"What are you doing?" Law questioned, leaning across the rails as he stared down at the lower decks of his submarine where a certain woman sat with her limbs fitted through between the rails to dangle off the sub's edge. She looked like a burrito with the way she had holed herself up in her red scarf. Just how big is that scarf of hers? He blanched. Rike had said she used it as a bed in the past. "I should have known you were here; you're always where there's water."
Silence fell between them when Charlotte didn't respond again and Law felt his lips pull down, unsure what to say next. He wasn't the talkative type and consoling a female was something he hadn't done since Lemi passed on. If it had been one of the guys, then he could tell them to just get over it. But this was Charlotte, and he always needed a different way to deal with Charlotte.
A type of fatigue that was beyond just the physical hanging off her pale features. As if he wouldn't notice the change in her demeanor ever since she met Elora. Charlotte wore her emotions on her sleeve whether she wanted to or not. Her face was a conglomeration of emotions—of disbelief, shock, pain, and guilt. He eyed the hand gripping the two ends of her scarf together in a death grip as if struggling to hold herself together. Really what had happened at that moment when they met?
"You're rather late on the uptake, aren't you, Law? Could have used Kebunshoku Haki." She chided lightly without any real malice and Law felt his lips twitch up at the banter. Perhaps she wasn't as down as he thought if she was still able to make quips at his expense. "Thought you'd realized by now how much I love the waters."
"I hope I don't need to remind you what happens if you were to jump into the water."
"I can swim, you know." She hummed, lips curling slightly at the knowing sigh she got out of the other.
"Not as long as you remain the wielder of the Gisu Gisu no Mi."
"I know..." She muttered, eyelids fluttering again. Her cheek pressed against the pole she was leaning on. She forced her eyes to open, cursing at the fatigue taking possession of her body. Perhaps she should get up and do something to keep her awake, she didn't want to fall asleep now. Maybe she shouldn't have sat down, rested. Now everything was feeling so comforting. "But this is fine too." She managed to say.
Law watched the dark rings visible against her pale skin with a frown. It was expected that she was tired after so many nights without sleep. What's keeping you? What's so urgent? Who is Aceteon that's causing you to do double duty on hunting? Law had thought maybe he was the one with the heart, but her heart was with Elora. "What do you mean?" He questioned, wondering if he'd get a response. The woman looked almost out.
"It isn't exactly the same, but the sub is a close second." She smiled then, eyes falling closed and missing the surprised look on Law's face. He hadn't expected that from someone who used to call the sub a baking oven. "When we're underwater, the sub is swimming along the fish, and I... get to watch." She spent most of her free time next to a porthole fish watching. A habit she was certain the doctor wasn't aware of. Why did he think they got Sea King meat so often since she's joined?
Law stared at the woman incredulously. Leave it to Charlotte to find a different perspective than normal. Fish watching was the last thing on his mind when he decided to sail in the element of his weakness. He done it mostly because it would be a good way to stay hidden. After all, what insane person would sail underneath the water's surface, especially a Devil Fruit user?
The drop of her head pulled her back to consciousness. "Hey," she probed at him suddenly. A shift in her voice that didn't go unnoticed by the doctor. "Tell me about your mom." Her gaze focused on the reflection in the water, visible only to her. A face that wasn't hers stared back at her.
Law blinked at the sudden question. The first thought that came to mind was why, yet the words that left his mouth were much different. "She was a kind and caring doctor who passed in the line of duty." Law wondered if she caught on to the slight white lie in the end. She was killed, mistaken to be passing on the "contagious" disease known as Amber Lead, after choosing to stay to try to save more lives.
"My mother too. She died when I was six." Charlotte confessed after a moment's pause. He wasn't particularly surprised by that, but he hadn't expected it either. He waited for her to share more on how or why she passed. She didn't.
"My father too." Law added after a moment, filling in the empty space with unasked news. He wondered if Charlotte would have picked up on the fact that he was from a family of doctors. He turned to her, and swallowed the words that he was about to say out loud. What about yours? The question was not unusual, yet as he turned towards the brazen and reckless woman, the question felt strange.
Even if Law hadn't asked, she could feel the question with how the topic just ended. A father? Who's my father, Mom? Charlotte stared silently at the face looking back at her, waiting as if imploring her to answer on their behalf. The reflection's expression still one that Charlotte couldn't quite read. Charlotte shrugged after a while, allowing her head to lean against the cool metal rail again.
"Do you think we could have been normal if they hadn't died? I wonder if we'd be like Elora and Ignacio, married with children. Maybe not with children that old yet." She chuckled lightly, wondering what kind of life her mother had wanted for her. She knew probably not one with hands as stained as hers. Her mother would be disappointed in her.
Law said nothing about the self-depreciating laugh. "Who knows." He answered honestly after a while. His mind traveling back to earlier that night where they fed the twins. When they played house as if they were normal civilians. "It's hard to say, but I know one thing for sure." She turned towards him, and Law realized then she was genuinely curious. His lips curled into a wicked smile. "Life would be much more boring than it is now."
She blinked at the crazed statement and the even crazier look in his eyes and laughed. "Your insane. You know that!" A rare smile graced his face as he watched the colour refilling her features. He smiled back.
"Says the one who loses displaced body pieces like forgotten change." The amount of time Charlotte continued like normal after being diced up was too many to count. Still eerie each time. Just like how he'd assume how jarring being diced would be. Shachi and Penguin still freaked out after all these years.
Her lips twisted higher, and she pulled herself onto her feet and turned to face him directly, much more awake now. "Why fear when there's no pain or lasting damage?" She pressed her face close to his, grin ever widening. A dare—a challenge to deny. "You'll put me back together, won't you, Doctor?"
Law matched the grin. Taking up the challenge with a step forward until he has her trapped between his arms and the rail keeping her from falling into the cursed water below. Elora's warning echoed in his head. That woman—she knows neither friend nor foe. Only survival. My advice is to stay away. Stay far, far away. "That's one tall expectation from the one who did the cutting." His ability activated and a small blue dome surrounded the two of them. "And what if I don't feel like putting you back together?"
She hummed lightly, calm despite the threat that hung in the air and the slight crackles of his Room around her. She gave him a closed-eyed smile. One that surprised the doctor. It was so pure. Honest. Trusting. "But you do. Every time."
A low chuckle escaped his lips with a sigh, and Charlotte's eyes fluttered opened, curious. Charlotte jolted when a forehead pressed against hers setting her skin alight. Law sighed and his warm breath fanned across her face. Their proximity, or lack thereof, suddenly registering with the huntress. She could feel the fuzziness of his hat pressed awkwardly against her head. The cold of the bar biting into her back. His tattooed arms on either side of her, blocking off any escape routes. She was trapped. And their proximity waws practically nil. Her body tingled with warmth still. Longer than the usual copy time. She swallowed thickly, nerves jumpy all the sudden, and she adjusted her grip against the railing behind her to steady herself.
Law exhaled against her, mind drawing back to a conversation he had back in Paradise. "Before you go to her. I have a question for you: why are you so keen on Charlotte?" Shakky's question shouldn't have shaken him. It was an expected and understandable question for someone who loosely cared for Charlotte like her own daughter. Yet it caught him off guard.
Why is he?
Charlotte wetted her lips slowly, trying to find her voice again. "L-Law?" She muttered meekly, drawing Law back to the present.
Law froze when his vision refocused before him. Breath caught in his throat and thought lost somewhere. He swore silently at the sight before him. Wide eyes held his gaze for a moment before darting away. The pink dusting on her cheeks turning a shade deeper. He pushed against her, expecting her gaze to shift to the cautiousness and bite that kept him at a healthy distance away, whenever he teetered too far past the line he had drawn and toed with.
It didn't. The same honest and true eyes peered back at him, waiting, trusting.
And she was right. One of his hands has ghosted over the small of her back, ready to catch her should she lose balance in this awkward teetering he forced her into. His gaze dropped to her slightly parted lips. Ever so tempting. "Law?" She tried again. Her warmth breath ghosting over his own and he fought the urge to close the distance.
Law inhaled sharply, carefully, dialing back. His hands gripping the rail on either side of her, tightly. Arms fully extended and flexed, forcing himself still. What was I about to do?
"It's the Captain's job to take on the worries of his crew." He started slowly at first and then with more vigor as he grounded himself. He pulled the scarf higher on her shoulders, covering the scar there. He remembered the weight in her eyes laced with bitter tears in her death match with Joval. How many did she say she's murdered? Law knew better than to heed Elora's words. He didn't need to her ability to read something so obvious off a woman who wears her heart on her sleeve.
She knew only of survival because that was what the environment forced upon her. How many has she killed while tear-stained and chanting apologizes? She didn't have the luxury of making friends when she didn't even know she'd live for another day. Law jerked to a stop. The realization was so jarring but too blatantly clear for him to have not thought of it earlier. What if she did make a friend? Or multiple? It was hard to believe that she had zero friends in her life before them. Would she be pitted against them in a subsequent round? Did she have to kill the ones she called friends? Law gritted his teeth at the likely answer. "My mother died when I was six."
Did she have to kill her other mother?
Charlotte flinched when Law grabbed her arms suddenly. The grey eyes boring into hers turned steely and before she could speak, Law did.
"What's troubling you?" Rely on me. Why are you sitting here alone, wearing such a sad expression? He watched as the colour in her eyes dull. The curve of her lips falling, returning to that lonely look he caught her with when he found her. And the corners of his lips dragged down.
"Nothing's troubling me..." She muttered, turning away.
"I thought you don't lie. You hated being represented wrongly so much on Kukonda, you hunted down the actual criminal just to clear the misunderstanding." Law pressed on, pulling her back. He wasn't going to let her walk away. To disappear. To go back to being alone. Grey eyes widened at the emotions in her eyes. They trembled slightly and his grip loosened. "Are you crying?"
Charlotte panicked, shoving her palms towards the doctor's chest. "Am not!" She denied, cursing when her voice sounded too thick. Too choked. She pulled an arm back, trying to cover her face and wet eyes. She angled her head up higher, trying to force the tears to go back. Why? Why did Law have to ask? To offer her sanctuary when she was already struggling so hard to keep it together. Just like that time with Joval, and even now! Why did he—
A hand wrapped around the back of her head, pulling her forward into a hard chest. Shadow covered the visible world and hid her and her expression from view. She felt Law's chest tremble as he sighed loudly. "The water's so beautiful tonight. There's even a full moon." Law said as if he was the only one on board. As if he was just here to watch the sea.
Charlotte bit her trembling lips and the water bubbled fatter around her eyes. She stared hard at the ground before her. Their two pairs of feet telling her otherwise. That he wasn't alone. That she wasn't alone. Her hands fisted the fabric of his shirt. Stupid Law. Stupid sanctuary! The tears grew heavy before they fell. His arm tightened around her shoulders as they shook.
Stupid! The grip against his shirt softened. Why did it have to be so warm here?
"...What are you going to do once you get your heart again?" Law asked gingerly after Charlotte calmed down. His gaze still focused on the sea before her.
They haven't explicitly talked about it ever since they started their little race together. Part of him wanted to believe that Charlotte had grown to like being part of his crew, but the logical part of him was constantly reminding him that the only reason why she was a part of his crew was because he had her heart hostage. She was made clear a few weeks after she joined his crew.
"Why haven't you returned to me my heart?" Charlotte questioned one day. "It can't possibly be part of the job description. Penguin said that you have anyone else's. Rike confirmed it too."
Law slowed his ministrations. "... you know exactly why." He responded nonchalantly, not even bothering to glance up from his work.
"Ha..." Charlotte laughed bitterly, mockingly. She should have known better. He wasn't going to get her heart back. "It appears that I won't be getting that back for a while then." She should be insulting him, calling him terrible names and what not, but instead, the huntress found herself smirking and mentally complimenting the doctor for his foresight. "Then I'd advise you hold onto that heart well, else who knows where I'll be as soon as you lose it.
In all honesty, Charlotte wasn't so sure what she was going to do. The original plan was to take her heart back, run and hunt from afar. And she really should if what Madam Shyarly showed her was true. She sighed internally. She really should have taken it back sooner. Then she wouldn't have gotten so close to the Heart Pirates, wouldn't have realized how much more fun it was being with them than her boring single life of chasing prey.
If she went back to her lonely life, would she miss this? Miss the Heart Pirates?
Miss the sub and swimming with the fishes?
Miss Law?
Charlotte's brows knitted together. Law was a part of the Heart Pirates, so why did I think of him twice? And worse, why wasn't she able to immediately tell if life without Law would be positive or negative? With everything else, she had a clear answer, but when it came to Law, she hesitated and drew back all together. The question remained unanswered. Then a second thought filled her like poison injected through a needle: when was the last time I truly went for Law's head?
"What are you doing? Shouldn't you be using this time to get ahead? It is a race." She pivoted instead, forcing the thought and Baako's very true warning from mind. They both knew where her heart was now. The Undead Forest and despite Elora's cautions, they both knew they'd be entering it soon enough.
"I could say the same for you. I thought you would have gone to the Undead Forest first."
They were both notorious in their own criminalistic fields: Law was one of the rookies in the Worst Generation and Charlotte one of the fastest hunters. Not to mention, like Zoro, she was making a name for herself in piracy now too. A feat that Law wasn't surprised about given her abilities. She was proficient at her job as a hunter. The ground she can cover in a mere day was outstanding; they've seen it firsthand at Fishman Island when she tracked them down in less than a day, and then now again with her heart. It made him almost question how she hadn't found her heart on their tiny sub yet despite all the time aboard. Almost, if the answer wasn't as clear as day—she wasn't looking for it.
Which only added to the question of why?
And then poisonous thought that perhaps, maybe, she had enjoyed her time with them. With him.
Charlotte inhaled deeply, drawing the silence on as long as she could. Her eyes darted towards the additional face reflected in the waters, sitting together next to her. "Today, I'll take a break." She turned to face the waters as she spoke. She was glad when Law kept his gaze forward. She was certain her eyes were puffy, and her face stained. "I'll be back to normal tomorrow, so take advantage. It won't be like last time when you got yourself free."
"Oh, are you saying I need a handicap?" He really should be taking advantage of it. If he wanted to win against her in her field of expertise, he needed to stop being second to the findings she already had.
The question surprised the huntress. She wasn't sure what she expected, silence maybe. Or maybe for him to take the offer and head off. Questions too. Just not this one. As odd as it was, Charlotte found herself appreciating it. She wiped the edge of her eyes with her hands, lips forcing their way up rather than down. When she placed her hand back on the deck to lean back onto, her pinky brushed against Law's just slightly. And warmth soared through her. "I caught you, didn't I?"
"And I escaped."
"You were lucky." She corrected and Law's gaze flickered to the top of her head, slightly offended. "If I had known you were going to escape, I would have done something more drastic."
"Drastic?" Law couldn't help but be curious. This was the first time that he had heard Charlotte's inner thoughts about her one and only failed hunt.
"I don't know." She shrugged. "Probably break your knees or something so you couldn't walk away."
Law smirked, amused. "You forget, I'm a doctor. I can easily fix that."
"True, but with seastone cuffs and no arms. I'd say that'll be challenging even for you."
"Looping my arms off now too? Would you get a good price for just a torso?" If he remembered correctly, bounty hunter's payouts are lowered if their prey is killed versus handed in alive.
Charlotte chuckled. "Probably not. But then again, it's not always about the money." She admitted and Law found himself smirking wilder at that. The morbidity of their conversation not affecting either of them at all. They were definitely anything but normal. "I would have thought of something else. I tend to have better ideas during than after."
Law lifted his gaze from the back of Charlotte's head, following her gaze tied to the waters. There wasn't anything there. "Like leaving your heart on the sub rather than taking it before it was stolen from you again?" He kept his eyes focused forward, refusing to meet Charlotte's sharp turn and questioning eyes. He was digging his own grave now. And he knew it. "You weren't this active in searching for your heart back when it was still on the sub. If you had, you would find it within the first five hours on board."
Because there weren't any pressing dangers. The response came to mind so quick it startled even the huntress. Charlotte drew her scarf tighter around her, hoping that the motion only came off as the night was chilly. Not that she was scared or worried. Gnawing at the inside of her cheek, Charlotte debated on letting those words slip through. Just like how she had demanded to know more about Law's plan related to Doflamingo and SMILEs and the dangers it brings to everyone, they deserve to know the dangers coming their way. Who they should be careful of from her past.
He's looking for you. Baako's warning played in her mind. Her lips quivered, shifting from open to close as she tried to figure out what to say back. The reason was obvious. There was a big difference between where her heart is and where it was. And who it was susceptible to. "There was no rush. It wasn't like my heart was moving or in a constant environment where it wouldn't be safe."
So, she does know the dangers of having her heart not with her. Law doubted it every time she ran headfirst into trouble. He thought she believed that she was invincible now that her heart wasn't attached to her. He snapped his gaze towards her at the implied meaning in her message. You felt it was safe on the ship with me?
Charlotte worried her lips and her grip tightened against her scarf. She couldn't do it. She couldn't bear to say his name.
To admit to herself that he was close.