Entering his submarine, he heard a faint giggle further inside. It sounded an awful lot like the voice of that little girl, Penguin and Shachi had with them yesterday. Hoping he misheard, he went for his quarters.
Unfortunately, he heard the girl giggling again, a lot more clearly this time, as he passed the infirmary. Stopping, he thought to himself. "Oh please don't."
He opened the doors to the infirmary, hoping he was having a nightmare. The brunette toddler from yesterday giggled as she happily unpacked every single box of medicine she could reach.
"You little...", he spoke in a very angry voice, not finding the right word for it. Shit. Monster. Devil. None of those words were fitting. This little thing, that had yet to notice him, was far worse than those. The only fitting description he could think of was a name he did not want to utter.
Containing his anger, he stepped towards the girl. As furious as he was, he would not lash out at a toddler. The girl finally took notice of him, but despite his intense glaring at the child, she smiled at him happily. Irritated by that even more, he simply grabbed her by the back of her dress.
The girl started flailing around, as he went for the submarine's entrance, before finally starting to cry. Too loud for his liking. Reaching the entrance, he sat her down outside and closed the door behind him. He remained behind it for a few seconds, taking a deep breath. That's why he hated children. They were always making a mess of everything. He decidedly ignored her crying in front of the door, as he walked back to the infirmary, knowing his next task to be very tiring.
It didn't take long before a knocking on the door made him stop in his tracks. He pondered just ignoring it, but the knocking didn't stop. Whoever was at the door, would not simply leave. Thus, Law reluctantly turned around, gritting his teeth in anger.
He threw open the door, surprising the man now standing in front of him. Law had seen this man somewhere before. He guessed it was the captain of the neighboring ship, merchants, if he remembered correctly. "What do you want?", he asked, not hiding his discontent.
"Uhm, I came because of the girl...", the merchant started nervously. It pleased Law to see the man intimidated by him, but his mood was too bad for this tiny bit of delight to change it. The smirk, that would usually appear on his face, was nowhere to be seen.
"She doesn't belong here.", he responded, hoping the man would understand. But before the merchant could reply anything, Law felt something hugging his leg. He looked down, just to see the toddler girl smiling again, while clinging onto him.
"Well, she seems to have taken a liking to you.", Law's eyebrow twitched in anger. He could hear confusion out of the merchants voice, as he did not understand the girl. Neither did the surgeon of death. How was she not scared of him, glaring at her like he did?
"Well, uhm, good luck.", the merchant scurried away. Law stood in the door, not knowing what to do with the girl. He would have liked to just kick her off his submarine or simply kill her, like the merchant that made him open the door, but still, he would not lash out at a toddler. That was not his niveau, he told himself.
Deciding she would finally let go if he started walking, he made his way back to the infirmary. But the girl was smarter than he had thought. She clinged harder onto his leg and pulled herself closer, managing to sit down on top of his foot. Reaching the infirmary, he was at a loss. He feared strangling her once his hands reached her, so he just left her clinging onto his leg. Once he stepped inside the infirmary, an idea struck him. He grabbed the receiver of the radio and called for his first mate. His first thought was he might be able to scare her away, but knowing Bepo liked taking care of children, he probably wouldn't do that. Silently, he waited for his salvation to come.
Mary had a lot of fun. Being carried around by clinging onto another's leg was not very comfortable, but funny nevertheless. This man she was clinging onto was scary. Very scary. But also very smart. She had no idea how he knew what mommy had told her. And she wanted to know how he got so smart, so she could become just as smart. Therefore she had to be brave. Just smile his anger away, she thought. That always worked with daddy.
After the scary man talked into a strange thing, he sat down on a chair. With the man not doing anything, it was getting boring to just sit on his foot. But once the man started bouncing his leg, Mary sat on, her boredom flew away. This was fun! She soon started to giggle around, upon which the man stopped instantly. She looked up at him in disappointment. That was just like her dad playing bumpety bump, rider with her.
Not long after, the doors opened. Mary looked around. A giant teddybear! Screaming happily, she ran towards it. She could feel his fur to be very fluffly through his clothing, though she wished he wouldn't wear anything.
"You called for me, captain?", Bepo asked. As soon as he stepped through the door, the toddler let go of the captain's leg and ran towards the bear. He could clearly see his relief.
"A giant teddybear!", she shouted. "I am a polar bear!", Bepo responded, feeling a bit offended.
"Just like Polar Tang.", the girl noticed. The two pirates looked at her surprised. "How do you know the submarine's name?", Bepo asked.
"Penguin Guy and Sunglasses Guy told me.", she replied. "You're a bear, you cannot be a bad man, so it's fine talking to you.", the girl added, upon which Bepo had to smile a little. He could see his captain thinking her conclusion to be stupid. It was easy for Bepo reading his captain, as he had spent years at his side. Besides, human smell gave away a lot about their feelings.
Upon seeing the mess in the infirmary, Bepo assumed the girl responsible, his captain only nodded.
"I could help you sort them.", Bepo offered, but Law shook his head.
"Just get her out of here.", he glared at the little girl. Bepo couldn't understand his discontent. Sure, she had made a mess, but didn't every child do that? She was so sweet. He had lifted her up and she cuddled with his soft fur, scratching him softly. She probably did it unconciously, but she did it nevertheless. There were far too few people scratching him softly like this on the submarine, he thought.
The captain noticed Bepo's delight, as the bear closed his eyes and smiled a content smile. He knew Bepo loved to take care of children. The sight of his first mate this happy, lifted some of his bad mood. Though once he looked back at the mess the toddler had made, anger boiled up inside him again.
Bepo left the infirmary with the girl on his arm. "Shall I show you around the ship?", he asked. "Yeah!", she shouted happily. While he showed her around, she told him about her adventure the previous day. Bepo introduced her to the crew they came across. Entering the mess deck, Bepo could smell Jack already preparing lunch.
"Ah I was here too.", she said, "I found an apple but couldn't finish because Penguin Guy and Sunglasses Guy found me. I failed my mission to stay unnoticed." The girl seemed down. In a try to lighten up her mood, Bepo went to the kitchen. "You should meet our cook, he is an extremely nice person."
"Panda Guy!", the girl shouted as she saw Jack. "This is Jack, our cook.", Bepo introduced the man wearing a panda mask.
"Hello little girl.", his smile could not be seen through his mask, but his soft tone still gave it away. "What's your name?", he asked her.
Having so much fun and feeling completely safe in the polar bear's arms, the girl forgot about her promise to not talk to strangers. "Mary.", she declared happily.
"What a nice name you have.", Jack complimented her. Mary thanked him, grinning from one ear to the other. "I like your head.", she said, wanting to return a compliment.
"Uh... Thanks. I guess?", Jack was not sure what to think about it, but Bepo assured him, she had meant that as a sincere compliment. "Of course!", she commented, slightly offended they didn't believe her.
Continuing the tour around the submarine, they reached the bridge Jean Bart was keeping watch on. Mary pressed herself against Bepo, a little afraid of Jean Bart's height.
"Don't worry, Jean Bart is not as scary as he looks.", the man in question only nodded to her as a greeting. "You don't talk much, do you?", she asked him. He nodded again.
"That's alright. I think you're a nice giant.", she said wholeheartedly. Jean Bart just nodded again, but Bepo could smell he was happy about her words.
"You know, actual giants are a lot taller.", he explained, as he walked out the door.
The tour through Polar Tang was fun, but Mary missed two men.
"Where are Penguin Guy and Sunglasses Guy?", she asked the bear.
"Penguin and Shachi are in the city.", he told her.
"I think we saw every place there is to see around the submarine. Where do you wanna go next?", the bear asked Mary.
"Hmmmm. To the scary guy!", she declared. Raising her hand and pointing a finger into the direction she tought was the right one.
"I'm afraid he doesn't want to see you, Mary.", Bepo told her in a soft voice. But Mary was determined to know where the scary guy got all his knowledge from. Remembering yesterdays events, she didn't want Bepo to take too long understanding her intention. So she explained.
The bear sighed, before saying: "Alright, but don't be dissappointed if he only glares at us.". Mary nodded in understanding.
Bepo knew he was doing something that would not please his captain. It wasn't against his order, as he did take her away. And Bepo thought Mary's intention was rather cute, maybe he could finally show his captain that children were something to be happy about. He would like to see his captain smile more.
Law had just finished sorting the medicine back into the packages again, as the doors to the infirmary opened. He froze, seeing the little toddler again.
"I told you to take her away.", he said in an angry voice. "I did. Now we're back.", his first mate responded. Law thought he couldn't get any more furious than he was at the toddler, but he was wrong. He didn't understand Bepo's rebellious actions. Glaring at both of them, he never thought his best friend would someday make it so hard for him to contain his anger.
"Why have you returned?", he finally asked. Bepo must have had his reason. He wouldn't risk angering Law just for fun.
"Mary wants to learn how you got so smart.", he answered, smiling at his captain. Law's eyebrow twitched in irritation for the second time that day. He brought her back for this stupid reason? Seriously? Law never had any thoughts about hurting his best friend, as he never did anything stupid for no reason. But this, this just fueled his bloodlust. He really felt the need to kill someone slowly.
"Continue this stupid game of yours and I won't hold myself back anymore. Now get her offboard.", the captain declared in a low voice, right into his first mate's ear, as he left the infirmary.
It irritated the surgeon of death that he held back this much to discipline his first mate. It wasn't the toddler being present, that much he knew. He couldn't care less if he traumatized that girl or not.
"Sorry. You got scolded because of me.", she timidly admitted.
"No. It wasn't your fault. I decided to take you back to the captain on my own.", he smiled, to her surprise. "But I guess you should return home for the day.", Mary nodded.
She was fine with that. She had had fun today as well. And lunch was about to be ready at home. She was hungry. Bepo carried her down to the harbor.
"I'll get back on my own.", she said, prompting the bear to let her down. He gave her a worried look. But she smiled at him, "Don't worry. The only bad person here is still inside Polar Tang. You know, the one with that fluffy hat.", she said. Bepo had to smile, but also correct her.
"Captain isn't that bad actually. He cares for us and protects us. He just can't handle children very well.", the bear claimed, smiling.
Being a child herself, she could see that. The glares that man send her made her shiver. She thought she would not talk to that stranger anymore, because she was sure he was a bad person. But she also believed Bepo's words to be sincere. Maybe she'd try talking to him again.
Having eaten lunch at home. Mary thought about what she could do. The only thing she could think of was the yellow fish, Polar Tang. But the scary man didn't want her there. Maybe Penguin Guy and Sunglassses Guy had returned from the city. And there is everyone else welcoming her. She just had to avoid the scary man, she thought.
Confident she'd be able to do that, Mary jumped off her bed and went towards the harbor again. The big yellow fish in sight, she was delighted to see the door still open. Mary greeted the still smiling fish upon entering. "Hello Polar Tang. I'm back.", she smiled to herself. Being the good girl she was, the fish would not eat her today either.
Following the smell to the mess deck, Panda Jack, as she called him, was the first person she met. "I had rice with chicken for lunch. What did you have?", she asked curiously.
"Oh, Mary. You're back. We had a soup with noodles today. Was the chicken delicious?", the cook asked back, while he cleaned the dishes. Mary nodded in response.
"Mommy's food is always yummy.", she claimed. The young cook had to smile. He was a tad worried about the child wandering around on her own, but he couldn't do anything about it really. Seeing the toddler's expectant face, he asked if she wanted to help him clean the dishes. But Mary shook her head. Cleaning the dishes was boring. She'd much rather find Bepo again. "If you're looking for Bepo, he should be on the bridge. Could you deliver a message to him for me?", Panda Jack asked. This Mary could do.
"I prepared an extra fish for him. He likes them a lot, being a polar bear. So I sometimes prepare an extra one for him.", the cook explained. "We have a lot of fishes too! My dad catches them.", Mary proudly said. The friendly cook asked if she still remembered the way, to which Mary nodded. "I just need to avoid the scary man.", she said.
"What scary man?", Panda Jack asked.
"The one with the fluffy hat.", she described him.
"Ah you mean captain? Just make sure you turn right at the second corner and he won't catch you.", Panda Jack assured her, finding some amusement in her way of describing his respectable captain. "The one with the fluffy hat.", he repeated her words in his mind. Mary nodded. She didn't yet know left and right, but she was smart, so she nodded in understanding and went off.
Reaching the second corner, Panda Jack's words rang through her head. "Turn right.", she repeated and made a left trun. This did not look like the way she remembered, but Panda Jack told her to go this way to avoid the scary man. So it was probably the way around him, she thought.
Mary turned another few corners until she reached a corridor with many doors on one side. Nearly all of them were closed and she couldn't reach the door knob to open them, much to her disappoinment. There was one door slightly ajar at the very end of the corridor though. As she looked inside, she found a room, similar to her dad's office at home. There was a desk, a shelve full of books and a bed. Someone was sleeping in the bed. Toddling as quietly as she could, though without much of a difference actually, she closed the distance between her and the bed.
When she was close to reaching the bed, the person sleeping inside turned around, so she could see their face. Stopping in her tracks, she realized them to be the scary man. But, sleeping, he didn't look scary at all, she thought. The blanket only covered him up to his stomach. Mary noticed some weird black paintings on the man's upper body. Upon closer inspection, she realized them to depict a heart with Polar Tang's smile in the center. How cute, she thought. She hadn't expected the scary man to like the big yellow fish this much. But, sympathizing with the fish, she felt happy for it.
The only thing Mary wondered, was if those painted parts felt different than normal skin. Without thinking about it any further, her finger touched the bare skin of the not so scary man. He growled as she tested how squishy the black skin was. "Uh-oh...", she thought, pulling back her hand. A tad disappointed to see the painted part felt just like normal skin, she hoped the not yet scary men would stay this way. After waiting for a few seconds without moving or making a sound, Mary was relieved, the glaring eyes stayed closed.
Now she was tempted to also try touching his chaotic black hair, but she was afraid that might really wake him up. But there was another thing she could do. Looking around the room, she found his hat resting on the desk. She turned away from the bed again and made her way over to the chair. This was so exiting!
After climbing up, her hand fell right on top the dotted hat. It was just as fluffy as she had imagined it to be. Was it just as fluffy on the inside? It was. After examining the hat thoroughly, she noticed something leaning against the wall next to the desk. It's form was similar to Polar Tang's spare tooth, but it was much longer and differently coloured. What really picked her interest though, was the two pom-poms dangling off it. Not being able to reach them from the chair, Mary climbed onto the desk. She just wanted to touch them a bit, but accidentally threw the whole thing off balance. Trying to catch it, Mary lost balance herself and fell off the desk, while the long tooth-thingy fell to the ground in a loud clattering noise.
She watched the not so scary man with big eyes. Falling off the desk didn't hurt much, but she was afraid the scary man would return. She could see him open one eye. Thinking he might not notice her if she didn't move, she did not move a muscle. Thus, staying in the position she had landed on the ground. Her head was lying sideways on the ground, while her back leaned onto the wall, the desk was standing at. She was practically lying on her neck with her feet up into the air.
The man rubbed his eyes and frowned. The scary man had returned. She wasn't sure whether she should try staying unnoticed or make a run for it. But feeling like she was already spotted, she let her feet fall to the ground, stood up and ran out the door. Outside the door, she stopped a few feet away. Wow, that was so much fun! Finally letting out an excited giggle, she returned to her search for Bepo.
After not being able to get much sleep the last few days, Law yawned as he returned to his quarter after having lunch. Warm soup sure made him sleepy. Thinking a nap wouldn't hurt, he left the door ajar, to be able to hear any turmoil that might need his attention. He put his hat onto his desk and undressed himself, leaving only his boxers on.
Laying down onto the bed, he closed his eyes and actually fell asleep quickly. He would have been surprised, if he had the chance to.
A poke to his chest awoke the pirate from his slumber. He was still tired, not wanting to open his eyes. Despite him being half asleep he could feel a faint breath on his arm, his head was resting on. And probably due to him still being half asleep, he didn't think much of the fact, that someone was inside his room, watching him sleep. Just as his mind started clearing up and worry began to rise up, he could hear a restrained giggle. The toddler, he concluded, letting his worry fade.
As much as she was annoying, she was no threat. Feeling slightly curious himself, as to what she was up to, Law kept his eyes closed until hearing a tapping sound distancing itself from him. He opened an eye and saw how she climbed the chair effortlessly and inspected his hat. He tought about stopping her, but she seemed to have found something else interesting. Climbing onto the desk, she crawled towards his sword. He saw how she lost balance and fell off the table. The sword clattering to the ground as well.
In an attempt to calm his nerves, he closed his eyes again and took a breath. Though not hearing any expected shuffling, he opened an eye again. Seeing her looking at him with big eyes, not moving, was interesting. Did she really think he would not notice her if she didn't move? With all the noise she made? Suddenly, the toddler stood up and ran out the door.
Law stood up as well. While dressing, he thought back on the toddler. That pose with her feet up in the air did look funny. A smirk finally finding it's way onto his face, he went for a walk.
Finally finding the white bear, Mary walked towards him with a satisfied smile. He asked her what the matter was, but this little adventure she had would remain her secret. The only thing she was willing to share, was: "You were right, the scary man isn't alwas a scary man.", she said. Bepo smiled upon that. Did she really get to see the captain's soft side? It was prooved once more, kids were amazing.
"Oh right, delivering message: Panda Jack has prepared a fish for you. He wanted me to tell you.", she reported proudly. Bepo licked his mouth, looking forward to the snack. He thanked the little girl for telling him, after lifting her up. Mary cuddled into his fur, while subconciously scratching softly again. Both smiled in delight.
Walking to the kitchen, Mary told her new friend about her father being a fisherman. She offered bringing her some fishes tomorrow, but the bear had to decline, as they would leave early in the morning. "But we just became friends!", Mary pouted. Bepo was a bit sad leaving her behind as well. They most likely wouldn't see each other again.
Mary's smile returned after they went on the upper deck and she could see the two mechanics return from their trip to the city. "Penguin Guy! Sunglasses Guy!", she called, waving at them. They hurried towards Mary, Bepo still carrying her, with smiling faces. "Mary-chan!", they called.
"You returned to us!", Shachi called. Bepo let the girl down so she could greet them. Shachi lifted her up again. As he spun around, raising her into the sky, she giggled and squeeled in laughter. It was as though her big brother had come back home from a long journey. Penguin and Bepo stood next to them, laughing too.
The morning came and they would finally leave this damned island, Law thought. Getting out the bed, he realized the submarine to be strangely quiet, considering they were about to depart. After dressing, he went out to look for everyone. He wanted to leave before the toddler woke up. After looking in the mess deck, he went outside. The most important crew members for deprature, as well as a few more, were all gathered here.
Freezing a split second, he heard sobs from within the group of pirates. He had hoped so much she wouldn't be awake yet.
He heard his crew talking to her. Shachi told her not to wander onto any pirate ships again. Bepo held a box. It was wrapped neatly. A parting gift?
"Get her offboard, we're leaving!", he called, gaining their attention. Right after hearing his captain's words, Bepo lifted up the girl and carried her down the submarine. The others waved her goodbye. Law could see the toddler giving Bepo a peck on the cheek, before he turned around and pulled up the bridge behind him. Standing next to a woman, probably her mother, the girl waved goodbye. Everyone, except for Law, waved back.
"Get a grip of yourselves.", he said, returning back inside.
They successfully departed from the harbor.
Taking a breath of relief, Law sat in the mess, drinking a coffee. His head spun around, as he thought he'd heard a giggle. Nothing. Did he just imagine that? He definitely saw her offboard. There was no way she got inside again, he told himself.
# Aaand that's the end of this short story. Will her giggle follow him to his dreams? Who knows. I hope you had just as much fun reading this piece as I had fun writing it. I had a lot of fun. My favourite part was probably when Penguin and Shachi brought Mary to Law. I couldn't keep writing, imagining the scene with Law's confused look XD320Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXa5nlr4BM8
