FicWad

Penguin watched with a forced smile as Shachi recounted the story of their adventures at sea. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Kat smiling like an idiot as Shachi told of the many fights they had won. The dinner table was packed as usual, with men laughing, drinking, singing off key, or playing small games of poker.

"...and he couldn't stand up straight after that!" The company roared with laughter, many of them banging on the table from the excitement. Kat joined in with her own high pitched giggling and Penguin looked quickly to his friend.

They gave each other a meaningful look and a tiny eye roll, the last intended for the girl who was now holding her sides in an attempt to calm down from her laughter.

'How much longer?' Shachi mouthed. Penguin shrugged and quickly plastered the fake smile on when Kat drew her attention to him.

"Pengy," She shouted over the crowd, calling him that embarrassing nickname. Even Shachi cringed at the ridiculousness of it. "Tell me about the time you and Shachi were pushed into barrels of sake by those women at the bar! I want to hear it again!"

Giving a halfhearted smile, he plunged into his account of the unfavorable tale.

"You'll have to try harder than that if you want to hit me." Law sidestepped Summer's attack, sending her careening into the wall behind him. She hit the hard leather with a thud but quickly recovered, shifting her grip on the heavy sword in her hands. Swiping a hand across her forehead, she huffed in annoyance at the smirking captain.

"You aren't exactly making this easy." Law leaned against his nodachi, eyeing Summer with patience as she caught her breath. Her face was red from exertion and her long hair clung to her bare shoulders. Scowling at the offending hair, she angrily tied it up on her head with a band, moving it out of the way of combat.

"The point isn't to make it easy. It's for you to improve. You should know that." Deep down, she knew what he said was true. But the fact that Law hadn't even broken a sweat, hadn't even began to breathe in exertion just a little didn't really help in the slightest. With the absence of his spotted hat, she got a full look of his mess of black hair. By the looks of it, it was as unruly as her own, just easier to manage since it was so much shorter. He still looked this good after they'd been fighting for over an hour? It was more than discouraging.

Their spontaneous training session that Summer had requested served multiple purposes: one was to keep the event from yesterday off of her mind, which it was effectively doing. She figured trying to hack him to death was better than flushing in embarrassment every time she looked at him. Another was to practice her swordsmanship, which really did need improvement. The last was a much more selfish reason, if she were to be totally honest with herself.

She didn't want Kat and Law in the same room.

The way the girl basically threw herself at him was disgusting. The thought of having to sit through another moment of Kat asking him stupid and useless questions was unbearable, and she sought refuge in one of two places she knew she was safe.

"You still want to defeat Viper, don't you?" Law's question cut through her thoughts, and she looked up quickly.

"Hell yes, I do. That's never going to change." Shifting the sword in her hands, she pushed off the wall and walked towards the center of the room to prepare for another go. "And I know it's not supposed to be easy, but giving a few tips wouldn't kill you would it?" Law raised a brow but readied his own weapon at her approach. Giving a little nod, they faced each other once again.

A few moments were spent circling, assessing the other's weak points, before Summer lunged suddenly towards the captain, sword aimed straight at his throat. His nodachi easily deflected the blow before switching directions and heading towards the arm holding her weapon. Pivoting in place, Summer spun away from the attack and planted her feet in place, waiting for the next assault.

"You're too predictable." Law stated, slowly approaching her defensive form. She gave him a questioning glance, silently asking him to explain. "The place you attack is just as important as the way you attack it. You only target the neck, so I know immediately how to counter it."

"So, I need to aim for multiple points on the opponent?"

"Not necessarily. You just need to make it look like you're aiming for something else. I know you prefer the neck because it is a quick victory, but you are too forward in directing your attack to it." Summer still looked confused, so he walked towards her. "I'll demonstrate."

Summer dropped her defensive stance and allowed him to come closer. "Just watch me, don't move." She nodded and stood in place. Once he was only a pace or two away, he swung quickly at her, but she stayed still, confident that he wasn't out to kill her.

Before the blade could touch her body, Law expertly halted the nodachi and it hovered a centimeter above her throat. From this distance, Summer could feel the cold metal line across her throat. Backing away, Law rested the blade on the ground.

"Just from observation, where was my attack aiming?" Summer replayed the sequence in her mind and answered.

"My neck." Law nodded and indicated that she stand still again. She obeyed, and he once again took a swing at her. This time, however, the blade was angled to the middle of her body. From the way it was positioned, it would hit just below her ribs. Suddenly, at the last second, he angled the sword upwards and the blade stopped just on her neck again.

"Do you see the difference?" Asked the captain. Summer nodded, her chin touching the dark blade before she pushed it away from her.

"You angle it towards the lower body, which makes the opponent think the attack is aimed there, but you switch directions at the last second and aim for the original target instead."

"Exactly. Using a sword is a much different process than two small daggers. A sword is not as easily maneuverable. You can't effectively strike quickly and multiple times in real combat."

Summer nodded, taking in what he said as she prepared her fighting stance again. "Then how about another?" She asked, gesturing for him to attack her. He grinned and faced her. This time, Law was the one who attacked first, thrusting his nodachi towards her lower abdomen. It was the same attack that he had used last, but something looked different about it. His hands weren't angled the same way as when he had directed it to her neck.

Acting on instincts more than anything, she kept her sword low to her body and parried Law's attack. If he expected her to protect her neck after his demonstration before, he was to be disappointed. Her smirked, seeing that she wasn't fooled by his deception.

"Of course, not all attacks are feints. Others are aiming exactly where they're meant to be. The trick is to figure out which one they are." Summer used the opportunity to swing at him again, which he blocked. The sparring continued for a few minutes, each one silently fending off the other's attacks.

"And if you can't tell the difference?" She asked eventually. "What then?" The swords met again in a loud clatter of metal, and Law and Summer stood face to face pushing against the other's weapon.

"Then you die." He stated. They pushed away from each other, distancing themselves far enough to safely catch their breaths. Their labored breathing was interrupted by the ringing of a snail phone in Law's pocket.

Pururururu….purururu...gatcha.

"Captain, we're approaching an island." Jean Bart's voice came through the speaker, and Summer smiled. That had to be Elysium.

"How long until we land?" Law asked, leaning against his nodachi once again. Summer glanced over at him, secretly admiring how relaxed he could look in times of stress. She knew Law was just as eager to see Kat gone as her.

"If we continue at this speed, about 2 hours." Law raised a brow.

"That's earlier than we expected."

"Shachi and Penguin found it in the engines to increase the speed a little more. Apparently, they're in a hurry to get there." She could hear the lightness in the ex-captain's voice and couldn't help but smile wider.

"Inform Shachi-ya and Penguin-ya to meet me in the navigation room."

"Aye, Captain." Law hung up and tucked the snail away back into his pocket, glancing over at Summer.

"You're definitely improving." She brightened up at that. "However, you still have a lot to work on. I expect you to down here every night after kitchen duties to train." She sighed, realizing that such a schedule would leave her with little sleep.

'If it prepares you to kill Viper, then so be it.'

"Aye, Captain." She said quietly. Law nodded and placed his spotted hat on his head. Pushing through the door, he sent one more smirk her way before he disappeared.

Pururururur...purururu...pururu...gatcha.

"Shachi, captain wants you and Penguin in the navigation room immediately." The engineer sighed an audible breath of relief. Their means of escape had come.

"Sure, no problem." Hanging up the snail phone, he shouted to his friend who was currently being bear-hugged by the redhead.

"Hey, Penguin! Captain wants us up in navigation!" A relieved smile split across his face and he struggled to free himself from the woman's arms.

"Well, I guess we gotta go! Important navigation stuff to do!" He jogged over to his friend, leaving the envious crew to deal with a pouting Kat. Taking their leave before the captain had a chance to change his mind, they made their way to the navigation deck.

Inside, Jean Bart was at the controls, turning dials and checking radar every few moments or so. Bepo sat beside him, scanning over a map of the Grand Line. They approached the navigators and slumped across the empty seats.

"Thank God you called us!I don't think I could stand another second listening to Kat's laughing." Shachi moaned, covering his ears as if to ward away the shrill tones of the offending sound. Penguin sank to the ground beside him and used the precious time to relax.

Law entered and saw the state of his engineers. He didn't blame them, as he also found spending time with the bubbly woman quite exhausting after five minutes time with her.

"Bart-ya, can you tell anything at this point?" He examined the radar from over Bepo's shoulder, watching as the shape of a shore came into view far on the edge of the screen.

"Not much, though there should be a place to land on the northern side of the island. There's a flat stretch of sand along the shore."

"Is that Elysium?" Shachi asked loudly, to which Law gave him a cold glare. Throwing a hand on his mouth, he realized his mistake. The captain didn't want Kat to know what island it was they were landing on. When Law believed Shachi to know the mistake he made, he turned back to the map of the Grand Line.

"Yes, it is."

"Do we know what it's like?" Penguin asked from the floor. Surprisingly, it was Bepo who answered.

"It's supposed to be a spring climate, and the economy is riding on the textile high that's happening right now. They have several silk mills in the city."

"The people should be wary of pirates, since the marines have claimed the island." Jean Bart stated with a grim expression. Although, his expression was always grim. "It won't be easy to go unnoticed for too long."

"I only plan on staying long enough to get this business over with." Law straightened, turning to the engineers beside him.

"Shachi-ya, Penguin-ya. We want to stay undetected as long as possible. Slow the engines. Time it so we arrive just after nightfall." The two scrambled into action, motivated by the task they were given.

"Aye, Captain!" They called behind them on their way out the door. Law trusted they would easily perform the task and turned back to the navigators, who was awaiting his orders.

"Take us to the northern side and dock there. We'll remain submerged until morning tomorrow."

After receiving their affirmatives, he left the navigation deck to head to his own room. Passing by the mess deck, he glanced inside and saw Kat talking several men's ears off. Sending them a pitying grin, he continued down the hall.

The training room wasn't on his way, but he took a detour down to the little room where he could hear the sounds of Summer's efforts through the door. Risking a glance inside, he saw Summer's back to him, slicing at an imaginary enemy. Her breathing was heavy, and she wiped away the sweat from her forehead several times.

It continued to amaze him how contradictory she was of herself. One moment she was vulnerable and afraid, the next she surprised him with how deadly and merciless her fighting was in battle. Delicate, deadly and, as much as she pinned the term to him, sadistic.

The incident in the infirmary, however, showed him just how fragile she really was. He had noticed the tiny moment of fear that showed in her eyes when he had first kissed her. It was tiny, but still there. It pointed to a side of her that he had yet to discover, and he very much wanted to examine her from all angles.

Thoughts of the kiss led him to remember his own reaction to it. All it had been was a test of sorts, a trial. A gesture to see just how far his affections for her ran. He had gone into it decisive and in control, but that had quickly changed.

Something in him had lost all reason after the initial kiss, and he wasn't sure what to make of it. He had had to force himself out of it, mentally berating himself to stop in order to pull himself together, and that was something he wasn't very fond of. Summer had an inert ability to make him struggle to retain control of his thoughts and feelings, to unconsciously pull him closer to her.

Whether that was a good thing or not, he had no idea.

A loud shout of frustration brought him out of his thoughts, and he suddenly remembered he was standing outside the training room. Looking inside, he discovered Summer sprawled on the floor with the sword laying a feet few away. He smirked as she panted and struggled to catch her breath. Satisfied that she was working hard, he wandered off to his room.

Pururururu...purururururu...purururururu…

"Hmm?" Summer mumbled, raising her head from the floor an inch to see what it was that had awoken her. Rubbing her eyes, she realized that she had fallen asleep in the training room. She was curled up against the wall, the sword still stuck in the practice dummy where she had left it. Recognizing the snail phone that rang in her jacket pocket, she crawled over to the clothing and pulled it out.

Purururur...gatcha.

"Yes?" She answered sleepily. It was the personal phone she had been given when the crew wanted to contact each other directly.

"We've landed on the island. I want you ready to head out in 15 minutes." Law said before the line hung up.

Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she looked up at the clocked and noticed that it was already 11 pm. Stretching her stiff limbs she gathered up her daggers and jacket and headed towards the mess deck where she knew the rest of the crew would be waiting.

Despite the nervous tension that hung in her belly, a spark of anticipation welled up and set her to grinning.

'Soon she'll be gone.'