Law exchanges money with the bird and opens up the news. Skimming over the events, his frown darkens as he reads about the death of Edward Newgate.

Marshall D. Teach was a completely different variable to be worried about. Kaido and Big Mom were enough of an issue on their own. He was grateful, via Luffy, that Shanks wasn't going to be a wrinkle in any of their plans, but the other three Emperors were always a concern.

Whitebeard less so due to his failing health, and the powerful connection between Luffy and the 2nd Division Command, Portgas D. Ace. It was still plausible that the Whitebeard pirates would've come to blows with their own alliance, but it was less likely the end result would have had casualties.

"What's new?" You ask, coming out onto the deck. Law hands over the paper and you scan it. He didn't give you much to work off of anymore, making sure that you were building up your own understanding of the world.

"Oh." You say quietly. "That's..." You pause and shake your head. "I'm not sure. One less emperor, but it mentions someone I haven't really heard anyone talk about before. Who's this Marshall D. Teach?"

"He used to be part of the Whitebeard pirates. Killed one of their crew and stole and devil fruit." Law explains, letting you sort through the rest of your knowledge to connect the dots.

"Betrays the crew to steal a fruit, builds his own crew, and then starts a fight with that same crew... in a bid to become an Emperor?" You question.

Law shrugs. "Hard to say. He was – maybe still is – a Warlord. The world Government might support him in a false Emperor capacity."

"Oh, that would mess up the whole balance." You mutter and Law nods. "But... maybe not that much."

"Yeah." He agrees. "Warlord or not, Teach is still a pirate. The World Government isn't going to trust him as much as they would one of their own, and he's certainly not going to trust them that much either. Someone with a treacherous streak like his probably isn't trusting anyone. His own crew is probably a matter of transactional alliances."

You look up at Law. "Is he even after the One Piece?"

Law tilts his head. "I... don't know."

"The assumption is that everyone that's a Warlord, or Emperor, or part of... sorry, it's really called The Worst Generation?"

He nods.

You shake your head. "I understand the intended connotation, but it makes you all sound like you're bad at being pirates."

Law grunts.

"You're doing your first class today, right?" He prompts.

"Yes. Ah... on... on land." You look from the newspaper and look over the island. Something made you feel dizzy, like there was a weight on your chest. Some part of you was afraid of leaving the submarine, but you didn't know why.

There wasn't anything concrete. Just a steady, unrelenting feeling that if you left the ship you would be in danger. As though the very ground would give way beneath your feet and swallow you whole.

"Would it be okay to... to host it on the deck?" You almost feel dizzy asking the question.

"... What's wrong?"

You shake your head a little tearing your eyes from the island and looking back at your captain. "I... don't know. I just don't want to leave the ship."

"Have you been to this island before?"

You look back toward the island, trying to see if any part of it, a scent, or sound, or landmark triggered any memory. Nothing came to mind, and you shook your head. "I don't think so. It's... it's not the island itself."

"The ship feels safe." He states and you nod.

There's a silence between the two of you for a long moment and he puts a hand on your shoulder. "You can give instruction on the ship for today. But... you can't stay on the Tang forever. Maybe after the sun goes down we can go ashore."

"F-for?" You ask, voice a little shakier than you mean.

Law pauses for a moment, before looking at you. "Maybe you'd feel less anxious at night?"

"Ah... yes... per-perhaps." You nod a little in agreement, but the anxious feeling wells up in you again.

"Take a few deep breaths." Law instructs, standing with you as you breathe in deep and let it out slowly. He has you repeat the process a few times until your body starts to relax. "I'm not going to throw you on the island, or leave you behind."

"Oh, yes, no, I... I... don't know what it is exactly." You admit, looking down at the deck. "I just feel afraid, when I think about my feet on dry land."

"Is this a new fear?"

"N-new in what way?"

"Did you have a fear of dry land before you were imprisoned?" He questions but shakes his head before you could answer. "No, probably not. You were so forward at first that you would've said as much."

You chuckle a little, and nod. "You're not wrong. I... I don't recall being anxious like this before now."

Law puts a hand on your shoulder. "We'll work through it, don't worry about it for now, just focus on your lesson."

You nod, taking another deep breath and steadying yourself. You had a bit of time before the "class" would begin, and used that time to center yourself as the crew slowly gathered onto the deck.

Law sat separately from the rest of the crew as you walked them through your instructions. You decided to start with Observation Haki since you weren't ready to go to the island, and armament haki could get out of hand if you weren't careful.

You started out with the basics, building up from what the crew already knew and stepping beyond. Invoking future sight took a lot of practice and focus, and the capacity for how far you could see varied from person to person. Duration was also a matter of need.

Energy spent to see a full day could result in being exhausted for a week – and unable to do anything about the next seven days, never mind the one you were concerned about. It was a tool, not a boundless capacity to view the future like a proper seer. The best application within combat was to look ahead a second at a time, so much happens in a fight within a second, that the information provided was both useful and not overwhelming.

After lecturing for almost thirty minutes, you transitioned into practical applications.

Tying your hair back, you roll up your sleeves.

"This exercise will be easy enough. No using armament haki, especially since we're on the deck of the ship." You explain, pointing to Law and motioning for him to go stand with the others. His eyes narrow a little, but he secures his sword and hat against the railing and goes over to the others. "No devil fruits either." You add as Law waves his hand dismissively.

"The exercise ends, when one of you touches me." You announce with a smile on your face. "I can touch you, and grabbing a fistful of cloth doesn't count." Your foot slides back and you set your weight into your hips, holding your hands up in front of you.

The crew look at one another a little unsure, but Law steps forward first. You see him take in a breath and focus – he's at least using his observation haki, but he's not focused enough.

Yet.

When he grabs for you, it's neither lazy nor slow, he's at least putting effort into the move, but your haki skills are sharper, and you sidestep his arm, back to his body as you step and turn into his space. One hand around his wrist and another on his shoulder, your lower center of gravity gives you leverage, and you toss him over your shoulder smoothly.

After Law lands on the flat of his back you step back, watching him and the crew. You can feel the air shift. You've been little more than a prim and proper noble woman this entire time, slowly changing into a prim and proper regular woman, and just recently an official member of the crew. You hadn't even so much as raised your voice.

All you had done was said that you'd been formally trained, and pirates probably didn't put much stock in formal training. Which was fine – experience could often be a far crueler and more effective teacher than anything else. But the bruises and fractures you had endured at the hands of your teachers were long since faded, and your position meant you received the best care.

Your skin was smooth as silk – and so were your moves.

"... I still didn't hear the bell." Penguin says softly.

You jump in place, making the bell under your shirt jingle.

"Welp." Sachi resigns himself, rushing at you full force. You sidestep him easily, letting him nearly run himself into the railing as you return to your stance.

Chaos erupts.

The entire crew moves, and you slip through them like water through rocks. Gently you knock hands aside and step over feet. Your observation haki is refined enough to show you several minutes into the future, and not just several seconds. The crew are little more than back up dancers for your choreography, but the difference in skill lets you teach them gently.

"Focus!" You say sharply, knocking Bepo's paw into Jean Bart's hand before switching Penguin and Sachi's hats as you moved between them. "Reach out to the seconds beyond what you can see."

Grabbing Ikkaku's wrists, you twirl with her, listening to the surprised gasp as you waltzed her into Hakugan, sending them both backward. "You anticipate your adversary's movements as a natural part of your fighting already." You duck under a grab from Uni and shove Clione back with your hand to stop him from running into Uni's hand.

"Trust your instincts." You twist away from Law without looking at him, stepping low into his space as he's still moving toward you. Your shoulder goes into his thigh as you stand, heaving him up over your shoulder again and putting him flat on the deck – again.

The crew fought well together. The flurry of hands that kept after you didn't intersect with one another unless you moved them into one another's path. The longer the "fight" went on, the more the crew worked together. You could feel the haki coming off them, in different waves and focuses, but they were all trying.

The more they managed to focus, the better they worked together. The better they worked together, the more you had to work to evade them. You weren't dodging a single person, and the collective group made your openings smaller and smaller as time went on.

But that's why the first practical application was a group effort.

The third time you tossed Law over your shoulder, Bepo was nearby to catch him, and both recovered faster. You grabbed Penguin by the shoulder, turning you both around before you released him toward Jean, reaching out and grabbing Ikkaku. She expected you to waltz her around, so instead you lifted her up and put her in Jean's hands.

Both of them looked fully surprised, as you continued to dodge the flurry of hands around you.

"It's like... trying to catch... air." Sachi huffs, taking a second to catch his breath after nearly a half hour of everyone trying.

"The BELL." Penguin nearly sobs.

You smile, stepping aside from Bepo. "Will it give you more energy if it rings?" You question, grabbing Law's wrist and almost dancing with him for a step, giving him a wink and trying to ignore the flicker in your heart as his cheeks dusted pink for a second.

Penguin breathes in and lets out a frustrated grunt. "Yes!"

You set down your foot and the bell rings. There's a harsh light in your eyes, and an uncomfortable turn in your smile – at least as far as the crew is concerned.

"My apologies for any bruises." You say evenly before you move.

The soft jingle of the bell is easier to hear, than you are to see, as you forego grace for speed. The coordination of the crew falters for a moment, and you hear Penguin nearly whimper as Ikkaku swears.

The air on the deck shifts again, and the moment of uncertainty from the crew crumbles to dust. No one approaches you recklessly. There's a circle around and crew members come in one at a time, and you can feel the ones on the edges focusing.

Reaching.

Trying.

Not just to hone their haki, but to really take in your fighting style. The placement of your feet. How your arms and hands move. What parts of you tense as you move. The differences between grace and speed. The watery dance at the start is a sharp exchange of heat as you give them the fight they're finally willing to give you.

You're not a noble in their eyes. Not anymore. Not even residually. There's no ingrained hesitation in their movements. No fear of harming you.

You remember the stern man from Wano. A towering fellow who was more scars than skin, who had beat and bellowed forms into your bones for years. He often shared the philosophy of his homeland along with his more practical lessons.

There is no language more universal –

Stepping in you had to move more forcefully, gripping Sachi's thumb and turning his arm, bringing him to his knees as you stepped on him to vault over Clione.

No words more efficiently understood –

You redirected Bepo's attack toward Jean, and heard the mink apologize before he pulled the punch short. Sachi and Penguin stepped in, to box you in place, but you used Jean stepping back from Bepo's punch to pivot him and send him into the other three as you stepped away.

Then those exchanged in combat.

You bat Law's hand away before turning toward him. The way he moved, the smile on his face – a full smile – reveling in the challenge, hair stuck to his skin from exertion, the glint of tenacity in his eyes. The stoic captain was fully alive, haki flaring from him in barely restrained focus, skin bright with sweat.

You switched to the defensive, knocking aside the attacks that came from him. You could move away, you could toss him again – did you do that just to feel him against you? – you had options. But just a moment.

One moment more.

To see that smile, and the light in those eyes.