One-shot just in time for Halloween. Based (roughly) on this prompt: Imagine person A from your OTP getting separated from their friends while they were inside a haunted house. Now imagine them clinging to the next person they see in fright and that person is B (who was also separated from their friends).

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or the characters, they belong to Eiichiro Oda.

Easing Fears

Nami had a love/hate relationship with Halloween. She loved the parties, the costumes, the candied applies, and cider. Her friends called her a witch year round, so Halloween was her night to shine in many ways.

But then there were the ghost stories and haunted houses and she swears if Usopp hangs rubber tarantulas from her ceiling again, she was going to kill him. That man was a bigger coward than she was, he had no right to torment her.

Simply put, she didn't like scary things. Monsters, ghosts, goblins. And don't get her started on the zombies. Just the thought of them made her shiver with fear.

She didn't care for gore either, that was Robin's thing. She could stomach it to a point, but some bloody effects had threatened to make her retch in the past. A severed limb – okay. An eye hanging from a socket – cringe-worthy but not horrible. Entrails hanging from the stomach with endless blood and bones jutting from flesh at unnatural angles – please just put them back.

So, give her the costumes and parties and cider (preferably spiked), and leave out all the monsters and terrors and things that go bump in the night.

Except… There was one thing, and one thing alone, that could make her toss out her fear (or pretend to) and willingly subject herself to her worst nightmares.

Money.

"Five-hundred dollars," she breathed out. Her eyes were shut as she centered herself. Her hands trembled, so she jumped and shook out the nerves, repeating "Five hundred" to herself.

"You can just chicken out," Zoro said beside her. She opened an eye to glare. "I'm just sayin', save yourself the trouble, call off my debt, and we'll go have a few pints."

"I am not cancelling your debt," she said firmly. She shut her eyes again. "Five-hundred dollars. Just one quick maze, and I'll have another five-hundred dollars from you."

"Suit yourself. Don't come crying to me when you chicken out at the first zomie."

She shot him another glare and then returned to her mental preparations. "Five-hundred dollars."

Every Halloween her friends go to the carnivals and haunted houses set up around the city. They'd play and scream and drink. She would usually hang back at the haunted houses, Usopp keeping her company. Some she would venture into, the ones that appeared low quality and hopefully would be short. She still got scared, but it was tempered. The elaborately done haunted houses, the ones that looked like they could have gone out and harvested real beating hearts to sit on that table, those she tried to avoid.

That year the city was throwing a large festival on the outskirts of town. There was a pumpkin patch, a Ferris wheel, booths filled with games and food, and the crowning glory of the event – a massive, three-acre, haunted corn maze.

The maze was dimly lit by eerie orange lanterns along the path. Blood trailed over flattened stalks. Dismembered bodies hung from the walls, stuck out into the walkways, a trail of death. Blood stained sickles and scythes could be found hanging near bodies or propped against bales of hay. Deep into the maze there was a massive harvester that would come to life as maze-goers passed, eliciting screams as it lurched forward unexpectedly. Its metal prongs were coated with blood and more dismembered corpses were skewered on the ends or wedged between prongs or under wheel. Actors in masks raced through the corn, popping up here and there with sickles in hand, and if you listened carefully, you could hear maniacal laughter over the sound of a chainsaw that made Nami's blood curdle in her veins.

She knew there was more to the maze, there was always more. The brochure mentioned zombies and a haunted barn along with the grizzly mass murder scenes. She really did not want to go inside.

"Five-hundred dollars," she forced herself to repeat when she felt that all familiar urge to flee. She would have Zoro and Robin and Sanji with her. Usopp was cowering behind the blond already, whimpering about some disease that wouldn't let him go inside. She didn't have high hopes he'd make it through. Luffy had a turkey leg in hand, staring off into the maze with that far-off look that meant he was about to take off shouting adventure and laughing in the face of danger. She had no hope he'd be there for her to latch onto when she was afraid. Franky had Chopper who nearly passed out when he spotted the first corpse near the entrance. The teen was off buying cotton candy, far away from the disturbing field.

"What if one of those actors turns out to be an actual serial killer using the field to hide their mangled corpses?" Robin asked chillingly, a finger on her lip as she considered it. Her lip quirked and Nami felt all blood drain from her face. "That would be quite fascinating. I hope we make it out alive."

"Please don't say that, Robin!" Nami shrieked.

"I can't wait to have my debt canceled," Zoro chuckled.

She prepared to punch him on the back of his head, but her hackles raised when someone came up behind her, their breath wafting over her neck as they quietly laughed. It was an icy, murderous chuckle punctuated with a raspy voice whispering "I can't wait to get my hands on you. Slice your pretty skin."

She screamed and leapt, wrapping herself around Zoro. The laugh turned to a loud cackle, and she turned to glare at Eustass Kid and his maniacal grin.

"Ya look like yer about to shit yerself," he laughed. His face was painted with scars, he wore a red lens in his left eye that hid the white, making it appear to well with blood. His lips and teeth were dripping red, a trail of blood leading from the corner of his mouth. His left arm was a grotesque metal contraption that ended with sharp saws, splattered with blood, for his fingertips. Behind him stood his best friend, Killer, dressed in bloodstained overalls with a sickle in each hand, and a bloodstained hockey mask hiding his face.

"You're working this!?" she asked incredulously, squeezing tighter to Zoro.

"Can't. Breathe. Nami." Zoro gasped as he pried at her arms.

She didn't let go.

"Yep," Kid said with a knowing lilt. "Get paid to make people scream. Dream job right there."

She really, really did not want to go in now.

"Let's go, Kid," Killer said, nudging his friend toward the maze with the back of a blade.

"Alright, alright, I'm goin'," he grumbled, turning to entrance. He waved back with a sickly wide grin. "Be seein' ya, Kitten," he purred.

"Five-hundred dollars," she said, voice cracking along with her resolve. "Five-hundred dollars."

"Nami," Robin began, pointing to the man desperately smacking at her arm, "I believe we're going to have a real dead body with us very soon."

She looked to Zoro to find his face turning blue, and released with a nervous laugh. "Sorry, Zoro."

"Witch," he rasped out. He bent over his knees, clutching his throat as he sucked in lungfuls of air. "Just chicken out and save yourself the trouble."

"No," she said firmly. "I will do this." Her friends looked at her skeptically. She hastily tacked on, "For the money."

Zoro rolled his eyes at her, but stood straight, prepared to escort her through. "Then let's get this over with."

"Where's Luffy?" Usopp spoke up, prompting their group to swivel their heads in search of their wayward friend. Somewhere off in the distance they could hear him laughing and shouting. He had run in ahead of them. "Nevermind," Usopp groaned.

"Nami-swan," Sanji called to her as he skipped up to walk at her side. "I'll be your shining knight and protect you in there. So feel free to latch onto me any time you need to."

She knew where his mind was at – the same place it always was – but still she appreciated the gesture, despite the ulterior motives he might have.

At the entrance to the corn maze stood a man dressed as a skeleton. He perked up as soon as he saw them and waved. "Nami-san! Are you sure you can do this?" Their friend Brook asked, the much older man lifting his mask enough for her to see his wrinkled smile. He was working the carnival as entertainment, splitting his time between the corn maze and his music performances. He wouldn't pass up a paying gig, even if he wasn't a fan of creepy things, too. His voice pitched low, deadly serious. "They say there are things in the field no human would dare lay their eyes on. Evil things."

"Just shut up, Brook," she snapped. She didn't need anyone else scaring her off.

He grinned and stood tall, his mask slipping back into place. He dug around in his pocket for a moment, and then pulled out a rolled up piece of paper. "If you're certain, then here is the map for the maze."

"Nami, you cheater," Zoro growled as she snatched the map from their friend's hand. "What'd you pay Brook for this favor?"

"I asked to see her panties," Brook chuckled while Nami drank in the layout of the maze, every wrong turn, every right turn. There were four separate entrances, their paths crossing and merging, weaving through the field to the massive haunted house built at the end that served as the final exit. "She beat me, and took off ten percent of my debt for the favor." He turned back to her, hand held out. "Unfortunately I can't let you take that in, Nami-san. If you're found with it, it could be trouble."

"I understand," she smiled, taking one last look before handing it back. "Thank you for the help, Brook. I have it all memorized. I should be fine."

"Good," he nodded and stepped out of the path, waving for them to enter. "Then I bid you a pleasant evening. Do watch your hands. A crazed maniac has been known to take them."

"How exhilarating," snickered Robin.

"I'm going to die," said Nami and Usopp in unison.

Five-hundred dollars, she reminded herself as she stepped into the corn, trembling with fear as her eyes darted around, searching for the first sign of anything frightening. She heard an echoing laugh somewhere up ahead and grasped Zoro and Sanji by the arms, pulling them to act as shields on either side of her. She was going to do this. No matter what. She would get her money.

Law loved Halloween. Out of all the holidays in the world, it was the only one he would celebrate without encouragement from his friends. He didn't care for the children screaming through the streets demanding candy that would only prompt them to scream louder through the streets until they crashed from their sugar high, but he did enjoy scaring them witless if given the chance. He could dress up as a monster or a hero, be whatever he wished to be, and no one looked at him strangely when he walked around with a severed arm and bleeding heart. Any other day, and they'd call the cops.

Every year he and his friends made sure to visit every haunted house they could. Shachi and Bepo hated them, yet still they went and Law took a great deal of pleasure watching them scream and cower and race toward the exit. This year they were at the corn maze, prepared to spend the whole night getting lost among the cornstalks hiding gruesome bodies and murderers.

They started at the northern entrance. Five minutes in and Bepo was already clinging to Law while Penguin had Shachi latched onto his back, nearly strangling him after they walked by a thresher spraying blood and guts into a pile on the side of the path. An actor was pushing more body parts into the machine, red sprayed higher and farther as he pushed and shoved a torso in. Then he looked at them, pointed with a crazed grin and gave a clear threat in a gravelly voice. "You're next."

A second later a man came screaming through the corn, sickles raised high, and made to attack.

Shachi screamed and refused to release Penguin, even after the other actor ran back into the field to wait for the next victim.

Law hardly batted an eye. The blood spray wasn't the right color. It was gory and effective to those who didn't know better, but he could tell it was merely red dyed syrup, maybe a drop or two of purple to deepen the color. He could do better.

Somewhere in the distance a scream carried over the field and Law stopped to frown.

"I know that scream," he muttered, his friends halting with him to listen.

A second scream echoed, just as recognizable as the first, followed by a laugh that would give him a headache if he wasn't careful.

"Straw Hat and his friends are here," Penguin said.

Law hummed and took off at their steady pace again, turning a corner when they came to it. It was a three acre maze, he probably wouldn't run into them.

"I hope Nami-san's okay," Shachi said when they heard her scream again. It was bloodcurdlingly high and Law found himself wondering the same. It wasn't his concern, though. Her friends would take care of her.

A half an hour in, he realized his assurances that she'd be fine were far from correct.

He had turned his back on his friends for merely a few seconds. There was a pile of dismembered body parts at the end of a small alcove cut into the cornstalks. He was curious about how they were made. He was disappointed when his inspection revealed the pile was a foam cut out painted to look like multiple limbs. He had to admit the artist who made it was talented, they looked realistic from a distance with the dim lighting provided by the lanterns. He had expected to pick up individual arms and feet, not a whole block of foam. When he turned back around, his friends were gone.

He rolled his eyes and released a disgruntled sigh. What are those guys up to? He thought to himself as he carried on down the path. It wasn't like them to go off without him, not when one of them liked to latch onto him for support. He didn't think they could get very far, but every passing minute came with no sign of them.

But he found her.

She was sitting with her legs tucked to her chest, rocking back and further as she muttered to herself. Her shoulders trembled. Her knuckles were white as her fingers dug into her arms. Her face was hidden by her legs and hair, and he could hear the sniffles that meant she was crying. Her behavior wasn't what stood out to him, though.

Where are her friends? He looked around the stalks of corn, the area surprisingly calm. He couldn't hear any snickers from Luffy. No footsteps coming their way. No shouts for Nami to signal they were searching for her. He knew her too well to know she wasn't lost, she couldn't be lost. She had even managed to find a spot in the maze that wasn't overridden with gore and death, at least it looked that way. If she looked closely, there were hands peeking out from the base of the corn, faint but definitely there.

He watched her shiver, a whimper reached him that tugged at his heart. He liked Nami. She was intelligent and kind, but stubbornly fierce. She was someone he was comfortable around, and he hated seeing her there, looking pitiful as her fears claimed her. He was almost angry at the sight. She shouldn't have been left alone.

With a heavy sigh, he took a step toward her. The leaves of the flattened stalks of the path rustled with his movement and Nami stiffened immediately. She drew her legs in tighter, her arms moved up to wrap around her head, and he clearly heard another scared whimper. He didn't let her fear deter him.

"Zoro," she moaned, "that better be you."

He frowned as he crouched down in front of her. "I'm not Zoro-ya."

Her head shot up at his voice. He could see the wet sheen on her cheeks from her tears, her face was pale where it wasn't a splotchy pink. She was shocked, but it morphed into a look of sheer relief as more tears began to fall. She was happy to see him, and he didn't know what to think when he felt happy to know that.

"Where are your friends?" he asked.

"I don't know," she whined. "One minute they were there, the next they were gone. Even Sanji-kun."

That was strange. Zoro getting lost was to be expected, though Nami usually kept a firm grip on him to prevent that, especially in a haunted corn maze. The others were better at staying in a group, though Robin might wander off, taken by the effects like he was. And Luffy had probably run off on his own early in the night, but that was normal. Sanji being gone was especially out of the ordinary. He wouldn't leave Nami's side for anything, not when there was a chance she would cling to him in her fear. He would have been her brave knight, or some other wistfully romantic character in his personal fairy tale.

And then he remembered how his own friends vanished into thin air, leaving him alone until he found her.

They're up to something, he thought as realization hit him.

There had been a number of times their friends had seen to conveniently leaving them alone together after they picked up on the fact he liked Nami, and in a way that could be construed as not entirely platonic. They'd all meet at a bar for drinks and suddenly he'd be left to walk her home. He'd run into her at the hospital, nearly on a weekly basis with how often Luffy or Zoro tended to get injured. Her friends would be with her out in the hall, and when he'd stop to talk to them, they'd find excuses to run off, leaving them alone. And then there was the house party when they somehow were locked out together on the back patio. She beat her friends bloody for that one.

"Are you by yourself?" she asked, breaking him out of his musings as she glanced around the area.

"My friends conveniently abandoned me when my back was turned," he explained. She looked at him with a deep, tired frown. It seemed she had come to the same realization as he had.

She didn't have a chance to lend comment before something rustled in the corn behind her. She stiffened while he looked behind her, waiting, expressionless, for someone to pop out. The rustling grew louder, closer. Nami whimpered but didn't move. She was frozen in fear. He watched as a metal arm slid out between the stalks, fingers of blunt saws stretching and fluttering until one gently ran down Nami's back.

"I found you," a gravelly voice sang. "And now I'm going to slice that pretty skin to shreds."

She screamed at the touch and voice, and launched herself forward. Law didn't have a chance to catch himself before she latched onto him, her arms wrapped around his torso and face buried to his chest. He fell back with a quiet grunt, an arm quickly winding around her shoulders to hold onto her as they sat on the ground. He glowered at the corn stalks as they parted to reveal her apparent stalker for the night, his painted grin bloody and impossibly wide.

"Scaredy-cat," Kid chuckled down to her, nudging her foot with his. Nami pulled her legs in and tightened her hold on Law. Her head turned enough to glare at the other man, anger warring with fear as she trembled in Law's hold. Kid glanced to Law, a brow raised in mild curiosity. "What the hell are you doin' with her out here? Thought she was with her friends."

"She was," Law answered with a shrug.

Kid hummed, his smirk turning twisted as he stared down at them. He chuckled quietly, and then the sound grew louder with his mirth. Law glowered at the man as his head fell back with a loud cackle.

"What the hell's so funny?" Law growled.

"If I had known you two were gettin' busy out here, I wouldn't've interrupted," Kid said, grinning down at them.

"We weren't – "

"Hey, I ain't judgin' what gets ya off," Kid interrupted. "Hell, if I were in your place, I'd have Kitten under me right now." Kid winked at her, ignoring Law's sneer as he pulled her in closer. Disgusting creep. "But if yer gonna fuck out here, better hide in the corn. I don't wanna hear parents bitchin' if they find ya buck ass naked in the middle of the path."

"You're a sick man, Eustass-ya," Law sighed. He turned to Nami, nudging her to move away so he could stand. "Come on. I'll help you find your friends."

"Aww, how sweet," Kid purred mockingly as Law helped Nami stand. "Ya get to play the good guy, Trafalgar." He snorted when he received a raised middle finger in response. He was in too good a mood to care what Law did. He looked to Nami then, grin impossibly wide again. "If it's yer friends you're lookin' for, though, yer better off comin' with me. I know the grounds like the back of my hand." He held up the metal contraption with a sharp laugh. "I'll take better care of ya out here."

"Bite me," Nami snapped.

"Happily," Kid said with a brutal grin.

Law wanted nothing more than to punch that grin off his face, but before he could, Nami surprised him as her ire melted into a coy smile. Both men watched as she sauntered closer to Kid. Law's brow rose when she crooked a finger, beckoning for Kid to bend down. When he was in reach, grasped the collar of his bloodstained shirt, held him still, and slammed her knee into his groin.

"You fucking bitch," he growled as he slumped to the ground, cupping his injured sack.

Nami leapt away and grabbed Law by the arm, taking off down the path before Kid could catch his breath. "That's what you get for terrorizing me all night, jerk!" she called back over her shoulder as they ran around a corner.

"That was the most beautiful thing I've seen tonight, Nami-ya," Law said with a snort. Some part of him wanted to pity Kid, if only because that looked horribly painful. But it was well deserved if the man was tormenting Nami all night. Law did make a mental note to avoid giving Nami a reason to do the same to him.

"I should have done it sooner," she huffed. They slowed after a few more turns, coming to a steady pace as Nami searched for any sign of danger, or their friends. Her hand didn't relinquish her hold on his arm once. "Remind me to do the same to Zoro when I find him."

Law snorted again. "Did Zoro-ya drag you in here tonight?"

"Sort of," she sighed, finally turning to him once she saw they were safe. "It's a bet." Law's brow quirked up in question. She sighed again. "If I can make it through this whole maze without chickening out, then he owes me another five-hundred on top of his debt."

"I take it if you back out and leave before the end, then his debt will be cancelled?"

"Yep. I refuse to let him out of that."

"How much is he up to?"

"Four thousand with interest." She looked smug until an actor jumped from the corn, sickles waving in the air as he cackled madly. Nami leapt toward him and wrapped her arms tight around his neck with a startled shriek. She was gasping for air, shivering with fear against him. He was perfectly calm, even though he couldn't breathe.

"Nami-ya," he rasped, tapping her arm as they watched the actor, soaked head to toe in fake blood, vanish around the corner in search of other victims. "Can't breathe."

"Ah, sorry," she said, looking sheepish as she slowly loosened her hold.

"It's fine. Bepo and Shachi do the same thing. Penguin nearly passed out earlier, Shachi was strangling him so tightly." Law smirked down at her as she took slow breaths, calming down rapidly once they were alone again. She let out a tired chuckle, her nerves too frazzled to allow for more. "Ready?"

She took another deep breath and nodded. He began to lead the way along when Nami grabbed hold of his arm, wrapping herself around it as they walked. He glanced down, his face closely guarded, and decided it didn't hurt to let her take some comfort in his presence. At least it wouldn't if her nails weren't digging into his bicep.

"Nami-ya, I'd like to leave here with my arm still intact," he said, reaching to loosen her fingers with his other hand. "It's already starting to go numb." She pouted up at him, and he let out a heavy sigh, relenting to her wishes. "At least let up enough for blood flow."

Her grip loosened minutely. A quick flex of his hand got the feeling back to his fingertips.

"Is this really worth the money?" He asked as they walked along.

"Of course," she huffed. "Especially since that idiot wandered off, leaving me alone," she continued, eyes narrowing on the path ahead. "I'm doubling his debt for this stunt."

Law snorted. "And kicking him in the balls."

"Right, that too," she laughed. They reached a fork, the path branching in three different directions. Nami paused, looked around, and with a nod she turned them to the right.

"I take it you know where we're going?" he asked.

"Brook's working the east entrance. I bribed him to let me look at the staff's map so I wouldn't get lost in case I panicked."

"Smart," Law said with an impressed nod.

They walked in silence for a while, only punctuated when an actor leapt out or they came upon another grizzly seen. Nami would shriek and bury her face against his arm, trembling uncontrollably.

"They're just actors," he pointed out after ten minutes of the same. "You do know they won't harm you?"

"I know," she huffed, "but what if –"

"I think you've been listening to Nico-ya too much," he interrupted. "Aside from Eustass-ya, I doubt any of these people have considered homicide in any way."

"I know," she said with a weary sigh. "But the effects –"

"Are cheap Styrofoam cut outs," he finished. She stiffened when he spotted an arm poking out of the corn ahead, and led her to it. Without a thought, he picked it up and held it in front of her. "See? The color of the blood isn't even right. And if an arm was severed in this way, bits of muscle wouldn't be falling out like this," he said, pointing to tendrils of 'flesh' that were merely red ribbons.

She snorted at his appraising comment. "Leave it to you to judge the realism." He knew his point had been made when she relaxed. Nami continued to keep an arm wrapped around his, but he was no longer in danger of having it torn to shreds or ripped from his body. "It's still scary," she argued futilely with a cute pout.

"To you," he teased, tossing the arm back into the corn and pulling her along. "It's too easy to scare you."

Her pout deepened as she looked forward with a huff. At least she was calmer, though she did continue to jump when someone would pop out of the corn or a blood curdling scream would echo over the field.

That all changed when they reached the haunted house at the end.

From the outside, the black barn looked innocuous save for the dismembered body parts and skeletons hanging outside. The windows were painted over, but through the cracks you could see lights strobing, white and red and blue. Fog rolled from the door when the tarp covering it parted as people entered.

Nami stiffened again, her nails dug uncomfortably into his bicep. He winced and pried at her fingers to no avail.

"Remember, Nami-ya, they're just actors. None of it's real," he consoled plucking at her hand until she loosened it with a deep breath.

"And on the other side is my money," she reminded herself. She shut her eyes and took a few more deep breaths through the nose, relaxing further. "Five-hundred dollars and a doubled debt."

"A hopefully someone waiting to be kicked between the legs," he added with a quiet chuckle.

"That too," she giggled, looking up at him with a sincerely grateful smile. "Thanks, Law."

"Don't thank me yet," he said, tugging her toward the structure. "You still have to get through this last part."

As soon as they stepped through the curtain, a low, ominous cackle echoed around them. They were in a cramped hallway that forced them to the left, through a blast of chill air and a hiss of fog. It was pitch black and he became acutely aware of how close the woman beside him was, her body pressed tight to his arm in the small space. He could feel her chest rise and fall rapidly as she tried to stave off her panic.

She screamed out of nowhere, high enough to make his ears ring. He tried to glare, but he knew she couldn't see, so he added a surly growl to emphasize it.

"Something touched me," she whispered, attempting to pull him closer, if that were even possible.

"It's probably your mind playing tricks on you in the dark," he sighed, pulling her forward so they didn't linger. He wanted out of the dark, too. His steps faltered when he felt a hand grasp his hip. Nami was on the opposite side and he could clearly feel her hands clinging to his arm. He hastened them along, no longer doubting what Nami felt.

She screamed when another hand touched her. "I felt it again! It's not my imagination!"

"I know," he growled, unconsciously shivering when something brushed over his ear. "We're almost out," he said, though he had no idea how far the cramped hallway would take them. "Just bear with it."

She whined, but didn't argue as she squeezed his arm. She knew there was no turning back.

He rushed them forward until they broke through a black curtain, into a wider hall lit an eerie purple. Graves lined the side of the path.

"Oh no," Nami whispered. "Please not zombies."

"Actors," he reminded. "Not real zombies."

"I know, but… they're so… gross." She shivered with disgust.

He couldn't help but chuckle and took her along. The floor climbed up a short flight of three stairs to a wooden walkway that ran between piles of dirt and tombstones. The dirt shifted and roiled. He expected an actor to pop up, but the dirt merely settled. Nami tensed every time she caught movement, and then relaxed with a rush of air when nothing appeared.

Of course, just when they thought they were safe, a trap door burst open in the walkway before them. Nami screamed as an actor clawed at the wood, reaching for them. She forced his arm to wrap around her, burying her face to his chest as she whimpered.

"Make him go away. Make him go away." She whispered over and over.

He bent down, eyes not leaving the zombie. "It's just an actor," he reminded quietly in her ear. With a few more groans, the zombie folded himself back into his hiding spot, the trap door shutting for them to pass. "There. He's gone."

"You sure?"

"Yes. It's safe."

Nami took a deep breath to calm herself, and with a nod pulled away. She looked up, her eyes wet but she had yet to begin crying again, and forced herself to smile. He returned it with a smirk, kept his arm around her shoulders, and held her to his side as they continued along.

The path carried on with more zombies popping from the ground and walkway. One reached for Nami, undeterred when Law pulled her closer and glared. When the actor managed to grab her wrist, she screamed, spun, and decked the guy right in the jaw. With a startled shout, the actor stumbled backwards into the open grave he had leapt out of to scare them, and Law couldn't hold back his chuckle as he heard the man curse.

"You're not supposed to hit them, you know," he said, amused with her reaction.

"He touched me," she argued stubbornly.

"He's just doing his job."

"He didn't have to grab me to do it," said firmly. She had a point, but punching a guy wasn't warranted, though it was incredibly amusing and a part of him hoped to see her do it again.

"You might be banned," he mused as they carried on their way.

"Like I care," Nami huffed. "I doubt that's the first time an actor's been hit, though."

"True. You did kick Eustass-ya in the groin earlier, after all."

"By someone other than me," she snickered, sticking her tongue out at him.

As they walked through the winding corridors, Nami began to relax, almost growing used to the zombies and monsters popping out to scare her. She would flinch and squeeze her arms tight around his waist, but her screams weren't quite as loud and the trembling afterward was markedly less.

Law knew they had to be near the end. The barn wasn't that big. He felt they might make it out without any more difficulty. At least he thought so until a loud cackle rang through the halls from up ahead. He didn't think anything of it as he eyed a black curtain a few feet away, leading to the next hallway of horrors, but Nami froze where she stood.

He glanced down when he realized she was shaking again. She wasn't gripping him tightly like she had earlier, merely standing there, frozen, gaze distant and teary as she trembled with fear. There were no zombies near them. No monsters. Looking around the dimly lit hall, he found no spiders or bugs or other props that might make her wary. The only thing was the ringing laughter.

"I can't," she said suddenly, taking a step back.

Her behavior was odd. He knew she was a coward, but this wasn't the same fear she had been showing before. Her skin was pale, ghostly white. She looked to be reliving her worst nightmare. Trauma etched on her face.

The laugh grew louder, an echoing, guttural Shahahahaha that sent Nami back another step, shaking her head. Her breathing became rapid, quivering. Panic was setting in. It was similar to how she looked when he found her, but he knew in his gut it was worse.

"No," she whispered. Her next step back forced his arm to drop away from her as he stayed where he was, watching her in confusion.

"What is it? It's just a laugh." His brows furrowed as she shook her head.

"I know that laugh. I can't." She looked up at him pleadingly, more tears brimming her eyes. "I can't," she repeated.

"Whose laugh is it?" He turned to her, carefully reaching out to grasp her shoulders. She was shivering uncontrollably, and her tears finally began to fall.

"His," was all she said, begging he understand without having to utter the name.

She didn't have to say another word.

Arlong.

"He's in prison," he reminded. His hands went to her cheeks as he stepped closer, thumbs brushing away her tears. He knew this fear, this trauma all too well.

"But that's his laugh," she said, shaking even more. Her eyes were wide when it carried over them again. She tried to pull away, to turn and run. She would gladly take zombies and an angry Eustass Kid over a monster from her past.

"Are you certain?" He asked, urging her to stay and listen. He pulled her back to him, leveled his face with hers so she could only look at him, nothing else. He could hear someone coming from the path behind them. They were in the way, but Nami wasn't going forward, and he wasn't about to let her run back. He glanced over her shoulder to see the next group heading their way, and then looked around the hall for somewhere to stand out of the way.

To the left of the wooden walkway was a small alcove, painted with fake blood and piled with bones. A fake arm reached out from the dirt, but otherwise it was empty, isolated. He grabbed her hand and tugged her with him as he jumped down. She tried to struggle, to run, but he pulled her back in.

"Nami-ya, are you certain it's his laugh?" He asked again, brushing his palms over her cheeks as he tried to calm her.

"Yes…" Her answer came warily, uncertain as the laugh echoed again. Law listened closely. It had changed slightly from before, this time he heard Shihahaha, not much different but enough to know it wasn't consistently the same. "I think…" The next sounded more stuttered, abrupt. A Sha- ha- ha- ha that trailed off weakly. The actor couldn't pick a laugh, but he found one that resembled Arlong's just enough to trigger Nami. If he found the guy, he'd punch himself for putting her through that. "Maybe?" Nami said, even more uncertain as the noise changed.

The next one was like the first and Nami jumped at the resemblance, but Law was prepared and tugged her against his chest, letting her bury her face in his black hoodie as his arms wrapped tight around her head.

"It's just an actor," he reassured quietly. A hand grazed through her hair calmly, patiently, easing her tremors as her hands clutched to his shirt. She took a deep breath and let it out with a stifled sob. He held her tighter. The next laugh was another mockery of the first, close but not quite the same. "See? He keeps changing it."

She took another deep breath and sank against him. "I'm going to kill my friends for this," he heard her whisper.

Law snorted. "I'll help you bury the bodies."

Her shoulders shook again, this time with a quiet laugh. She pulled away enough for him to see her tired smile and tear stained cheeks. "Thank you, Law."

He nodded in response, too taken with the way her eyes glistened to speak. She let out a shuddering sigh when he ran a palm over her cheek. Her smile grew warm, calm. She shut her eyes and took another deep breath, centering herself with his support.

It was broken when the actor got the laugh right again.

Before she could panic, he pulled her in, his lips finding hers. Her eyes went wide with shock at the unexpected kiss, but still she returned it. When he pulled away, he couldn't help but smirk at her continued shock. Her hand went to brush over her slightly parted lips.

"What was that for?" She asked breathlessly. Too overcome by his actions, she didn't even react at the next laugh, once again too similar to the first.

"I thought you might prefer that as a distraction," he responded, smile growing as she blinked up at him. "Did you?"

It took her a moment to process what he asked, but finally she nodded dumbly and he took that as a cue to kiss her again.

She always smelled of tangerines. Any time he smelled that tangy, citrus scent, he thought of her. There was a hint of caramel and spice to her that night, the scents of the season, but they were easily overwhelmed by the citrus. As he kissed her, his nose pressed to her cheek as their lips parted to teasing flicks of tongue, he could smell the lingering saltiness of her tears that only urged him to hold her tighter.

She was cute when she was afraid. Teary-eyed and shivering, clinging to him for support. He was all too happy to keep her close, comfort her as she needed, but he hated seeing the exaggerated fear at actors dressed at zombies give way to real, definable terror at a reminder of someone truly dangerous. It was one thing to see her startled, it was another to see her fearing for her life, fearing dark memories. That fear he refused to let linger. That fear he would take away.

"Better?" He whispered a hair's breadth from her lips. He smiled at her answering nod, gave her another peck, and pulled away. "Then let's go find our friends and teach them real fear."

Her grin was absolutely terrifying. He loved it.

Slipping his hand in hers, he led her back to the path. Her grip tightened with every laugh, but she didn't run. He caught her whispering "Money and murder" under her breath as they stepped to the curtain. He stifled his chuckle and pulled the curtain away.

It was a room full of murderous clowns with the most twistedly disturbed grins he'd ever seen.

There was one with pink feathers, and he decided he didn't want to linger there any longer than necessary.

"Run?" He asked, glancing down to see Nami grimacing at the scene.

"Please," she nodded.

He pulled Nami behind him as they sprinted through the room. She clung to his arm when they passed the clown with the eerily similar laugh, hissing like a cornered cat when he reached for her with his fanged, shark-like grin, dripping with blood and gore. The clown with the feathered coat chuckled a low Fufufu, clawing at the wood path from his spot on the ground, nails and fingers painted red with blood.

He didn't like that clown's chuckle, either. It was out of habit he flipped the guy off as they ran by.

When they broke through the next curtain, Law had half hoped they would be through the whole barn, but he cursed under his breath when they merely entered another darkly lit hall. It looked relatively safe. Cold, but empty save for plastic trees lining the path, willowy branches hanging over them. He slowed them so they could catch their breath and move along at an even pace again.

The path trembled beneath their feet and Nami screamed as she had earlier. He nearly fell forward when she leapt onto his back, shrieking for him to get her out of there. At least he was guessing that was what she said. It was hard to distinguish words when literally screamed in his ear. Ignoring the ringing threatening to leave him deaf, he steadied Nami on his back and sent her a sharp glare. His annoyance didn't last, his eyes widening at the beady red eyes and dripping wet fangs lowering onto them.

He was wrong. They weren't trees. They were spider legs.

"Law! Don't just stare! I don't want to be eaten!" Nami yelled, shaking him out of his shock.

"It's just a prop," he reasoned, though even he had to admit it was a decent one.

"I don't care! It's creepy!" Throughout her yelling, one of the legs lifted from the side of the path, and she stiffened with a strangled scream when its hairs brushed against her cheek. "I don't want to die like this!"

Law couldn't help but chuckle at the theatrics.

"Tarantula bites aren't fatal to humans."

"Tarantulas aren't normally this big! And I don't care! I don't want it to eat me."

"It wouldn't eat you," he decided to point out helpfully. "At least not as you are. It would need to liquefy you with digestive juices, then it would consume you."

"Law! Shut up! You are not helping!"

"Also, it's not real. It can't eat you."

She slumped against his back, sobbing dramatically at his teasing. "I'm going to kill you, too, if you don't start walking," she whined.

"Fine," he huffed, chuckling again as he adjusted her to sit more comfortable on his back, his arms winding under her knees to heft her up, and headed away from the spider. "Scaredy-cat," he added on a moment later, earning a hard pinch to his cheek.

She pulled at it, growling. "Just for that, I'm telling Sanji-kun you kissed me and you can deal with him trying to kill you for the rest of the night."

"He doesn't scare me," Law chuckled.

"And then I'll never let you kiss me again. Ever."

He grunted at the warning, his amusement waning. He didn't like that threat. He wanted to kiss her again.

She released his cheek with a giggle and leaned over his shoulder with a knowing look. He glared, but kept his mouth shut. Evil witch.

"Just be happy I didn't charge you," she chirped as they broke through another curtain into the fresh air.

He sighed with relief as he spotted their friends all lingering at the exit, chatting and joking as they waited. Nami shuffled down from his back the moment her eyes landed on Zoro. She sprinted for the young man before he could get up from the bale of hay he claimed as a seat. He didn't stand a chance.

"You jerk!" She screamed as she tackled him to the ground, pummeling him in her anger. "You left me on purpose!"

Law shot his friends a sharp look as he approached. Shachi found the sky to be very interesting as he whistled innocently and rubbed the back of his neck. Penguin cleared his throat, crossed his arms, and stared at his shoes as he kicked up a pile of dirt and hay. Bepo was the only one who looked at him, frowning before his head bowed. "Sorry," he mumbled.

Meanwhile Robin was attempting to calm her seething friend before she beat one of her best friends to death. "At least Tora-o found you," she reasoned with an all-too-knowing smile.

Nami's head shot to the woman, eyes wide. "You were in on this, too, weren't you!?"

Robin snickered behind her hand in answer. "It seems we've been found out."

"Nami-swan!" Sanji called out, arms raised as he ran to the group from a nearby food cart, caramel apples held in each hand. "I didn't want to leave you, but Robin-chan said it would be fine!"

Nami, for the first time since he'd met her, actually glared at Robin with honest annoyance.

Robin took the look in stride. "Was it at least enjoyable?" Nami's eyes narrowed dangerously, but the older woman merely chuckled. "I'll take that as a yes."

Zoro groaned beneath Nami and struggled to escape with her distracted. Her attention snapped back to him, eyes aflame with anger and greed. Her hands dug into the collar of his shirt as she pinned him down, that beautifully malevolent grin from earlier returning. "Zoro," she sang. "You owe me five-hundred dollars…"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it witch," he grunted, pulling at her hands.

"And I'm doubling your debt for this stunt," she added.

"What!? That's eight-thousand! I can't pay that!"

"Actually, it'll be nine-thousand since I took the liberty of adding the five-hundred for the bet to your previous balance," she said with a smug grin.

"You greedy little witch!" He shouted, pushing at her to get off him. "If it wasn't for us leaving you, you wouldn't have gotten to make-out with Law in there!"

"You saw that!?" She screamed.

"You did what!?" Sanji shouted at the same time, apparently not around to witness the scene. Law didn't even blink at the fiery glare the blond leveled on him.

"Oh my," Robin added, moving to catch Sanji by the arm before he could think to launch himself at the other man. "Sanji. Would you be so kind as to escort me to the food stalls? It's getting chilly and I could use some hot cider."

"Robin-chan," he whined, anger warring with his need to fawn over his female friends. With a charming smile from her, he caved, pointing to Law in warning. "I'll deal with you later," he grumbled. He turned to Robin, anger completely gone with a huge grin. "I'll treat you to whatever you wish."

Arms linked, Robin let Sanji lead her away. She glanced back to Law with a pointed look, and nodded toward the red-head who had gotten Zoro into a choke hold during Sanji's overly dramatic reaction to the news. Law sighed as he watched the young man pounded his fist on the ground and smack at Nami's arm, signaling she release him as his face turned blue.

"Nami-ya, at this rate you're really going to kill him," Law said tiredly.

"You'll still help me hide the body, right?" She asked through grit teeth, arms tightening around her friend's neck.

"Of course," he chuckled, not missing Zoro's wide eyes as he looked up at him. He really didn't have any reason to fear, though. Law leaned down, lightly wrapping his hand around Nami's arm and whispered quietly in her ear. "But, if you kill him here, you won't get the money he owes you."

Her hold slackened immediately and Zoro slumped to the ground gasping for air.

"In the meantime," he continued, tugging on her arm. "Since our friends are so determined to ditch us, why don't we beat them to it?"

She sat there, staring up at him as she considered it. With a nod, she let him pull her off Zoro, but not without sparing the man a hard kick in the side. "I'll kill you later," she threatened, and turned to wrap herself around Law's arm. "Let's go find Chopper. He's probably still stuffing his face with sweets somewhere," she chirped.

He nodded and began to pull her along. They barely got one step away when she froze, brows furrowed. She looked back to their friends, frowning. "Did any of you find Luffy?"

All of them blinked, shook their heads, and stiffened when they heard a loud crash from somewhere in the field. They all stared, bewildered, as the large harvester lurched to life and began moving through the corn. Their jaws slackened when they spotted a familiar straw hat atop a young man, cackling and cheering behind the controls.

"I'm not going back in there," Nami decided, spinning away. "Not my problem. You guys have fun with Luffy."

Law was grateful to be pulled away from the chaos erupting in the field. He didn't want to deal with it, either.

He heard an angry shout and curse from the field as they walked away, the voice familiar. Maybe if he was lucky, Luffy would accidentally tear Kid's arm off for real out there.

A/N: Poor Zoro nearly choked to death twice. At least one would have been on accident. :)

Also, I hate 'Children of the Corn' and 'It' - which heavily inspired two parts of this. I also hate spiders, but so does Nami, so that's okay.