The Language I Spoke Yesterday

Family?

My room was small. Nothing more than a hastily cleared storage room. A large closet. But it was enough to fit a twin sized bed on a tall stand, so I had room for a six drawer dresser underneath, and a personal desk in the corner. One of the crew (possible Ikkaku) had attached a full length mirror to the inside of my door.

Someone had been thoughtful enough to provide me with a pen and some paper. I should have gotten straight to work on lesson plans for the crew. I really wanted to. I fell on the bed, face down, and held the pillow to my chest.

This was for the best. I repeated those five words over and over again.

I was away from Zane.

I wasn't a prisoner.

I had people who might learn my language.

And Law seemed determined to fix my back.

I scowled at the wall. He wasn't a very gentle doctor. I hadn't fought with them at all when they took my pajamas and put me in a bath of cold water, even though I was super embarrassed to be stripped naked like that. I didn't even complain at what felt like boiling temperatures, or when rough hands pushed at sensitive and sore vertebrae. He could have been a little nicer.

Oh well. I sighed mentally. I was talking about the Dark Doctor, after all. He didn't have a title like that from being gentle.

I must have fallen asleep, because an indeterminate amount of time later I awoke to a knock at the door. "Andromeda?" Ikkaku called. "I'm going to shower."

"'Kaaayyyy...." I groaned, dragging myself out of bed. I gasped as I tried to put weight on my left leg, but tumbled to the ground instead. I whined dramatically as Ikkaku threw the door open, laying in a heap on the floor. "My body hates me."

She gave me a light smile and helped me back to the bed. She was a muscular, dark skinned woman with huge, kinky hair held out of her face by a yellow bandana. "Captain will get that all sorted out for you. Are you hurting?"

"Naw," I shook my head with a rueful grin. "Sometimes my body just kinda stops."

Ikkaku patted my arm. "Wanna try again, or should I get the captain?"

"I'll be fine. Just uhhh... Walk next to me?" I tried not to sound needy, but I wasn't sure I succeeded. I could hear his voice in the back of my head, reminding me that people would get annoyed if I kept asking for help. "I kind of like not falling on my face."

Her expression was nothing but warm and understanding. "Sure. Let's go."

There were eight different stalls and a bathing area. Ikkaku didn't seem to mind sitting on the floor with me. In fact, she offered to wash my back and my hair. It was a relief, since my hair was super thick and reached my hips.

"This is actually really nice." Ikkaku chirped as she massaged my scalp. "It's not like I can do this with the guys."

I snorted. "No? Why ever not?" My reward was a light smack on my shoulder.

"Honestly, I was sort of worried when you first got here." She confided in a smaller voice. "You looked so blank, and you didn't say anything about wanting to be here..."

It was another eye roll moment. "Well, if you ask Law, he kidnapped me, so I doubt it matters what I want. But!" I continued so that she didn't feel bad. "I don't want to leave. I'm really going to miss the people I knew, but I needed to get off the island."

She brought the shower head down to start rinsing my hair. I closed my eyes as the water trickled down my face. "Well, I for one want you to be a part of the crew. For real, not just because Captain said you were coming with us."