The Life I Live

On Course

        Summer's wounds were healing well. She was able to walk a few days after the incident and her arm no longer throbbed with pain. A dull ache remained every time she tried to reach for something above her, but it was much more manageable to deal with.

        She had been neglecting her training the last week or so and Summer began practicing late at night after dinner was over. She was still far from proficient at swordsmanship, and the added injury greatly restricted what practice she could actually do, but there was a definite improvement. The sword no longer felt too heavy or strange in her hands; the toughened leather was familiar and comfortable and according to Law, familiarizing oneself was the first step to mastering the technique.

        Despite being told that he would supervise her training every night, he too had been too busy with other things to make good on his statement. This really was more of a blessing than anything, as it would have been really awkward considering previous...events.

        Speaking of the devil, she really needed to have a serious talk with the bastard. There was one more problem that she needed to address. Well, two actually, but there was no way in hell she was going to bring that one up with Law. No, the real problem here was Kat.

        Summer had intentionally been avoiding her as much as possible after the incident a few days ago. Working in the kitchen made it difficult, but at all other times when she had free time she was either practicing or in her own room. She had caught the girl's eye once or twice while serving food, and on these occasions she felt a chill go up her spine.

        Kat had become a regular part of the crew now. She sat in the middle of the room with the most crewmembers, laughing loudly when they made jokes or recounted stories from their past voyages. On some occasions, she spotted the redhead sitting across from the captain himself, on those few occasions that he actually ate with the men. It stirred her blood when she sat talking loudly with him and sometimes Summer had felt the urge to snap the plates in her hand into little pieces.

        Law hadn't brought the scene in the infirmary up at all, even when he had plenty of opportunity to do so. She wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing, considering that whatever the captain did, it was usually no good and for his own benefit. That wasn't really a comforting thought.

        No, she had to talk to him the next time she saw him. Before things got out of hand.

        It was about 2:30 in the evening and Casper had sent her off to get some rest before the dinner rush. Giving a small smile, she immediately started towards Law's room. No one was in the hallway, and the trip to his quarters took less time than Summer would have liked She was prolonging this for as long as she could.

        She stood in front of the door, suddenly overcome with a fear of going any further. She swallowed hard and stared at the metal door, almost hoping that he wasn't there at all so she could retreat back to her own room. Shaking her head, a little reluctantly, she forced at step forward. Her fist raised to knock against the hard metal but stopped when she heard a voice inside.

        More specifically, it was her voice that gave her pause.

        "...would really appreciate it!" Kat's shrill words caused a slow boil of Summer's blood. Slowly taking her fist away from the door, she took a step back.

        The words were too low to distinguish, but she heard Law's reply back to whatever it was they were talking about. If she stuck around long enough, she might have figured out what the subject of their conversation was. But that really didn't matter to her at this point.