Dark Ties: A One Piece Romance (Law x Reader)

Chapter 10: Clueless

Underneath the depths, the Polar Tang moved steadily through the sea. The halls were quiet as there was nothing to do until they reached their destination tomorrow, and the crew took advantage of their free time.

Their captain did the same. He lay on the bed reading some old comics he had stored away for a rainy day. It was a guilty pleasure. He thought it was the perfect thing to help him take his mind off of what happened a few days prior.

Eventually, he reached the last page and closed the book. It was always a bittersweet feeling when you reach the end of a story. He rolled a tired head over to see the time. It was almost midnight. It was time to try and sleep.

Several minutes went by, and he still couldn't get comfortable. He tossed and turned, but he just couldn't get his buzzing head to shut off. How annoying, guess the comics didn't help much.

*Knock knock* "Captain? You awake?" Bepo's voice spoke from behind the door.

"Come in, Bepo."

The bear shyly opened the door with a troubled look on his face as Law rolled out of bed. "Um...so, I was in the library, and uh, I just wanted to know...um..." he twiddled his paws.

"Spit it out, what's wrong?"

"Well, I found this on the floor...I wasn't sure if you wanted it." In his paw, he held up Ash's painting of Swallow Island. "I think she might've left this behind for you."

"Why would I want that?" Law spoke in a groggy voice. "You can toss it for all I care."

Ash had not mentioned what happened between her and Law. She simply said it went fine, but her tone made Bepo wonder; not to mention Law's odd behavior the past few days. "You sure...? I don't think this is something to be thrown away-"

"Just get rid of it already!" Law snapped, startling the poor bear. He might be his captain, but they are also supposed to be best friends. Bepo did not want to endure this anymore.

"Alright, what's wrong? You've been acting weird since Ash left. What happened?" Bepo questioned with a serious face.

"Nothing is wrong, quit your worrying. You should be getting some rest before tomorrow." Law lay back in bed and hid his face under his hat.

"I don't believe you one bit!" Bepo raised his voice, demanding his friend's attention. "I'm not going to stand for you being mean to me, as a friend and as my captain! Now tell me!"

Law blinked at Bepo with shock. He wasn't normally this confident.

Bepo seemed to realize this too, and quickly changed his attitude back to normal and looked down at the floor. "I-I'm sorry."

"...She was sneaking through my room like some thief, invading my privacy." He finally spoke up through his hat.

"I was the one who sent her up here. If you should be upset with anyone then be upset with me, not Ash. She was looking for her journal and I told her you might have it."

The captain scoffed. "She still came in here without permission which I do not appreciate after helping her."

"Come on, Captain. You're more mature than that." Bepo looked at him with confusion. "That's not something you would be upset about for this long." His restless friend didn't respond right away, so the bear came closer still holding the old painting. "You know..." Bepo stared at the image with soft button eyes. "I really like this painting. It's where we first met, remember? It's a really happy memory for me."

"I remember." The captain peeked out from his hat still speaking monotone.

"It makes me sad to see you hate such a place. The Heart Pirates wouldn't have come together if it never happened, y'know? Penguin and Shachi were beating me up, remember? And you came out of nowhere to save me. It was pretty cool. That was the kind of person I wanted to follow. You've always been the kind of guy to always help someone who's in trouble. I respect you a lot for it." Bepo began to sniffle a bit from the happy flashbacks.