(A/n)
I have the gist of the rest of this story figured out and I'm hoping to get it finished soon, I've taken entirely too long to get back to it but I've figured out why I struggle so much with it. It's not easy to try and write something that matches the canon storyline, which is the route this is going, and I may have a plan to make it a little easier on myself. In theory at least.

"We're sorry (Y/n)!"

The guys took about a day to get back to you. Now they were practically grovelling at your feet as they apologized for making things so awkward. You had just gotten out of bed and still weren't quite awake, swaying back and forth a little as you rubbed the sleepy feeling out of your eyes.

Other crewmates were passing by, shooting their friends strange looks without stopping. They were curious but not so much that they were willing to stand and gawk.

"It's all good guys." You smiled and could practically see their hearts melting.

"You forgive us?" Shachi was pretty much in tears.

"Yep."

"We still shouldn't have acted like that." Bart grumbled. "I know better than that."

"Eh, Law pointed out that our situations weren't quite the same and that was something I didn't think about."

"It doesn't change the fact that you were...." He glanced around as a couple other people passed by, like he was afraid you didn't want others to know.

"You can say it. I don't feel like I have to keep it from people anymore." Strangely enough, you'd come to terms with it finally and you knew after the initial shock some people may have, they'd treat you the same as always.

That all worked back up to their feet, now content that you didn't absolutely hate them for their reaction yesterday.

"Are you comfortable with it?" Penguin asked.

"People knowing? Yeah. It is what it is and you guys can either take me as I am or suffer through me living on the ship with ya." You giggled as Law came out of the room and saw the men all crowding the hallway with you.

"What is this, an intervention?" He said grumpily. Someone still needed their morning coffee.

"An apology." You answered.

"Ah. I don't have to punish anyone then."

"Nope."

The men all cringed as they realized they just barely avoided their captains wrath.

"Well, if that's done then get to work. I'm sure there's chores to do."

They scampered away in a flurry of "yes captain"s and you were left to contemplate what to do for your day. Yesterday you took the time to practice with your observation haki and it was getting easier to handle, much faster than you thought it'd be. Maybe you'd see if anyone else needed help with work around the ship.

"What's your plan today?" You asked Law as you followed him to the kitchen. Breakfast came first.

"Make sure we're on track, double check the ship for possible issues before leaving it to the crew, maybe get some time in on deck if I can squeeze it in."

"Busy as always." You noted as he checked through the fridge, tossing you an apple as he took one for himself.

"As is the life of a captain." He smirked at you. "And what's on your agenda?"

"Hmmmm." You took a bite of the apple and chewed thoughtfully. "Well Shachi and Penguin wanted to show me some more of the mechanics down below so I might as well check that out. Doesn't hurt to learn more about the ship. And even if I said I don't want to look into finding Leo just yet, I'm thinking about checking the locket for something I might have missed."

"And if you find something?"

"I won't act on it, not yet. I'm better off assuming he's somewhere safe and focusing on our Punk Hazard plan."

"If he's anything like you, I'm not so sure he'd be keeping out of trouble."

You giggled. "He's different, I'm sure of it. Out of the two of us, I have a feeling he's somehow more put together."

"It feels that way in your memories?"

"Yeah."

"Then I'm sure he is." Law chuckled and you joined in.

Thinking about what happened with you and Atticus was getting easier, much more so now that you'd talked with Law about it. Moving on and focusing on your life now and Leo would become much more easier soon enough. You were sure of it.

----

After breakfast and flirting back and forth with Law for a bit until someone else came in the kitchen, you wandered off to find Penguin and Shachi. They were exactly where you thought you'd find them, deep in the bowels of the submarine running maintenance on the heavy machinery.

You had no idea how this stuff worked until relatively recently but they'd been walking you through the basics for the ship. You'd learned all the different tools and what they were needed for before and now they were showing you how to actually use them. Of course they were more than happy to show you the ropes and were actually good teachers.

You were stronger than most women and had no problem working with the harder stuff, almost keeping up with the men. It would've been faster for you but you had to have things explained as you went. You were the type of person that liked knowing how things worked, not just what buttons to press or bolts to tighten. You wanted to know all the nitty gritty details.

So the entire morning and on into the early evening, you did the maintenance for them, for the hands on experience, and they explained it all for you. Working up a sweat was like therapy, keeping your mind busy and allowing you to relax in other ways. The only reason you stopped working was because they pulled you away for dinner, practically whining about how hungry they were.

Tired and grimy from working on the machinery all day, you all made your way to the dining hall to catch the tail end of dinner. Most of the crew was already done, some leaving to spend the rest of their day somewhere else while others stuck around to chat and laze about. Law was nowhere to be seen and you assumed he made a quick retreat back to the bedroom or the deck for some quiet time. You'd do the same after eating.

Dinner was fast. The three of you ate without a word, too hungry to try talking. You didn't realize how starved you felt until you dug into a plate Penguin piled high for you. There was something about the men on this ship being food pushers and you didn't quite get it.

When you were done, you cleaned up after yourself and said your goodbyes to everyone before heading to the bedroom. A shower was definitely in order, you were done with feeling like you'd gotten dragged through grease.

The room was empty and you assumed that meant Law was on deck, which worked for you. It wasn't often that you got this dirty and you didn't want to see him for the first time since this morning and not feel like you could touch him. A bit of scrubbing could change that though.

You made the shower as fast as you could but some patches of grime were harder to get off than others. It gave you an appreciation for the work the guys did down below. After double checking that you hadn't missed anything, you got out, your skin rubbed to a rosey red in some places. You wrapped a towel around yourself and put your locket back on, the comforting weight sitting right between your breasts.

Despite how bad your meeting with Atticus was, you couldn't bring yourself to remove his picture from the locket. He was a big part of your life, even if he caused a lot of pain. Some part of you still felt a lingering affection for the man and you doubted that would ever change. Maybe you were coming to terms with things faster than you thought you could.

You played with the silver heart for a moment, watching the light play off of it's intricate surface in the mirror before heading back into the bedroom.

Law was sitting on the edge of the bed, going through stacks of paper. He was completely engrossed in it, or so you thought until he spoke.

"I hear you stayed very busy." He noted.

"I didn't realize there was so much to keeping this submarine in working order."

He smirked as you plopped down by him, snagging some of the papers to check them out. They were all the medical reports on the crew, detailing their health and the dates they'd come to Law for checkups and patch up jobs. You quickly decided it probably wasn't a good idea to see everyone's information and balanced the stack on his thigh.

"Why the sudden need to go through all this?" You motioned to the papers.

"It wouldn't hurt to go through and check in with everyone before sending them off to Zou. I thought I'd do that before we reach Punk Hazard."

"Such a good doctor." You teased.

His smile widened. "And yet they call me the Surgeon of Death."

"It's like they don't even know skill when they see it."

Both of you chuckled as he continued to sift through the papers. As the quiet returned, you touched the locket once again. You hadn't opened it since the first time on that deserted, snowy island. It was well overdue to be opened again.

With that in mind, you glanced around the room, remembering Law was like most men and kept a pocket knife nearby almost religiously. Sure enough, you saw the hint of it's shape in his pocket. You grinned to yourself as you reached over and slipped your hand in to snag it, watching his eyes widen.

"What're you–?" He immediately scowled when you waved the knife in his face.

"Expecting something else?" You asked, knowing exactly what he thought you were doing.

"You're a brat."

"And you still love me."

He watched you snap the knife open and press the tip of the blade into your thumb, just enough to made a small bead of blood well to the surface. You squeezed at the edges of the fresh cut until there was enough to brush across the locket and swiped it over the silvery surface.

After a second, there was the same whirring of the locket unlocking itself and then it clicked, the two halves popping apart. You licked the remaining blood off your thumb and opened the locket, letting Law take the knife from you at the same time. He slid it back into his pocket and leaned over to look at the pictures with you. Leo smiled back at you on one side, with the old version of you wrapped around him. On the other side, Atticus looked the same as the first time you saw the photo but you felt different about it.

After seeing him in person, he felt like a totally different man then the one in the picture. It was easy to tell now that they were two sides of the same coin. On one, there was the Atticus that was loving, caring to some extent, and on the other was the man who, at the end of the day, only cared about his own safety.

"Any new hints?" Law murmured.

"No." You sighed. "Not with the pictures."

And it was true. They had nothing in them that could point you to something. No landmarks in the background, no tell tale signs with what you wore or how you were positioned.

"Can you take them out?"

You frowned at him. "I don't want to."

"No, I mean there could be something on the back."

Your eyes lit up in understanding. If you were looking for Leo, it wouldn't hurt to start with the picture of him. You tilted the locket around to look along the top and sides and sure enough, they were all small open slots, just big enough to fit the photo.

"Can I see that knife again?" You held your hand out for it.

"No cutting yourself again."

"I won't." You rolled your eyes playfully as he carefully handed it over.

You gently wedged the tip of the blade into the slot, catching the edge of the photo. It made you wince as it bit into it and you were sure it'd leave a mark but it was unavoidable. You'd be as delicate as possible to avoid making it any bigger. After some coaxing, enough of it had pulled out for you to snag the edge with your fingers. With a triumphant smile, you held the photo in your hand. The locket wasn't very big and the picture was smaller, barely the size of a coin.

Law took the knife back once again, like he thought you'd be cutting yourself for the hell of it if he didn't, and rested his chin on your shoulder as you flipped the picture over. You felt a sudden surge of excitement as you saw something written on the back in neat cursive.

Anderais Island.

"I think you found him." Law said.

"Yeah, I think so too."