It had been almost a week since Captain Koby woke up, and he was staying in the infirmary until he could walk around for an hour by himself. So far he was 15 minutes short of that which was good. Cause it meant he would go to his own bunk and get out of the in-patient beds.

That's right for the past 5 days Captain Koby and you had been sharing the same living space. You didn't know whether to be happy or annoyed. Every time he said your name, smiled at you, anytime you heard his voice the butterflies entered into your gut and refused to settle. You felt clumsy around him, not something you were used to.

Luckily you were going to set sail again, and you were secretly grateful that you would get a reprieve from the guy. All these palpitations couldn't be good for your heart.

"Yo L/N! Garp wants to see you." Grount shouted from across the track that was running all your frustrations on. Huffing and turning towards the boy with the mohawk, you began to hate how he pointedly used your last name after you said you two weren't friends. But at the same time, you weren't too concerned with changing it either. So like everything else that bothered you, you let it go.

"Alright." You wiped your sweat with a towel and started towards your room before Grount grabbed your wrist.

"He wants to see you now. He won't care how you're dressed."

"But I do."

"Too damn bad let's go." He didn't let go of your hand, and all but dragged you to Garp's office. "Thanks for taking such good care of Koby."

"I'd do that for anyone. Not just him."

"For anyone?"

"Yeah...I'm a medic."

"So you didn't take care of him cause you like him or anything?"

What how does he know? No, no calm down. There's no way he knows. Just calm down me.

"I don't hate him. Or you or anyone really. It takes way too much energy to do that."

"I see. So you don't hate me either?"

"Why would I?" You looked up at him and he stared down at you before a cheeky grin appeared on his handsome face.

"Well okay then."

The rest of the walk to Garp's office was filled with comfortable silence.

"Ah Y/N-Chan!! Good, you're here! You can leave brat." After Grount left Garp motioned for you to sit. "I see your stamina is getting better. We'll work on your physical strength next. But that's not why I called you here."

You tilted your head to the side and raised your eyebrows.

"We're heading back to headquarters so Koby can get his first Medal of Honor, he wants you to pin it to him. So here is a list of what you'll need to make sure gets done. Good luck."

"Excu-me what're you-what?"

"Wow, I think that's the first time I've seen you flustered."

"No."

"No what?"

"I won't do it. I will not pin him." The old man's widened in surprise, seemingly taken aback by your abruptness. "If that is all good day."

"Woah Woah wait there, missy!" You paused and turned to him. "You're saying that you're refusing to pin him when he especially asked for you?"

"Yes."

"But I thought that you two were...well I assumed you both had started...what exactly is your relationship with each other?"

Hell if I know!! I just want to put some distance between us so I can figure that out myself!!!

"Colleagues I suppose."

"That's it?"

What is he getting at?

"How would you define our relationship Vice Admiral?" By now you were turned to him with your arms to your sides. You so badly wanted to cross them but you knew that was a defensive stance and didn't want him to know you'd started to guard yourself even more.

"Honestly I thought you two were lovers." Heat came to your cheeks and your eyes widened you couldn't help it.

"Cough. No sir we're not." You left then, not even bothering with the etiquette of saluting him goodbye. When you walked out though you hit something hard, causing pain to shoot up your nose. "Ouch...excuse me I'm sorry."

"Arara No harm done." You came face to abdomen with a soldier, your neck craned upward to come to stare to star with Admiral Aokiji.

"Sir!" You saluted.

"At ease little lady. You're excused." You walked past you to go inside where you'd just come out of.

After a few minutes, you walked along the deck, a few people noticing you and saluting you. It wasn't something you were used to yet, you didn't think you ever could get used to it. Leaning on the railing you allowed your thoughts to drift along with the gentle breeze.

"Y/N-San! Here you are! I was looking for you." And now your head and heart were focusing on the main bane of your existence right now. Captain Koby.

"Hello, sir. You saluted." He chuckled and shook his head and walked toward you.

"You don't have to salute me Y/N-San. We're friends." You we're too tired and worn down to even argue. "I heard you got called to Garp's office. What did you two talk about."

Suddenly remembering that embarrassing encounter you turned your head away from the boy's gaze and simply shrugged your shoulders.

"Nothing important."

"I see."

Then he was quiet, it unnerved you. Normally he would try to fill the silence with a story about himself or one of his friends.

"Y/N-San. What do you know about Straw-Hat Luffy?"

Well, that's a different topic.

"Other than being the late Portgas D. Ace's little brother, the son of the revolutionary Monkey D. Dragon and Garp's grandson...not much."

He stared at you then you could feel his eyes on you. You returned his stare and felt your heart beating against your ribs like a battering ram.

"You're nicer than you let on Y/N-San."

"Come again?"

"Most people say; he's a menace to society. He's too dangerous to be left alive. He's a pirate our enemy. You focused on family...why?"

You turned your gaze back to the waves.

"Family helps make or break who you become. Whether it's a royal, commoner, marine, or a pirate."

"What about those with no families?"

"They usually become victims of circumstance. But there are those who rise above what they've been through and achieve great things good or bad."

It became quiet again. But you couldn't help but notice him moving closer to you until your shoulders were almost touching. You were torn between wanting to move away and wanting to lean into his warmth.

"Captain Koby...why did you ask what I knew about Straw-Hat?" He shrugged his shoulders.

"Merely curious I guess."

You notice his legs shaking and just how much he started to lean.

"Let's get you back to the infirmary Captain. Looks like you'll be back to light duty in the next few days."

"Ehehehe. It's all thanks to your great care Y/N-San."

You grabbed his arm and placed it on your shoulder. Trying to ignore the proximity to him was impossible at this point.

"Y-Y/N-San?!"

"Your legs are trembling, and you are leaning heavily on the railing, you pushed yourself too hard today. I'm afraid it's bed rest for the remainder of the day, sir."

"Koby. Please Y/N-San."

He leaned on you some more, and the two of you remained silent as you walked back to sickbay.

<Koby's POV>

After Koby had woken up, and he and you had had your little heart to heart he realized then just how in love he was with you. But his heart was conflicted.

In order to change the Navy from the inside, he needed to climb the ranks and become someone no one could ignore. But he couldn't do it alone, he needed good people he could trust to climb with him.

He'd finally hit a breakthrough in his observation haki when he was rescuing everyone.

I guess the only way to grow is to fight more enemies and be brought to the brink of death or desperation.

He remembered being exhausted his vision becoming blurred, and his body becoming heavier by the millisecond. When he could no longer sense anyone in danger he allowed himself to fall to the ground.

There had been so many voices; most of them asking to be saved, some asking for help with the rescue efforts, and others trying to remain calm amongst the chaos. With his haki in hyperdrive, he could even feel your thoughts many kilometers away. Even in chaos your thoughts and aura were a steady anchor for him to focus on when he felt weak.

Please let no one die today.

That one thought kept him going making sure he hadn't missed anyone. When he'd allowed himself to relax he let the darkness take over his mind; maybe he'd be able to go one night without feeling everyone around him. He didn't know how long he'd been out, but then he felt a familiar warmth. Your aura came to him as the color violet, but a dark black had started to invade it. And he realized you were worried about something. Then he heard you.

"CAPTAIN KOBY!! IF YOU CAN HEAR ME PLEASE MAKE A SOUND!!"

You were looking for him! And you were worried about him? He tried to do something, anything to make his voice heard. But he had no energy to.

"Maybe you should say your name he may answer you then."

Trafalgar Law? This bastard was responsible for this whole mess and he was now trying to get you to join him.

His possessiveness gave him just enough energy to put himself between you and the warlord, and tell him to screw off. The violet color of your aura finally came to light, breaking through the black that had started to take over. He never saw himself as liking the color violet but on you, it was absolutely beautiful.

He remembered hearing everything, while he was unconscious. He was grateful to have so many people care about him and worry about him. They all had their own unique colors, but Koby had never met anyone with your color before. Grount was all fire, strength, and passion he blazed like an inferno his red was warm and comforting and a little too bright sometimes. Helmeppo's green reminded him of a mountain, steadfast, sturdy, and stubborn. Garp's was a blue, all he felt around the man was incredible loneliness and sadness. Understandably so.

Your aura emitted your cool calm demeanor, along with your intelligence and creative side. When you had come in and had spoken to him, even though no tears fell from your eyes, he could feel your soul's sorrow and guilt.

"Please...I need to say sorry. I didn't mean what I said to you before l'm..." he felt it then a pain that you were trying so hard to keep inside and not let anyone touch. "...I'm a coward. A broken coward. So please Captain Koby...please wake up."

Koby wanted to spring awake and take you in his arms, and squeeze that pain away and fill it with love and happiness. But his body was nowhere near ready to wake up.

Finally, after waking up, he was able to contemplate a lot about his life. But you being there all day, he was constantly distracted by you. You'd had a lot of orphans coming to say thank you to you. Something he didn't know was that you'd requested the orphans stay on this ship until their housing could be rebuilt. Seeing your eyes go from being focused on work to the kids he couldn't help the smile on his face.

And now walking with you to the infirmary he allowed himself to be completely delved into your violet aura smiling the whole way. If Grount or Helmeppo saw him they would surely give him hell until he died.

Hey guys!!! Glad to be back!!!! It's amazing what a month does for your kids when you work with them. I will be updating slowly during the remaining school year but I was feeling inspired to update for Koby today. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter!!!! Look forward to the next update until next time!!

Stay safe and healthy ❤️❤️❤️