Since setting out to sea, he has abided by a single rule as a pirate doctor - to not abandon any one of his patients. This time will be no different.
No matter the odds, Trafalgar Law will not let Murasaki Arisa die.
« Trafalgar D. Water L...
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Arisa tried to keep her teeth from chattering, tugging on the edges of the towel swallowing her frame as Jasha set down a steaming mug of tea in front of her.
As a testament to his strategic capabilities, Jasha's trips to Marineford had grown increasingly more frequent and prolonged over the last several years, even despite his penchant for turning down hefty promotions. That he had finally been blessed with a weekend's worth of respite would have been miraculous, had not the timing coincided with yet another bothersome World Government-hosted social function he and several others of his Navy-affiliated colleagues were mandated to attend. Arisa, though initially crestfallen by the schedule conflict, had decided to make the best of his time back home and agreed to attend the event with him. It had all been a harmless, mundane affair, save for the fact that it had started storming during their walk back from town. Jasha had had the foresight to bring along an umbrella, which only provided a paltry shelter from the rainfall throughout their brief sojourn.
Now safely indoors, they cooped themselves up in the kitchen to dry off and warm up the best they could. Outside, the storm raged on with a degree of turbulence rarely seen on the island. The wind howled a dissonant, mournful melody through the swaying trees - a persistent backdrop to the deafening crackles of thunder which punctuated the soundscape like gunfire. Transient skeins of lightning, too, danced across the night skies in a dazzling display of visual accompaniment as torrents of rain continued to pelt down from the high heavens.
"Well, it could have gone way worse than it did," Jasha said over another resonant growl of thunder, setting his own mug down atop the table across from her. He'd taken off his suit jacket to let it dry, and tufts of his dark hair still looked slightly damp from the rain. "At least Ignas wasn't there to bait you and Faye into a drinking contest. We know how that turned out -" he paused, noting the expression she wore. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Just...tired is all." She let out a halfhearted sigh and directed her gaze into the mug. Something nagged at the back of her mind...fragments of conversations she'd overheard from other Navy officers at the event which tormented her with vying sentiments of intrigue and unease. Still something kept her from bringing it up directly. Not yet, anyways.
Jasha shot her a knowing look, but wisely withheld from probing further. His attention flickered down to regard the silver of her dress as lightning lit up past the windows, temporarily illuminating the room in a wash of pale blue. He smiled faintly in recognition.
"Remember that first party we attended together?" he asked presently. "The one where you met Ignas?"
Arisa's cheeks warmed slightly, and she looked away as a barrage of memories flickered past her mind's eye. That had been well over three years ago. As hard as it was hard to believe looking back, they'd still been so... skittish around each other then. So completely oblivious to what the future had in store for them.
