s serious…” he crossed his arms and I took that as my cue to just come out with it “Remember how I created a fire bird out of thin air?” he nodded for me to continue “Well, the ‘out of thin air’ bit kind of tore through my bandages around my arms and hands and I kind of started bleeding again. But I didn’t want anyone to worry! So I kind of put on the jacket…”

He rubbed his face and sighed for what seemed like the thousandth time since I met him “Let me guess, now the blood has dried and the jacket is stuck, huh…?”

“Kinda…?”

He tilted his head towards his office before stepping back inside, I followed him “One day. Just one, where you don’t show up with more wounds than I sent you off in. Is that too much to ask?”

I closed the door as I walked in and sat on the medical bed he had there “You’re right, I’ve been kind of reckless since I woke up and you’ve been picking up the pieces.”

He raised me an eyebrow yet again as he grabbed a first aid kit “That’s… Conveniently responsible of you. What brought the change of attitude?”

I smiled as he pulled up his chair to sit in front of me “Let’s just say I had my brother’s guiding hand… I’m gonna be more careful from now on.”

“If that means you’ll finally start listening to me, then please do.”

“Well, I wouldn’t go that far.”

He rolled his eyes, seemingly amused “Of course not.”

Law helped slowly starting to take off the jacket off, carefully taking care of the tears all over my arms. We were in silence for the whole first sleeve, it wasn’t an awkward silence by any means, he was working and I was basically just watching him work. It seemed, as strange as this might sound, almost therapeutic to him to be working. Probably helped distract him from Bepo’s condition, he obviously cared a lot about his friend.

“Hey…” he spoke up as he started to help me get the other sleeve off “Why… When you covered Bepo, did you know that Shachi and Penguin would use Haki to save you?”

My eyes went wide as I blinked a couple of times “Who and who would use what now?”

He shook his head focusing back on what he was doing “I’ll take that as a no then.” Then he frowned “But then why…?”

“Why would I save a friend…?” I flinched as he pulled the jacket a bit more roughly than I expected “For someone so smart, that’s a silly question.”

“You barely know him.”

I shrugged “He’s been nothing but kind to me. I saw him in danger and did what I could to help. That’s what friends do.” He reached the end of my sleeve and the jacket was finally off of me “I would’ve done the same for you, you know?”

He glanced up at me as he reached for the bandages “Because I saved your brother, yeah—”

“Because I’m your friend.” I corrected.

Law rolled his eyes “Friend? What do you even know about me?”

I shrugged with a smirk “I know that we’re gonna be good friends.”

He leaned back on his chair, fiddling with the roll of bandages “You know that can’t be, right?” I raised him an eyebrow and he seemed to understand my confusion “We’re both pirates? Both under different flags? Your brother is looking for the One Piece, I’m looking for the One Piece, you’re his first mate…” I waited for him to get to a point eventually “We’re gonna fight.”

“So?”

“So we can’t be friends.” He clarified like it was obvious.

I rolled my eyes “So we fight? Do you know how many times me and my brothers fought? I can’t give you an exact number but it was in the ‘a hell of a lot’ margins. Do you think that made them any less my brothers?” he didn’t reply “Why would it make us any less friends?”

“That’s not gonna be fair.” He argued but I simply laughed.

“What? You think I’d go easy on you, grumpy panda?” he narrowed his eyes at me from the nickname “My friends deserve the courtesy of my full power, plus it’s not like I’m gonna hand you the One Piece, you know?” I smirked at him “Or are you just scared you won’t be able to handle me?”

He scoffed at me “Excuse you, who exactly plucked your unconscious tail out of the war?”

“Then,” I said “when we have to fight, we’ll fight. Give our best and when we win – because we will, Luffy will become the King of the Pirates – but when we kick your ass, fair and square, I hope we can still be friends, no?”

He pointed at me “Actually, you got that wrong, scardy cat. When we win and I’m the King of the Pirates, I hope you still think we can be friends.”

I smiled at him, my grey eyes on his golden ones “Friends no matter who wins?”

He hesitated for a moment before he sighed but I spotted a smile on his lips “I don’t seem to have a lot of choices, do I?”

I shrugged “Not really. You get a friend whether you like it or not.”

“Stubborn cat.” He chuckled “Give me your arm so I can wrap it up, again.” I did as I was told and he started to wrap the bandage “Thank you…” I glanced over at him as he looked at me for a second “For trying to save Bepo, I mean. He’s one of my oldest friends and I don’t know what would’ve happened if…” he took a deep breath continuing to bandage up my left arm “Thank you.”

“I didn’t do much, the two guys from your crew stopped the swords.” I replied “And with their bare hands! I have to learn that trick.”

He finished wrapping off my arm and reached for my right one “How do you make it this far and not know what Haki is?”

I looked at myself, so bandaged up I could be confused by a mummy, plus fresh injuries “Have you noticed where ‘this far’ has gotten me? Missing crew, lost war, comatose twin…” he tilted his head in understanding “Who are those guys by the way? They told me you sent them to babysit me?”

Law continued to wrap up my right arm as he talked “Oh, they’re my other two oldest friends. Shachi, that I hear you punched in the face and Penguin that you flipped to the floor? Ring a bell?”

I used my free hand to rub my face “I also apologized! They surprised me, it was instinct!”

He chuckled “It is a fight or flight reaction.”

“That’s what I said!”

“But maybe you shouldn’t manhandle my crew?” he said as he finished the bandage and turned fully to me.

I flexed my fingers to test out the bandages then I smirked at him “Maybe you shouldn’t have them sneak up on people.”

“They wouldn’t if you had stayed in bed like you were supposed to.” He countered and I found myself at a loss for a comeback. Law got up from his chair and put it back by his desk, frowning “How in the world did you get out of there anyway? I put two shelves in front of the door that so happen to still be there.”

I grinned and allowed my ears to shift into tiger ones, white with a couple of black stripes “Vents.”

I noticed his golden eyes shift to my tiger ears before he looked over at the vent over his desk “You’re not serious. How do you even fit in there? Who uses the vents?!”

I shrugged wiggling my legs “I use vents.” He turned back to me and I grinned “You see, before I was ‘Tiger Luna’, before I was my brother’s first mate, before I was even a pirate or had a Devil Fruit power! I was a thief.”

He raised me an eyebrow “You’re proud of that?”

I grinned “Oh yeah.” Then showed him a small roll of money “Missing something?”

His eyes widened before he reached for his pocket “That’s mine! When did—?”

I handed him back the money as my ears shifted back into human ones “Some people do crosswords to pass their time, I found this more interesting.” Memories of coming to meet my brothers with a stack of stollen money while they distracted the criminals crossed my mind and I found myself smiling.

“You’re a pirate now, so that’s not much of a change, I guess.” He said, now putting the first aid kit away under the medical bed “Isn’t one of your crewmates known as the cat burglar though?”

I nodded “That’s Nami! We actually first started bonding over our thievery backgrounds!” I said “Nami was a just a thief for longer than me, but we still had plenty stories to exchange!”

“Alright…” he turned back to me as he crossed his arms over his yellow hoodie “Now, go on and do me a favour, will you? Don’t push it. No exercising, no helping around the ship, no pushing yourself, no training. Nothing. The only reason I’m letting you walk around in the first place is because I’m not sure there’s a way I can effectively lock you in your room, get it?”

I grabbed the black jacket and did a mock salute as I hopped off the medical bed “Aye aye, doctor panda!”

“And stop calling me panda!”

I opened the door, took only one step outside and turned to him with a grin “Sure captain grumpy.”

I left as soon as I said it, but I still heard him grumble “I might kill you before this trip ends!” what really, only made me laugh to myself.

The interaction between these two are gonna be the death of me xD

[psychedelic-ink]

New Dawn(by lunna-star-8)

Dear Sabo and Ace,

Things haven’t been the best since Marineford, smiling hurts and Luffy shows no sign of waking up… I don’t know what to do… I keep expecting to wake up and the war never happened, but no amount of wishful thinking will get me that… Either way, I’m still not quite sure what day it is, the only time I grabbed a newspaper I ended up reading the comic strip instead. Sorry about that, I’ll end up finding what day it is, eventually. Adding to the list of things I don’t know, I have no clue where we’re heading but, before either of you worry, let me tell you that I trust Law.

And no, don’t make those faces, he saved Luffy and he saved me after the war. You’d trust him too. He’s a nice guy when—-

My letter got interrupted by a loud siren and the feeling of the floor suddenly tilting all to one side. I held onto the bed that was clearly secure to the floor but I felt the whole submarine rattle for a minute before the siren quieted down and I heard the unmistakable sound of canon fire.

Without so much as a second thought, I put my notebook and pen to the side before I darted to the door, I try to push it open but it wouldn’t budge – he wasn’t kidding when he said he’d find a way to keep me in the room. But neither was I when I said it wouldn’t be that easy, I looked around the room because it had to have…

I smirked when I saw the bared square hole on the wall “Vents.” I climbed on top of my bed to be able to reach the opening. It was relatively easy to get the grid off and I could see Law’s office from where I was and my math told me I should be able to fit in the space “If you don’t stay in bed, your wounds will open up again. So stay in bed.” His voice basically rang in my head as I stared at his office. It’s not like they needed me, they’re a more than capable pirate crew and it’s not like I’d be much help in my current state anyway…

Suddenly, I remembered Ace and his blood on my hands, I remembered Bon’s voice as we passed through the gate, I remembered Luffy’s screams when he took a hit from Magellan for me… I looked over my shoulder to see him still lying unconscious where he had been since I woke up and as I blinked, I could see Law in my brother’s place hurt and bleeding, plagued with nightmares he couldn’t escape from… I thought of the kind polar bear, Bepo, that had been nothing but supportive since I woke up… Or Ikkaku that always seemed to have a friendly smile saved for me…

When another canon blast was felt across the ship, I turned back to the vent and made up my mind, I was going out there and try not to be seen. I wouldn’t fight unless I had to but I would not sit still and wait for someone else to take another blow for me. I forced my claws out and used them to help me onto the vent, with a lot more ease than I expected, I pushed my way through the tight space until my head came out right on top of Law’s desk. Immediately I noticed that his two massive bookshelves were missing which I assume were what was now blocking the infirmary’s door. By generating a bit of wind, I managed to trip the chair backwards so it was out of the way and then set my palms over the desk, easily slipping my legs out of the vent and allowing gravity to softly flip me onto the floor. I checked, nothing seemed to be bleeding or ripped or even hurting – much, or more than usual, you don’t just miraculously recover from something like that war without constant aching limbs.

Snapping myself out of my amazement, I opened the door and made my way out trying not to be spotted. It wasn’t hard, the halls were empty due to everyone being engaged in battle, after some wrong turns and a couple of canon shots later, I had made my way outside without being seen.

“GET TO STRAW HAT AND TIGER LUNA, MEN!” some marine called out as he ran for the submarine… Hadn’t we been through enough? Hadn’t they taken enough…?

Not a second after the marine first stepped onto the submarine, I saw the light blue aura of Law’s ‘room’ before the man was chopped into pieces, he was screaming but as live as anyone. As I saw the man’s pieces fall to the floor, I peeked around the corner to see that Bepo was the only one on the deck, easily kicking the ass of a bunch of marines that seemed to have underestimated the bear, beyond him, on board of one of the marine ships, I could make out Law in his yellow hoodie and white hat fighting marines like the supernova he is – “Sadistic little bastard…” I chuckled to myself but then shrugged “Can’t really say I wouldn’t do the same with his devil fruit though, seems fun.”

I looked back around the battlefield, feeling the tiger in me wanting to join in the fight, standing at the side-lines wasn’t really its thing and, to be perfectly fair, can’t say it was mine either. My eyes shift down where the marine is struggling to, literally, put himself back together – I couldn’t resist, I manipulated the air around him to lift his limbs as I stayed as hidden as I could. Clearly, the marine had no idea what was going on as I started to throw his arms and legs at the heads of other marines around, I have to say that I probably should’ve felt a bit bad for the man, but I didn’t. I left the head for last, trying to talk myself out of doing what I was thinking, but who knew if I’d ever get the chance again? Not to mention, it would be cathartic after everything. Pulling it closer with some softer breezes, I ignored the marine’s complaints before figuring out where I’d be aiming and grinned – the ship where Law was. I took a couple of steps back before quickly taking them back and kicking the head probably hard enough to crack his skull. It landed right on the head of another marine and— oH, ShIt! Law turned to the sub. I really hope he didn’t see me, or I’m dead meat.

I looked up at the dark blue sky that was lighting by the second and at the dark oceans behind us… “We can still see the sky, we can still see the ocean, it’s not like it’s hell here!” Usopp said once. We were in Enies Lobby, in the middle of a Buster Call and those words stuck with me, they rang true in my heart and came back to me as the ocean breeze caressed my hot skin. There was a fight going on behind me, my heart was racing as I was painfully aware that at any moment anyone could round up the corner and see me or even a marine ship could come around or anything, really! And here I was, longing for the horizon that calls my name… It felt like ages since I last heard the calling of the sea, that pull in my heart like the tides, that whisper in my ear as the wind passes, beckoning me to take a leap. It made my skin crawl with excitement, it made me want to take to the waves once again…

The call to the sea that all four of us shared – that all four of us share.

Expecting enough time to have passed for me to be in the clear, I peek out of the corner again only to be faced with two people. Reflexively, I punch one in the face and flip the other over my shoulder dropping him straight on the floor before I realize that it’s two guys from Law’s crew, I had seen them before “Oh! I’m sorry!” I quickly say realizing that the red haired one was holding onto his nose, where I had hit him “You really shouldn’t sneak up on people like that…”

The one on the floor grunted “Can’t you scream or something, like a normal girl?”

I shrugged “It’s called a fight or flight reaction; I hope you realize.” He glared at me from the floor “I’m still sorry though.”

“It’s fine…” the red-haired dismissed seeming to have established that I hadn’t broken his nose “Makes us wonder what the captain’s so worried about, you can clearly fend for yourself.”

I frowned “What do you mean, worried?”

The one on the floor got up as he chuckled, rubbing his back “Kicking severed heads around isn’t exactly subtle, you know?”

I rubbed my face in annoyance “Damnit, he saw me, huh?”

The red haired nodded “Oh yeah. Turned to us like, get that damn girl below deck before I have to go deal with her myself!”

I looked over at him with an eyebrow raised “And that’s ‘worried’ to you?”

“It is with the captain.” They both replied in unison and I found myself tilting my head in agreement.

“What are you doing out here anyway?” asked the one with – I had just noticed – a penguin hat on “Aren’t you supposed to be asleep? I don’t know, in bed at least?”

I rolled my eyes “Yeah, like I’m gonna stay in bed while you guys are out here fighting. I don’t think so.”

“Well, you kind of have to now.” The red haired one said “We have orders to take you back and that’s what we’ll do.”

I looked between the two of them, feeling like a scolded child but it’s not like I had a lot of choices “Fine!” I give in, knowing that there was no point in arguing “But just so you guys won’t get yelled at.”

“Very considerate.” Penguin hat guy quickly replied as they escort me back to the door I had very expertly sneaked out of.

I was resigning to having to sit it out, when I see Bepo hit the floor bleeding, two swords coming down on the bear – I’m reacting before I’m thinking – I rush over. I know I’m not strong nor fast enough to stop the marines, but I can cover Bepo.

And that’s what I do.

I throw myself over the injured bear, acting as a shield between him and the blades and I brace myself for the pain to come, but instead, I hear what seems like metal hitting metal. I open my eyes to find out that both boys from before had stopped the swords with their bare hands and proceeded to kicking the marines away. With adrenaline rushing through me like a river after heavy rain, I helped Bepo to his feet and got us back to the same door I was so reluctant to pass through before. He struggled to stop me, he didn’t want to leave the battle, his friends were still fighting but I wasn’t about to even give him a chance to argue.

Yes, I’m the queen of ‘I get to do stupid stuff while injured that I sure as hell won’t let anyone else do.’ Have anything to say? Fight me.

Bepo needed a doctor – Bepo needed Law. But his captain was now stuck fighting a Vice-Admiral and it’s not like there was anyone that could ‘take over’ sort to speak. The only way to get Bepo help was to get Law but the only way to get Law was to get rid of the Vice-Admiral and they were right, it’s not like I was in any condition to get in a real fight, let along one with a Vice-Admiral…

There was, although, something that I could do. I didn’t like using it, aiming was a bitch and I kind of decided that it had been a bad idea to even try it in the first place, but it was also the only technique that I had that I could use right now that could: face up to a Vice-Admiral; be used from a distance; and not tear my body into grated cheese.

I carefully helped Bepo to sit down by the door and turned back to face the fight. Behind me, the sun was starting to break through the darkness of the night and I took a deep breath before I held out my arms in front of me, palms facing each other and I took another deep breath. I felt the air shift around me as I focused it between my hands, with my mind I gave it the shape of a bow and with my right hand, pulled back the non-existing string, forming an arrow of concentrated air in the middle as I did so. I felt the straightened air currents slice through the bandages on my hands and arms, the blood starting to be pulled into the air circuit, tainting it slightly red.

“When Sabo died, we said we wanted to get stronger so we wouldn’t lose anyone else. You took that burned off our shoulders by promising us that you’d never die. We believed you. I believe in you. You live in my heart now, in the memories I have of you, in the letters I write you, hence, I have no choice but to look after myself. I also can’t get stronger if I can’t get better first and I need to get stronger to protect Luffy and all the people I care about. Time to step up. I will come back a better version of me.”

With my thoughts decided and feeling the air settle into shape, I took yet another deep breath “RED GUARDIAN!”

I called out my attack aimed at the Vice-Admiral, my right hand fingers released the tension and between one second and the next, I felt a warm familiar touch over my right hand, but before I could turn around, I saw, to my amazement, that my arrow had caught fire in such a way that it looked like a big red bird.

My own thoughts came back to me “I will come back a better version of me.”

“A phoenix.” I could almost hear Ace’s voice right at my ear…

And then the next second arrived. The fire bird hit its target, sending the Vice-Admiral flying backwards into a wall on the ship in a blaze of fire before he fell face first on the deck of his ship. My jaw was on the floor, had I just done that?

Movement in the corner of my eye makes me turn to see Bepo sitting on the floor, still clearly in pain and the bleeding didn’t seem to have even slowed down “LAW!” I called out to the doctor that quickly ‘shambles’ his way closer to us.

He rushed to his friend’s side and looked him over with truly concerned eyes, examining the damage, gave the two guys from earlier some orders and then called over a very very tall guy “Jean Bart…” he spoke coldly as his eyes scanned the marines still standing “Sink them.” Without another word, Law disappeared into the submarine and Jean Bart went to do what he had been ordered.

Left alone once again, I held my right hand that still felt comfortably warm and remembered the feeling from before. I looked behind me only to be blinded by the rising sun, I couldn’t help but smile with him as a single tear slipped down my cheeks…

[psychedelic-ink]

Memories and newspapers(by lunna-star-8)

I didn’t wake up screaming this time… There were tears spilling from my eyes, remnants of nightmares I was yet to get through, but no screaming. My head was becoming a worse place, my nightmares had gone from losing my brothers over and over to all the things I could’ve done differently to save Ace… Could I have stopped Ace from getting into that much trouble if I had forced him to tell me more in Alabasta? Could we have helped if I had just known…? If I had found out more about Vivre Cards, would knowing something was wrong earlier made a difference? If I made a habit of reading newspapers I would’ve known earlier, would trying earlier have made it easier, would Ace still be alive? If, when Lola told us the meaning of the burning Vivre Card, I had convinced Luffy that we should at least check on our brother, would that have helped? We had our crew then, what in the world could’ve stopped all of us…? If I could’ve held onto Ace’s hand tighter when Akainu opened his filthy mouth, would he have listened if I had begged him to turn away…? If I had gotten stronger by the time of the war could I have defeated Magellan and spared Luffy, getting us to Ace faster? Could I have held Akainu back…? Could I have saved us all if I was stronger, smarter… Better informed…?

I don’t think anyone could ever convince me otherwise.

I turned to the side, expecting to see Luffy but for a split second I saw those three little idiots I remembered so well, standing by my bedside “Luna, Luna, are you ok?! Do you want some meat?” “No, she doesn’t need meat, she needs rest.” “Sabo’s right. And what were you doing facing a tiger that big by yourself, idiot?” “Yeah and don’t you try and act like you weren’t the most worried of the three of us, Ace.” “I—I was not!” “But Ace, you were the first to jump to attack the tiger…” “Shut up, rubber for brains.”

I got up so quickly that some of my wounds flared up, only for the memory to fade with the pain. I rubbed the scar over my left eye where three slashes cut through my eyebrow barely missing my eye. I had wanted to prove I could do it, that I was just as capable of holding my own, that I wasn’t a dead weight… They had never once said anything to make me think those things, but I was the only girl, the one that had a tendency to need protecting, I wanted to prove that I wasn’t weak but I bit off more than I could chew and my brothers ended up needing to rescue me. When I told them why I had faced the tiger all by myself, Ace and Sabo had lost it, asking why I would ever think that I needed to prove myself to them… In the dim light of the infirmary, I chuckled to myself thinking that not much had changed since then, except that I was two brothers short…

I got off the bed and put my sandals on before I walked over to Luffy’s bedside, he was still out for the count, no change. Fortunately, he had calmed down, had his nightmares stopped or had they gotten like mine…? I petted his hair before leaning over to kiss his forehead. Being left in that silence wasn’t good for my head, so I grabbed the black coat I had been using and left the room.

The crew was moving around, which meant that it was day time, but that was about as much as I could tell. I said hellos to faces that I remembered seeing around and ended up finding Ikkaku in what I assumed was the engine room or something “Oh! Look who’s out of bed again!” I pushed a laugh onto my lips at her words.

“Hello Ikkaku!” I waved with a smile. Smiling hurt, smiling hurt a lot but it was easier than being left alone with my thoughts “Please tell me you have something I can keep busy with, my wounds are healing but I might die of boredom.”

She laughed before flipping a wrench expertly between her fingers “If I give you something to do, I’ll be the one dying. Death by Captain.”

I shoved my hands in the coat’s pocket “I’ll inform you that captain grumpy has allowed me to walk around.”

She laughed, most likely at my description of her captain “Since when?”

“Since he had to stitch me back up when I first tried to sneak out.” I replied and she tilted her head like she saw where I was coming from “Now, help me out girl. Give me something to do.”

“I don’t remember saying you could do stuff.” The sudden voice behind me made my tiger ears jump out as I turned to find the dark eyes of the captain of the ship.

“LAW?!” His arms were crossed, like he was waiting for me to elaborate “You said I could move around now…”

He nodded “I remember. But I have no recollection of letting you start doing things, in fact, I’m pretty sure I said just the opposite.”

“Grumpy panda.”

“Scardy cat.”

I took my hand to my chest in the most dramatic fashion I could muster “I’m not! The ears just… Come out by themselves…”

“Oh! I was thinking of how you basically hit the roof when I showed up.” I could almost slap his wiseass smirk off his face.

“I was not scared.”

He shrugged as his smirk only grew wider “You could’ve fooled me.”

I was about to argue back when Ikkaku’s voice made me turn back to her “Did you need anything, Captain?” the mechanic seemed amused with our little arguing.

Law looked over at her, ignoring I was even there “Bepo was looking for you, but you know he doesn’t really like to come down here.”

Ikkaku nodded “I’ll go find him in a minute just need to finish this off first.”

“Sure.” He then looked back at me “You’re coming with me.”

I crossed my arms over my chest again and turned away “What if I don’t want to?”

“Then I’ll drag you and I’m sure I can find a way to keep youin the infirmary this time.” He didn’t even wait, he just started walking away and, after some huffing, I did end up following after him. Damn panda.

It didn’t take me long to realize we were walking back the way I had come from, I was about to open my mouth to say something when he opened the door before and stepped in, leaving the door open for me to follow. It was a medium sized room, just as we walked in it had a desk followed by a shelf packed with books, there was a couch against the back wall and on the other side of the couch, another stack of books packed in another stack of shelves, on the same wall as the door, there was a medical like bed where he probably did examinations, that was his office.

Looking at the wall to my right, with his desk and bookshelf, I realized that it was the wall right up against the infirmary, more specifically, my bed was right against that wall “You spend a lot of time here?”

He placed his long sword by the side of the desk and hooked up his hat on the back of the chair “I guess you could say that.”

I closed the door behind me as I stepped inside “No wonder you heard my nightmares…”

“I’ve told you not to worry about that.” He pulled his chair and sat, leaning his elbow on the desk “You wanted something to do? Pick a book. You’re not leaving my sight until I know that you won’t bleed to death doing push-ups or something.”

I sat on the couch and crossed my legs as I crossed my arms “You can’t watch me all the time.”

“Last time I checked, I’m the captain here.” He pointed out “I can do just about anything I want.”

I had to hand it to him, couldn’t really argue with him there, but I cracked a smile “You know, I figured it out…”

He raised me and eyebrow “Figured what out?”

“It took me a bit amidst all this and stuff…” I opened the jacket a bit as it wasn’t as cold in his office as it was in the halls “But we’ve met before, in Sabaody.”

He nodded “That’s right, you accused me of being scared of fighting some marines.”

“You were suggesting us leaving instead of fighting.” I shrugged.

“You and your brother had just punched a Celestial Dragon in the face.”

I tilted my head “He deserved it.”

“They always deserve it.” He put his right ankle over his left knee and leaned his elbows now on his leg “What did you call Eustass when he said you were just a first mate?”

I looked up, chuckling at the memory “I called him ‘just an underdeveloped bird brain’ and that nobody held that against him.”

“You could’ve just called him stupid, you know?”

I looked back at him and shrugged putting my hands by my side on the couch “And miss out on this cool line just so bird brain could grasp what I was saying? I don’t think so.” I looked around again to find a newspaper sitting right beside me, I’ve never been the kind of girl to grab a newspaper but I was reaching for this one before I thought much about it.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Law’s voice me hesitate “You’re gonna want to stay away from newspapers for a while.”

I only hesitated for a second before I grabbed the paper that was folded in half “Why wouldn’t I—” flipping the newspaper open to look at the front page, my heart stopped – “Gol D. Roger’s bloodline eliminated.” It read in big bold letters right in the front page. My hands started to shake and breathing became hard, I couldn’t even see right, if Law said anything I didn’t hear, all I could hear was the thumping of my heart like damn war drum drowning everything but the bloodlust. I wanted to speak, I wanted to know how long it had been since the war, how long had I been out, I wanted to scream at whomever wrote these damn things, daring to lump Ace with Roger. How dare they?! But I couldn’t breathe let along speak…

My whole body flinched when I felt someone touch my hands, like all my senses returned at the same time. Looking up, it was Law and he quickly raised his hands to me “Are you back?”

I loosened my grip on the paper and looked away as fast as I could “Sorry…”

“You don’t have to apologize.” His voice seemed kinder than usual, like he was expecting me to snap at any moment. I heard the sound of him touching the newspaper and then felt him trying to get me to let go of it “He’s not the son of the king of the pirates, he’s not whitebeard’s second division commander, he’s not fire fist… He’s just your brother.” My fingers slipped from the paper as I bit my lip and covered my eyes with my hand “It’s ok to cry…”

I shook my head feeling my whole-body trembling “I…” my voice cracked and I struggled to keep my tears in “I’ve cried enough…” I swallow my tears and breathe deeply before I pull my hand from my face and force the biggest smile I can onto my lips. I saw his jaw drop slightly as he looked at me, my shoulders dropped “My brothers would be sad if I was crying all the time, like this…” I explained “They never liked to see me crying…”

“I don’t see how a fake smile is any better…” he confessed half avoiding my eyes.

I shrugged slightly “It’s not fake, it’s just hard. Finding smiling hard doesn’t make it fake.”

He sighed standing to his full height, newspaper in his hands “Let’s leave the news for now, yeah? Pick a book, I have no shortage of those.”

“I don’t usually read it anyway…” I admit “Half the time, it’s telling you things you already know and the other half is trying to brainwash you into something. Every word handpicked into a collection of sentences that’s designed specifically to direct your way of thinking. Even the pictures are picked not for the way they show what happened but for the way they frame their narrative.”

“Then why?”

I looked up at him, my fingers fiddling with the stars on my bracelet “I’m the first mate and right now my crew is who knows where… I need to be sure they’re not in some kind of trouble.”

“What if they were? What do you think you could do about that?” he asked still standing in front of me with the paper in his hands.

“I don’t know.” I admitted “But recently, I’ve discovered that I’d rather know and figure it out from there.”

He looked at the paper and turned his back to me “I’ve read this one, nothing about your crew.” He seemed to look down at the paper again before he sighed “But tell you what…” he turned back to me “Have you ever heard of Sora, the Warrior of the Sea?”

I raised him an eyebrow “Should I…? Is he a famous pirate or something?”

If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that his eyes actually sparkled at my ignorance. He showed me the comic strip, allowed me to read it and explained to me what the hell I was reading, how he’d been reading that since he was a kid in the North Blue and how Sora’s the superhero that fights the evil Germa. I had to admit, it was kind of cute to see him geek out about something, despite the smirks and the smart comebacks, he always seemed too uptight, too closed off. This was a nice side of the Surgeon of Death – no, this was a nice side of Law.

Here’s chapter 4 everybody! I’m living for the relationship between Law and luna ! Can’t wait to read more!

[psychedelic-ink]

3 in the morning secrets

Not wanting to get caught out of bed this time, I waited until the submarine quieted down around me with a quick nap. When I woke up, everything seemed silent so I grabbed the same black coat I had used before and made my way to the door, but when I tried to open it, it wouldn’t budge.

“Locked, huh?” I touched the tip of my index finger to the lock and forced my power into the mechanism, moving the pins as I gently moved my wrist up and down keeping my finger on the lock “That’s adorable.” With a swift twist of my wrist, I turned the lock and it opened as if I had the key. I know I wasn’t at my best but the day I couldn’t pick a lock, I might as well hang my pirate heart too.

Still, I needed to know just how badly this ordeal had affected my abilities, my strength, my speed, my agility. Only then could I start to make good on the promise I made to my unconscious brother.

I walked through the empty metal halls, a contrast to the sea of faces I had been met with before and the corridors were a lot darker now too, I assumed it as a way to save energy. It’s not like the darkness affected me, having eaten a Zoan type devil fruit had it’s advantages and seeing in the dark happened to be one of mine and to think that with the slip of fate I could’ve been rubber instead.

Being able to see where I was going, didn’t really mean I knew where I was going. I didn’t get to see a training room in my last visit and it’s not like I knew my way around this submarine yet. I thought I’d stop by the mess hall, hope my stomach wouldn’t realize where I was and then make my way from there. I mean, if I hung around the infirmary like place, I was more likely to get caught.

I’m almost stepping into the mess hall when I hear something – seemingly pots – fall and a familiar voice grumbling at them. I quickly stop and look around the corner, in the kitchen side of the room, stood Law arguing with some pans. He didn’t have his signature hat, so I could see his short dark hair and how it wasn’t groomed at all like he had just gotten out of bed, despite this, he was wearing his yellow and black hoodie and I couldn’t see him from the waist down as he was behind the counter. I chuckled to myself at the sight of him and quickly hid back behind the wall in case he had heard me or something, mentally slapping myself for being so careless.

“Room.” Shit “Shambles.” In a blink of an eye, I was now behind the kitchen counter, looking at the door where I had been not a second ago and heard the soft sound of what I assumed was a wooden spoon falling to the floor in the place where I had been “Do I have to weld the door shut to get you to rest?”

I turned around to be reminded that he was a good twenty centimetres taller than me, but I simply shrugged with the same wiseass smirk I tended to have “You can try, but fair warning, I’m exceptionally good at doing the opposite of what I’m told.”

He rubbed his face with a tired expression “Yeah, I’m starting to get that…” in fact, I noticed that he just seemed generally tired, there were bags under his eyes and his shoulders were slacked like he was carrying the weight of the world on them “What are you doing up at this hour? Can’t you just stay in the infirmary like I tell you and rest?” even his voice sounded tired.

“Can’t vouch for the time, I don’t even know what day it is, let along the time.” I replied, turning to the cabinets to search for snacks “But, if you must know, all I’ve been seeming to do is sleep and cry as you very rudely pointed out yesterday, I was looking for somewhere to practice.”

“You ripped your stiches yesterday over some boxes and now you want to go train with no supervision?” he asked from his same spot behind me “If you’re so intent on killing yourself you should let me know, it’ll save the trouble of patching you up every time.”

“I’m not gonna die.” I snapped back trying to ignore how much I sounded like my oldest brother - I promise I will never die. – he had said…

Law’s eyes turned a bit darker as he fully faced me “Everyone dies.”

“Not me. Not now.” I replied with more conviction than I expected out of myself “Luffy has been through enough. He lost both his brothers, I refuse to have him lose his sister too.” I explained “But I also don’t wanna lose the only brother I have left, the only real family I have left. So I’m gonna get myself back into shape and if that means me and you will argue every time I do so? Then so be it.”

Something in his eyes seemed to change at my words but I couldn’t quite place it “Are you always this stubborn?”

“Oh, you’ve seen nothing yet.” I chuckle turning to the cabinets and finding a pack of rice crackers, I pulled them out and showed it to him asking “May I?”

“Su-IF YOU’RE GONNA ASK FOR PERMISSION, AT LEAST WAIT UNTIL I ANSWER!” I just turned back to close the cabinet door with a cracker already in my mouth “You’re impossible to deal with, you know?”

“Yeah…” he wasn’t the first to say it and I was sure he wouldn’t be the last, still I turned to him and kept munching on my newly found snacks “But going back to sleep isn’t really an option.”

“You’re still having nightmares, huh…?” I basically glared at him, wondering how the hell he could know that “I’m not just the captain, I’m also the ship’s doctor. My office is literally next door to the infirmary.” He explained “You scream when you’re having nightmares.”

I put the packet of rice crackers aside, suddenly losing my appetite and crossing my arms over my chest “Sorry about that…”

“It’s alright, I know what it’s like to have nightmares you wake up screaming from…” he bit his lip like he regretted saying anything. He turned away to grab a pan and some ingredients off the cabinets “You’re hungry right? I was gonna make something anyway, sit.”

I raised him an eyebrow “You’re gonna cook? I thought you said it was late.”

He shrugged “It’s 3 in the morning, it’s actually early. Unless you don’t want to?”

I gave him the nicest smile I could muster “I’ll set the table.”

He gave me a tight smile and turned to his cooking while I turned to the mess hall. I thought there was no point to go all the way out there to eat, there were a couple of shorter counters around the kitchen so I decided to move a couple of chairs there and then set the table. Turning back to the mess hall, I reached out my right hand and focused on one of the chairs closest to the kitchen. “Breathe and focus. If you can lift it with your arms, why not with your mind?” – Sabo had suggested all those years ago, he helped me with the basics when I had no idea where to even start. So I did it, I took a deep breath and carefully pulled the chair from the table. It moved and I turned my palm up making it float off the ground. Using my abilities, even on something so simple as that chair, had my wounds burning to remind me that this wasn’t magic, it depends on my own body strength. I willed the floating chair to come to me and then, using both my hands for stability, I placed it on the floor. I repeated the process with another chair, with the plates from the cabinets and with the cutlery from the drawers.

By the time I finished, I had to sit but I could’ve beamed in celebration. As small of a victory it was, it was still a victory, when I first tried that, Dadan was furious at me for basically breaking all the plates in the house. Mysteriously, the next day they had all been replaced by expensive looking china, to this day I’d bet my life it had been Ace that replaced them for me.

It didn’t take long for Law to finish what he was cooking up and I took him our plates. I had to admit, it looked good and it smelled even better, he sat across from me and we started eating, it was delicious. After the first couple of mouthfuls, I broke the silence “First time I got them, I was about seven.” I sensed his eyes shift to me but I kept mine on my plate “I saw one of my three brothers being killed and after that I’d wake up screaming and crying, sometimes I couldn’t breathe… I’d wake up truly terrified.”

“How did you get over them?”

I chuckled to myself and ate a spoonful of food “I didn’t do anything. I had Ace and Luffy there for me, they helped me get through the nightmares.” I looked back at him “In my opinion, getting through nightmares is a lot better than getting over them.”

I’m not sure what I expected to see, but it was certainly not a sad smile “I used to help my little sister with her nightmares too…”

“You have a sister?” I took another spoonful of food “What’s she like?”

His smile softened as he looked at his plate “She loved festivals.” He scoffed “We had basically a different festival every month in our town and it’s not like they were very different from each other, but every time she’d make a big deal out of it, would basically drag me and our parents out.” He tilted his head, eyes still on his plate “I don’t think we’d have left the hospital half as many times without her.”

“Hospital?”

He glanced up at me “Both my parents were doctors, they liked to stay close to their patients so we basically lived at the hospital.”

“Your sister sounds like a nice girl.” I took another spoonful of food.

Law turned his eyes back to his plate “She was.” The amount of past tenses in his story finally caught up to me “Then a bunch of soldiers killed everyone in town and burned down the hospital she was hiding in.”

My shoulders dropped slightly at his eyes. It was like he was seeing it all over again, living it all over again. All I knew was that I had to snap him out of it, getting sucked into your own personal nightmares wasn’t really fun, especially when they really happened. I reached out for his hand before I even processed what I was doing. Touch always snapped me back to the present and it seemed to do the trick with him too as he pulled away like I had burned him. Unlike what I’d do – turn away and not make eye contact if my life depended on it – his wide eyes quickly met mine and I made sure he could see both my hands “You back?”

He shook his head “Sorry…”

“You don’t have to apologize…”

“No.” he put his spoon down “It’s just…”

I smiled as I noticed him struggling with his own subconscious. It was weird, it reminded me of when my brothers had tried to get me talking about my nightmares “Been fighting your own darkness recently?”

“You could say that…” he raised me an eyebrow as he gestured between me and him “And it’s not like I do this. Ever.”

I raised him an eyebrow “And you think I do? I’ve got a reputation to uphold, mr Surgeon of Death.”

He scoffed “Reputation as what? The craziest cat in the Grand Line?”

“Tiger! I’m a tiger, polar panda!” I argued back, both of us too tired to put up a front.

He rubbed his face “How in the world did you come up with a polar panda?!”

“I told you.” I replied “From your hat!”

“No! But how!? My hat looks nothing like a panda, let alone a polar one.”

“It’s white, it has black spots and it’s fluffy. It’s a polar panda.” I explained like it was perfectly obvious but he just sighed against his hand.

“I haven’t slept enough for this…” strangely though, he started laughing and so did I… It wasn’t full hearted laughs, far from it, it was tired, it was pained and broken… And I certainly was all that at the moment, maybe he was too. But between all the maybes and the bad memories, right now? Right now, we weren’t alone.

The fact that Luna won’t stay in bed is giving me anxiety xD