Steal My Heart and Leave Me Breathless =Trafalgar Law=

)( Chapter Twelve )(

"Felicity, you need to run." Her father's warm comforting voice cooed softly as he armed himself with a sword.

                "Mommy?!" The young child cried as she hid behind her father's legs looking out at the burning barn ahead as a slew of armor clad men stalked toward them. "Where's mommy?" Young Felicity cried.

                "Run!"

                "I don't want to leave you." Tears streamed down her cherubic cheeks, "Daddy, please."

                "Felicity, mommy and daddy love you very much, we want you to survive, no matter what. Run!" Her father kissed the top of her head affectionately before roughly shoving her toward the door.

                "Come with me." The child sobbed.

                "GO!" Her father never raised his voice.

                Tears streamed down her cheeks and she turned and bolted through their quaint farmhouse and scrambled down the stairs to the cellar. Her father had built an underground tunnel system. It scared her to death being underground encased in darkness. She'd never go in there alone, but she had no choice.

                The screams and shouts of an ensuing battle thundered above as she raced down the dark passageway. Her little legs carried her as fast as they could, running blindly in the pitch black tunnel. Unfamiliar cries echoed behind her and she could barely make out the glare of torchlight in the distance. They were closing in on her! Her father had fallen!

                The smell of mildew alerted her to the trap laid ahead that her father had set and she quickly dropped to her stomach and rolled through a small gap in the wall just barely big enough for an adult to shimmy through but she slid through with ease. She crawled on her belly a little ways ahead until she felt the ceiling open up again, she was in a new passageway. Her father had planned for an attack long ago. At the end of the first tunnel was a cavern filled with a toxic mold, its spores instantly invaded ones pulmonary system and attached themselves to their victim's lungs. It was a slow agonizing death, but once the spores latched, death was imminent.

                She sprinted in the darkness cringing slightly as a glare of light beamed up ahead. The opening! She was almost there. A shadow fell over the opening as she drew nearer and she paused as fear gripped her little heart. Someone had discovered the hidden passageway!

                "It's alright, mei-chan. Oji-san is here." The dark figure cooed softly. An ominous feeling washed over the young girl and she took a faltering step back. Her uncle was a King and hadn't spoken to her father in years.

                "Where's my daddy?" She demanded with a sniffle.

                "I'm sorry." The shadowed figure lowered their head and little Felicity felt her heart crumble.

                "And mommy?" She cried silently.

                The shadowed figure shook their head and the small girl slipped to her knees as her heart shattered. Her worst fears had turned to reality. Her parents were gone.

                Law jumped as he heard the rustling of fabric and bolted out of the uncomfortable straight backed chair at his desk in the sickbay. He looked to the sleeping fairy princess as she began to stir. Her fever broke in the middle of the night and she'd fallen into a deep sleep.

                "Miss Princess?" He asked softly as he made his way to her bedside.

                The girl whimpered softly in her sleep, "Mommy, Daddy, don't go. I need you." She cried.

                Law watched in awe as a single crystalline tear slid down her pale cheek. She was crying in her sleep, "Felicity." He breathed her name softly once he was sure no one else was around. He placed his hand in her small frail one and gave it a gentle squeeze, "Wake up."

                Her breathtaking aquamarine eyes fluttered open and he held his breath as he saw a deep heartbreaking sorrow revealed within. "Law?" She croaked uneasily and attempted to sit up.

                "Stay down." He sighed as he placed a hand on her shoulder holding her in place, "You're still not well."

                "What happened? Where am I-?" She asked only to be cut off as he placed a finger to her lips.

                "Just do as you're told and rest quietly." Law scolded her.

                Felicity nodded feebly and settled back down into the comfortable bed.

                Law wanted to kick himself as he saw another wave of sorrow wash over her breathtaking orbs. It was his fault she'd fallen ill. Had he not been so rough on her in his attempt to make her hate him, she'd never have injured her knee and it wouldn't have gotten infected and threatened her fragile existence.

                "You had a severe infection." Law said sternly.

                "I'm sorry." The timid girl bowed her head.

                Law glared at her, "It's not your fault, it's mine!" He snapped at her before mentally scolding himself for lashing out at her.

                "It's okay." She said softly.

                "It's not okay!" Law clenched his fists at his sides, "Why the hell won't you just hate me and make things easier?!" He growled.

                "Why would I hate you?" Felicity asked him curiously.

                "Why wouldn't you? What have I done that's been nice to you in anyway?" He shot at her angrily.

                "You didn't let me die. You could have." Felicity breathed.

                "What use would you be to me dead?" Law retorted coolly.

                "Before you knew that, you carried me when I hurt my ankle." Felicity noted.

                Law glared at her, "You're such a simple minded fool."

                "Why do you want me to hate you?" Felicity asked softly catching him off guard.

                "Hime-chan!" A cry from the doorway startled the pair and Law mentally scolded himself for dropping his guard, he was too relaxed around the fairy like girl. She muddled his mind and dulled his senses and it could prove to be detrimental to not only his safety, but the safety of his crew. He removed himself from her bedside and returned to his desk as the crew swarmed in to see the recovered girl.

                His steel gaze lingered to the vial she'd been wearing around her neck as his mind wandered to the reason she was carrying such a deadly poison on her person. Was she planning to use it against him or the crew? It didn't seem like her. The more he got to know her the more demure and harmless he found her, though she did have a certain self-sacrificing air about her. Perhaps she intended to poison herself. Why?

                He chanced a glance in the girl's direction and felt his heart stutter in his chest as she offered the crew a radiant smile. Somehow she'd ensnared them all.