One moment, you're fighting against formidable pirates, next you're getting chewed out by your captain.
"You reckless idiot! You could've gotten yourself killed!" shouted Law. There was a visible vein popping in his temple from frustration and you couldn't help but feel...scared.
You held your ground despite the state you're in, "It wasn't reckless, I was only trying to protect the crew! I didn't know that pirate had hidden explosives!" you rubbed your side where shrapnels had pierced you. Law only scowls in anger and the infirmary room seems to shrink.
"Of course you didn't know. You never know anything! Like knowing how to stick to the plan!" He spoke harshly and it struck you uncomfortably.
You couldn't understand why he was so pent up. You're pirates, after all; danger is a given, so this anger seemed unprovoked. Words of reasoning flew over Law's head as he spewed more insults. Tears began to well and sting your eyes.
"Tch...if I had known you were this clueless and weak...I wouldn't have dragged you onto this crew." The words escaped before he could stop them. He felt the regret before seeing your reaction...
....And it hit him like a train. Lips wobbly, hands trembling, shoulders tense and seemingly curling in on themselves; as if you were trying to make yourself seem small.
The words pierced you like a frozen knife, making your blood run cold. You've always had doubts about your place in the Heart Pirates. Many like Bepo would reassure you, Law would tell you to not be stupid in an affectionate manner, but it felt like their efforts were dumped into the ocean thanks to his words.
Before he could speak up, you bowed your head, squeaking out a small, "sorry" and rushing out the infirmary and into your quarters.
The soft shut of the door stung more than it should have. Law stood there frozen, left with the words echoing in his ears.
"Damn it..." He whispers.
If only you knew that this anger was a mask for his fear, stemming from the loss of loved ones in his past.
tags: fluff, light comedy, established relationship, comfort, emotional bonding, humor
a/n: sorry it's all cramped but I reached tumblr's limits of blocks per post, so if you need a easier way to read this, click on the ao3 link!!
words count: around 2.2k - 3.4k each
masterlist || ao3 || ko-fi
── .✦ Zoro:
The sun is warm but not too hot. A soft breeze plays with your hair as you walk beside Zoro through the busy town streets. The island is new, full of life and color, and the crew has scattered to do their own things. Nami went shopping, Sanji chased after ingredients... or maybe girls, and Luffy? Who knows.
You, on the other hand, just wanted a calm day. A nice walk. No drama. Zoro didn’t have any plans, so he chose to stay with you.
“Didn’t feel like wandering off,” he said with a shrug “Plus, you always get lost.”
“I do not!” you argue with a little laugh.
“You got lost on the ship” he says with a smirk.
You roll your eyes, bumping his arm lightly with your shoulder “That happened once. And you’re the one to talk???”
Zoro just grunts, amused, and keeps walking beside you. His hands are in his pockets, his swords resting at his side like always. He walks with that usual lazy confidence, but you can tell he’s relaxed.
Then, you hear a small cry. Like a kid. You stop walking “Did you hear that?”
Zoro lifts his head “Yeah.”
You both follow the sound, turning down a quieter street. And there, near the side of a fruit stand, is a small boy. He can’t be older than five. His face is red from crying, his small hands wiping at his eyes. He looks scared.
“Hey, sweetie,” you say gently, kneeling in front of him “What’s wrong?”
The boy looks up at you with big teary eyes “M-Mommy’s gone…”
“Oh no,” you whisper “You got separated?”
He nods fast, then suddenly throws his arms around you. You nearly fall back from the sudden hug but Zoro puts a hand on the back of your head, gently, just to keep you balanced.
Zoro’s eyes widen. You glance up at him, then back down at the boy. He’s shaking.
“Hey, hey, it’s okay...” you say, rubbing his back “We’ll help you find her. I promise.”
The boy doesn’t let go. He clings tighter, like he’s afraid you’ll disappear too.
Zoro scratches the back of his neck “You sure about this? We could find a guard or something.”
You give him a look “Zoro, he’s terrified. Would you want a stranger dragging you around if you were five?”
He sighs “Fine. So we’re babysitters now.”
You smile a little “Just until we find his mom.”
Zoro folds his arms, watching the boy with a face that’s trying very hard not to be soft “What’s his name?”
You turn to the boy “Sweetie, what’s your name?”
He sniffs “Kenji.”
“Okay, Kenji,” you say with a warm smile “I’m Y/N and this is Zoro. He’s kind of grumpy, but he’s nice.”
Zoro makes a sound like a scoff, but he doesn’t argue.
Kenji peeks up at Zoro “You have swords…”
Zoro raises a brow “Yeah. Don’t worry. I only use them on bad guys.”
Kenji nods seriously, then looks back at you “You’re really pretty…”
Your face heats up a little. Zoro frowns “Kid, don’t start.”
You laugh, standing up slowly as Kenji keeps his little hand in yours “Alright, let’s find your mom, okay?”
Kenji nods, still holding onto you like you’re his lifeline.
Zoro walks on your other side, still acting cool but every now and then, you catch him glancing down at the kid. And maybe, just maybe, you see a small smile on his face. Just a little one.
You’ve been walking around the town for a while now, asking people if they’ve seen Kenji’s mom. A few shopkeepers shake their heads.
Some say, “Sorry, haven’t seen any woman looking for a kid.”
You try the market square next. No luck there either.
Kenji’s small hand is still in yours, holding tight like he’s afraid to let go. His other hand rubs at his eye now and then, but he’s not crying anymore. Still, he stays close. You’re like his safe space now.
You glance down at him “Kenji, do you remember where you last saw your mom? Were you near a shop?”
He shakes his head slowly “I was looking at fish. Then I turned and she was gone.”
“Fish,” Zoro repeats “That narrows it down to…everywhere.”
You sigh “We’ll keep looking.”
Kenji tugs on your hand “Are you tired? I can walk by myself.”
Your heart melts “I’m okay, Kenji. But thank you.”
Then suddenly he reaches out and grabs Zoro’s hand too and you both freeze. Zoro stares at the small hand holding his, like it’s some kind of bomb.
Kenji doesn’t notice. He just keeps walking like it’s the most normal thing in the world, one hand in yours, one hand in Zoro’s. As if he’s done it a hundred times.
You glance at Zoro, and your face gets warm. Really warm. This…looks kind of cute. No… more than cute. It looks like… a little family.
Zoro’s eye twitches. He knows what it looks like too.
A woman passing by gives you a soft smile “Oh, what a sweet family.”
You nearly choke “Oh! We’re not—uh—we’re just helping—”
Zoro mutters under his breath, “For the love of… please don’t let anyone from the crew see this.”
You whisper back, “Why? Afraid they’ll think you’ve gone soft?”
He scowls “They will. And they’ll never shut up about it.”
But he doesn’t pull his hand away from Kenji’s. Not even when the kid swings his hands a little. You try not to smile too much, but your cheeks still feel hot.
“Y’know,” you say after a moment, “you don’t look that grumpy right now.”
Zoro gives you a side-eye “Say that again and I’ll let you get lost on purpose.”
You grin “Worth it.”
Kenji suddenly asks, “Are you and the sword guy married?”
You and Zoro speak at the same time.
You: “W-what? No!”
Zoro: “Hell no!”
You look at Zoro kinda offended by his tone.
Kenji tilts his head “But you look like it…”
Zoro lets out a long sigh “Kid, you really trying to make my day harder?”
You can’t stop laughing now. Even Zoro, after a beat, smiles just a little. Just enough to make your heart do a little flip.
The sun’s still out, the breeze still nice and you still haven’t found Kenji’s mom, but…you’re doing okay. And as long as the kid keeps walking between you and Zoro, hands held tight, maybe it’s not such a bad way to spend the day.
Kenji’s hand is still snug in yours, and Zoro hasn’t pulled away from the other side either, though his eye twitches every few minutes like he’s trying to pretend it’s not happening.
You’re still wandering through the streets, asking around and scanning every corner for a woman calling out for her son. No luck. Then suddenly, Kenji tugs at your hand and mumbles, “I’m hungry…”
You pause “Oh… right. You haven’t eaten anything.”
Zoro groans immediately “We don’t have time to stop and eat. We’re looking for your mom, remember?”
Kenji’s bottom lip quivers “But… my tummy hurts…”
He rubs his stomach with both hands now, giving you the most tragic look you’ve ever seen. You’re done. Defeated.
“Zoro,” you whisper, “he’s so cute. Let him eat.”
Zoro crosses his arms “He’ll survive. Kids bounce back.”
Kenji grabs your arm again “Please… just a snack?”
Your heart melts into a puddle “Zoroooo…”
Zoro looks at you and you’re doing it too… That look. Eyes wide, soft voice, the tiniest pout. Now both you and Kenji are staring at him like abandoned puppies in the rain.
He curses under his breath “You guys are teaming up on me.”
You say nothing, you just keep pouting. He rubs his face like this is physical pain “Fine. Fine. Twenty minutes.”
Kenji jumps up and cheers “Yay!”
You smile up at Zoro, wrapping your hand around his arm “Thanks, babe. You’re the best.”
He groans again, but you catch the way his ears turn a little red. You head toward a food stall nearby, and as soon as you do, you hear a loud voice call out “Oi! Zoro! Y/N!”
You both turn and there they are.
Luffy and Sanji, carrying way too many bags and snacks.
Sanji’s eyes go wide when he sees the kid. He drops his bags “WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!”
Kenji looks up at you, his mouth full of fried dough “Who’s the loud guy?”
Sanji points dramatically at Zoro “How could you?! You stole her away and now—now you even have a child?!”
Zoro blinks “What are you talking about? Do you know how kids are made?”
Luffy laughs “He looks just like your kid. You’re all holding hands and stuff. It’s so cute! You should make a real one!”
Sanji falls to the ground instantly “I’m dying. I’m literally dead. This is hell.”
You’re laughing too hard to speak.
Kenji, still chewing, leans over to Zoro “Are those your friends? They’re weird.”
Zoro sighs “You have no idea.”
Luffy crouches next to Kenji, nose almost touching his “Heyyy, what’s your name?”
“Kenji!”
“Cool name! You wanna be a pirate?”
Zoro grabs Luffy by the back of his vest and yanks him away “No recruiting children.”
Sanji stands back up, wiping his nose “Mon dieu… Y/N, if you ever decide you want real romance, you know where to find me.”
You smile sweetly “You’d have to fight Zoro for me first.”
Sanji turns pale, not because he’s scared but because you think of Zoro right away “…I’m good.”
Kenji tugs your sleeve again “Are they always like this?”
“Pretty much” you say with a giggle. Zoro mutters, “You get used to it.”
Even as the chaos unfolds, Zoro moves just a little closer to you. His hand brushes against yours again and Kenji, still holding your other hand, starts humming happily between bites.
After the chaos (and mild heartbreak) that was Luffy and Sanji, you wave them off with a tired smile. Sanji is still crying in the background. Luffy’s trying to steal a meat bun from someone’s cart.
“Bye, Kenji!” Luffy shouts cheerfully “Don’t forget to train so you can join my crew!”
“I won’t!” Kenji waves both hands like you’re sending off a ship.
You tug his sleeve gently “Okay, come on. Let’s keep going.”
Zoro mutters under his breath as you walk again, heading farther into the town “Out of everyone… they had to be the ones we run into.”
You smirk “Could’ve been worse.”
“No. That was the worst.”
“Even worse than running into ALL of them together?”
He gives you a sharp side-eye “Don’t push your luck.”
You giggle, swinging Kenji’s hand a little as you walk. He’s full now, calmer, but still sticking to you like glue. Zoro’s hands are back in his pockets, shoulders slightly hunched. He looks like he wants to complain, but he’s still here. That says enough.
Then, out of nowhere, Kenji tugs at your hand and looks up at you seriously “Miss Y/N? Can I call you Mama?”
You freeze. Everything around you stops. The breeze. The street noise. Even Zoro seems to pause mid-step. You blink at him “W-What?”
Kenji looks a little nervous now, like he’s not sure if he’s done something wrong “I know you’re not really… but you’re really nice, and you make me feel safe like my mama does. I miss her…”
Your throat closes. You don’t even know what to say. Tears prick at your eyes so fast you can’t stop them. One slides down your cheek before you can hide it.
You crouch down, hugging him gently, trying not to cry too hard “Kenji… I’m sure your mom misses you too. We’re gonna find her, okay? I promise.”
He nods, leaning into your hug.
Zoro is quiet behind you. For once, not a single sarcastic comment. When you glance up at him, you see that flicker in his eyes. Something soft. Something… careful. He doesn’t say anything. He just looks at you. And somehow, that silence means more than words.
You’re walking again, slowly now. Kenji hums as he walks between you and Zoro, swinging your hands. He’s more cheerful after eating, even skipping a little. It’s almost hard to believe this is the same scared little boy from earlier.
Then you hear a woman’s voice, panicked and breathless “Kenji?! Kenji!!”
All three of you turn around, a woman is running toward you, her eyes wide with worry. Her hair’s a bit messy.
Kenji gasps “Mama!!”
He lets go of both your hands and runs to her. You and Zoro stop walking, watching as he throws himself into her arms. She catches him and falls to her knees, hugging him tightly.
“Oh, thank god,” she whispers, burying her face in his shoulder “I’ve been looking everywhere, Kenji, I was so scared…”
“I’m okay, Mama!” he says brightly “I wasn’t alone!”
You and Zoro stand quietly a few steps away, watching them hold each other. Zoro crosses his arms and says nothing. But his expression is… softer now. Thoughtful.
Then, Kenji turns and grabs his mom’s hand.
“Come on! Come meet them!” he says, tugging her toward you.
She lets herself be pulled along and gives you a teary smile “You… You helped him?”
You nod “Yeah. He was alone and crying. We couldn’t just leave him.”
She presses a hand to her chest, still catching her breath “Thank you. Truly. I don’t know what I would’ve done—”
She starts reaching into a small pouch “Please, I have a little money—let me give you something.”
You shake your head quickly “Oh no, really. That’s okay. We had… a good day, actually. He’s a sweet kid.”
Kenji beams proudly beside her. Zoro’s still silent, standing with that usual lazy posture.
The woman glances at him, hesitating “Are you sure? Maybe he wants—”
Before she finishes, Zoro shrugs “Y/N did all of it by herself.”
You glance over at him. That’s not true, you both helped. But he says it like he wants to make clear that the kindness was yours. You give him a small smile.
The woman bows slightly “Thank you both again.”
You nod, just about to say goodbye when Kenji suddenly throws his arms around your waist again.
You blink “Kenji…?”
He’s crying again. Quiet, but real tears, as he mumbles “Do you… have to go?”
Your throat tightens “Hey, don’t cry… You’re with your mom now. You’re safe.”
“I know,” he says, sniffling “But I don’t want you to go. I love you… you’re my best friend.”
Tears fill your eyes instantly. You hug him back, squeezing gently, as you whisper “I love you too, Kenji, you’re really brave, you know?”
He looks up at his mom “Can she stay with us?”
Her eyes soften “Sweetheart… she has her own life and friends. But maybe one day you’ll meet again.”
He wipes his face with his sleeve, still clinging to you. Zoro turns away slightly, trying to act like he’s not watching, but his ears are red and in his chest, something warm builds, quiet and slow.
You’re so gentle. So natural with children. And for the first time… He lets the thought sit. Maybe a future like that, with you, soft like this… wouldn’t be so bad.
Eventually, you say goodbye. Kenji waves and waves until he’s out of sight. You and Zoro walk in silence for a few minutes. Then… you feel something. Zoro reaches over and takes your hand.
You blink, surprised “Zoro?”
He doesn’t look at you, eyes straight ahead, face a little pink “Don’t make a big deal out of it. Just… thought you might need it.”
You smile, squeezing his hand gently. A few more steps go by before he adds, quietly “You’d be good at it.”
“At what?” you ask.
He scratches the back of his neck awkwardly “…Being a mom.”
Your heart skips as he glances at you out of the corner of his eye “Not saying right now. Just… someday. If you wanted that.”
You stop for a second, staring at him. He’s not blushing anymore. He’s serious.
You nod, eyes soft “With you… yeah. I think I’d want that someday.”
Zoro looks away quickly, but you see the tiniest smile on his face.
You let go of his hand and he turns to look at you surprised. But then you jump and put your arms around his neck as he grabs you by your waist to steady you.
You kiss him quickly but softly while saying “I love you so much Zoro, thank you.”
He’s still surprised but asks “What are you thanking me for?”
“To think of me when you think about your future.”
He blushes and starts to look away but you catches him saying “Of course I would.”
You smile as you let go of him and then take his hand again as you swing it and walk as you’re the happiest girl in the world, with your biggest smile one and humming a little cute song.
Zoro watches you all the time with the softest smile he ever had.
── .✦ Sanji:
The sun sets behind the island’s hills, painting the sky in soft orange and purple. You can already hear music and laughter in the air. The village is buzzing with excitement.
“We’re just in time for the Moonlight Festival” Nami tells everyone, smiling as a few locals greet her.
“They want us to join?” Luffy asks, his eyes already searching for food.
“Yes,” Robin says “They’ve prepared clothes for us. It’s part of their tradition.”
You glance around. The people here are wearing bright outfits, flowing skirts, golden sashes, beads, and flowers in their hair. It looks magical.
One of the village girls walks up to you, holding a folded dress.
“For you,” she says with a kind smile “You’ll look beautiful in it.”
Sanji’s eyes narrow, already hovering at your side “She always does” he says softly, brushing a hand across your lower back.
You smile and take the dress inside a small tent to change.
When you step out, the crew is waiting. Zoro looks away with a bored expression. Usopp whistles.
But Sanji… he freezes. His face turns red in two seconds. Then an elegant nosebleed.
“Oh my god, Sanji!” you rush to him as he stumbles back, heart-shaped eyes glowing like lanterns.
“You… You can’t just walk out looking like that, mon amour,” he gasps “I was not prepared. That dress—you… your everything—!”
You laugh “You’re so dramatic.”
“I am in love,” he moans, holding a hand over his nose “And now I’m dying.”
“Save it for later, lovebirds,” Nami rolls her eyes “Let’s go! The festival’s starting!”
The streets are glowing with lanterns. Drums beat in the background. Kids are running around with flower crowns. You hold Sanji’s hand tight as you pull him through the crowd.
“Wait, wait—look!” you gasp, pointing to a stall “Caramel apples!”
Sanji chuckles “Mon amour, you know I can make you better ones. Twice as sweet. Three times as shiny.”
“Yeah, but these are festival apples,” you grin, bouncing on your heels “It’s different!”
He groans playfully but fishes some coins from his pocket “Fine. Who am I to stop you from being adorable?”
You grab the apple and take a big bite “Mmm! Okay. Yours are still better.”
He smirks “Told you.”
You two stroll past more stalls. Roasted nuts, cotton candy, fruit juice in bamboo cups… you try everything. Sanji keeps spoiling you without complaint, even if he keeps saying, “You know I could cook all of this for you, mon trésor.”
You wipe a bit of syrup off his cheek with your thumb “Yeah, but this is more fun.”
You turn a corner and freeze “Sanji!” you gasp.
“Hm?”
“There!” You point to a game stall. Behind it is a giant plushie… a round, smiling bear with soft ears and a flower crown.
Sanji squints “You want that thing?”
“Yes! It’s so cute!”
But before you can step forward, a group of small kids run up.
“We saw it first!” one of them shouts.
“No way! I’m gonna win it!” another boy says, grabbing a ball from the counter.
You look at Sanji. He cracks his knuckles and smiles “A competition, huh?”
“Winner takes the bear!” the tallest kid says.
Sanji kneels to their level, grinning “Alright, little ones. You’re on.”
Sanji throws the first ball... Miss.
“Damn it—”
The ball bounces off the edge of the target, knocking over nothing but his pride.
“Too slow, old man!” the little boy cackles and throws his own. Miss.
Sanji raises an eyebrow “Oh-ho? You think you’re better?”
“I am better!” the kid huffs, grabbing another ball. Miss again.
Sanji leans in “You’re lucky you’re cute.”
“Your aim is trash.”
“So is yours.”
They go back and forth for the next minute. Ball after ball. Miss after miss. Neither hits a single target. Sanji’s hair is messier now, and the kid’s cheeks are puffed in frustration.
You cross your arms and bite your lip to stop laughing. Finally, Sanji steps back, hands on his hips.
“This game is clearly rigged.”
The kid points at him “You’re just mad because you lost.”
“You lost too!” Sanji snaps back, eyes wide.
“Only ‘cause you distracted me with your loud yelling!”
They both look exhausted and full of mutual respect…and mutual failure.
You walk up between them and say, “Okay. My turn.”
Sanji blinks “Mon amour, are you sure? It’s harder than it looks—”
“I wanna try.” you say, handing him the caramel apple you’re still holding.
You pick up the ball. It’s heavier than you thought, but manageable. You narrow your eyes, pull back your arm and… You knock over all three cans. Clean.
Sanji’s jaw drops. The little boy gasps so loudly, you think he might pass out.
The game keeper just laughs and hands you the giant plushie “Well done, miss!”
You grin and hug the bear tight “I did it!”
Sanji laughs, not caring at all about being shown up “You’re amazing!” he says proudly “Absolutely perfect.”
He kisses your cheek with zero shame “My talented goddess.”
But the kid… the kid is just staring at you now. Like something huge just clicked in his little brain.
“…What?” you ask, smiling at him “You can still try again, maybe there’s another plush—”
“I love you.”
You blink “Huh?”
“I don’t know why,” he says, completely serious “But I do.”
You stand there with your plushie, speechless. Sanji snorts so hard he has to turn around to hide his laugh.
“Is it the bear?” you ask gently.
The boy shakes his head “It’s your face. And your power.”
Sanji is wheezing now “That’s a strong statement, mon petit rival.”
“I said what I said,” the kid replies firmly, hands in his pockets “If you break up with him, I’ll wait for you.”
You pat his head “Thanks, but… I don’t think that’ll happen.”
He sighs “Fine. But just know… you’re my first love now.”
Sanji finally turns around, wiping tears from his eyes “I’ve been defeated. By a child.”
You both laugh, holding hands again. You keep walking through the festival lights, one giant plush bear in your arms, and the chef at your side.
The night deepens, and the music slows down.
Soft lanterns float above the square, swaying gently in the warm breeze. They’re glowing in different colors as orange, pink, soft blue, like slow-moving stars. Couples begin dancing in the middle of the cobblestone plaza.
Sanji gently tugs your hand “Dance with me, mon amour?”
You grin and nod “Only if you don’t step on my feet.”
“I would rather die.”
He places one hand on your waist, the other holding yours with a practiced ease. His touch is warm and careful, like he’s afraid to break you. You sway together under the lanterns, the sounds of violins and laughter floating around you.
“You look beautiful in this light.” he says quietly.
You look up at him, smiling “You always say that.”
“Because it’s always true.”
You lean into him, resting your head against his chest, feeling his steady heartbeat. This moment is soft. Sweet. Just the two of you… until…
“HEY, Y/N!”
Your head jerks up. You turn. A small voice echoes through the crowd.
Sanji’s brows twitch “No.”
Walking through the legs of villagers, holding something behind his back, is that kid.
Your jaw drops “How do you know my name?”
He stops right in front of you, puffing his chest like a tiny warrior “The idiot said it like five times while we were throwing balls. ‘You’ve got this, Y/N! Knock ‘em down, Y/N!’”
You blink “Oh… yeah. That sounds like him.”
Sanji coughs “You remembered that?”
The kid pulls out what he was hiding behind his back, a delicate, glowing flower. Its petals shimmer like they’ve been dusted with stardust.
“This is for you,” the boy says, holding it out with both hands like an offering “You deserve something this pretty.”
Your heart does a little owh at the sweetness “Aww… thank you.”
You take it gently, not wanting to crush it.
Sanji, meanwhile, stares at the flower. Then at the kid. Then at you.
He chuckles lightly “How… thoughtful.”
You glance at him “You okay?”
“Oh, me? Perfectly fine,” he says with a smile that’s way too tight “Just enjoying the sight of my girlfriend being courted by an eight-year-old.”
The kid looks up at him “Nine.”
“Ah, of course. My mistake,” Sanji says, voice calm but eyes twitching “A mature gentleman.”
“Way cooler than you.” the boy mumbles.
Sanji crouches down slightly, still smiling “You want a kitchen knife to go with that flower, mon petit rival?”
You step between them, laughing “Okay, okay, enough. This is getting weird.”
The kid sighs and shrugs “I’ll just wait till you’re single. No rush.”
“There will be no waiting.” Sanji grits through his teeth.
“Time is on my side, old man.”
“SHE’S MY AGE TOO!” Sanji yells irritated.
You nearly drop the flower from laughing so hard. You pat the boy on the head again “You’re really sweet, but I’m staying with the idiot for now.”
“Forever,” Sanji corrects “She’s staying with me forever.”
“Yeah, yeah. For now…” the boy says, walking away into the lantern lights.
You turn to Sanji, still giggling “You were jealous.”
He raises a hand, dramatic as ever “I can’t believe he kept insulting me. I was not jealous. I was threatened.”
You raise an eyebrow.
He sighs “Okay. I was… mildly unsettled.”
You lean up and kiss his cheek “You’re cute when you’re jealous.”
He smirks again “And you’re always cute. But please… no more nine-year-old rivals.”
The music quiets. The stalls are closing. Lanterns start floating into the sky, some by string, some released into the wind with wishes written on paper. The villagers begin gathering near the beach and hilltops.
You stretch your arms with a happy sigh, the big plushie still tucked under one arm “It’s almost time for fireworks, right?”
Sanji nods and gently takes your hand “Follow me, mon love. I found us a better spot. Private. High up. Just us.”
“Romantic?”
He grins “Always.”
He leads you up a narrow path behind the main square, through a line of trees. A few lanterns hang along the way, giving the path a warm glow. Eventually, you reach a small wooden platform, almost like an old lookout. There’s a railing, a perfect view of the sky, and just enough space for the two of you to stand side by side.
You lean against the railing, wide-eyed “This is perfect…”
Sanji steps behind you, resting his chin lightly on your shoulder “I know. Just like you.”
You snort “Cheesy.”
He kisses your temple “True.”
Just as the wind picks up slightly and you snuggle closer into his arms…“Hey!”
You both turn your heads.
It’s the kid. Again.
Sanji groans, stepping forward “Are you following us now?”
The boy crosses his arms “I think destiny wants me and Y/N together.”
Sanji points at him “She’s literally standing here with me, holding the bear I helped her win—”
“I pushed you to give up and her winning it, so technically I helped too.”
“You called me ‘trash’ and insulted me!”
“And yet… here we are.” He spreads his arms as if the universe just proved his point.
You lean on the railing, grinning like an idiot while they go at it again “I feel like I should get popcorn for this.”
The kid puffs up his chest “You’ll thank me when we’re married one day.”
“I am going to faint.” Sanji rubs his face.
You laugh softly, eyes crinkling with joy. The two of them are so dramatic in their own ways… Sanji with his poetic French curses, and the kid with his over-the-top confidence.
But then the sky explodes into light.
You gasp and rush toward the railing, hands gripping the wood. Fireworks bloom above the hills, one after another, bursts of gold, red, green, and silver painting the night. Some twinkle, some crackle, some swirl in spiral shapes like dancing stars.
“Whoa…” you whisper, completely forgetting the chaos behind you.
Then, beside you, another small gasp. You glance down. It’s the kid.
His eyes are wide. His mouth slightly open in wonder “They’re… huge.”
“Is this your first time seeing fireworks?” you ask.
He nods slowly “Yeah. They’re… kinda magical.”
You smile, your face glowing with the same light reflecting in the sky “Right?”
Behind you, Sanji watches the two of you from a few steps back.
You’re both standing at the railing, heads tilted up, eyes full of wonder, soft smiles on your faces. The flower the kid gave you is tucked in your hair. The bear still in your arms. And somehow, in that one moment, you and the kid… look similar.
Same joy. Same spark. Same heart.
Sanji feels something shift in his chest. Not jealousy. Not annoyance. Something deeper. Warmer.
He pictures this moment again, but years in the future. You, at the railing, holding a small hand. Your child’s hand.
Their eyes lighting up like yours. That same smile. That same awe. And he’s there too, arms around both of you. His future, clear as the fireworks above.
You turn around and catch his gaze “Sanji?”
He blinks and smiles softly “Sorry. Just… thinking about how lucky I am.”
You raise an eyebrow “Because we won the bear?”
“No,” he says, stepping forward to join you at the railing “Because I get to watch you fall in love with everything.”
You rest your head on his shoulder again, your free hand finding his.
“With me?” The kid says.
“NO! DROP IT!” Sanji yells at him but then they both smile and keep watching the fireworks as they keep blooming. And Sanji is already planning forever.
The last firework bursts in a shower of silver and gold, lingering like a sparkler in the night sky. Then silence.
Soft cheers rise from the village below. The glow fades, lanterns flickering low. The magic of the moment hangs in the air for just a little longer, like it doesn’t want to end.
You sigh, still holding Sanji’s hand “That was perfect…”
Next to you, the kid is still staring at the sky. But the fireworks are gone now, long finished. Yet he doesn’t move. Doesn’t speak. His eyes are wide, his mouth just barely open. He looks like he’s still inside that wonder.
You smile at him “Hey… by the way… What’s your name?”
He blinks, like he’s waking up from a dream “Oh. It’s Tama.”
“Nice to meet you, Tama.” You kneel down a bit so you’re closer to his height “What do you wanna be when you grow up?”
Without hesitation “A pirate.”
You laugh softly “Really?”
He nods, proud “A brave one. With a big ship. I’ll visit all the islands with weird animals and floating rocks and treasure.”
Sanji smirks beside you, hands in his pockets “Then I guess we’ll keep being rivals even out at sea, huh?”
Tama gives him a sharp side-eye “I’ll have to steal y/n from you and out-pirate you.”
Sanji grins “Try me, mon petit.”
You giggle and ruffle Tama’s hair gently “Well, I hope we meet again when you’re out there chasing dreams.”
Tama glances up at you “What about you? What do you want to be?”
You pause. It’s not something you really think about. You look over at Sanji… messy blond hair, gentle smile, the way he’s still looking at you like the stars are in your eyes instead of the sky.
You shrug “I don’t care what I become. I just want to be with Sanji forever.”
Sanji freezes for a moment.
Then, he lets out a quiet breath, like someone just handed him the whole world.
His voice is soft “You’ll never have to wish for that, mon amour. I’m not going anywhere.”
Tama watches you both. He’s quiet. No more smug grins or snappy lines.
Then, slowly, he nods. He tucks his hands into his pockets and gives you a small smile, real and warm “Then it’s good the idiot is so persistent.”
Sanji raises an eyebrow “Hey—”
Tama doesn’t look at him. He’s looking at you “You’re really happy. I can tell.” His voice is calm now, like something inside him understands something bigger “So… I’m okay with it.”
Your heart softens “Thank you, Tama.”
Then, without fully thinking, you smile even wider and say, “Sanji, I hope our future baby is going to be like him.”
Tama blinks, clearly unsure what to say to that. Maybe even a little embarrassed. But he nods slowly, lips pressing together in a shy smile.
Sanji stops breathing.
He stares at you, completely still, as if the fireworks just restarted behind his eyes. That sentence… so casual, so soft… hit harder than anything tonight. Our future baby...
You’re thinking about it. About a future. About family. And not just that. You’re thinking about it with him. His heart squeezes in his chest.
You’re here, in his arms. You’re in love. And you’re imagining a child with his smile and your eyes, running around somewhere under the same stars.
You turn and see the look in Sanji’s eyes.
He’s smiling, but there’s something deeper behind it. Something full. Something that says, I heard that.
You just smile back, knowing he doesn’t need to say a word.
Tama shrugs and turns around “Don’t get too comfy though. I’ll be cooler than him someday.”
Sanji puts an arm around your shoulders, pulling you close “We’ll be cheering for you… maybe.”
Tama waves over his shoulder, heading back toward the village, lantern light flickering around him.
You and Sanji stay a little longer at the lookout, arms wrapped around each other, the flower still in your hair, and the last warmth of the fireworks still in your hearts.
The festival is over. But something even better stayed behind with you…
Love. Peace. And the promise of forever.
── .✦ Law:
The sea is calm. The deck is quiet. You wipe your hands with a towel and step out of the infirmary for some air. A peaceful day. For once.
“GUYS! GUYS!! I’m back!!”
Bepo’s voice booms from the ramp. You glance over, blinking. Law appears from the hallway behind you, arms crossed and already frowning. Penguin and Shachi pop their heads out of the engine room.
“Why are you yelling?” Law asks, sharp.
“I got everything!” Bepo shouts, jogging up “But also—uh—”
He’s carrying something. No. Someone. It’s a kid.
A little girl, maybe five years old, wrapped in one of Bepo’s spare coats. Her hair’s messy, face pale. No shoes. She looks completely terrified.
Shachi stares “That’s a child.”
“Bepo,” Law growls “You didn’t…”
“I had to!” Bepo pleads “She was hiding behind crates in the market. All alone. People walked right past her. Like she wasn’t even there!”
“So you picked her up and brought her here?!” Law’s tone spikes.
“I couldn’t leave her! I asked around, but no one knew her. No one cared! She wouldn’t talk to anyone but me!”
The girl looks around fast… strangers, loud voices, sharp tones. She panics.
Her eyes lock on you, maybe because you’re the only woman here at the moment, maybe because you’re not yelling, and suddenly she jumps out of Bepo’s arms.
“Wait—!” Bepo yells.
Too late. She runs straight to you and throws her arms around your waist, hugging you like her life depends on it.
You freeze.
“Woah—hey, hey,” you say softly, instinct kicking in. You crouch down, hands gentle on her arms “It’s okay. You’re okay.”
She buries her face in your chest and doesn’t say a word. Everyone is staring.
“Y/N,” Law says, voice low “Do you know her?”
You shake your head “Never seen her before.”
“Then why is she hugging you like that?” Penguin asks, confused.
You rub her back carefully “She’s scared. She saw someone safe. That’s all.”
Law narrows his eyes, crouching beside you.
“Kid,” he says quietly, “what’s your name?”
“…Mimi.” she whispers.
“How old are you, Mimi?”
She holds up five fingers without looking up.
“Do you know where your parents are?”
She shakes her head.
“Do you remember anything?”
She shrugs.
Law stands up “Fantastic.”
“I don’t get it,” Shachi says “Why would she run to Y/N? Just randomly?”
“She doesn’t know me,” you say, still holding Mimi gently “She was just scared.”
“She’s still shaking,” Bepo murmurs “I think she really was in danger.”
Law opens his mouth to reply, but footsteps thunder up from below deck.
“Ikkaku!” Penguin says as she appears, out of breath.
“Captain!” she gasps, holding up a tablet “Emergency Marine alert. I just picked it up from the city’s comms.”
“What kind of alert?” Law asks, tone serious.
She flips the screen around “They’re searching for a missing child. Classified level. No name. No photo. Just this—”
She swipes again. A blurry snail-cam image. It’s Mimi. Wearing that same coat.
“…Shit.” Law mutters.
Everyone stares at the screen.
“Why are the Marines looking for a five-year-old?” Shachi asks, stunned.
“Classified level? That’s not normal” Penguin adds.
Ikkaku reads off the report “Orders are to retrieve the child alive. No reason listed. But every local base is on alert. They think pirates might have taken her.”
Mimi stiffens. She presses closer to you.
“…Bad men,” she whispers “Mama said they’d come…”
“Mimi,” you say softly, “do you know who the bad men are?”
She shakes her head quickly “The marines… that I had to run. Mama said… find someone kind. Someone who felt safe.”
She looks up at you then. Big, frightened eyes.
You smile gently “You found me, don’t worry.”
Law steps beside you, staring down at the kid. His hand brushes yours.
“Y/N,” he says quietly, “She can’t stay on deck.”
You nod.
“She stays below, for now” Law says, turning to the crew “And no one talks about her. Not a word. We figure this out before the Marines come knocking.”
Bepo lets out a breath “Thank you, Captain.”
Law glances back at you and Mimi “Don’t thank me yet. This is trouble.”
“She’s just a kid,” you murmur, carrying her gently as you stand “We’ll protect her.”
Law’s voice softens “Yeah. We will.”
The door closes behind you both with a quiet click. The hallway outside Law’s quarters is silent now. You and Law stand inside the dimly lit room, away from the crew, away from Mimi.
He leans against the desk, arms folded, hat on the surface next to him. His jaw is tight. You’re pacing.
“She’s five, Law,” you say “Five. And terrified. You saw her face.”
“I know what I saw,” he replies, coldly calm “But she’s not just any kid, Y/N. She’s being hunted by the Marines. That’s not normal.”
“She didn’t ask to be hunted,” you shoot back “She didn’t choose any of this!”
“You think I don’t know that?” His voice rises slightly.
You stop pacing “Then why are you looking at her like she’s a problem?”
He straightens “Because right now? She is. She’s a risk. For all of us.”
You flinch.
“Oh, great,” you say, sarcasm slipping in “Glad to know your heart’s still functioning.”
His eyes narrow “Don’t twist my words.”
“I’m not twisting anything! You’re acting like she’s a ticking time bomb!”
“I’m being realistic!” he snaps “You always do this—take in strays without thinking!”
You freeze. The words echo. You always do this.
Your chest tightens “Then is that what I am to you?” you whisper “Some stray you took in?”
Law’s expression shifts instantly “What? No—”
You shake your head, stepping back, voice low and bitter “Forget it. I’m done.”
He moves toward you “Y/N, wait—”
“No,” you say, turning for the door “You wanted to be realistic? Fine. Be alone with your logic. I’m going to be with the actual human being we rescued.”
You slam the door on your way out.
You sit cross-legged on the floor of the small guest room, paper and colored pencils spread out between you and Mimi. She holds a red pencil in her small hand, tongue poking out a little as she focuses hard on drawing something.
You force yourself to smile “That’s a very good cat, Mimi.”
“It’s you” she says, showing you proudly.
You laugh gently “Oh! I’m the cat?”
She nods “You were soft when I hugged you.”
You pause “That’s… really sweet, actually.”
She looks up at you “Are you mad?”
Your smile fades “Why would you think that?”
“You left fast. Like Mama did… when she was mad.”
Ouch.
You set your pencil down and reach out, tucking her hair behind her ear “I’m not mad at you, I promise.”
“Then who?”
You sigh “Just… someone I love. We said some things we didn’t mean.”
She nods like she gets it “Mama and Papa did that too. Then they’d be quiet for a while. But after, they hugged a lot.”
You smile faintly “Maybe we’ll get there.”
Mimi turns back to her paper “Do you think my Mama’s okay?”
Your heart aches “I hope so, Mimi. I really do.”
You pick up a blue pencil and draw beside her in silence for a while. The sound of coloring fills the small room. For a little while, it’s peaceful again.
Even if your chest still burns with anger and something else you don’t want to admit yet. Not hurt. Just… disappointed.
The hallway outside the guest room is quiet now.
Right now, it’s just you and Mimi, surrounded by colored pencils and messy drawings. She laughs when your stick figure ends up with five arms. You giggle along, your mood slowly softening.
“Look!” she says proudly, holding up her latest masterpiece. It’s her, you, and what might be Bepo if you squint. You’ve all got huge smiles and stars around your heads.
“That’s amazing,” you say, genuinely impressed “Did you make me taller than Bepo?”
She nods “Because you’re strong.”
Your heart actually hurts a little at that “You’re the strong one, Mimi.”
She looks up at you, eyes wide and happy. It’s the first time she’s looked this light since she came aboard. Something warm blooms in your chest. You don’t say it aloud, but this feels… right.
She deserves moments like this. You both do.
There’s a soft knock at the doorframe. You turn and Law stands there. He doesn’t say anything right away. Just… watches.
You see his eyes flick to Mimi, then back to you. The scene freezes him. Like he’s seeing something he wasn’t ready for. Like he’s seeing you with a child in your lap, laughing, gentle, bright. Like family.
You look away first. Mimi doesn’t notice. She’s too busy coloring in the sky purple.
Law jerks his head toward the hallway, silently asking for a word. You hesitate.
Then slowly stand up, brushing your hands off “I’ll be right back, okay?” you whisper to Mimi.
“Okay.” she says without looking up.
You follow Law out into the hall. The door closes behind you, soft and careful. He runs a hand through his hair. He looks… tired. And guilty.
“I deserved everything you said earlier” he starts.
You don’t speak yet.
“I was angry. Not at you. At the situation. At how helpless it made me feel. It reminds me a lot of when… nevermind.”
Still, you wait.
“I wanted to do something. So I called in favors. Checked restricted comms. Dug deep.”
You lift your eyes to meet his “And?”
“I found out who her mother was,” he says “They were living on the outskirts of a Marine-controlled zone. Poor. Invisible. Perfect targets.”
Your throat tightens.
“She died,” Law continues “A week ago. Protecting Mimi. Marines were already closing in. Her mother fought back alone. Got her daughter away. Then…”
He trails off.
You stare “…Mimi saw that happen?”
He nods “But I think she doesn’t remember it. Or won’t. Trauma like that… it can block memories completely. Especially in kids.”
Your back presses to the wall “She… thinks her mom is still out there.”
“I know,” he says quietly “I was hoping she was. I wanted to go find her. Bring her here. Give Mimi the ending she deserved.”
You press your hands to your face “God…”
Law steps closer “I didn’t want to tell you until I was sure.”
You lower your hands slowly, voice shaking “You thought I’d fall apart?”
“No,” he says “I thought I would.”
That makes you look at him.
“I saw you with her just now,” he says “And I thought… maybe we could give her something close to a family. Not perfect. Not planned. But something.”
Silence hangs heavy for a second.
“I’m sorry,” he says again “For the fight. For what I said.”
You nod slowly “I was mad. But I never stopped trusting you.”
He reaches for your hand. You let him take it.
“She’s all alone now” you whisper.
“Not if we stay” he says.
You squeeze his fingers “I’m not going anywhere.”
It’s been three months since Mimi came aboard. She doesn’t cry at night anymore. She doesn’t flinch when someone raises their voice.
She laughs. Loudly. She steals snacks with Penguin, watches Shachi build models, draws on Bepo’s fur while he naps, and sometimes, when she’s really sleepy, she crawls into your bed without saying a word and snuggles between you and Law.
You and Law never talk about it, and neither does the crew, but everyone sees the way Mimi holds your hand like it’s the most normal thing in the world. The way Law makes sure she eats, takes her medicine, wears a coat when it’s cold, even when he grumbles about it. The way her drawings now always have three people in them.
You, her, and Law.
She knows the truth now. She remembers it all… her mother, the chase, the moment she lost her, the fear. It came back slowly, in pieces, but she never fell apart.
She held on. To you. To him. And now it’s time.
You found a safe place for her, a quiet island far from Marine eyes. A good family who knew her mother once, who wants to care for Mimi like their own. A home with books, and warm food, and other children. It’s the best chance she’ll ever get.
She knows it. She understands.
But even understanding doesn’t make it easy.
On the third-to-last day, you find Mimi sitting with Bepo in the garden space at the top of the sub. She’s holding her sketchbook.
“Hey,” you say gently, sitting down beside her “Can I see what you’re drawing?”
She turns the book around. It’s you and Law again… only this time, she’s drawn herself in the middle, holding both your hands. Above you is a sun with a smiling face.
Your chest aches.
“I like when we’re together.” she says, matter-of-fact.
“I do too.”
She leans against your arm “You’re not mad, right? That I said yes to going?”
You pause “Never. Mimi, we want you to be safe. That’s what matters most.”
She goes quiet for a second “But I’ll still miss you. A lot.”
You stroke her hair softly “I’ll miss you too. Every day.”
She looks up “Do you think Captain Law will miss me?”
You smile “I know he will.”
That night, Law finds you alone in the infirmary, pretending to organize the medical supplies. He leans against the doorway, arms crossed.
“You’re avoiding me” he says.
“No I’m not” you lie instantly.
“Y/N.”
You sigh and sit down on the cot “I just… don’t know how to say goodbye.”
He walks in, quiet, and sits beside you “You don’t have to.”
You glance at him.
“We’ll find a way to see her again,” he says “Even if it’s just from a distance. I promise.”
Your eyes sting “She’s the best thing that ever happened to this ship.”
He nods “She’s one of the best things that ever happened to me.”
You look at him, surprised.
“I didn’t think I could… do this,” he says “Feel like this. But she made me believe in something again. She made me remember if Corazon and even understand him more now.”
You reach out and take his hand “She made us a family, didn’t she?”
Law squeezes your hand gently.
“And we’ll let her go,” he says “Because that’s what family does. We protect them. Even when it hurts.”
The crew stands in a quiet line on the deck.
Bepo is the first to kneel down, huge paws gentle as he hugs Mimi tightly.
“Don’t forget me” he says, voice shaking.
“I could never.” she whispers, burying her face in his fur.
Penguin gives her a pack of candy and awkwardly pats her head “Eat this when you miss us, okay?”
Shachi kneels next “We’ll miss you, shrimp. Stay awesome.”
Ikkaku lifts Mimi’s little hand and presses a friendship bracelet into her palm “For luck” she says, smiling even though her eyes are red.
Everyone says their goodbyes. Everyone hugs her.
You stand back, next to Law, holding your breath. Watching. Trying to stay calm. But your chest feels tight. Your hands shake and Law, quiet and steady beside you, notices. He doesn’t say anything. He just reaches out and takes your hand in his. Warm, grounding. Solid.
You glance down, surprised. He never does this in front of the crew. Your fingers curl around his slowly. It helps. You’re grateful.
Mimi turns at last and walks up to you both. Her steps are slower now. Her smile is gone. And when she reaches you, she breaks.
Her small arms wrap around your waist so hard it knocks the air out of you “I don’t wanna go.” she sobs.
You drop to your knees and hold her, tears falling fast “I know, baby. I know.”
“I wanna stay with you. And Law. And Bepo and everyone. I don’t want a new house.”
“I know. But this is the safest place. It’s what your mama wanted. And we’ll still love you. Always.”
She shakes her head, crying harder. You don’t want to let go. You really, really don’t. And Law… he just stands there, quiet, one hand resting gently on your back as you cry into Mimi’s hair.
He doesn’t say anything, but you know he’s there. Holding you up in the way he always does.
When you finally pull away, your eyes meet his and he gives you the smallest nod. You nod back.
It’s time. Mimi turns to him slowly.
She throws her arms around his legs without a word. Law stiffens.
Then, very awkwardly, he kneels and hugs her back. His movements are a little stiff, unsure, but he doesn’t let go too quickly.
“I’m gonna miss you, Captain Law” she mumbles.
“…I’ll miss you too.” he says, voice low.
You blink. You’ve never heard him say that out loud.
When she lets go, her eyes are red and puffy, but she wipes them on her sleeve like a little soldier. Then she walks with the woman who came to get her, toward the small transport boat.
But just before she steps down the ramp, she stops, turns around, wipes her face and yells, loud as ever “HEY!”
Everyone jumps.
“If you ever give me a little brother or sister,” she says proudly, “I better get to meet them! I’ll be the best big sister in the world!”
Dead silence. Your jaw drops. Law’s eyes widen just slightly.
The crew turns to look at you both and absolutely loses it.
Penguin snorts. Shachi wheezes. Ikkaku starts clapping. Even Bepo chuckles behind a paw.
You and Law look in opposite directions at the same time, completely red-faced, avoiding each other’s eyes like it’s life or death.
“I… what…” you stammer.
“I didn’t…” Law mutters.
Mimi waves from the ramp, beaming “BYEEEE!”
And with that… she’s gone. Leaving behind stunned silence, a warm sea breeze and a very awkward question neither of you has ever asked before.
The door to Law’s studio closes behind you with a soft click. The sound of laughter still echoes faintly down the hall as the crew keeps joking about Mimi’s parting gift.
You and Law don’t say a word.
You wave a hand dismissively toward the corridor like go away, and Law rubs his forehead in quiet frustration as you both walk deeper into the room.
You drop onto the old sofa with a dramatic sigh. Your legs flop over the side “That kid really knows how to drop a bomb” you mumble into a pillow.
Law says nothing. He just walks toward his desk and sits down heavily, glancing at a stack of papers that definitely aren’t important right now.
“…So…” he says.
You raise an eyebrow, still hiding in the couch.
He clears his throat “Have you ever… uh. Thought about… you know.”
You peek at him “About what.”
He doesn’t look at you “A kid. Of your own.”
You squint “Why are you talking like that? You sound like Bepo when he ate spoiled mochi.”
He shoots you a look and you laugh, then immediately groan and hide your face in your hands.
“Oh god, I can’t believe we’re actually talking about this.”
“You didn’t answer” he says.
You peek through your fingers at him “Did you think about it before?”
He shrugs one shoulder “No. Not seriously.”
He stands up and walks over. He kneels in front of you and gently pulls your hands away from your face, exposing your cheeks and all the heat blooming in them.
His voice is soft “But now… I don’t hate the idea.”
Your heart skips. Your mouth opens and for once, no teasing comes out. Just a quiet little truth.
“…Same,” you say “If it’s with you.”
His ears go red. He clears his throat again, standing up abruptly like you just slapped him with a compliment.
“Don’t say stuff like that so easily” he mutters.
You laugh, covering your own red cheeks again “You started it!”
He turns back to his desk, muttering something under his breath.
You’re not sure what he’s thinking. But his shoulders relax a little while his hand lingers on the edge of his chair, like maybe he’s imagining what another little voice in this room might sound like someday.
── .✦ Shanks:
The sun is warm on your shoulders. The smell of grilled fish, sea salt, and cheap beer fills the open-air restaurant. You’re sitting beside Shanks, your legs draped over his lap, one arm around his broad shoulders. He’s laughing loud, one hand resting on your thigh, a bottle in the other.
The Red-Haired Pirates are noisy,talking with full mouths, yelling jokes across the table, getting into friendly fights over who gets the last crab claw.
You’re smiling, head leaning against Shanks’ shoulder, completely relaxed. Then you notice a woman, maybe in her twenties, carrying a small kid, probably two or three years old, on her hip. She’s standing near the entrance, eyes scanning the place fast, like she’s searching for someone. Her brows are drawn tight, lips pressed together.
“Shanks…” you murmur, nudging him with your elbow.
He follows your gaze.
She spots you. Her eyes go wide with something like hope. She walks fast toward your table, clutching the child tighter, muttering “excuse me” as she passes the crew. The little one, a girl, blinks up at everyone with big sleepy eyes. She stops right in front of you.
“Hi,” she says, out of breath “I—Sorry to bother you. I know who you are. You’re Shanks’ crew, right?”
You blink “Uh, yeah. That’s us.”
The woman shifts her weight, bouncing the kid gently “I know this is weird. Really weird. But I—I need help.”
Shanks straightens a little beside you. His arm slides behind your back but he stays quiet, letting you speak first.
“What kind of help?” you ask slowly, looking from the kid to her.
“My babysitter canceled last minute. I’m already late for work—I’ll lose my job if I don’t show up. It’s only for a few hours. Please,” she pleads “I don’t know anyone on this island, and you… well, I’ve seen you in the papers. You’re not bad people.”
You open your mouth to answer, then close it.
The little girl is chewing on her own shirt, blinking at you with big brown eyes. Her cheeks are flushed. Her hair’s tied up in a tiny puff.
You glance at Shanks. He’s watching you with that gentle smile of his. His eyes are soft. He doesn’t say anything, he just squeezes your hip lightly, like he’s telling you, Your choice.
“I don’t know anything about kids.” you say, voice low, nervous.
“You’ll be fine,” the woman says quickly “She’s easy. Doesn’t cry much. Her name’s Emi.”
The little girl makes a tiny sound, like she’s trying to say something but decides against it.
You look at Shanks again. He smiles wider.
“I’ll help you,” you say finally, sighing “Only for a few hours.”
“Thank you, thank you so much.” the woman breathes. She kisses the kid’s forehead and whispers something into her ear. Then she hands her over to you.
The moment Emi’s in your arms, she goes still. Warm and small. A little heavy. She smells like soap and bananas.
The woman gives you her name, a quick “I’ll be back before sunset.” and then she’s gone.
You sit there frozen. Shanks looks down at Emi in your lap. Then back up at you.
“You look terrified.” he says, chuckling.
“I am terrified.” you whisper.
“Want me to hold her?”
You shake your head slowly “No… I think I got this.”
Then Emi sneezes on your chest.
“Okay,” you groan “Maybe not.”
Shanks is already laughing.
At first, Emi just… sits there. On your lap. Quiet, blinking, nose still a little runny. She doesn’t cry. Doesn’t move much either. Just holds a tiny stuffed rabbit in one hand and sucks her thumb with the other.
You’re stiff as a mast. Shanks drapes his arm around your shoulders, whispering in your ear, “You’re holding her like she’s a bomb.”
“I’ve held swords with more confidence...” you mutter back.
He laughs, soft and deep, and brushes a strand of hair behind your ear “Try putting her on the bench next to you. Let her get used to everyone.”
You do. Emi shifts to sit beside you, rabbit clutched to her chest. She peeks around the table. The crew watches her like she’s a sea monster that just learned to smile.
“Hi, Emi!” Lucky Roux waves with a toothy grin “Wanna try some pineapple?”
She buries her face in your side.
Yasopp chuckles “You sure she’s not scared of you, Y/N?”
“She should be.” you say dryly.
But over time, it changes. Slowly. Emi starts pointing at things on the table. A shrimp. A spoon. A shiny gold coin someone dropped. You tell her the names. You offer her a piece of soft bread, and she takes it with two hands like it’s a treasure.
An hour later, you’re wiping jam off her chin with a napkin and helping her clap to Benn’s bad humming of a lullaby tune. She giggles when you make a fish face at her. You giggle back. And Shanks is quiet. He watches.
Not in a smug or teasing way. He’s not smirking. He’s not laughing with the others when Yasopp says, “Look at this! Y/N’s got the mom vibe going strong!”
He just… looks.
You glance at him and find his jaw a little tight. His drink untouched. His gaze heavy on you and the child. Like he’s thinking hard about something he doesn’t want to say out loud.
“Captain?” you ask softly.
He blinks, like he’s been pulled out of somewhere far away “Yeah?”
“You okay?”
He nods. Too fast.
Roux leans over with a grin “Hey, Shanks. You gonna put a ring on it if she starts popping out mini Shank’s?”
Everyone laughs.
You feel your face heat up, heart thudding a little “Oh my God—can you all shut up?”
“I want to marry her.” Shanks says suddenly.
Silence. Everyone stares.
You slowly turn to him “What?”
He meets your eyes. His voice is even, but his expression is… different. Calm on the surface, but his eyes are darker than usual “If she wanted that too. Yeah.”
You feel Emi rest her head on your arm, yawning, rabbit smushed between her face and your side.
You’re not sure what to say. The crew fumbles between teasing and trying not to look too shocked.
Shanks finally looks away, picking up his drink again.
Benn watches him for a long second. Then quietly says, “Alright, alright. Let’s not scare the kid, huh?”
And just like that, the noise starts up again. Jokes. Laughter. Loud plates. Big bites.
But Shanks doesn’t joke anymore, and you don’t miss the way he keeps looking at you like there’s something he’s not saying. Something that makes your heart beat a little faster.
Then everything fall falls apart when Emi gets bored.
One minute she’s snuggled against you, soft and sleepy, her rabbit tucked under her chin. The next she’s on her feet, running full speed down the middle of the open-air tavern, arms flapping like wings.
“EMI!” you shout, scrambling to follow her.
Your drink spills. A spoon clatters to the ground. Shanks laughs under his breath and gets up with you, already moving.
She darts under a table where two drunk fishermen are playing cards, crawls past their feet like some kind of tiny demon, and pops up between a tray of grilled squid and a candle.
“I got her!” Yasopp calls out, lunging, but Emi ducks and keeps running, laughing wildly now, barefoot and fast.
“She’s gone feral!” Lucky Roux howls.
“Shanks!” you bark, spinning around helplessly “Stop laughing and HELP!”
He grins, but there’s warmth in his eyes as he moves quickly, circling the tables “Aye aye, sweetheart.”
You try one side, he takes the other.
“Emi,” he says, crouching low, voice gentle, like he’s speaking to a scared animal “Hey, baby girl. Wanna play a game? It’s called Freeze. Can you freeze?”
She stops. Looks at him. Wobbles on her feet.
You sneak up behind.
“Gotcha!” you grab her mid-spin, lifting her up like a sack of potatoes.
She laughs and squeals, legs kicking.
“She’s a slippery one.” you mutter, holding her close, out of breath.
“I like her spirit,” Shanks says, grinning as he brushes a strand of hair from your face “She reminds me of you.”
You squint at him “You’re not funny.”
The crew starts clapping. Yasopp whistles. Roux raises his mug “Now that’s a team, huh? Look at them. Mom and Dad of the year.”
“Oh, please—” you start, but Shanks just reaches for Emi’s little hand and gives it a squeeze.
“Teamwork, right?” he says softly to her.
She nods. Then sneezes again. Right into his chest.
You burst out laughing this time and say “That’s karma.”
He wipes it off with a napkin like it’s nothing.
You sit back down together, Emi now curled in your lap again, finally tired. Shanks stays close. Not just beside you but with you. Helping. Watching. Smiling softly when Emi dozes off. But he’s still quiet. More quiet than usual.
Your eyes keep drifting to him. The way he’s looking at the girl. The little frown he doesn’t even know he has. The way his hand rests on her back like he’s done it a hundred times before.
He used to be like this with Uta. And Luffy, too. Soft. Present. Gentle.
You haven’t seen that part of him in a long time. You missed it.
“You okay?” you ask under your breath, while the crew starts arguing over dessert.
He doesn’t answer right away.
Then finally, “Yeah.”
You stare at him a little longer “Are you lying to me?”
He smiles, but it’s not the usual cocky grin. It’s smaller. Tired.
“I’m not sure what I’m feeling,” he admits “Just… thinking, I guess.”
You squeeze his hand “About what?”
He shrugs, looking down at Emi “About a lot of things.”
And now you are quiet, because something in your chest shifts. Soft. Strange. Familiar.
Maybe it’s the way he looks at you, like you’ve already given him something he thought he’d never have again. Or maybe it’s the way it suddenly feels… real.
You. Him. And this small, chaotic moment that makes everything else disappear.
The sun starts to dip, painting the sky in gold and peach.
You’re still at the tavern, Emi snoring softly on your shoulder, her little fingers tangled in your hair. Shanks sits beside you, quiet. His arm rests behind you, not touching, just there.
And then she returns. The woman bursts through the crowd, her apron flying, face flushed with panic. The moment she sees you, she stops, hands over her heart like she might collapse.
“Oh my god—thank you. Thank you so much,” she breathes, almost crying as she rushes to you “I’m so sorry I took so long. I owe you my life.”
You wave a hand gently “It’s okay. Really. She was good. A little fast—like, sprint-across-the-rooftops fast—but… I had fun.”
Emi stirs and opens her eyes.
“Hi, baby.” the mother coos, arms outstretched. The little girl shifts toward her sleepily, and you pass her over with care. For a second, Emi resists, her hand still reaching for your shirt.
Your heart squeezes a little.
“Thank you again,” the woman says, eyes filled with real gratitude “If you’re ever on this island again, please come find us. I mean it.”
You smile, brushing some crumbs off your lap “Of course. Be safe.”
You watch them go, mother holding daughter close, disappearing into the market crowd. And then it’s just… quiet. Too quiet.
The crew starts packing up, joking softly, but there’s a change in the air. A stillness you don’t like. You look at Shanks.
He’s already looking at you.
Not grinning. Not teasing.
Just watching you with that faraway softness in his eyes, like you’re a slow dream he doesn’t want to wake up from. Like maybe, for a second, he saw something more than just this moment.
You reach for his hand and lace your fingers through his.
He squeezes back but doesn’t say anything.
The walk to the ship is slow. The crew’s laughing again, arguing about who drank the most, but it’s like the volume’s been turned down. You and Shanks trail behind.
Still no words. Not one.
That night, the sea’s calm. The stars are out. You’re both in your cabin, door closed, boots off.
You lie on your shared bed, watching him stand at the window, shirt half unbuttoned, red hair catching the moonlight, and you’ve had enough. You sit up.
“Alright, Red,” you say, crossing your arms “What’s going on in that dumb, beautiful head of yours?”
He looks over his shoulder, startled “What?”
“You’ve been quiet ever since Emi left. You’ve said maybe ten words total. And I know you. That means you’re thinking. Hard.”
He chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck “Maybe I’m just tired.”
“Nope.” You crawl across the bed toward him, poke his side “Try again.”
He sighs “It’s… complicated.”
“So is your face, and I still look at it every day. Try me.”
That gets a small laugh out of him.
You press your forehead to his back “You don’t have to hold things in with me, Shanks. Not the serious stuff. Not the scary stuff. Especially not the stuff that makes your eyes look like that.”
He turns slowly, leaning against the window. You slide your arms around his waist and rest your head on his chest. He wraps his arms around you too, finally. Breathing in.
“Seeing you with her,” he says softly “With Emi.”
You wait.
“I kept thinking about Uta. About Luffy. About how fast it all went. How I blinked and they weren’t mine to hold anymore.”
You don’t speak. Just hold him tighter.
“And then… I saw you. Just being there. Caring for this tiny stranger like it was nothing. Laughing with her. Holding her. And something in me just… ached.”
You tilt your head up “Ached how?”
He looks down at you, eyes serious now “Like I wanted that with you. And I didn’t even know how much until I saw it.”
The words settle deep inside you.
“You’d be a good father.” you whisper.
“You’d be the best mother.” he says back instantly.
Silence again, but this time it’s full. Of possibilities. Of truths unsaid until now.
“I didn’t say anything,” Shanks adds, brushing a hand through your hair, “because I don’t want you to think I expect that from you. Or that I’m pushing it. I just… couldn’t stop seeing it.”
You lean in and kiss him slow. No rush. No pressure. Just soft and sure.
When you pull away, your voice is warm and quiet “Then keep seeing it. I don’t mind.”
You kiss him. Long, soft, deep.
The kind of kiss that says more than either of you can find the words for. His hands settle on your waist, grounding you, holding you like you might drift away if he lets go. And when you finally break apart, you stay close. Forehead to forehead. Breathing the same air.
Now it’s your turn. You exhale shakily “I always saw you with Uta. And Luffy. The way you held them, talked to them, made them laugh… the way they looked at you.”
Shanks closes his eyes, lips pressed together.
“I used to watch from the deck,” you continue softly, “and I’d think… that. I want that with him. Our own little chaos. Our own quiet moments. Our own family.”
His grip on you tightens just a little. His thumb strokes your hip, slowly.
“I never said anything,” you admit, voice quieter now “Because I thought… maybe you already had your turn. Maybe being a dad again wasn’t something you wanted. Like, maybe Uta and even Luffy were your ‘once in a lifetime’. And I didn’t want to be selfish.”
Shanks pulls back just enough to look at you fully, eyes wide, voice rough “Selfish? Y/N… You have no idea how wrong you are.”
You blink.
He cups your face, brushing his thumb over your cheek “If anything, I was scared you didn’t want that. I never wanted to put that weight on you. My name. My crew. My life.”
You both laugh a little, soft and breathless. And then he says it “I’d love to see a little you run around the ship.”
Your heart does a full spin in your chest. You both collapse back onto the bed, side by side, hands tangled together, staring at the ceiling like it holds the future in its stars.
“I think she’d be loud.” you say, smiling to yourself.
“I just know. She’d talk back to Benn by the time she could crawl.”
“She’d steal Yasopp’s sake and blame it on Lucky Roux.”
“She’d steal your cape and wear it like a dress.”
“She’d make the whole crew bow to her by age four.”
You laugh. He laughs too. Your fingers tighten around his.
“She’d be soft like you,” he adds suddenly, voice lower now “Kind. But dangerous.”
You glance over at him “She’d be brave like you. Wild, loyal, always smiling.”
He sighs, almost dreamily “I can already hear her little feet running on the deck.”
“And your big voice yelling ‘don’t climb the cannon!’”
You both break into giggles and then silence again, but this time, it’s wrapped in warmth, in hope.
Shanks turns his head to look at you. You’re already looking at him.
“I mean…” he says slowly, raising one eyebrow, “we could start working on that little Y/N… like… right now.”
You gasp “Shanks!”
He smirks wickedly “What? I’m just saying. We’re both here. The ship’s quiet. The moon looks nice. You’re cute. I’m cute. It’s called destiny.”
You snort “You’re impossible—ah!”
He attacks, fingers darting to your sides, tickling, making you laugh and squirm under him.
“Shanks! Stop!”
“Never!” he grins, pinning you lightly with his weight “You’re stuck now. You told me your secrets. I told you mine. That makes us legally married in pirate law.”
You laugh until your cheeks hurt. You wiggle, but he’s strong, gentle, always careful. And then you stop moving. So does he.
Your eyes meet again. Closer now. Breath mingling.
That softness returns. Like a wave pulling you under, not scary. Just deep. Full of something quiet and forever.
You reach up and brush his hair behind his ear.
He leans into your touch.
“Hey,” you whisper “I love you.”
“I know,” he murmurs, kissing the inside of your palm “And I love you more than I thought I even could.”
His mouth finds yours again, slower this time. No rush.
The kind of kiss that makes the world outside the cabin disappear and maybe, tonight is the beginning of something new.
── .✦ Ace:
The sun is warm, the breeze is salty, and Ace is doing what he always does when he’s not fighting or eating: walking too close to you with that lazy grin on his face.
“You sure you don’t wanna race?” he asks “You lose, you buy lunch.”
You raise an eyebrow “You’ll cheat with your fire.”
“Not true.” He places a hand on his chest, all dramatic “I only cheat if I’m losing.”
You snort “So always.”
He gasps “Betrayal.”
The two of you walk down the main road of a small island town. It’s quiet, peaceful, one of those places that doesn’t care much for bounties or pirate crews. People nod, wave, smile. Ace stretches, yawns, and puts his arm lazily around your shoulder.
“Maybe we should stay here a few days,” he says “Nice change from all the running.”
Before you can answer, a small voice says “Is that Fire Fist Ace?!”
You both turn. Two kids stand by a fruit stall, one boy, maybe six, and an older girl, probably nine. The boy’s eyes are wide. The girl looks like she’s not impressed yet.
Ace grins “Yeah, that’s me.”
The boy lights up “No way! My dad told me you can burn down a whole ship in one punch!”
Ace shrugs, clearly proud “Depends on the ship.”
The girl, however, is staring at you.
Her eyes narrow “You’re her, aren’t you?”
You blink “…Her?”
She steps closer, pointing at your waist “You’re the swordwoman who beat that Navy officer in Loguetown. The one who fights with two blades and never loses.”
You look down at her, surprised. She’s serious. Ace whistles.
“Wow,” he says “I didn’t know I was walking around with a legend.”
You nudge him “Shut up.”
The girl keeps going “They say you cut a cannonball in half.”
You sigh “It was already cracked.”
Still, her eyes sparkle. The boy joins in, bouncing excitedly.
“She’s so cool! Are you really pirates?!”
“Guilty,” Ace says, holding up his hands “But friendly pirates.”
“You don’t look friendly...” the girl says.
Ace grins “Good. That’s the point.”
Then the boy tugs at your sleeve “Can I see your sword?”
You crouch to his level “They’re sharp. Not safe for kids.”
He frowns “I won’t touch it. Promise!”
You glance at Ace, who’s watching you closely, smiling like he’s waiting for something. You sigh and slowly pull one of your swords just a little from the sheath, just enough to show the edge. Both kids gasp like it’s treasure.
“Can you teach us how to fight?” the girl asks suddenly.
You blink “You’re nine.”
“So? You were probably younger when you started.”
Ace chuckles “She was.”
You give him a side-eye “Stop helping.”
The little girl folds her arms “You could just show us something. Like a move. Just one.”
You sigh again but you’re smiling now “You’re very stubborn.”
She shrugs “You have to be, if you wanna be strong.”
Ace leans against a wooden post, arms crossed, amused “Sounds familiar.”
You glance at him “You’re enjoying this too much.”
“I mean… yeah.” He grins “It’s the first time someone’s asking you for autographs instead of me. I’m letting it sink in.”
The boy tugs your coat again “Please? One move?”
You finally stand, looking at the open space near the dock “Fine. But just one. Then you leave us alone and go home, got it?”
The kids cheer and run to the clearing.
Ace follows, whistling “You’re gonna start a sword school at this rate.”
You roll your shoulders, then pull your blade halfway out, just enough to flash the steel. You drop into a stance, slow and firm. The kids go quiet. Then, with a sharp breath, you move. One swift, elegant slash through the air, so fast the wind shifts. The tip of your sword stops just above the ground, and your coat flutters around you.
The boy’s mouth hangs open. The girl’s eyes are huge.
Ace whistles “Show-off.”
You sheathe the sword in one clean motion.
The girl points “That was awesome! Can you do it again?”
“No,” you say, but you’re laughing now.
The boy runs over and hugs your leg suddenly “You’re my favorite pirate now!”
You blink, surprised. You pat his head awkwardly “Uh. Thanks?”
Ace watches you, your hand gently resting on the boy’s head, your stance still grounded, strong but soft. You’re not trying to impress anyone. You just exist like this. Capable. Calm. Kind. Something shifts in his chest.
You look up at him “What?”
He shrugs “Nothing. Just… didn’t know you were this good with kids.”
“I’m not,” you say “They’re just clingy.”
The girl now grabs your wrist “Can I hold your sword?”
“No.”
“Can I touch it?”
“No.”
“Can you teach me how to fight like that?”
“No—”
Ace walks over, laughing “C’mon, sweetheart. Be nice.”
You glare at him “You help, then.”
He lifts his hands “Nope. I’m just the fire guy. You’re the star today.”
The boy turns to Ace “Do you two live together?”
You and Ace exchange a look.
He grins “Something like that.”
The girl squints “Are you married?”
You cough “No.”
“Are you gonna be?”
You open your mouth, but nothing comes out.
Ace just laughs and says, “Wanna help me convince her?”
“YES!” the kids shout in unison.
You groan and walk away “I regret everything.”
Ace follows, hands in his pockets, that lazy smile still on his face, but his eyes stay soft. He watches you gently shoo the kids away, then thank the fruit vendor with a quiet bow. And in that moment, he knows. Clear as day.
“She’s not just strong. She’s not just mine. She’d be the best damn mom the world’s ever seen.”
He doesn’t say it out loud. Not yet. But he’s thinking it. Hard.
You and Ace are sitting under a tree near the edge of the village, sharing a bag of sliced fruit.
“You think they’re gone?” you ask, biting into a juicy piece.
Ace shrugs “Maybe. Or maybe they’re forming a fan club.”
You nudge his leg with your boot “I don’t need a fan club.”
He gives you a lazy grin “No, but you deserve one.”
You roll your eyes, but your ears go a little pink.
Then, a small voice calls from down the road “WE’RE BACK!!”
You groan “No.”
Ace grins “Yes.”
The two kids come running, the boy nearly trips over his own feet and stop in front of you, proudly holding up folded paper sheets.
“Look!!” the girl says, unfolding one “We drew you!”
You blink “…You what?”
They hand you the papers. The drawings are messy, full of wild colors, but so full of heart. One is of you holding two swords, a big smile on your face. Another shows you and Ace together, tiny figures with stars around you. A third shows you with a little kid, sword in hand, standing tall.
You pause at that one. Ace leans over your shoulder to peek. His voice is softer now “Is that supposed to be your kid?”
The girl nods proudly “Yup! We made a story about you! You’re a pirate mom who protects her ship and teaches her kid how to be strong.”
You stare at the page, silent. The boy holds out a few crayons “You can draw too, if you want!”
Before you can say no, he’s already sitting down, opening another paper. The girl joins him. They look up at you, smiling.
“C’mon,” she says “We wanna make a whole crew!”
You glance at Ace. He shrugs, trying to act casual “Up to you.”
You sigh and sit down cross-legged in the grass “Alright. But I’m drawing the captain.”
“That’s YOU!” the boy says.
You raise an eyebrow “I meant me.”
They laugh.
You start sketching. Nothing fancy just simple shapes. You draw yourself with a pirate hat, a tiny sword tucked in your belt. The kids start adding characters around you: themselves, animals, someone with a frying pan who’s probably Ace.
You’re focused, smiling to yourself as you add waves and stars and a sun.
Ace just watches you from where he stands, hands in his pockets, face unreadable. There’s a heat in his chest now that has nothing to do with his powers. It burns deeper. It’s watching your hand gently guide the boy’s when he can’t get the lines straight. It’s hearing you ask, “Want me to draw your pirate flag too?” in that soft, patient voice.
It’s the way you look down at the page like you’re already imagining a future.
“This shouldn’t make me want her more,” he thinks, frustrated “But it does. She’s drawing little pirate stories with them on the grass. She’d be the kind of mom who makes the world feel safe.”
He swallows hard and looks away for a second, like it’ll calm him down... It doesn’t.
You finish your little drawing with a final scribble of wind in the sails.
“There,” you say, holding it up “Captain, crew, and treasure.”
The boy claps “It’s perfect!”
The girl leans over to look “Yours is way cooler than mine.”
“Nah,” you say, nudging her arm “You’ve got better colors.”
They beam like you just handed them gold.
Ace is still standing nearby, arms crossed, pretending to be relaxed, but his jaw is tight.
You glance up at him “You okay?”
“Me? Yeah.” His voice comes out rougher than he means it to. He clears his throat “Just… warm.”
The boy tugs at your sleeve again.
“Hey,” he says, eyes wide with curiosity “Do you have kids?”
You blink. Ace freezes.
The girl adds quickly, “You’d be a really cool mom.”
There’s a beat of silence. Just the wind and the scratching of a crayon. You sit back slowly and shake your head “No. I don’t.”
The boy frowns “Why not?”
You laugh softly “Because I’m still busy being a pirate.”
“But you could be both,” the girl says, very seriously “Like in the drawing.”
You smile at that “Maybe someday.”
Your voice is calm. Light. Like you’re just answering any question. But Ace… Ace is not calm. He watches your face as you say those words “Maybe someday” and his heart lurches. Because now it’s real. Not just a fantasy in his head. Not just a warm thought. You’ve imagined it too now.
He doesn’t say anything. He just walks over slowly and sits down behind you, arms resting over your shoulders as you lean back against his chest.
“You’d be amazing at it.” he murmurs, low so the kids can’t hear.
You glance up “At what?”
He looks down at you, eyes soft and a little wild at the edges, like something’s breaking open inside him “At being a mom. I mean it.”
You pause. Then, quietly, you ask, “You think about that?”
He nods “More than I expected to. More than I ever thought I would.”
The kids are still doodling, totally unaware. You say nothing, but your hand reaches up and rests gently over his. That’s all he needs.
The kids eventually stand up, arms full of drawings and unfinished paper pirate maps.
“We’re gonna go show these to our grandpa!” the girl says.
The boy nods “Thanks for drawing with us!”
You wave, still sitting in the grass “Stay out of trouble.”
The boy grins “Bye, pirate mom!”
You blink “I’m not—”
But they’re already gone.
Ace snorts behind you “Pirate mom, huh?”
You roll your eyes and lean back into him again “Don’t start.”
He rests his chin on your shoulder “Too late. You’ve got the role down already. You give good advice, threaten people just enough, and draw cool flags. What more could a kid want?”
You hum “A dad who doesn’t set the house on fire?”
He grins “I’d try to keep it contained.”
You laugh, light and warm “You’d accidentally roast our laundry.”
“Okay, yeah, but I’d teach them how to blow stuff up responsibly.”
You fake-think “Hmm. Dangerous. But useful.”
He smiles, but then falls quiet. You feel the shift instantly. His arms wrap tighter around your middle.
“You were really sweet with them.” he says softly.
You shrug “They were cute.”
“You were cuter.”
You snort “Gross.”
“No, seriously,” he murmurs “I was watching you and thinking… like, really thinking—”
He breaks off, then tries again “That I wanna see you like that again. With… our own.”
You smirk “You mean with a mini version of me bossing you around?”
He groans “Oh god. A tiny you would be terrifying.”
“Admit it. You’d love it.”
He doesn’t hesitate.
“I would,” he says, suddenly serious “I really would.”
You look up at him. He’s already looking down at you, eyes soft, mouth slightly parted, like he’s realizing it all over again.
You tilt your head, grinning “You’re so obvious, Ace.”
“Am not.”
“You were practically glowing while I helped that kid draw a sword.”
“I was not glowing!”
“You sighed like five times.”
“I didn’t—”
“You had your sappy ‘I’m in love’ face on.”
“I always have my sappy in love face on.”
You laugh, twisting in his arms to face him fully “True.”
He leans in, forehead pressed to yours.
“I’m serious though,” he murmurs “Someday. I’d want that. With you.”
Your voice softens “Yeah. Me too.”
You kiss him slow, sure, and just a little teasing, then pull back with a grin “But if the kid turns out chaotic like you, I’m blaming your genes.”
He laughs against your mouth “Deal. But if they’re scary with a sword by age seven, that’s all you.”
You smirk “We’ll make a terrifying little pirate together.”
“Perfect.” he says, smiling like he already sees it.
After the events of Punk Hazard, Law finds himself aboard the Thousand Sunny. In an attempt to find somewhere that wasn’t constantly plagued by the obnoxiously loud Straw Hat Pirates, he ends up in the lab belonging to the crew’s scientist enough times to raise eyebrows…
Tags: Law X Gn!Reader, Scientist!Reader, StrawHat!Reader, pure fluff, SFW, slow burn, One Piece Fanfic
Word count: ~4.4k
****************************************
After waiting for ages, Trafalgar Law had finally finished his business on Punk Hazard. He’d successfully kidnapped Caesar Clown and destroyed the lab that created S.A.D. He also defeated Vergo, as an unexpected bonus. But now, he had newer problems as well.
The Straw Hat Pirates. His new allies.
On one hand, they had strong, smart and understanding members. On the other hand, they were absolutely insufferable at times. Having already met them two years prior on Sabaody Archipelago, Law was aware of that. What he wasn’t aware of, though, was how bad it actually was.
Unfortunately, he has to experience exactly that after boarding the Thousand Sunny once all parties were over on Punk Hazard. He agreed to sail with them until they made it back to Zou where the other Heart Pirates were. So, for now, Law was stuck with what was probably the most chaotic crew in the whole grand line.
They never listened to his plans or ideas, for starters. Like, Luffy literally asked Sanji to make everyone sandwiches in the middle of his planning. Who the hell just does that? Zoro just slept through everything or was too busy training to care. The only ones that actually seemed to listen to him were the crew's archeologist, Nico Robin, and you –the crew's scientist.
If Law was completely honest with himself, he had favourites on this ship. You were probably at the top of that list. Out- of everyone, you listened to him the most, actually concentrating and asking meaningful questions. When he first got on the ship, you also took some time to actually show him around the ship, remembering that he’d never been on the Sunny. Plus, you had a nice face to accompany the brains.
…Not like that last part mattered, or anything.
He didn’t see you around on the ship that much, usually only at meal times or when you happened to come out to train. He understood though, specialising in chemistry probably meant that leaving a lab unsupervised wasn’t the best idea.
One day though, luck might’ve been on Law’s side. The Straw hats had been especially insufferable for the morning, and you already disappeared to wherever you always went. Presently, he was walking through the halls while looking for a place to hide. Luffy was on deck trying to find him and pull him into some sort of game. No thank you.
While searching, he found a door that he hadn’t really noticed until then. No label on the wood. No window to see inside either. You must’ve forgotten to mention this room when you showed Law around a while ago.
Law pushes the door open without knocking, assuming it was just a storage closet of some sort. What he didn’t expect was a whole lab behind the door. It was well furnished: multiple shelves holding god knows what; a sink; chemicals; a ton of paper strewn around quite untidily; more chemicals; and a desk, with you sitting at it.
“I thought I said to knock before just barging into my-” You start when you hear the door open without any warning prior, pausing when Law appears in the doorway with a confused expression. Putting your pencil down, spin in the chair you were sitting in until you were facing him. “Oh, hey.”
“Uh, hi?” Law responds after a second, taking a small, hesitant step inside. How in the world had he not noticed this place earlier? He glances around the room while awkwardly still standing near your door. “This, uh… This isn’t a supply closet, is it…?”
The question catches you slightly off-guard, to the point where you have to bring a hand up to your mouth to stifle a soft laugh. Law freezes at the sound of it, feeling his cheeks warm up slightly. Embarrassment? Yeah, probably. You recover from the question, tucking a strand of our hair out of the way as you respond. “No, this isn’t a closet. It’s my lab.”
Your lab. Right. Of course it was.
“Well, could I stay for a while? Need somewhere where I won’t be dragged into playing card games with your crew” Law asks after a second of silence, remembering the door behind him and gently pushing it shut. His cheeks were dusted with the slightest shade of red –more visible on the tips of his ears– but you didn’t comment on it. Let the guy be flustered or whatever he had going on in his surgeon head. Your free hand gestures over to the couch in the room while the other one goes back to scribbling notes into a notebook.
“Sure, knock yourself out. Just don’t touch or spill anything.”
Law gives a quick nod, hesitantly glancing around before making his way over to the couch. His eyes don’t stop subtly darting around. It was almost like he was assessing the place, lingering over where you were working for a second longer before moving on. Contrary to his first impression of the place, your lab was actually quite messy. Once he looked closer, Law noticed the unorganised papers and test tubes in no specific order, though he didn’t exactly know enough about your tests to actually know about the tubes being organised or not.
You, meanwhile, just go back to what you were doing. Every now and then, you’d glance at Law, noticing his stiff posture or how he looked out of place. A couple of minutes of this passed. You didn’t comment. Until the poor surgeon looked like he was about to combust on the spot.
“You can relax, y’know. The couch doesn’t bite,” You mutter loud enough for Law to hear, snapping him out of whatever daze he was in. You could’ve sworn he was staring at you a moment ago. He forces himself to sink into the cushions slightly. They’re… comfortable, Law can’t deny that. You also looked great in the lighting of the room right now: the sun highlighted some of your best features.
Nope. No. Stop thinking about that Law. They’re just your ally. Shut up.
Before he knows it, Law finds himself yawning. Small, but noticeable for a scientist who had a pirate captain in their room to supervise alongside their usual tests and experiments. You let out a small laugh, meeting his eyes for a second, “You tired or somethin’?”
“Nah, I’m fine,” He denies, though he’s betrayed by another yawn. There's also his heart and stomach, doing these little… things whenever you did something. Law promptly chose to ignore those sensations, though. His eyes droop slightly, causing him to slouch further into the couch cushions, “Not tired at all…”
“I honestly don’t mind if you sleep on my couch. You look like you need it,” waving a dismissive hand, you throw the suggestion out, meaning what you said fully. The couch was there for a reason. Hell, you sometimes fell asleep on it when you accidentally stayed up too late and couldn't be bothered to go to your room.
Law grumbles half-heartedly at the suggestion –he’s not tired, goddamnit, he’s just… comfortable. But he knows you’re right. He’s been up for almost 28 hours now, and the last time he slept was in a horrible plastic chair.
…Okay, maybe he is tired.
“Are you… are you sure it’s fine?” He asks, now starting to actually rest. He moves his legs up onto the couch as well, lying down and resting his head on the armrest. You could see his eyes droop before snapping open again, clearly trying to keep himself awake.
Chuckling at his attempts to not fall asleep, you reassure him while already mentally searching for the nearest blanket already, “Yes, it’s fine. No one’s going to poison you in your sleep or anything. Just rest.”
Another grumble from law, more defeated and tired than irritated. This time though, he actually does get comfortable. You even see the faintest hints of a smile on his lips as he rolls over to lie on his stomach.
It doesn’t take long for him to fall asleep. It was maybe two minutes or so. You didn’t know exactly. Just that one second Law was being a smartass and the next he was passed out on your couch. With a small sigh, you grab a thin blanket and walk over with it. Like this, his shoulders were completely free of any tension as his soft breaths fanned over tattooed arms. Carefully, as to not wake Law up already, you drape the blanket over him, instantly going back to your desk and continuing the work.
When he does eventually wake up, he doesn’t leave. Instead, he stays with you until quite late at night, going back to his own room at around midnight. The whole time, he keeps up small chatter. He was… surprisingly talkative when given the chance to. The other Straw Hats -hell, maybe even some of his own crew- probably wouldn’t believe you if you described the stoic, cold surgeon the way he was acting with you.
It was kind of endearing, if you were honest.
This whole thing became a bit like a routine between the two of you: Law hanging out in your lab during the day. At first, he was still a bit hesitant to get too comfortable, old habits dying hard. But he opened up eventually. You trusted him enough to also help you with the odd experiment or two, explaining what was happening while he watched and participated.
Despite this, Law usually managed to accidentally fumble over his words or avoid your gaze every now and then. You tried to ignore it, but the way his ears and cheeks were tinted in a barely-noticeable shade of red gave a couple of things away.
Unfortunately for him, the man himself noticed as well. Unlike you, though, he denied it to everyone including himself. There was nothing special about you. You were just the scientist for his allies' crew. Nothing else. He was Trafalgar Law, for God’s sake. How and why did you make him feel these weird… fluttery feelings in his heart? He didn't like it.
One day, though, your crewmates decided to try and play cupid. Except it was really, really obvious what they were doing… which wasn’t really a surprise, seeing how Luffy was one of the many idiots who tried it.
It was just a normal dinner on the Thousand Sunny. You and Law had come down at the same time, both coming from your lab. The smell of Sanji's cooking wafted through the air as you both took your places: you in between Zoro and Robin, while Law sat between Luffy and Chopper. The glances were obvious from the start.
Luffy was already grinning like an even bigger idiot than he usually is when you entered the room, being elbowed by Nami in what you could only guess was an attempt to get the captain to be more subtle. Sanji was avoiding eye contact, and it was painfully obvious how fake his attempted flirting with the girls was tonight. Everyone was just… off.
You and Law exchanged a glance across the table as everyone waited for food to be served, both of you thinking the exact same thing: ‘What the hell is happening?’
The table was mostly silent while everyone glanced at each other, the usual banter nowhere to be seen. Every now and then, the silence was broken by horribly hidden giggles or snickers. Before either you or Law could comment though, Sanji brings out dinner. He places a plate in front of everyone, seemingly rushing on the two of you when serving the dishes.
As soon as plates were set in front of everyone, everything seemed to revert to normal. Luffy let out a loud shout in thanks before starting to shovel food down his mouth like he was in some sort of eating competition. The others followed, though with less overreacting. Both Law and you shared another puzzled glance before doing the same.
The chat that was usually present at meal times started up again as well. The past couple minutes of awkward silence and stifled laughter seemed to be completely forgotten about. That just confused you more, if that was even possible anymore.
Despite this, something was still not completely right. Maybe it was the glances between Nami and Robin that you caught. Maybe it was the smirk on Zoro’s face that Law kept on frowning at. You couldn’t tell.
Eventually, Luffy apparently couldn’t hold the question in for any longer.
“Hey Traffy, are you and y/n together?”
“I-HUH!?” Law splutters at the sudden, unexpected question, nearly choking on his food in the process. You cough up some water as well, with Robin patting your back to help you spit everything back into your cup. When you recover, you raise an eyebrow at the whole table.
“What could’ve possibly made you even think that?” you respond, meeting your captain's gaze. He seems to realise that he messed up when nearly everyone at the table glares at him –Law included.
“Luffy, what the hell?” Nami hisses while elbowing him in the ribs, “You weren’t supposed to say it like that!”
So that was why everyone was acting strange…
“Well this is interesting,” Robin comments under her breath, taking a sip of her tea. She seemed unfazed by this. Brook too, though his shoulders were shaking ever so slightly from contained laughter.
Zoro, Usopp and Chopper, meanwhile, were snickering into their hands (or hooves) while trying to keep composed. Nami just sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. Despite her actions, she couldn't hide the way she had to resist the urge to smile.
“Luffy’s got a point, though,” she adds, looking between you and Law like she knew something even you two didn’t. After a moment, she continues, “I mean, you clearly like each other. Why don’t you just make it official already?”
“I–No! I don’t like them like that!” Law finally finds his voice again, his voice an octave higher than usual. His eyes glance around the table, deliberately avoiding your eyes, “That’s–that’s not… They’re just the only person here that’s actually tolerable to be around. That’s all.”
A collective laugh finally breaks free between the Straw Hats at his hurried denial, with a couple of them wheezing into their hands or holding onto another to keep themselves upright.
Meanwhile, you and Law look around in what might’ve been disbelief. Your face was starting to feel warmer while the other captain pulled his hat down in an attempt to hide his flushed face. With one quick movement, gets up from his seat and starts walking towards the door before anyone could protest, grumbling loud enough for all of you to hear, “This is stupid. I’m leaving.”
That just makes everyone laugh even harder. The sudden departure from him was apparently hilarious to all of them. Giggles and wheezes fill the room after Law slams the door behind him, letting him escape back to god knows where in a flustered mess.
Now you were alone, left to fend for yourself against the crew’s teasing. Wonderful.
“Oh… Oh my god, did you see his face?!” Franky exclaims while wiping a tear from his eye, struggling to catch his breath. You wanted nothing more than to walk out as well, but that would just most likely make things worse.
“And I thought he didn’t feel anything other than hate and disgust,” Zoro adds, banging his fist on the table. Yeah, you definitely didn’t want to be there.
“The question was embarrassing, of course he’s going to blush,” In an attempt to save both of your reputations, you try to defend Law. The heat from your own cheeks had mostly died down now, so you were fine with glaring at all of them, “Like, Sanji would probably blush if I said that he got back-to-back rejections from two girls he was flirting with on the last island we were on.”
“I-I did not!!” The cook’s face instantly burns red at the sudden accusation, his cigarette nearly slipping out of his mouth at the same time. Zoro and Usopp cover their mouths as they break into more snickers. That just embarrasses Sanji even more, but he goes straight for Zoro, “Shut up, you stupid mosshead.”
“That still doesn’t mean anything though,” Luffy of course manages to steer the conversation back to you and Law. Damn him for only knowing how to use his brain for fights and humiliating his crew.
“True. He could’ve been blushing because he was embarrassed and flustered,” Nami also comments, that same glint in her eyes as she turns to you, “Maybe he knows we’re right~”
Cue yet another small round of laughter from the crew, clearly finding what was essentially (in your opinion) bullying you amusing.
“Ugh, you’re twisting my words,” you groan into your hands, trying to hide your face from them all. Robin pats your back sympathetically as the others start to tease you. At this point, you can only make half-hearted attempts to defend yourself.
“You are in so much denial, y/n.”
“He’s not staying on the ship forever. Just ask him out already.”
“Besides, you two make a cute couple.”
“We’re not together!”
“Y/n and Law, sitting in a tree-”
“Shut up Luffy!”
Eventually, after way too much time, they finally stop teasing you long enough for you to recover. Wordlessly, you also make your way out of the galley with some horrible excuse about being tired. Usopp couldn’t hold back another comment.
“Have fun with your boyfriend~”
That causes you to rush the last couple of steps, the door shutting a bit too harshly as you make your way back to the lab. The laughs of some of your crewmates could still be heard through the ship, but you ignored it. No point in adding more fuel to the fire.
Once you reach your lab, you lock the door behind you as soon as you can. Slumping against the wooden frame, an exhausted sigh escapes your lips, “I hate this crew…”
“Tell me about it,” Law was in the room as well, already lying down on the couch with a hand covering his eyes. He clearly agreed with your statement about the Straw Hats. Despite most of his face being covered, the tips of his ears were still a faint shade of red.
You make your way over to the couch and sit down next to Law, with him pulling his knees up to give you enough space. He also glances at you through his fingers, snapping his gaze away when it meets your eyes for a second. Ever since the others had started teasing the two of you, Law had been acting a bit weird. You were pretty sure that he deliberately hadn’t looked you directly in the eyes until now, which he only managed less than a second before looking away again.
“You alright?” you decide to ask, nudging his leg with your elbow to get his attention. The surgeon flinches slightly at the contact, clearly not expecting it. He stays silent for a couple of seconds, seemingly thinking over his answer to what should’ve been an obvious question.
“Yeah…I’m fine,” a lie, clearly.
Damnit Law, why are you so bad at this?
“...Mostly,” he adds after another second of awkward silence, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. Still not entirely true. But what else was he supposed to say? ‘I just find it extremely difficult to focus when you’re around and I keep finding myself staring at you’? Hell no. Law wasn’t an idiot. He knew what was happening.
The Surgeon of Death was in love.
At this point, he’d pretty much given up on denying it to himself, not seeing the point in doing that. But you obviously didn’t believe that he was fine. That just meant more questioning. More denial. More temptation to just suck it up and tell you. Law wasn’t actually sure himself how he’d manage to live through something as embarrassing as that, though.
What’s worse, he only had a limited time to actually say anything. The alliance was simple: stick together and help each other until Kaido was defeated, then straight back to being enemies. How the hell was that fair? He wanted to stay here with you, damnit. Or at least convince you to stay on the Polar Tang with his crew for a little bit.
“Lawwwww? You there?” Law doesn’t even notice that you’re talking to him until you nudge him for around the fifth time, instantly jerking up into more of a sitting position when he realises. He adjusts his hat while awkwardly clearing his throat, feeling his face heat up again as he responds.
“I, uh… Sorry, zoned out,” he mutters under his breath, averting his gaze from you as he sits up properly. Well that was embarrassing.
The room falls into another awkward silence between you two. You just sat back with your hands behind your head, waiting to see if Law would do anything. He keeps his gaze down in his lap, fingers tracing over the tattoos on his knuckles in a nervous habit. After a couple of seconds, he speaks up in a low voice. It was barely loud enough for you to hear, “Hey… can I, uh… tell ya somethin’?”
“Sure. What is it?”
“I, uhm… this is gonna be really weird, but…” he starts, rubbing the back of his neck as he tries to find the right words. He found that this was… surprisingly difficult. For no reason, to add. It was literally just a couple of words. Why was it so hard for him to speak all of a sudden?
“Try saying it with actions instead,” you comment from where you were still sitting, unaware of the absolute chaos that his mind was in right now. That was either the worst or best offer you’d given Law. He couldn’t decide, still trying to catch up with the fact that he was actually going through with this.
Once he got his thoughts together though, he moved. His eyes still refused to meet yours as he shuffled closer to you on the couch, kneeling on the cushions as he hesitantly reached out a hand to cup your cheek. It was only then that he actually met your gaze, his grey eyes accompanied with the slight callouses on his hand. The blush over his cheeks was more noticeable than before as he took a deep breath, leaning in just the slightest bit.
Before he could have any second thoughts and chicken out, Law finally pulls you closer, letting your lips meet each other. The kiss was surprisingly soft, but the fact that he even gathered up the courage to do that was surprising in itself. You could feel him tilt his head slightly to make it more comfortable, clumsily pressing his lips against yours just a bit more.
It doesn’t even last more than five seconds before Law pulls away again, his whole face now significantly redder. You look at him with slightly widened eyes and a flush over your cheeks as well, watching as he slowly raises a hand to his lips. It was like he himself didn’t realise what he’d done.
…Which was pretty cute, you couldn't lie.
“I, uhm… yeah…” Law starts up again, meeting your eyes every couple of seconds before looking away. That guy really had issues with eye contact, didn’t he? Again, he coughs into his hand while trying to find the words, speaking in a voice that shouldn’t have even been classed as a whisper from how quiet it was, “I… I-I like you… wait no… love, even…”
“Well that’s pretty obvious now, don’t ya think?” You respond, still flustered from the kiss. Your hands reach out for his waist, gently wrapping your arms around him and pulling him closer to you. Burying your face in his shoulder to hide your flushed cheeks, you mutter against his shirt, “But yeah… love you too.”
A small but genuine smile crosses Law’s lips at your confession letting his own arms return the embrace. His chin rests on top of your head as he takes a deep breath to compose himself, his heart hammering in his chest.
Without much thought, he tightens his arms around your waist and pulls you both down into a laying position, keeping you close to his chest. God, this felt nice. He wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to go back to his room tonight. The thought of just staying here with you was way more pleasing.
“You better not tell anyone about this…” he murmurs into your hair as he closes his eyes, almost sounding annoyed at the thought of anyone knowing about what was happening. Still a tsundere, after all. One of his hands was rubbing soft circles into your back as the other messed with your hair.
“Yeah, definitely not,” he hears you respond from where your face was resting against his collarbones. There was no way any of the Straw Hats -or anyone, for that matter- were finding out about this. You’d both probably die from the amount of teasing and embarrassment. “Secret’s safe with me.”
“Good,” Law responds, that same tone he used around everyone else slipping back into place for a second. But it’s not long before he sighs and starts to relax into the couch cushions with you in his arms.
“You’re still fine with me sleeping in your lab, right…?”
“Mhm. It’s alright”
“Goodnight, then…” he yawns against your hair, gathering up enough courage to dip his head and place a kiss against your cheek. Law’s breathing starts to even out as he slowly drifts off, “love you…”
“You too. Sleep well,” you respond, listening to his heartbeat as you also allow yourself to fall asleep in his arms.
Just like that, Trafalgar Law had once again fallen asleep in the lab belonging to the resident scientist of the Straw Hat Pirates. Unlike the other dozens of times he had done this already, he wasn’t alone this time. And he wouldn’t have it any other way…
May I please request swordsman! Reader who can understand swords?
I've seen in a couple fics where swordsmen are able to talk to their swords after bonding with them but the idea of reader being able to with out a bond present would be so funny! Idk if it's a skill reader learned (like a special technique) or a devil fruit power but reader just absolutely clowning on the swordsmen in one piece as a whole. Idk if the swordsman themselves can talk to their swords but I feel like it's funnier if they can't. Reader learning all about Zoro as a kid from Wado and all the embarrassing things it's seen (its been with him so long)
The only other swordsmen I can think of are Law and Mihawk. Readers experience with their swords are a little different
I feel like Yoru(I think is the name) has to much respect for Mihawk to tell any embarrassing stories like Wado but would still be embarrassing with how much bragging it does. It's very proud to have Mihawk as it's owner (he's the best swordsmen afterall)
Law's sword, Kikoku is just as cautious as it's owner but can't help but to take this opportunity to tell reader to tell law to take better care of himself
(You don't have to write for law or Mihawk if you don't want to! I just wanted to add my thoughts on them! You could just do Zoro with his three swords or any other swordsmen- honestly I have lots of thoughts about this 'prompt' so sorry for rambling <3)
(I have more thoughts if you like this request enough if not no worries!)
This is a cool idea! Thank you for requesting <3 I havent met Law in the anime yet (still on baby episodes) but i did a smol google and stalk. Sorry if hes OOC! Kinda went into it with the mindset of 'if the sword vibes with the wielder, then the wielder can kinda understand the sword' - but thee reader is fluent in swordeneese ;)
I saw your other message about you wanting a Swordsmith reader - i wasn't too sure how to incorporate it to the story so its a bit of a doozy. I could do a part 2 - focusing more on the swords being cared/repaired if you like, maybe with some scenes with shanks and his sword (reader tries not to acknowledge his sword so he doesn't think shes nosy or something? big bad shank emperor vibes ((when really hes a softie)))
Let me know if you want part 2 ^^
Enjoy <3
Sharp Tongues, Sharper Blades (Part 1)
One piece x Swordsmith!Reader
You didn’t set out to be a menace. That just sort of... happened.
Your Devil Fruit—unofficially dubbed the Blade-Whisper Whisper Fruit by a very drunk shipwright—granted you the ability to hear and speak to swords. Not just your own. Not just special, bonded blades. All swords. All the time.
It was less of a superpower and more of a constantly running group chat in your head, filled with temperamental steel with centuries of backstories and too many opinions.
Zoro’s swords were loudest of all.
You had snuck into the Sunny’s training room while the crew was off eating. You were supposed to be sharpening some of the crew’s utility knives. Instead, you were crouched beside Zoro’s swords, whispering like you were conspiring with old friends.
"Alright, alright—Wado first," you muttered, eyeing the pristine katana resting in its scabbard.
Wado Ichimonji’s “voice” came through calm and noble, but with the weary sass of someone who’s seen too much.
“It’s about time you listened. Do you know how hard it is being the only reasonable one among these idiots?”
You snorted. "You're literally a sword."
“And yet more emotionally mature than your average swordsman.”
"Tell me something embarrassing."
There was a pause.
“…When he was ten, he practiced shirtless in front of a mirror because he thought he’d grow muscles faster that way.”
You had to cover your mouth to keep the laugh in.
Sandai Kitetsu gave off an unhinged energy, like a cursed blade that listened to heavy metal and screamed into the void for fun.
“I told him to stop juggling me. That was not a test of fate. That was plain stupidity.”
"How many times has he tried to use you while drunk?"
“Seven. Eight if you count the time he mistook a mop for me.”
Shusui (grumpy, old, and dramatic) immediately interjected.
“Hmph. That mop had better stance.”
You pressed your forehead to the wooden floor, wheezing with laughter.
"Wado, how do you deal with him?"
“Love, patience, and the ability to ignore shirtless mirror flexing.”
You wiped your eyes. "You're killing me."
A familiar voice suddenly barked from behind you.
“What the hell are you doing with my swords?”
You turned slowly to find Zoro in the doorway, brow furrowed, arms crossed.
Think fast. “...uh, bonding?”
He looked skeptical. You grinned.
“Wado says you used to practice shirtless for gains.”
Zoro’s face turned ten shades of red.
“WHAT?!”
From the sword rack, Wado Ichimonji whispered smugly:
“He also cried after losing to a squirrel once.”
-
Dinner on the Sunny was loud, chaotic, and usually filled with the sounds of Luffy trying to steal food off every plate within reach.
Tonight, it was also filled with the sounds of you barely containing your laughter as you side-eyed Zoro across the table.
He was trying to act normal, gruffly chewing through his rice like it hadn’t been hours since you’d had a little... chat with his swords. You could see the tension in his jaw, the way his eye kept twitching every time you looked at him and smirked.
You were so going to milk this.
“So, Zoro…” you said casually, poking at your food. “Ever get into any fights with… squirrels?”
He froze mid-bite.
Luffy blinked. “Wait, what kind of squirrel? Like a big one?”
Zoro narrowed his eyes at you. “You said you weren’t gonna say anything!”
“I said nothing about dinner,” you replied, grinning. “Besides, Wado told me. I’m just the humble messenger.”
Sanji leaned over from across the table, intrigued. “Oi, moss-head, did you really lose to a squirrel?”
“It was strategic retreat,” Zoro grumbled.
Robin was sipping wine, completely unbothered. “How charming. Perhaps we can find you a rematch.”
“I’LL KILL THAT SWORD,” Zoro snapped.
You snorted into your drink. “I don’t think that’s how swords work, sweetie.”
Wado Ichimonji—propped up nearby in its sheath—was practically vibrating with smug energy in your head.
“Tell him I still have the scar. Right on the saya. From when he tripped into a tree trying to dodge it.”
You bit your tongue. Don’t laugh. Don’t laugh. Okay, laugh later.
“Anyway,” you said, taking a bite, “the real scandal was the mirror thing.”
Zoro dropped his chopsticks.
Usopp looked between you and Zoro. “Wait—what mirror thing?”
Nami raised a brow. “Oh no.”
Brook’s skull tilted curiously. “Was it about his form?”
“Or lack of muscles?” Sanji added with a smirk.
“HE WAS TEN,” Zoro barked, face red. “DROP IT.”
You smiled sweetly. “But you believed it would work. That’s the cute part.”
Zoro shot to his feet. “I will personally throw all your tools into the sea.”
You shrugged. “Then I guess I’ll just ask Wado what your favorite shampoo is and swap it with mayonnaise.”
Wado, gleeful: “It’s lavender. He says it’s for 'clarity.'”
Zoro screamed into his hands.
Across the table, Luffy was just staring in awe. “Your swords talk back?! That’s so cool!”
Zoro glared at you. “They don’t talk.”
You leaned back in your chair, arms behind your head, grin wide as the ocean.
“No, Zoro. They don’t talk to you.”
-
The galley was quieter after dinner, lit only by warm lanterns and the soft clatter of dishes. Sanji was elbow-deep in soap suds, humming a soft tune as he washed. You were drying plates beside him, content for once to enjoy the stillness after a meal full of teasing and near sword-based homicide.
“You know,” Sanji said, glancing over, “for someone who spent dinner instigating Zoro into an aneurysm, you’re surprisingly helpful in the kitchen.”
“Gotta stay useful somehow,” you replied with a shrug. “Besides, I only poke the moss bear out of love.”
He snorted. “Uh-huh. Sure.”
As he turned to scrub a pot, a glint from the knife rack caught your eye. A particular chef’s knife—slender, perfectly weighted, lovingly honed. It practically vibrated with attention as you passed.
“Hey,” it whispered, voice soft and precise, like a blade gliding through ripe tomato skin. “That man. The one with the cigarette and perfect fingers. He’s a good one.”
You blinked, surprised. Most blades didn’t care for conversation unless they had drama to spill or blood to remember. This one was… almost reverent.
“You want me to tell him something?” you murmured under your breath, pretending to clean the counter.
“Tell him I appreciate the oil he uses. The cloth. The sharpening stone. And the way he holds me—steady, confident. It’s rare to be treated with such respect.”
A pause. “…His julienne game? Immaculate.”
You stifled a chuckle. “Right, I’ll let him know.”
“What was that?” Sanji asked, glancing over.
You hesitated. Normally, you’d play this kind of thing for laughs. But this blade wasn’t mocking. It was genuine. So you dried your hands, turned to him, and leaned against the counter.
“Your favorite knife just wanted to say you’ve got great technique,” you said casually. “Like, really appreciates how well you take care of it. The oiling, the sharpening, the… julienne game. All of it.”
Sanji paused mid-scrub, frowning. “You serious?”
You nodded. “Dead serious. It’s almost poetic about it. Kinda adorable, honestly.”
For a moment, the only sound was the soft hum of the Sunny.
Then Sanji—cool, composed Sanji—turned pink at the ears.
“…Tch. Stupid knife,” he muttered, looking away. “Gonna make me emotional over a hunk of steel.”
You smiled. “Steel’s got feelings too, apparently.”
He shook his head, but there was a softness in his eyes as he went back to scrubbing.
“I always knew that one was special,” he murmured. “But... thanks for telling me.”
You gave the knife a quiet pat. It practically purred in your mind.
“Tell him he makes me feel like art.”
You looked over at Sanji, this man who danced around a kitchen like it was a ballroom, who wielded his tools with precision and pride.
“Yeah,” you whispered back. “He really does.”
-
You hadn’t meant to end up at Mihawk’s castle. That’s what you kept telling yourself, anyway.
A pitstop, a storm, a bit of misdirection from a smug talking dagger who told you “he’s got the best view in the East Blue,” and here you were—on Kuraigana Island, standing in front of the most intimidating sword you’d ever laid eyes on.
Yoru. Black blade. Supreme Grade. Taller than you. Probably older than everyone you’d ever met combined. It radiated authority.
You hadn’t even tried to speak to it yet.
It waited, mounted in quiet glory behind Mihawk, who was calmly sipping wine like you weren’t internally panicking about what this sword was going to say to you.
“I hear you speak to blades,” Mihawk said, not looking at you.
“I do.”
“I presume you’d like to speak to mine.”
“…A little.”
He finally glanced at you, gold eyes narrowing.
“It doesn’t speak to just anyone.”
You tilted your head, smiling. “It doesn’t need to. I don’t ask to hear them. I just do.”
Mihawk raised an eyebrow. “Then proceed.”
You turned to Yoru, stepping close.
The second you entered its aura—because yes, this sword had aura—you heard it.
Rich. Deep. Regal. Like a baritone dipped in ink and forged in centuries of ego.
“Finally. Someone with the taste to recognize me.”
“Oh boy,” you muttered under your breath.
“You may tell the boy—sorry, Dracule Mihawk, Wielder of the Blade Supreme, Greatest Swordsman of the Era—that he is… doing a satisfactory job.”
You blinked. “That’s it? You just want me to tell him he’s adequate?”
A pause. Then—
“…And that I am still undefeated. Still untouched. Still flawless. Unlike that moss-haired one. Wado said he once slipped in mud. Disgraceful.”
You held back a laugh. “You brag more than a sword with arms.”
“My existence is a brag.”
You turned back toward Mihawk, who was watching you with an unreadable expression.
“Well?” he asked.
You cleared your throat.
“Yoru says… you’re doing a satisfactory job.”
He blinked.
You smirked.
“And that it is still undefeated, untouched, and flawless.”
A long pause.
“…Of course it did,” Mihawk muttered.
You hesitated, then added, “Also it wanted me to let you know that Wado thinks Zoro once slipped in mud. So. Clearly, your sword is keeping up with the gossip.”
Mihawk took a very long sip of wine.
“I expect you to never repeat this,” he said flatly.
You gave Yoru a wink. “No promises.”
As you turned to leave, Yoru called out—low and proud:
“Tell me—did the chef’s knife like his compliment?”
You blinked.
“…How do you know about that?”
“We all talk, child. You think I don’t keep tabs on the competition?”
Oh. Oh no.
Even ancient blades were messy little gossip gremlins.
-
You weren’t supposed to be here overnight.
And yet, here you were: Mihawk’s castle guest for the evening, curled up in a surprisingly cozy chair by the fireplace with a cup of hot tea, while the man himself read quietly across from you.
You hadn’t spoken much. Mihawk wasn’t the chatty type. But the sword? Oh, Yoru had no such issue.
“You’re slouching.”
You frowned. “I’m not slouching.”
“Your spine is curved like an inferior blade.”
You glanced at Mihawk, whispering from behind your mug, “Yoru says I’m slouching.”
He didn’t look up from his book. “Yoru says that to everyone.”
You leaned closer to the sword, which rested behind Mihawk’s chair like a smug throne.
“You ever say anything nice?”
“I allowed you to address me directly. That’s the highest honor I offer.”
You stared. “That’s… genuinely the most pompous sentence I’ve heard from an inanimate object.”
“I’m not inanimate. I’m revered.”
Mihawk finally sighed, turning a page. “Yoru, must you?”
“He needs the practice. You’ve been brooding at the fireplace like an oil painting all day. I’m carrying this conversation.”
You snorted into your tea.
“Also, remind him,” Yoru added, voice dropping dramatically, “that it is time to oil my hilt. I detected dryness. This is unacceptable.”
You covered your mouth, trying not to laugh. “You have dryness detection?”
“Superior craftsmanship has superior needs.”
Mihawk glanced up at you, then at the sword.
“…Did it say something ridiculous again?”
“Yes,” you said, barely holding it together. “It wants you to moisturize it.”
“I do oil it,” he muttered, clearly offended.
“Not last Tuesday. You skipped.”
You fell off the chair laughing.
Yoru, ever composed: “She is unworthy of my presence.”
You wiped your eyes. “Then why do you keep talking to me?”
“Because someone must appreciate my glory. And I’ve exhausted Mihawk’s capacity for flattery.”
“I never flattered you,” Mihawk said without looking up.
“You held me up to the moon once.”
“That was a duel. You were reflecting light.”
“It was symbolic.”
You choked.
Later, after Mihawk retreated to his room (muttering something about “blades with superiority complexes”), you sat beside Yoru again in the quiet dark.
“…You really love him, huh?” you asked softly.
There was a pause.
“He is a warrior worthy of me. A craftsman of battle. A bearer of precision, discipline, and solitude.”
You nodded.
“…Also, have you seen how well he grooms his beard? That is commitment.”
You grinned, whispering, “You’re kind of obsessed with him.”
“As he should be with me.”
You leaned back against the stone wall, letting the warmth of the fire and the low hum of Yoru’s self-importance lull you into calm.
Maybe you didn’t mean to stay here. But honestly? You could get used to this.
-
The first thing you noticed when you stepped onto the Polar Tang wasn’t the crew. Or the high-tech submarine layout. Or even Law himself, who was exactly as grumpy and sharp-featured as you expected.
It was the sword.
Kikoku.
You didn’t even have to look directly at it to feel it watching you. Not menacing. Not hostile.
Just… wary.
You’d felt cursed swords. Wild ones. Vengeful ones. But Kikoku wasn’t like them. It wasn’t cursed. It was careful.
You didn’t speak to it right away.
Law met you in the upper hall with a raised brow and crossed arms. “You’re the one who talks to swords?”
You nodded. “They talk to me, mostly.”
“Tch. Great,” he muttered. “Just don’t touch anything.”
“Don’t plan to,” you said, and then, softer, to Kikoku: “May I?”
There was a long pause. Then, softly—softer than any blade you'd ever heard—
“…You’re not with the Marines?”
Your breath caught. “No. Definitely not.”
“You're not with the World Government? Cipher Pol?”
“No.”
“You don't plan to experiment on anyone while you're here?”
“…Also no.”
Kikoku exhaled—if a sword could do that.
“Alright.”
A pause. “You can talk to me. But keep your voice down. He's always listening.”
You glanced at Law, who was standing just far enough away to look disinterested.
Yeah, that tracks.
You stepped a little closer to Kikoku, careful not to make sudden moves. “You okay?”
“I am functional. I would be better if he got more than four hours of sleep a night and remembered to eat food that wasn’t coffee and spite.”
You smiled. “Should I tell him that?”
“…Yes. But phrase it gently. He pretends not to care, but he does.”
You turned to Law, who looked extremely done with your presence already.
“Kikoku says you should sleep more.”
Law blinked. “You asked it that?”
“Nope. It told me on its own.”
You paused, eyes narrowing with mock suspicion. “Also said you live on coffee and spite.”
There was a long beat of silence.
“…Tch. It talks too much,” he muttered, brushing past you toward the bridge.
Kikoku, smug now: “He heard me. That’s what matters.”
You leaned against the wall, arms crossed, grinning. “You’re a softie.”
“He won’t listen to anyone else. If I have to nag him myself, so be it.”
You liked this sword. It wasn’t flashy. It didn’t gloat. It didn’t care about power or titles.
It cared. About its wielder. About his health. About keeping him safe.
It whispered like a quiet protector in the middle of a warzone.
You looked after Law as he stomped down the hall, coat flaring like always.
“Hey, Kikoku?”
“Yes?”
“…If he ever needs help, I’ll be around. Just whisper.”
“…Thank you.”
-
You weren’t technically snooping.
You just happened to be in the Polar Tang’s small medbay, tidying up after helping Bepo rewrap a sprained paw, when Kikoku—leaning quietly in the corner, within arm’s reach of Law’s desk—whispered to you again.
“He had another nightmare last night.”
You froze, hand still on the edge of the cabinet. “…About Flevance?”
“No. Corazon.”
That made your chest squeeze a little.
Kikoku wasn’t like the other swords. It didn’t speak unless it had to. And it never gossiped.
So if it brought something up… it mattered.
“Does he talk about him?” you asked quietly.
“Never. But sometimes he mutters his name in his sleep. Apologizes to him. Tells him it wasn’t supposed to go that way.”
You turned to the blade, frowning. “Why tell me this?”
“Because you’re the only one who listens. And he won’t say it himself.”
“…You want me to say something to him?”
“I want him to stop carrying everything alone. If that means you talk to him, fine. But don’t push.”
Just then, the door opened behind you.
“Talking to my sword again?” Law said flatly, stepping in with a clipboard.
You didn’t jump—barely.
“I was just…” You paused. “Yeah. I was.”
Law raised a brow. “You realize how ridiculous that sounds?”
“I realize how ridiculous you sound, constantly pretending you don’t want people to care.”
His eyes narrowed.
You leaned back against the counter, arms crossed. “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. Kikoku just… it worries about you. That’s all.”
Law scoffed, moving past you toward the desk. “Swords don’t worry.”
“Kikoku does.”
He set the clipboard down harder than necessary.
“…And what did it say this time?”
You hesitated. “That you had a nightmare.”
That stopped him cold.
You added, gently, “That you talked to Corazon.”
Silence. Heavy and tense.
You didn’t fill it. Not this time.
Law slowly turned, shoulders stiff. “I don’t talk about that.”
“I know. And you don’t have to. But you don’t have to carry it by yourself either.”
His jaw clenched.
“Look,” you said, stepping closer, “Kikoku isn’t trying to betray you. It’s worried. I’m not here to drag your past out of you. I’m just… here. If you want someone to talk to.”
Law looked at you for a long moment. Eyes searching. Calculating. Vulnerable, maybe—just a crack behind the walls.
Then he looked away.
“…Tch. Tell Kikoku to mind its own business.”
You smiled faintly. “It did. That’s why it told me.”
You turned to go, pausing at the door.
“Kikoku’s a good sword,” you said over your shoulder. “And you’re not alone, even if you keep pretending you are.”
You left the room in silence.
Behind you, Kikoku whispered, ever so softly:
“…Thank you.”
-
It started out simple.
You were at a neutral dockside tavern with the Straw Hats and Law’s crew, sharing a temporary alliance and, supposedly, a peaceful meal.
You had barely touched your drink before Kikoku whispered in your head:
“They’re here.”
You looked up to see Zoro walking in, swords strapped across his hip, expression set to ‘grumpy and ready to duel.’
“Oh boy,” you muttered.
Then Wado Ichimonji chimed in—loud, dramatic, already fired up.
“I smell that blade. The smug one. The one with the silence complex.”
“Wado, please don’t start.”
“I never start. I finish. Tell the butter knife to sheath its judgment.”
Kikoku, cool and sharp:
“Your wielder can’t even find the front door without walking into a tree.”
“Okay, that’s—”
Wado: “He’s got spirit.”
Kikoku: “He’s got concussions.”
You choked on your drink.
Zoro and Law sat down across from each other like two cats about to hiss. You sat between them like a hostage.
“I know you’re listening to them,” Zoro muttered to you.
“Don’t drag me into this,” you hissed. “They’re being ridiculous.”
Law looked equally annoyed. “Kikoku never talks like this.”
You turned to him. “Maybe because she’s never had to be in the same room as that one,” you said, gesturing to Sandai Kitetsu, who was screaming in the background.
“FIGHT. FIGHT. FIGHT. FIGHT.”
“Not helping,” Kikoku snapped.
Zoro narrowed his eyes at Law. “Your sword thinks I’m stupid, doesn’t it?”
Law sipped his drink. “That’s because you are.”
You groaned and put your head on the table.
Meanwhile, Shusui had entered the chat like a war general summoned from retirement:
“We should settle this with an honorable duel.”
Kikoku: “You’ve been retired for five owners. Sit down.”
Sandai: “I will SETTLE THIS BY BITING THE OTHER SWORD’S HANDLE.”
Wado: “Tell the emo blade to respect its elders.”
Kikoku: “Tell the museum piece to update its technique.”
At that point, you stood up so fast your chair nearly fell backward.
“I am not facilitating a steel-themed group therapy session right now. You four can air your issues without me as the interpreter.”
Law: “You’re the only one who can understand them.”
You: “And I would like to not die of psychic sword-related migraines today, thanks!”
The entire table stared.
Then Brook leaned in, cheerful as ever. “Yohoho! So are the swords dating or fighting?”
“They’re doing both,” you muttered, pinching the bridge of your nose.
Kikoku and Wado:
“We are not dating.”
“I have standards.”
Sandai: “...I’m open to a polycule.”
Zoro stood. “I’m leaving before someone stabs someone, and it’s me.”
Law nodded. “I second that.”
You sighed, gathering your things. “Next time I’m bringing duct tape. For the scabbards. And my own ears.”
As they left, you heard the swords start back up again—Wado muttering insults, Kikoku returning fire with surgical precision.
And in the background:
“FIGHT. FIGHT. FIGHT.”
-
You were finally back aboard the Sunny, the sun warming your shoulders as the sea stretched endlessly in every direction. Peaceful. Blissful.
Or at least, it was, until Luffy burst onto the deck holding a cutlass, a bread knife, and a rusty kitchen cleaver like a kid who just found treasure.
“DO THESE TALK?!” he shouted, shoving them toward you.
You blinked, gently pushing the bread knife away from your face. “Luffy, where did you get these?”
“Found them in a barrel! They were just sitting there! Like, waiting to be alive!”
You sighed. “Okay, but—wait. That cleaver is literally still covered in jam.”
“SO DOES IT TALK?”
You closed your eyes and concentrated.
The cutlass: “I was once wielded by a man named Jerry who only knew how to scream and swing. It was exhausting.”
The bread knife: “I'm not technically a weapon. I was forged for croissants. Please stop using me for melons.”
The cleaver: “…I yearn for peace. I miss the days of slicing fruit and feeling needed.”
You opened your eyes. “They’re tired.”
Luffy gasped. “THEY HAVE FEELINGS?!”
“Yes. Mostly exhaustion.”
Brook appeared beside you, gentle smile in place, holding his cane sword. “May I?”
You took it with care.
The second your hand touched the hilt, you felt it. Not just voice, but emotion. Waves of grief, laughter, music. The weight of time. Of silence. Of death and persistence.
And then—warmth.
“…He still plays for them. Every night, even if they can’t hear. I remember each note.”
You swallowed hard. “Your sword remembers your crew, Brook.”
Brook tilted his skull. “Oh?”
You nodded. “Every performance. Every time you stood beside them. Every time you wept while you played.”
A soft pause from the blade.
“He’s kind. Gentle. A little forgetful. He sometimes uses me to stir soup.”
Brook laughed. “Yohoho! I did do that once!”
“But… he remembers them. Always. Even when he forgets where he left me.”
You looked at Brook, voice quiet. “It says you’re the reason it never went dull. That your heart, even now, is sharp enough for both of you.”
Brook put a hand over his chest. “That is… deeply moving. Thank you, (Y/N).”
The blade hummed in your hand, full of music.
Later that night, you sat alone at the ship’s railing, feet dangling off the edge, gazing at the stars. You’d talked to so many swords—heard chaos, tragedy, bragging, battle cries, jokes. So many voices.
And for the first time… silence.
But not lonely silence.
Just… peace.
Your own blade rested beside you, quiet and still.
IN WHICH: after the longest time law has a nightmare about his family and flevance. he finds himself in the comfort of his girlfriend
WORDS: 0.7K
CONTAINS: Angst w/ comfort, mentions of Law’s past and the crimes that happened on Felvance (persecution and mass genocide), nightmares, brief mention of dead bodies, slice of life(?), established relationship
It’d be a long time since Law had a nightmare about his childhood. His parents and sister lay lifeless on the piles of bodies in the streets of Flevance. Almost everyone in the nation had been murdered by the government because of the disease the same government had inflicted on them. Everyone but him.
The doctor almost bolted up from his sleep. Sweat came from his pores as he gained his surroundings. He was in the captain’s quarters of his sub. Slowly moving under the water of the grand line. He ran his tatted hands over his face and looked down at the covers.
“Law?” Y/n called next to him
“Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you,” Law answered as she sat up next to him
“You okay?” Y/n kissed the tattoo on his shoulder
They’d been together for almost a year now and he still hadn’t told her about his past. Too scared about what she would think of his past. The white lead disease that destroyed his nation. His family.
“Yeah. I’m okay.”
“It’s freezing cold and you're swearing bullet’s, Law.”
He couldn’t lie to her. He had done before they were together about some of the stuff he had done to other pirates but now. She knew how to read people extremely well and how to analyze a situation better than him.
“Had a nightmare,” Law told her after a beat
Y/n hummed in response, kissing his cheek and pulling him back down onto the mattress with her. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into her chest. Law expected a few questions he would have to maybe vaguely answer, but not this. He wrapped his arms around her and relaxed into her embrace.
“Whatever it was about, just remember it’s either not real or over with,” Y/n told him
Over with. She was right, he wasn’t that little kid that was persecuted just for being sick by the same government that made him and his nation sick to begin with.
“It was about my family,” Law said
“Heart Pirates family or…”
“My parents and sister.” Law sat them both up again and pulled her into his lap. “Have you ever heard of White Lead disease?”
“Yeah but I thought the government found the cure for that?”
“They did. It was murdering everyone in Flevance and apparently covering it up.”
“How’d you get away?” Y/n asked, putting the pieces together
“Hide under bodies until I was sure the Marines were gone. I looked for my parents and sister just to find them in a pile of bodies. I got off the island and found my way to the Donquixote pirates.”
“Wait, you were part of Doflomingo’s family?”
“Yeah. Not for long. I was smuggled out by a friend who happened to be his brother. He took to me to hospitals everywhere trying to find a cure for me before I died.”
“Is that who Cora is? You mutter the name sometimes,” Y/n said
“Yeah. He got the Op Op fruit and had forced me to eat it. He was killed not long after but not before he managed to get me out of Doflomingo’s grasp.”
Y/n leaned forward and pecked the captain's lips. “I’m glad you trust me enough to tell me this.”
“You’re the only one who knows about it besides Bepo, Sachi, and Penguin.”
“How’d you cure yourself?” Y/n asked as they laid back down
“Cut it out.” Law stated
“Yourself?”
“Yeah.”
“I really don’t understand the stuff you do sometimes, Trafalgar Law,” Y/n sighed
“D.”
“What?”
“Tragalar D. Water Law. Full name.”
“You're sharing a lot tonight, anything else I should know before I pass out?”
“No. Go back to sleep,” Law told her and pecked her lips, pulling her into him.
The doctors wasn’t all too surprised when they woke up still entangled the next morning. Hearing Sachi and Penguin yelling about something with Bepo.
“Good morning Water Law,” Y/n smiled at him, “anymore nightmares?”
“No. No more after the one,” Law sat up and stretched
“What was your sister's name?” Y/n asked
“Lammy,” Law smiled, remembering his younger sister. “She would have liked you a lot.”
“Was she like you? All moody and serious,” Y/n teased him
“I’m not moody,” Law told her
Y/n giggled next to him before getting up out of his bed, “Whatever you say. I’m going to make sure Sachi and Penguin aren’t killing each other or anyone else.”
Even if his nightmares weren’t completely gone, he knew he could rely on someone during the night. He could rely on people, a lesson he still was learning, but he was getting much better. Smiling as he joined his crew for breakfast.
🎁 ― @splicer13vex
tags: sfw, fluff, GN!Reader, no use of y/n, cw vomiting, some platonic heart pirates x reader, not part of the request but what the hell let’s throw in some accidental confession in here too as a xmas gift
“How are you feeling?”
Your Captain's voice was the first thing you heard when you regained consciousness.
You were shivering, your head was pounding, and your stomach churned unsettlingly. You had not felt this bad in ages.
“Terrible,” you croaked out weakly.
“Good.” Law said in a deadpan voice, “Serves you right for being stupid.”
You cringed, preparing yourself for the impending scolding from the Captain and Doctor of the Heart Pirates.
He took a deep breath, “What were you thinking?”
Here we go.
“You should know better than to touch and smell some suspicious, unknown plant on an island we barely knew anything about.”
“In my defense, the flower was very pretty.”
He groaned exasperatedly, “Many poisonous things are!”
“I’m sorry.” You sighed, “I now realize how stupid that was.”
“Why did you do it anyway?”
“I wanted to show it to you.” You shrugged, “I just thought you’d find it interesting.”
His eyes softened, his frustration melting away at your earnest response. For the record, he did find the flower interesting. In fact, he even went back to retrieve some samples – using proper protective gear, of course – once he made sure you were alright. He wouldn't admit that to you, though, not wanting to justify your reckless actions.
You suddenly felt your stomach lurch, and Law immediately grabbed a bucket, just in time for you to retch your guts out.
“Let it all out,” Law said, rubbing gentle circles on your back, “I managed to extract most of the poison with my powers, but some traces may still be in your bloodstream.”
You grimaced at the feel of acid burning your throat. Law handed you a glass of water, which you gulped down greedily.
“Here, take this.” He handed you a pill, “Should help with the nausea.”
“Thanks.”
You laid back down on the bed once you’d taken the medicine, pulling the blanket tight around your shivering body. The Polar Tang must have been underwater, judging by the chill inside the sub. You wondered how long you were out.
“I need to discuss our next course with Bepo,” said Law as he touched the back of his hand to your forehead, nodding satisfactorily when he detected no fever.
“You’re on bed rest until tomorrow.” He pointed his index finger at you, “Stay. Put. No funny business, you hear me?”
You nodded.
“Say it out loud.”
You rolled your eyes, “Aye, aye, doctor. No funny business, I promise.”
“Good.” He patted your head once before walking toward the door that led to the hallway. He looked back at you just before he exited, “Try to get some sleep.”
Your mood instantly dropped at Law’s absence – suddenly all of your symptoms felt ten times worse without him there to distract you.
You heeded Law’s words and tried to get some rest, but sleep eluded you. After around half an hour of you just tossing and turning in bed, the door suddenly swung open, and you brightened at the sight of a fluffy, white head popping in from behind it.
“Hi, sorry!” Bepo tiptoed quietly into the room, “Am I bothering you? Sorry, I just wanted to see how you were doing.”
“I’m feeling a bit better now that you’re here.” You chuckled, “And stop saying sorry, you’re not bothering me.”
“Sorry.” The mink automatically replied, before realizing what he said, “Ah, sorr–“
He chose to just shut his mouth after that.
“You came at the right time actually – I was just about to lose my mind from boredom.” You sighed, “I need some fresh air. I think that would help a bit with the nausea.”
Bepo dragged a chair and sat down next to your bed, “Oh, we’re just about to surface actually. We’re in the open ocean now, so–“
He gasped loudly and covered his mouth with his large paws, “I’m sorry! Please forget that!”
You grinned at the prospect of getting out of here and inhaling some much-needed ocean breeze.
“Oh, Captain’s gonna kill me!” The polar bear looked at you with his big, round, glistening eyes, “Sorry, I know you wanted to go out, but will you please just stay in the sick bay?”
You melted at his cuteness, patting his soft paw reassuringly, “Okay, I will. Don’t worry!”
He sighed in relief and got up, “Oh, great. I’m gonna help prepare the sub for resurfacing now. Please don’t go anywhere and get some rest!”
Once the Polar Tang successfully rose to sea level, Penguin came by with some soup, bringing over his own dinner to keep you company while you ate.
He didn’t tell you, but you had a feeling he was also under strict orders from Law to make sure that you properly consumed every single drop of that soup.
The clear broth was hearty, warm, and delicious, but you still struggled to keep it down as the remnants of the poison wreaked havoc on your stomach.
Your promise to stay put in the sick bay lasted only about two hours after that.
Once it was lights-out time, you crept through the dark hallway, heading towards the main door leading to the outside of the submarine.
You cringed as the wheel creaked slightly when you turned it, but all worries of getting busted sneaking out were forgotten as soon as the first rush of fresh air entered your lungs.
You spread the blankets you brought from the sick bay on the deck, before sitting on top of it and leaning your head back against the railing.
The stars were out tonight and you looked up at them appreciatively, savoring the unobstructed view of the heavens that only a seafarer could observe.
“I should’ve known you wouldn’t stay put.”
You whipped your head toward the sound of the familiar voice, smiling guiltily at the man leaning against the open door.
“Sorry.” You said, not really sounding apologetic at all, “It was getting stuffy inside.”
The reprimand you expected from him never came, and instead, Law just sat down next to you with a sigh.
He was silent, eyes trained toward the stars.
You could tell that something was bothering him, but you stayed quiet, patiently waiting until he was ready to speak.
“I thought I was gonna lose you today.”
The vulnerability in his voice shook you, and you felt your heart race in anticipation of what he would say next.
“You went to smell that damn flower and suddenly you just… collapsed, and I didn’t know what to do.”
He took off his hat and ran his hand through his hair, “Fuck, I’m a doctor and I froze. My mind went blank, my hands wouldn’t move. You should thank Shachi for snapping me out of it, by the way. There’s a reason why on some islands, doctors are not allowed to treat the people they lov–“
Your heart skipped a beat when he abruptly stopped, realizing that he was letting out more than he meant to.
“What were you about to say?”
His lips stayed pressed together, and he brought one of his hands up to cover the redness spreading across his cheeks.
“Law,” You took his hand away from his handsome face and tightly gripped it, “Please.”
“I… care about you, alright?” He finally admitted, face flushed and eyes firmly on the sky.
It wasn’t what he was initially about to unintentionally confess, but it was more than you ever hoped to hear from him.
“I know I’m your Captain, and you’re my subordinate. It was never my intention to… fall for you, but I did, and there’s nothing I can do about it now. I’m sorry if this makes you uncomfortable. Please feel free to just forget about it.”
You grabbed his face in between your hands, turning his head and letting him see your bright smile.
His eyes widened slightly as you pulled him in and pressed your lips tenderly against his.
His surprise only lasted a second, and then he was kissing you back, and it was so much better than the million times this scene had played out in your daydreams.
The stars were the only witnesses as he held you impossibly close, melding your lips together in a slow, delicate dance.
You sighed softly against his lips, “I’ve wanted to do that for so long, you have no idea.”
Law gave you one of his rare, genuine smiles, and your heart soared. Oh, the things you would give to see his smile every day.
He firmly gripped the back of your neck and brought you in for another kiss.
Of course, your stomach chose that exact time to ruin the moment.
You quickly stood up and leaned over the railing, purging the soup you ate back out from the way it went down.
Law chuckled teasingly, “Should I be offended? Do I repulse you that much?”
“Shut up!” You whined, “You know it’s not like that!”
He rubbed your back soothingly as you finished emptying your stomach into the ocean below. His hand was pleasantly warm even through the fabric of your shirt.
“C’mon,” he placed a gentle kiss on your temple, “Let’s get you back inside.”
“Can we stay outside for a few more minutes?”
You looked at him with a pleading gaze until he relented and said, “Fine, five more minutes. But you need to layer up.”
He took off his jacket and put it on you, before taking one of the blankets and draping it on top of that.
You dragged him down to lay flat on the deck, and his arm immediately went underneath your head, pillowing it from the cold, hard surface.
You two ended up staying out there for way more than five minutes.
You pointed out some of the familiar constellations that Bepo had taught you as you took comfort in the warmth of his body against yours. It wasn’t long until you felt your eyelids flickering close.
Law only smiled softly when he noticed your breathing slowed into a steady rhythm.
He gathered you in his arms – one arm under your legs and the other supporting your back – and carried you back into the submarine.
He could’ve just used his powers to “shambles” you both inside in a snap, but he found himself unable to resist holding you in his arms for even one second longer.
Not that he would ever admit that to anyone.
a/n: happy holidays everyone!! and a very merry christmas to those who celebrate! 🎄 i hope this fic can be an acceptable christmas gift from me to all of you 🎁😘
this is my first time writing for law, and i hope i did him justice! i really wanted to get him right because he's such a dear character to me 🥺
also!! i'm opening up a taglist, so please fill out this form if you wanted to be tagged on my future uploads! thanks!
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🎁 ― anonymous
tags: sfw (just a tiiinyy bit suggestive at the end), fluff, GN!reader, no use of y/n, established relationship, cw language (it's the kid pirates)
“Oi, Kid!” You shook the sleeping form of your Captain, “Wake the fuck up!”
He groaned in protest, refusing to open his eyes.
“Oh, come on!” You whined, shaking him more violently, “You promised you’d teach me how to ice skate today!”
“Alright, alright!” He finally conceded, throwing aside his blanket and reluctantly getting up, “Just shut up and let me get ready in peace.”
You grinned, reminding him to meet you on the deck in ten minutes, before rushing to the kitchen.
It was good that your Captain always skipped breakfast, because the kitchen and dining room of the Victoria Punk was currently in a state of chaos.
Emma was mixing a huge bowl of red cake batter under Killer’s supervision, whilst the Commander himself was seasoning some ground meat for the filling of Kid’s favorite cabbage rolls.
Dive was perched on Wire’s shoulders, hanging streamers from the ceiling all around the room. Quincy’s tongue stuck out as she concentrated on carefully painting elaborate letterings on a large white banner – it only said “HA” for now, but she had plenty of time to finish the rest of that sentence.
The other members of the Kid Pirates were also busy with various tasks – wrapping presents, blowing up balloons, polishing the fancy silverware they got from their last loot, taking out the clean, non-blood-stained tablecloth.
You nodded in satisfaction at the progress of the party preparation.
“You still here?” Heat scoffed, “Aren’t you supposed to keep Kid away from the ship?”
“Running a bit late – he literally wouldn’t budge when I woke him up.” You sighed, “But he’s up now. We’ll head off in a few minutes.”
“Don’t let him in here!” Papas yelled.
“Well, duh!” You rolled your eyes, hand on the door handle, “I’m not stupid!”
You yanked the door open only to come face-to-face with the redhead himself.
“Kid!” You exclaimed, immediately shutting the door behind you before he could see anything.
He stared at you with one eyebrow raised, “What’s with the commotion?”
“Oh, you know,” you shrugged, “The usual breakfast quarrel. Heat preferred hard-boiled eggs, Wire liked them soft-boiled, and now the rest of the crew are taking sides –yelling and throwing stuff at each other.”
Kid only hummed in response, not at all suspicious of your lie since it was a likely occurrence on this ship.
“Come on,” He offered his non-mechanical arm to you, “Let’s go then.”
You happily linked your arm with his, and off you both went ashore. Your heartbeat picked up in anticipation – it had been a while since you went on a date with Kid.
The Victoria Punk had been docked for a couple of days on this little winter island when Kid came upon the frozen lake in the middle of its woods. You had been on watch when he returned to the ship, immediately telling you all about his discovery. You had found it very endearing how he looked like a little child with that huge, excited grin as he rushed off to find his skates.
It was never even cold enough for snow on his home island back in the South Blue, so it went without saying that Kid had never ice-skated until he entered the Grand Line and set foot on his first winter island. It wasn’t long until he found out that he had a natural aptitude for it, a fact he loved bragging about to the rest of the crew.
Yesterday, you watched with envy from the sidelines as Kid, Bubblegum, and UK raced a few laps around the lake. On the way back to the ship, you had begged Kid to teach you how to skate until he finally relented and said yes, which brought you to your date today. It also happened to be the perfect opportunity to get Kid off the ship for a few hours while the crew set up the surprise.
It was a short trek to the lake, and you shook in excitement when you caught sight of the smooth, glassy surface of the ice, shimmering with the blinding reflection of the morning sun.
Kid dropped his bag on the snow-covered ground, crouching to rummage through it. He took out his own skates, a pair he made for you, and…
“I’m not wearing that fucking bowl on my head.” You looked disgustedly at the ugly metal thing that Kid was holding out to you.
“Yeah well, too bad, sweetheart.” He plopped the helmet on your head and tied the strap under your chin, “You’re wearing it, or I’m not teaching you how to skate.”
Kid then proceeded to help you put on your skates, making sure to double-knot the laces, before putting on his own. He then stood up easily, while your effort to get to your feet resulted in what probably would be a bruised bum.
The bastard had the audacity to laugh before pulling you up, guiding you to carefully step onto the icy lake. You wobbled at the slippery surface, knuckles turning white at how hard you were grasping Kid’s arms.
“Relax, doll, I got you.” Kid’s unusually soft voice calmed your nerves, and you started to slowly loosen your iron grip.
“There we go,” he grinned as he started skating backward, propelling you to go forward along with him.
“Shit, Kid.” You panicked again, staring at the speed of which your blades were carving the ice, “Slow down!”
“Hey, look at me!” He searched your eyes, “Keep your gaze straight.”
You met his amber eyes, and Kid smiled, “Good. Now, bend your knees a little for me.”
You did as he said, and when he started gliding again, you found it much easier to follow his movements.
The two of you skated across the lake – hands joined, eyes locked – until you finally felt like you got the hang of it. Kid seemed to sense your increased confidence too, because he smirked and asked, “Think you’re ready to try on your own? Or are you too much of a coward?”
The thought of losing the tether of Kid’s hands daunted you, but like hell were you going to back down from his challenge.
You reluctantly let go of his hand, and Kid skated away from you – just a short distance away, but the gap between the two of you looked massive from where you stood, frozen to your spot.
You hesitantly pushed the edge of your skate against the ice, just like Kid showed you, taking one tentative stroke, then another, and another.
He stealthily skated backward bit by bit, increasing the distance which you had to skate to reach him.
“Kid, I’m doing it!” Your smile was so bright, Kid was afraid it would melt the ice and plunge you both into the freezing waters.
With one last broad stroke, you gained speed and flung yourself straight into Kid’s waiting arms. He caught you and lifted you a few inches from the ground, spinning you around in a dizzying twirl. You laughed in glee, holding on tight to him until the spin lost its momentum and he set you down onto the ice again.
Kid rested his forehead against yours, “Not bad for a beginner.”
You both stood there in silence for a few moments, enjoying the warm rays streaming through the canopy of trees, and the birds singing softly overhead.
You cleared your throat and called out his name, heat rising to your cheeks, “I, uh, got you something. For your birthday.”
You reached into the front pocket of your jeans and took out a simple metal bracelet with a single ruby embedded in the center.
The craftsmanship was extremely shoddy – the edges uneven, the stone crooked. Kid immediately knew that you made the accessory with your own hands.
You slightly pushed up the sleeve of your sweater to show the perfect bracelet Kid made you for your last birthday, crafted from the same material and inlaid all over with the blood-red gems. You rarely ever took it off, not even during showers.
You licked your lips nervously, the heat from your cheeks spreading to your entire face, “I wanted us to match.”
Kid took the bracelet from you and wordlessly slipped it onto his wrist. You waited with bated breath as he admired it glint under the sunlight.
"I know it looks awful, you don't have to wear–"
“Thanks, love.” He interrupted you. He’d never admit it, and you pretended not to notice, but his voice sounded a bit choked up when he continued, “Best damn present I’ve ever got my whole life.”
His metal hand came to rest on your hip, while his other cupped your cheek. He leaned in, capturing your lips in a rare, tender kiss.
You circled your arms around his neck, pulling him flush with you. The familiar press of your body made him groan, and his lips melded with yours more insistently, gaining a hunger that you were more used to feeling in Kid’s kisses.
You reached up to bury your hand in his crimson hair and pulled at the threads, tugging him closer.
That was the moment your feet, still fairly unused to the skates, slipped under you. Your heart dropped and Kid’s eyes widened as you toppled backward, bringing him along with you.
Your hand instinctively reached out in a desperate attempt to stop the fall and you felt something crack when it slammed onto the hard ice. Kid, thankfully, succeeded in planting both of his palms down, narrowly missing crushing you flat to the ground.
“Fuck, are you alright?!” Kid yelled as he helped you sit upright.
You winced at the sharp sting on your wrist, but nodded at him anyway, “I’m okay.”
You knocked on your helmet with your uninjured hand, laughing as the metallic bonk echoed throughout the area, “Good thing you had me put on this hideous thing, huh?”
Kid didn’t respond as he inspected your wrist with furrowed brows, “I think it’s sprained? Or broken? We need to get you back to the ship.”
The ship. Where the preparation for Kid’s surprise party was still in full swing.
“Uh, you know what? I’m good. Can we just stay here for a little longer? I haven’t even finished a full lap around the lake yet–“
“Just let me take care of you for once, won’t you?”
You melted, unable to resist that look in his eyes, so earnest and caring despite his raised voice.
“Fine.” You finally answered with a sigh.
It was fine. You just had to keep him out of the kitchen. Easy!
Not.
The kitchen was exactly the very first place Kid marched to when you two arrived back at the ship.
“Whoa, why are we heading to the kitchen? The medical supplies are in the sick bay.”
“Killer keeps a first-aid kit in the kitchen, you know that.” He squinted his eyes, starting to get suspicious, “And it’s closer. The sick bay’s all the way across and down the deck.”
You stood in front of the door, blocking it. Your ears slightly picked up the rowdy voices inside that were definitely not expecting you and the Captain to return this early.
In a last-ditch attempt, you tried to put on a seductive look, batting your eyelashes at him.
“Wait, Kid.” You trailed your hand up his chest suggestively, “Why don’t we go back to your room and I’ll give you a proper birthday present, hmm?”
“You’re being weird.” He scowled, “Step aside.”
When you didn’t make a move, Kid effortlessly picked you up by the waist and set you to the side, his hand reaching for the door handle.
“No!” You yelped as he slammed the door to the kitchen open.
Silence greeted you as the whole crew froze, pausing whatever they were doing and staring in shock at their Captain.
The cake was only half-decorated, with most of the frosting seemingly ending up on Emma’s face instead. The banner, still spread on the floor, now read “HAPPY BIRTHDAY K”, with a smudge on the “K” where Quincy’s brush slipped at Kid’s loud entrance.
You cringed and glanced at Kid, whose eyes were wide as saucers, “Uh… Happy birthday, I guess?”
A cacophony of yelled-out happy birthdays started all at once, thirty voices chaotically overlapping with each other.
“Wow, you guys suck at surprises.”
A moment later, Kid doubled over in laughter and the crew let out the breaths they didn't know they'd been holding.
Kid ended up lending an extra hand to finish the rest of the preparations for his own party while Heat treated your sprained wrist.
Despite the rocky start, the festivities turned out to be a success, with everyone enjoying themselves immensely, especially the birthday boy himself.
Kid absolutely refused a birthday song, though, so Hip and Reck busted out their electric guitars and played some of his favorite tunes instead.
The singing, dancing, and drinking went on all day and well into the night. And when some of the crew had started passing out drunk on the floor, Kid came over and whispered in your ear, “Now, about that proper birthday present…”
You dragged him out of there and into the Captain’s quarters without another word.
a/n: aksjldkj i didn't finish this in time to publish at the normal time i usually post, but it's still 10th Jan so happy birthday Kid!!!
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Summary: You and Law never expected to fall in love with each other.
Tags: sfw, strawhat!reader, takes place from sabaody to end of wano told through drabbles, GN but written with F!reader in mind, no use of y/n
Law never believed in love at first sight.
Hell, he never expected to fall in love with anyone at all, much less a rival pirate he never even talked to.
But the moment he got a glimpse of you outside that Auction House at the Sabaody Archipelago, for the first time in his life, he felt his heart somersaulting in his chest.
That somewhat crazy glint in your eyes as you gracefully fought your way through the throng of Marines… Well, Law nearly took a bullet to the chest, the way he couldn’t take his eyes off you.
Law convinced himself that it couldn't have been love.
Attraction, sure, but certainly not love.
And then you disappeared without a trace. For two years.
He tried not to think much about you.
You were nobody to him, after all.
Law focused all of his time on his goal.
He became a Warlord of the Sea, and his grand scheme was finally in motion.
You were completely out of his mind by then, but suddenly, out of nowhere, fate brought you together again.
There you were, standing beside your Captain in your cute stolen winter coat, peering at Law disapprovingly as he extended his alliance proposition.
“I don’t trust you,” were the first words you gave him, a finger pointed accusingly in his direction.
Definitely not love, Law thought as annoyance started to rise within his chest.
“Believe me, I don’t trust you, either.” Law had scoffed in reply.
He would be a fool to immediately put his trust in you, no matter how kind and gentle you appeared to be towards your crewmates. It pissed him off to no end that he was the only one you were being hostile with. You weren't even that unfriendly toward the G-5 Marines!
Law tried to return your hostility with the same fervor, and outwardly, he seemed to have succeeded.
He would never admit that his heart still skipped a beat when you stared him down as if his Warlord title meant nothing, all the while threatening to end his life if he so much as betrayed your Captain.
It wasn’t until the Battle of Dressrosa that you started to see Law in a different light.
His tenacity and determination moved you, and you would be lying if you said that didn’t make you curious to know more about him.
As you sleeplessly laid—packed together with your crew and allies in Kyros’ little house on the hill—you reminded yourself that this alliance was only temporary, and there was always a chance that Law would betray the Straw Hats.
He got what he wanted all along—Doflamingo toppled and in chains. What would prevent him from just turning around on his promise to work together to defeat Kaido?
Soft groans sounded from somewhere on your right.
In the dark night, with everyone deep in slumber, it was hard for you to identify who they belonged to, until someone suddenly jerked upright, clearly woken up from a nightmare.
Law.
His chest heaved as he tried to steady his breath, a hand wiping beads of sweat from his forehead.
Before you could stop yourself, and against better judgment, you whispered, “Are you alright?”
The word “yes” almost flew out of his mouth—the standard response. But somehow, he found himself unable to lie to you.
“No.” He ended up choking out.
The room was silent for a few moments before your voice rang out, firmly, but softly.
“Everything’s going to be okay.”
Law knew your words were mostly customary—the standard response. But his heart felt more at ease anyway.
“Are you alright?”
It was Law’s turn to ask when he found you in the woods on the outskirts of the Guardians’ residential district in Zou.
You immediately wiped your eyes with the back of your hands, a bit embarrassed at getting caught crying.
You smiled humorlessly up at him, “No.”
“Everything’s going to be okay.”
You chuckled at the way Law parroted your words from back at Dressrosa.
“Straw Hat-ya is going to get him back.”
“Oh, I know.” You said, accompanied by a more genuine smile this time, “I don’t doubt him one bit.”
Law raised his eyebrows, silently asking, why are you sobbing alone in the woods then?
“It’s just…” You sighed, “I can’t imagine what Sanji’s going through right now. What burden he must’ve been carrying this whole time.”
Law padded towards you hesitantly, like approaching a wounded animal.
You patted the ground next to you.
He took you up on the offer and sat down, leaving a respectable distance between you.
“He’s going to be okay.”
You didn’t know what came over you, but you leaned your head on his shoulder, finding comfort in this man you barely knew anything about, “I know.”
For a hunk of metal engulfed miles beneath the ocean’s surface, the Polar Tang felt surprisingly warm and homey.
It had only been a few days into your journey to Wano, but you already found yourself attached to the Heart Pirates’ library. Well, it was mostly Law’s library, to be fair.
There was no point in worrying anymore about what was going on at Whole Cake Island. There was nobody you trusted more than Luffy and your crewmates. They would get Sanji back, you were sure of it.
Now, the only thing you could do was focus on your next moves and ensure the plan to defeat Kaido was already set by the time they met up with your side at Wano in a few weeks.
As might be expected, planning for war was not what you would call fun. Everybody was exhausted, tense, and anxious about what was coming.
The library became your refuge in the evenings, a hideout after the days that were filled with meetings, and meetings, and more meetings.
You were perusing one of Law’s medical books when a voice interrupted you, “You’re interested in learning medicine?”
The Captain and Doctor of the Heart Pirates was leaning against the door, arms folded in front of his chest.
You gave him a small smile, “I’m interested in learning. Period.”
He rubbed the back of his neck, his feet unsurely stepping forward, then back, before he finally decided to fully come into the room, pink blush adorning his cheeks.
“I can teach you more, if you like.”
“I’d love that.”
It wasn’t long until the library rendezvous became your solace, something to look forward to at the end of every day.
It wasn’t long until the conversations about complicated medical procedures turned into subtle flirting.
It wasn’t long until the “accidental” touches—of your fingers as you passed a book back and forth, of your knees beneath the table—became more purposeful.
It wasn’t long until you started trading whispered stories late into the night, learning things about each other that no other people knew—the dim library a comforting haven for the unlikely pair.
“Don’t forget the fact that you doubted the loyalty of my crew.” Law coldly told Shinobu, “If we can’t trust each other in moments like this… then I can’t expect to entrust my safety to you when the fighting is fierce!”
The room was quiet as Law stormed outside, no doubt immediately heading towards the Flower Capital, where his crewmates had allegedly been detained as prisoners.
You hurried out after him, catching his arm before he could run off even further, “You know it’s a trap, right?”
Desperation dripped from his voice as he replied, “What else can I do? I can’t just leave them to be tortured by Orochi’s men.”
You knew you would've done the same if you were in his position—if it were your crewmates who had been captured. It would've been hypocritical of you to try and stop him.
You slid your hand down to grasp his, “Be careful.”
He nodded.
He squeezed once, then you let him go.
When Bepo, Penguin, and Shachi eventually returned without him, it felt like someone had ripped your heart out and broken it into one thousand pieces.
On the day of the Fire Festival, you couldn't stop the tears of relief that ran down your face when you caught sight of that familiar yellow submarine in the distance, its Captain safe and sound, standing proudly on its hull.
It felt like a boulder had been lifted from your chest, the tightness in your heart replaced by a ferocious pounding.
The knot in your stomach loosened, and in its place, butterflies ran amok.
And there was no denying it anymore.
You had, unexpectedly, completely and unequivocally fallen in love with Trafalgar Law.
Cheers echoed throughout the Skull Dome as Luffy's victory against Kaido was confirmed.
Chopper was bandaging your arm, the skin ripped to shreds by Ulti's claws, but you could hardly feel the pain anymore.
Luffy won. Every single member of your crew was safe.
Yet, you couldn't fully relax. Not yet.
Your eyes darted across the open floor, praying for a glimpse of a fluffy spotted hat, or a blue feathered cape, or a bright yellow shirt. Anything.
You bolted from your seat the second Chopper finished tending to your injuries.
You needed to find him. You needed to see with your own eyes that he was alive.
Moving through the masses of samurai and pirates, your heart clenched tighter each second that you could not see him.
And then, among the crowd of thousands, you heard him.
Your name, shouted out with a joyous lilt that you had never heard from that deep, familiar voice.
The heat of the moment, the thrill you felt when your eyes finally found his, the exceedingly fast rhythm of your heart when you saw the huge smile on his face.
You didn't think twice as you ran over, flung your arms around his neck, and crashed your lips against his.
Law's surprise lasted but a second before he kissed you back fervently, his arms pulling you impossibly close to his body.
The gasps of the onlookers did not reach your ears—it was as if you and he were trapped in your own little bubble, oblivious to whatever was happening outside.
“People will talk, you know.” He managed to let out between kisses.
“Let them. I don't care.” You answered, feeling his smirk as you captured his lips again.
The Heart Pirates had started giggling and whispering among themselves, some even running off to find your crewmates to spread the gossip, but you and Law were too far gone to notice.
Law's steady hands moved to cup your cheeks, and you let him angle your face so he could kiss you deeper, his tongue seeking yours desperately.
Even Bepo's awkward cough wasn't enough to tear you apart, prompting the mink to tap Law's shoulder hesitantly instead to gain his attention.
Without breaking the kiss, the Captain swatted the fluffy hand away in annoyance, but Bepo was insistent.
"Excuse me!" He shouted, the sheer volume of his voice finally bringing some sense back into you.
You instantly jumped away from Law in surprise, face burning in embarrassment.
"Sorry, I really didn't want to interrupt but..." He pointed to your arm, where the fresh bandage was already soaked with red, "I just think you shouldn't… agitate the wound too much. Sorry!"
As Law redressed your wounds, you couldn't help but stare at his face, then shifted your eyes up and down his body, taking inventory of the injuries he sustained after facing off two Emperors.
"You're okay." You finally declared, letting out a relieved breath.
"We're okay." He said as he tightened the knot of your bandage, before taking your hand and pressing a soft kiss to your knuckles.
Dawn never looked as beautiful as it did in Wano.
You sat with Law on top of the hill just outside the Flower Capital, watching as the first sparks of sunlight peeked out from the horizon, streaking the purplish sky with tinges of orange and yellow.
The beats of the drums and the bright melodies of the flutes and the strings continued to flow in the distance, in harmony with the cheers and laughter of the freed people of Wano.
The celebration had been going on for seven days and seven nights now, but there were no signs of it stopping just yet.
Come morning, the Straw Hat Pirates, the Heart Pirates, and the Kid Pirates would all go separate ways, each taking a different route from the log pose.
You and Law both knew each other well enough to know that he wouldn't ask you to join his crew and that you wouldn't say yes even if he did.
Yamato had kindly made Vivre Cards for the two of you. A piece of his now belonged to you, and yours to him. That would have to be enough for now.
Although, you did have one more thing you wanted to give him.
You reached into your pocket and pulled something out. Taking Law's hand, you placed the small item on his open palm.
Law stared at the golden coin, one side engraved with a picture of a town, and the other with the name of your birth island.
You had shown it to him, at one of your library sessions, when he admitted to you that he collected coins from the various islands he visited.
Law also remembered you saying that this was the only memento you had left of your hometown.
“I can’t—”
“Take it.” You closed his fist over it, dramatically proclaiming, “To remember me by."
Law scoffed, "It's not as if we're just never going to meet again."
"Yeah, but who knows when that'll be." You bumped your shoulder against his teasingly, "It might even be after Luffy becomes King of the Pirates."
“Don’t be so sure.” He smirked, “I could still become the Pirate King, you know?”
You barked out a laugh, giving him a pat on the cheek, “Keep dreaming, honey.”
Law twirled the coin around between his fingers, his smile dropping into a slight frown.
“I’m going to miss you.”
The words were so softly spoken that you almost missed them.
You hugged his arm that was closest to you, snuggling into his side, “Me too.”
You felt his lips on your forehead before his head moved to rest against yours.
Fingers intertwined, you both watched as the sun crept higher and higher into the sky.
Yes, in a mere few hours, you would go your separate ways. But there was no doubt in your mind, and heart, that you would surely meet again, someday.
You knew it as sure as the ocean was blue and the grass was green.
Your story was nowhere near its end.
a/n: guess who started writing a new law fic before finishing the part 2 of her existing one? 🙋🏻♀️ i can't help it, this request was too tempting. i feel like this fic is a little bit different from my usual writing style, but i hope you enjoyed it nonetheless! <3 (i am now going to pretend law didn't get his ass beat not even a week after they parted ways shhhh that didn't happen in this timeline)
Summary: It had been months since Law left the Heart Pirates to go on a solo mission to Punk Hazard. Today was the day he would finally be reunited with you and his crew at Zou.
Tags: sfw, spoiler for punk hazard/dressrosa/zou, GN but written with F!reader in mind, no use of y/n
a/n: part two of Promises is finally here!! i knooww it's long overdue, and i can only hope that this was worth the wait 😭 thank you to everyone who has been patient with me, and the ones who care enough about this fic to ask about pt 2 on my inbox 🥺 also, to everyone who's reading this for the first time, welcome and thanks for taking a chance on my story!! please enjoy <3
It had been three months, twenty-three days, and eight hours since Trafalgar Law last saw his crew—since the last time he saw you.
One foot after another, he strode carefully through the forest, following the directions of the small piece of paper on his palm that would lead him to his navigator. He knew that was where you and the rest of his crew would be, too.
At first glance, the forest seemed just like any other. Except the ground was not dirt, but rough, uneven skin that made walking difficult. The crowns of some of the trees grew in spherical formations, made up of curious, scale-like leaves.
Law still couldn't wrap his head around how he was treading on the back of an ancient, impossibly gigantic elephant. It seemed absurd, but granted, he had seen weirder things in his life.
His heart pounded faster the deeper he ventured into the forest. Then, finally, a telltale rustling from the bushes around him made him stop in his tracks.
A smirk crept up his face.
"Captain!!"
"You came for us!"
A chorus of excited shouts greeted him as the Heart Pirates rushed out, led by a blur of white fur in orange clothing.
Law leaned back, bracing himself as the polar bear mink body-slammed right into him, but the force still managed to knock the wind out of him.
"I missed you!" Bepo sobbed as he clung to his Captain, "All members of the Heart Pirates are here!"
"Oi, Bepo. Do you want to crush him?" Penguin chided, even though he, himself, couldn't hold back a grin at seeing his Captain and best friend again.
The quiet forest was instantly alive with the chatter of Heart Pirates, talking one over the other, and demanding to know whether the Captain was injured anywhere, what he had been up to since they were separated, and was it true that they were allies with the Straw Hats now?
Law tried his best to answer their questions in turn, but his focus was elsewhere. His eyes wandered, and his heart fell when you weren't anywhere in his line of sight.
Shachi eventually shushed the group, "We have plenty to catch up on. Let's go further into the forest for now."
As Penguin and Shachi ushered the crew back into the forest, they each gave your shoulders firm pats, wordlessly letting you know that they would keep the crew busy for a while to give you some privacy with the Captain.
And then, as the Hearts retreated, Law finally got a glimpse of you, standing rooted to your spot at the back of the group. His lips rose into an uncharacteristically gentle smile.
Alone at last, Law shortened the distance between you, “Hey."
His smile instantly dropped, however, when he was met with the slight pout and tremble of your lips.
The mere sight of him, the mere sound of his voice… You couldn't hold yourself together much longer, and hot tears started streaming down your face.
You opened your mouth, trying to say something, anything, but no words would come out. In your frustration, your fists ended up finding his chest, shoving and pounding weakly as you tried to control your sobs, to no avail.
To say that Law was stunned was an understatement.
His arms reached out, but he pulled back at the last second, unsure whether embracing you was the right thing to do at this moment.
"H-hey, what's wrong?"
Law didn't get it.
He was here, he was safe. Hadn't he fulfilled his promises to you?
He didn't get it—until you took a piece of paper out of your pocket, and brought it up to his eyeline, “I watched this burn, Law."
Oh.
With the Captain mending and on his way to full recovery, the paper was as whole and pristine as the day he gave it to you. It almost seemed like a hallucination, but only days ago, you had watched helplessly as it got smaller and smaller, the fire burning away as his life force weakened.
You were ready to take the Polar Tang and follow the Vivre Card to wherever Law was… if only you and the rest of the Hearts weren't also fighting for your lives, defending your navigator's hometown against Jack and the Beast Pirates.
Law never saw you cry like this, and certainly not over him. It felt like someone had taken his heart out of his chest and squeezed it—believe him, he knew exactly how that feels.
He admitted that he was not proud of how his emotions got the best of him during his fight with Doflamingo, back at Dressrosa. He was too rash, too reckless, and in doing so, he completely abandoned his promise to you to be careful.
He remembered lying there in a pool of his own blood, right arm completely severed from his body, screaming in agony while Doflamingo's menacing figure loomed over him.
He remembered how powerless he had felt.
It must've been then that the Vivre Card had started to burn. When his eyesight had gone blurry and the gaping wound on his arm had begun to go numb. When even Law himself was on the brink of giving up, thinking that he wouldn't make it out of there alive.
“I’m sorry, I didn't realize—” His voice cracked. His fingers twitched, yearning to reach for you, but he forced his hands to stay by his side. "I'm sorry."
Guilt and shame suddenly washed through you.
No, he shouldn't be the one saying sorry—not after what he must've gone through to get here.
You should've welcomed him with a long hug, with gentle kisses, with whispered words of comfort. But here you were instead, having a meltdown.
How could you let your first reaction to seeing him again be this? How could you let yourself be so overwhelmed by your own feelings that you didn't even stop to consider his?
Yet, try as you might, the tears just wouldn't stop flowing.
"No, I'm sorry." You let out another choked sob, "I'm sorry, I don't know why I can't stop crying."
You lifted your head, only to find his gaze already locked on you.
Law surged forward, and you met him halfway.
Strong arms wrapped around your body, whilst your shaking hands clung desperately to the clothes on his back. You buried your face into his chest, leaving wet stains all over his shirt.
They were tears of relief, you belatedly realized.
All of your fears, your worries, your unease—everything you had been trapping in a little bubble inside your heart burst open, washed away by the immense relief you felt the moment you saw him.
“I was so scared, Law.” You whispered your confession, “I-I didn't think I'd ever see you again."
“I’m sorry." Law's arms tighten around you, if that was even possible, "I should've been more careful.”
“No, don't apologize. Please." You let out a long sigh, "I'm really happy you're here.”
His lips landed on your temple, painfully reminiscent of the last kiss he gave you just before he left for Punk Hazard.
"You're here. You're safe." You repeated the words again and again like a mantra while you held on tight to him, to convince yourself that this was real—that this wasn't just another one of your dreams that had haunted you when he was away.
Of course, there were the countless nightmares where you lost him, which always had you waking up with cold sweat. But there were also dreams where he was home and safe in your arms, until you’d wake up and realize he wasn't actually there. The void of loneliness that came after those dreams was not something you'd ever want to experience again.
Law pulled back, just slightly, so he could take your face in. His brows furrowed as his fingers started to inadvertently fidget with your hair.
He looked like he wanted to say something, so you waited silently until he was ready to speak.
“Back in Dressrosa, when I—“ His words got stuck in his throat as the towering form of Doflamingo flashed again through his mind, "All I could think about was regrets."
He could still feel the thick, iron scent of blood invading his nose.
He could still feel the dust of the rubble invading his lungs as he desperately choked for air.
Law shut his eyes and rested his forehead against yours, "I regretted many things—how I couldn't avenge Cora-san, how I was not strong enough to defeat Doflamingo…"
"It doesn't matter anymore." You said, brushing your thumb across his cheek, "You did all that in the end. It's over now."
Before he left, you promised that you would be there for him when it was all over. That was a promise you very much intended to keep at all costs.
Law was quiet for a moment before he spoke up again.
“There was another thing I regretted.”
You noted the unexpected shift in his tone, how the softness was a stark contrast to the fiery determination behind his eyes.
"I thought about you," he admitted, covering your hand on his cheek with his own, "About how I would break all of our promises if I died. About how I longed to see you again, just one more time. About how stupid I was for not relying on you and the crew. About how much I wanted to get back to you."
He quickly continued, not letting you interrupt as he bared his heart, “I thought about how I regretted never telling you that… that I—"
He gulped. A speck of fear flickered across his eyes, but he didn't let it take over.
"That I love you."
Your breath morphed into a silent gasp, your heart skipping a beat before resuming its erratic rhythm.
"I promised myself that I would tell you, if I somehow survived. And I did. So…"
He cupped your face, his gaze sincere, and repeated, "I love you."
"Oh, Law." You whispered as tears started welling up in your eyes again.
You couldn't stop yourself from rushing in, your lips finally finding home in his. Law melted into you, love and longing outpouring from his every touch.
The kiss started out gentle, until the taste of you after months apart proved to be too much of a temptation for Law. A muffled groan escaped him, and he started chasing your lips with a hunger that surprised even himself.
Your hand dove into his thick hair, pulling him toward you in answer to his passion. One of Law's hands wandered to your waist, gently squeezing, while the other remained cradling your face with a startling tenderness.
Your lips parted, giving him permission to deepen the kiss, which he took up instantly.
Kissing Law was as natural as breathing. It felt like you had been doing this for ages, even though the first time you kissed was on the very eve of his departure.
The urge to get closer to each other got you stumbling over your own feet, and suddenly, your back was pressed against a tree, Law's hand cushioning your head from the coarse bark.
You could keep on kissing him forever, but there was something you needed to tell him first. So, reluctantly, you pulled away.
“In case that wasn't clear enough,” You said breathlessly against his lips, "That means I love you, too."
Law grinned—a genuinely joyful smile—before capturing your lips again. The kiss was short this time, almost playful, but it didn't fail to make your heart skip a beat anyway.
When you parted, you punched his chest lightly, “But don’t ever leave me again.”
“I'm not planning to.”
He chuckled and pulled you back into his embrace, hugging you so tightly that it made breathing difficult—not that you were complaining.
You stayed like that for a while, unmoving, greedily indulging in the closeness that you both had been craving the whole time you were apart.
“So, what now?” You finally broke the silence.
“Well, the next part of the plan is to take down Kaido in Wano.”
You looked up at him, but Law already knew what you were going to ask before you even opened your mouth.
"Don't worry, you're all coming with me." He reassured you, "I'm done doing things alone."
"Good." You rested your cheek back on his chest.
"Let's get back to the crew, shall we? I'm sure they're wondering what's taking us so long."
Speaking of the crew…
"Ah, just a heads up, some—well most, if not all of them have kinda figured out about…" Heat rose to your cheeks as you vaguely gestured between you and Law, "This. Us."
"Well, that makes it simpler, doesn't it? I don't plan to flaunt our… relationship to the crew, but I don't intend to hide it either." Law took your hand in his and kissed your knuckles, "I just want to be with you."
Your heart quickened. Who knew your Captain had it in him to be such a romantic?
"Unless, that's not what you want?" He added quickly, his voice tinged with uncertainty.
"No! I want to be with you too, Law." Your face warmed further at the thought of what a relationship with him would entail, "And I don't want to hide either."
He smiled, "Good."
You wrapped your arms around him again and sighed blissfully. Now that he was finally here, you were finding it difficult to not be touching him every damn second. Your crew would never let the two of you live it down if they ever saw you like this.
"Just brace yourself for endless teasing and interrogation from our nosy crewmates." You chuckled, "They got me good on our way here from Punk Hazard, and it’s just gonna get worse, now that you’re here."
Law sighed, already exhausted just thinking of what he would have to go through. Most of his crew would probably lay off the teasing with a sharp glare from him. Not Penguin and Shachi, though. They'd corner him and wouldn't let him go until he told them everything down to the very minute details.
But despite that, he smiled softly, giving you one last peck on the lips before he let you lead him deeper into the forest, where his crew was waiting.
He could endure some teasing, Law thought as he gripped your hand tightly. After all, he was here, he was safe, reunited with you and the rest of his Hearts.
And wherever his path would bring him next—in Wano and beyond—Law knew that you all would be there with him every step of the way.
Summary: Law breaks the news to the Heart Pirates that he's going on a solo mission to Punk Hazard.
Tags: sfw, angst-to-fluff, mutual pining, confession, first kiss, slight spoiler for punk hazard/dressrosa/zou, GN but written with F!reader in mind, no use of y/n
The dining hall of the Polar Tang was so silent you could hear a pin drop.
Every member of the Heart Pirates was frozen in place. No one had the nerve to breathe a single word against the Captain’s orders, despite the strong urge to protest visible in their clenched jaws and fists.
“Sail on to Zou without me.”
The Captain’s final sentence rang again and again in your head. The directive was straightforward and indisputable, but you just couldn’t wrap your mind around what he was asking his crew to do.
You felt a pressure slowly building in your chest, a lump forming in your throat. An avalanche of emotions washed over you in quick succession, and you recoiled when you realized that the strongest was a feeling of betrayal.
Was he seriously telling his crew to leave him behind? Did he not trust you all? What good was a crew without its captain and a captain without its crew?
The more rational part of your brain eventually took over and you let yourself fall into a reluctant acceptance. Your Captain was a determined man. Once he had put his mind on something, there was nothing anyone could say that could change his decision.
Law must have had his reasons for sending you all away to Zou while he confronted Caesar Clown by himself. You had your suspicions of said reasons, and you were screaming on the inside, begging him to not do this alone – to actually allow himself to depend on his crew for once. But, you kept your mouth shut, just like everyone else.
You and Law had gotten close over the years since you joined the Heart Pirates, way back when it was a small band of six. Aside from his three childhood friends, you knew him more than anyone else on this submarine.
However, before all that, he was your Captain first, and you have always held a deep respect for his authority. The only thing you could do right now, as his crew member, was to follow his orders. As a friend, though, you could feel your heart clenching with immense worry for him.
Law’s expression was stern and unyielding. He was holding his hat in his hands, leaving his eyes bare as he stared down his crew, daring them to voice an objection to his command.
A sniffle broke the silence, and you looked to your right to find Bepo quivering as he tried to hold back his tears. You rubbed your palm softly against his back to console him, despite your being in emotional turmoil yourself.
You knew Law had probably told Bepo about the plan beforehand, seeing as he was one of the Captain’s closest confidants, and also the fact that his birthplace was supposedly the Polar Tang’s next destination.
Penguin was the first to speak up. He took a deep breath and clapped his hands once to get the crew’s attention, “Alright, folks, you heard the Captain. We’re not far from Punk Hazard – should be arriving by dawn tomorrow. We’ll drop off the Captain there, then we’ll immediately set course for Zou.”
“Is that all, Captain?" Shachi stood up, the screech of his metal chair scraping the floor piercing the air, "I have some chores I need to get to.”
Law’s gaze softened in gratitude at his best friends’ effort to diffuse the tense atmosphere, “Yes, you’re all dismissed.”
A weak chorus of “Aye, aye, Sir” echoed throughout the hall as the Heart Pirates dispersed, clearing the tables and bringing their empty dishes to the kitchen sink. The crew had barely finished dinner when Law dropped the bomb with his announcement, but now, nobody could even recall what was on the menu anymore.
You headed toward the sink. It was your turn to do the dishes tonight, and as much as you didn’t want to do it, a duty was still a duty. You unzipped your boiler suit halfway, took out your arms, and tied together the long sleeves on your waist, leaving your upper body in just a loose, white tank top. Then, you got to work.
One by one, the Heart Pirates filed out of the room, until only one other person remained.
Your Captain sat on the main table with his head clutched in his hands, still weighed down by the burden of telling his crew about his plan. Most of all, Law felt guilty for his selfishness. For ordering you all to leave him, when he knew that was the last thing his crew wanted. The Heart Pirates’ unconditional loyalty to him always left him abashed, but he also admired it. He truly couldn’t ask for a better crew, for better friends, for a better family... and now he was sending you all away.
However, he also knew that he couldn’t in his right conscience involve his crew in his ridiculous ploy. This was not some random trouble the crew was used to while sailing through the Grand Line. This time, Law himself was going to purposefully stir the pot, inciting conflict that would have a warlord and an emperor going after his head.
No, he couldn’t let all of you get caught in this mess.
After a while, his eyes found you, watching your back silently as you worked. You didn’t acknowledge his presence, instead choosing to focus on your chore. Dishes after dirty dishes, your hands worked on autopilot while your mind was going a million miles per hour, trying to figure out what to say to your Captain.
The sound of running water died as you turned off the tap, plunging the room into an even more excruciating silence. You were drying your hands on the towel hanging above the sink when you heard Law softly call out your name.
You paused but refused to turn around, afraid that your face would betray all of the emotions you kept bottled inside.
The tap, tap, tap of his shoes against the metal floor of the submarine felt more deafening than a cannon fire, growing louder and louder as he approached you.
He was close, too close. You shuddered when his breath tickled the back of your neck as he called your name again.
When you stayed silent, he asked, “Are you upset? That I didn’t tell you first about the plan?”
You couldn’t contain the slight shakiness in your voice as you replied, “I trust you know what you’re doing, Captain.”
“That’s not what I asked you.”
His voice sounded so vulnerable that it broke you.
Your lips started trembling as tears pricked your eyes. You blinked them back stubbornly, not wanting Law to know how troubled you actually were about him leaving – how worried you were that he was going off alone into what seemed to be an evil scientist’s secret lair.
Law’s hands came to rest on the sink on either side of you, caging you in. He placed his forehead gently upon your shoulder. You noticed that his hat was still absent, abandoned somewhere on the dining table.
One of his hands hesitantly moved to your hip, his thumb slowly drawing circles on your clothed skin.
You couldn’t help feeling like a line was starting to be crossed here.
That thin, delicate line between friends and something more that you and Law had always tiptoed around.
“Law–“ You started to breathe out, but he cut you off.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you first. I wanted to. You know–“
It was your turn to cut him off as you shook your head, “You had no obligation to tell me first, Law. I’m one of your crew members, same as everybody else here. It was only right I found out when they did.”
“I told Bepo, Penguin, and Shachi a few days ago.”
You rolled your eyes even though he can’t see it, “They’re different and you know it. I know how special they are to you.”
Law took his other hand away from the sink. His slender fingers ghosted over your waist tentatively, before he fully committed to wrapping both of his arms tightly around your middle.
His uncharacteristically bold display of affection surprised you, leaving you breathless and your heart racing erratically.
You and Law have had your fair share of casual hugs, but he had never held you so close like this before.
He was holding you as if he never wanted to let go – as if you were the last life vest in a sinking boat.
He shifted his head slightly, burying his face in your neck, and your face heated up at the feeling of his lips grazing your skin as he mumbled something unintelligible.
“Come again?”
“I said,” He grasped your hips and turned you around to face him. Your breath hitched at the sudden closeness between your faces, and his eyes met yours as he confessed, “You’re special to me too. More than you know.”
His forehead creased as he calculated his next words.
”You’re more than just my crew member,” he paused before adding softly, the words nearly inaudible, “And… more than a friend.”
Your heart was threatening to jump out of your chest at his honesty. Until now, you refused to even entertain the possibility of your Captain returning your long-hidden feelings, not wanting to ruin the pleasant dynamics that you two already had. But with this… was it okay for you to finally hope for more? To want more?
“You want to know why I didn’t tell you about the plan?” Law continued, “I knew that even a slight look of disapproval from you would have me throwing the whole idea out the window. And I really can’t do that right now, not when the opportunity is right there. Not when I’m this close to my goal. I can't miss this chance.”
He drew a breath resolutely, “You understand I have to go through with this, right? For Cora-san.”
There it was, you thought. You had figured that was why he wanted to do this by himself.
After years of sailing together, you had come to know bits and pieces about Law’s past – about Flevance and his family, about his white lead disease, and how he cured himself with the Op-Op Fruit.
But he never told you how he got his Devil Fruit. Not until the night of his 26th birthday.
You had found him alone on the deck of the Polar Tang, sitting under the sky full of stars with a barely sipped bottle of rum clutched in his hand.
“I’m now as old as he’d ever be.”
He had collapsed into your arms and told you all about Corazon then, the bottle of alcohol passed back and forth between you.
That was the first and only time that you ever saw him cry.
How could you possibly stop him from avenging the man he owed his life to?
“Law, I’m not opposed to your plan.”
He let out a pleased sigh as you reached up and threaded your fingers in his hair. You chuckled softly, “From what little you told us, I could already tell it’s quite a brilliant one.”
The corner of his lips turned up in a smirk at your praise, but you continued, “I just wished there was a way for you to include us in it too. We’re your crew. Your family. You don’t have to do this alone.”
He shook his head, “This is my mess. I can’t drag you all into this.”
“That’s what families do, Law.” You said with a small smile, “They drag themselves into each other’s messes all the time.”
You didn’t give him a chance to argue as you put a finger to his lips, “But, if you think this is the best way, then I trust you.”
His eyes shone with gratitude at your support, your understanding, and most importantly, the trust you had in him.
He cupped your face in his hands and touched his lips gently to your forehead, “Thank you.”
The gesture somehow felt too much like a goodbye, and you didn’t like that. At all.
Before he could pull away, you gripped the front of his sweatshirt, “Promise me you’ll come back to us.”
Law hesitated.
And that was how you knew how little he considered his own safety in this grand scheme of his. He wasn’t even sure he could give his word that he’d safely return.
“Law.” You said urgently, “Promise me.”
His heart fell when he saw your beautiful face painted with distress.
“The Heart Pirates need their Captain. We can’t lose you.” The tremble in your voice worsened with each word, “I can’t lose you.”
Law was a smart man, and the implication behind your emphasis was not lost on him. His hand found yours as he vowed, “I don’t know what will happen on that mission, but I promise I’ll do everything in my power to get back to you.”
You let out a sigh of relief. You knew that once he put his mind to something, he’d damn well do anything to fulfill it.
“Can you promise me something too, then?”
You looked up at Law curiously, but nodded nonetheless.
“Wait for me.” He said firmly, before continuing in a slightly lower voice, “Promise me you’ll be there for me. When this is all over.”
You knew that taking down Doflamingo would take a toll on him, even likely break him, physically and mentally. But, you’d be there for him – to help him pick up the pieces and rebuild them into something stronger – if that was what he wanted. Of course, you would.
“I promise.” Your thumb caress his cheek tenderly, “I’ll wait for you at Zou.”
“Good,” Law said, and with that, he moved his hand to the back of your neck and pulled you to him.
You gasped when his lips crashed into yours.
His lips were warm, and soft – softer than you could ever imagine.
In his kiss, Law poured out all of his unsaid feelings, of his desperation and yearning, of his regrets for not doing this sooner.
Your arms circled his neck, tugging him in as close as possible. You kissed him back with equal fervor, hoping your lips would also tell him what your words couldn't.
It was the need for oxygen that finally broke you apart.
The intense gaze in which Law looked upon you was too much for your heart to handle, so you buried your face into his chest instead. You could feel the strong, quick thumps of his heartbeat, and it satisfied you to know that the kiss affected him as much as it did you.
“You’re not fair,” You mumbled into his sweatshirt, “Doing that the night before you leave.”
“Sorry,” Law chuckled as he held you tight against him, “I couldn’t help myself.”
You stayed in each other’s embrace in the empty dining hall, under the harsh fluorescent lights. The temperature inside the submarine was low, as always, but you didn’t feel cold at all, wrapped in your Captain’s arms.
“Stay with me tonight.”
You could only nod and follow along as he led you by the hand into his quarters.
You both knew he needed to rest – he needed all the energy he could get to begin his mission at dawn – but the adrenaline from your earlier moment and the anxiety for what was coming kept sleep away from the both of you.
Law ended up giving you a detailed review of his plans as you both lay on his bed, outlining every single step of his mission from the beginning to the desired end. You felt yourself growing more and more confident of his chances the more you listened to his cunning and meticulously crafted ploy.
The room was plunged into silence when Law finished recounting his plans. The seconds ticked by, becoming minutes, then hours. But however long time passed with your arms around each other, it still wasn’t enough for you.
At one point, he reluctantly disentangled himself from you and reached into the bag he had packed for his mission. He took out a pristine sheet of paper, ripped a small piece from it, and gave it to you.
You watched as the Vivre Card on your palm inched slowly in his direction.
“I want you to have it,” Law said as he closed your fist over the paper, “As long as it stays whole, you’ll know that I’m alright.”
You flung your arms around his neck, “I swear if so much as a wisp of smoke comes out of this piece of paper, I will find you and kill you myself.”
Law only chuckled as he held you once more. He was just about to say something when the jarring sound of a knock interrupted him.
You and Law jumped apart as Penguin’s voice came from behind the metal door, “Captain, we’re in range of Punk Hazard.”
“I’ll be right out.” Law replied, his voice steady despite trying to hold back a laugh as he saw the panic in your face.
You buried your burning face in your hands as Law finally let himself laugh once Penguin’s footsteps were out of earshot.
When you were sure that Penguin was gone, you told Law, “I should probably get back to the bunks before anyone else wakes up.”
Law didn’t want you to go just yet, but he nodded anyway. He peeked out the hallway, giving you the all-clear when he saw that it was empty.
Before you stepped out of the room, you couldn’t resist stealing one more peck from his lips, leaving him stunned and red-faced.
“I’ll see you in a bit, Captain.”
After you freshened up – thankfully without anyone inquiring where you were last night – you joined your crewmates on deck to see Law off.
Punk Hazard’s half-ice, half-fire terrain was a menacing sight, and instantly, the worry you felt for Law came rushing back in. You forced yourself to calm down. You had faith in him, and after all, he promised he’d come back to you.
Despite the crew's frustration when Law announced his plan yesterday, they were all smiles now, preferring to send their Captain off with high spirits and support rather than reproach. Your navigator’s eyes were still glassy with tears, but you could tell he was also trying to put on a brave face for his Captain.
“Bepo!” Law clapped the mink’s shoulder, “Lead them safely to Zou for me, yeah?”
Bepo clung to him, rubbing his face all over Law’s and shedding white fur all over the front of his clothes, “Of course, Captain! I’ll make you proud!”
Law turned to his two other best friends, “You two are in charge. Don’t burn down my submarine.”
Penguin and Shachi mock-saluted him, the redhead grinning mischievously, “You can count on us. No promises that I wouldn’t take over the Captain's quarters in your absence, though!”
Law rolled his eyes at the joke, then turned to address the whole crew, his lips drawn in a thin smile.
“Safe travels.” He said, as if your journey was even half as dangerous as his, “I’ll see you all at Zou.”
“Aye, aye, Sir!”
The formality broke away as the Heart Pirates smothered Law with hugs, pats on the back, and sloppy smooches on his cheeks.
Law never seemed to show it, and he would rather die than admit it, but you knew he secretly enjoyed the attention from his overly affectionate crew.
Once they all had their fill with the farewells, he turned to you at last. In full view of everyone, he pulled you into a tight embrace.
Some eyebrows were definitely raised when he held you just a bit longer than what was deemed appropriate for a merely friendly hug.
“Promise me you’ll be careful.” You whispered into his ear.
You had lost count of how many promises had been exchanged between the two of you since last night, but he simply nodded, “I promise.”
He subtly pressed his lips to your temple – just a touch, not enough to be noticeable by the rest of the crew. With a last squeeze, he released you and walked toward the railing.
“Room.”
The Heart Pirates cheered their good lucks and farewells once more as a massive blue dome surrounded the Tang, extending all the way to the edge of the island.
His eyes locked onto yours with determination, silently reassuring you that he’ll remember your promises. You gave him a small smile and a nod of encouragement.
Law put his hand out in front of him and uttered, “Shambles!”
And then he was gone.
In his place was a small frozen pebble that he had exchanged positions with.
You picked it up and rolled it around between your fingers, feeling the ice slowly melt as it met your warm hand. Your other hand reached into the pocket of your boiler suit, ensuring the piece of paper was still safely in your possession. You hung on to it as if it were Law’s lifeline, which it might as well be if you thought about it.
The Heart Pirates went inside, preparing for the imminent sailing to Zou. No one said a word when you stayed behind on the deck, watching Punk Hazard getting smaller and smaller in the distance until it disappeared from the horizon.
The pebble eventually lost all of its coldness, and you pocketed it alongside the Vivre Card.
“Oi, the course is set." Penguin’s voice pulled you out of your trance, "We’re ready to submerge.”
He and Shachi positioned themselves on either side of you, throwing their arms around your shoulders.
Penguin cleared his throat and grinned cheekily, “A little heads-up: the whole submarine is abuzz with the newest hot goss. Apparently, someone didn’t return to the bunks last night after dish duties.”
“That long-ass embrace you shared with the Captain before he left isn't helping your case either,” Shachi added unhelpfully.
You groaned, mortified that the crew had likely put two and two together and suspected where you had spent the night.
“But seriously, though, what the hell was that?” Penguin bumped his shoulder to yours, “Did something happen between you two?”
Shachi laughed, “What, did he finally grow some balls and admit his feelings to you?”
Your silence and averted gaze were enough of an answer for them.
The two gawked at your bashful reaction, not actually expecting Shachi’s guess to be spot on. They both knew about your and the Captain’s feelings for each other, and were even at the point where they thought of interfering, but it seemed like the two of you didn’t need their meddling after all.
You grimaced as you noticed them eyeing each other with matching shit-eating grins.
This was going to be a long, long journey to Zou.
a/n: I've been working on this fic for so long, it's quite unreal that I'm finally letting it see the light of day. If you've read my fics before then you'd know I mostly just write fluff, so writing this was kinda an experiment for me. I do want to get better at writing angst, though, so please please please let me know what you think in the comments or tags! I really hope you enjoyed this fic <3
update: i wasn’t sure at first if i wanted to write a part 2 with the zou reunion, but it’s officially in the works now! it’s gonna take a while for me to finish, but please let me know if you want to be tagged once it’s up!
Warnings: Angst, fluff, readers rose colored glasses gets knocked off, misygony, celestial dragons being themselves, mentions of guns and blood, mentions of death, differences in actualy story line (not much)
A/N: After not writing for a while, it always feels like I'm starting off all over again.
~~~
“(Y/N)!” The sound of your commander's words rings through your ears, making you quickly stop your task and go into saluting position.
“Yes, Commander?”
“After you're done with the windows, do the floors next.”
“I already did them, sir!” A proud smile on your face as you hoped that your thinking ahead would make the usually loud commander happy. But instead of a smirk or anything positive, his face turns dark.
“You call this clean?! I’ve seen babies do a better job!” His words made your stomach drop as your hands grew slightly shaky.
“B-But sir! I spent hours cleaning it! Even on my hands and knees with a toothbrush to clean the grout…” Voice weakening, your heart almost stops as tears threaten to spill.
“Well, do it again! And since you wanna talk back, you can scrub both bathrooms! I want to see my face shine on those floors, you hear me?!”
With a trembling lip, you look down at the floor. “Yes, sir.”
“Good. Now get to it.” He stomped away, grumbling under his breath about something you couldn’t catch. It didn’t matter anyway, as what he said, regardless, made you almost cry.
Gripping the paper towels you were using to wash the windows, you continue, feeling a singular tear slip down your cheek. All you wanted was to make your commander happy and be able to help others like the Marines helped you when you were young. Yet here you are, stuck on cleaning duty while everyone else trains or has fun without you. Something that always seemed to happen.
“Still cleaning away, maid? How's the yelling you took from the commander? We could hear it all the way down the hall!” Cruel laughter echoes in your ears as familiar footsteps dampen your mood even more.
“Not now, Owen, please. I just want to get these done.” Whispering, you take a deep breath as you try to continue to clean.
“What? I’m just telling you what happened. Don’t like being reminded of how much of a failure you are that you can’t even clean simple floors?” Owen and his buddies snickered, watching as you cleaned faster in hopes of moving onto the next window just to get away from them.
“Isn’t that the most basic task for a woman? Cleaning? Can’t even do something your gender was made to do!” Their laughter grew louder before the sound of a splash and sizzling had you turning your head. To your displeasure and shock, there was a massive puddle of some sort of carbonated drink on the window, dripping down the walls.
“Here, have some extra practice.” Dropping the can to the floor, the three men walked away, cackling as you bend down to grab the can and throw it away before returning to clean the window.
~~~
What felt like hours later, you finally finished with all your cleaning duties. The windows, floors, and both bathrooms were all scrubbed clean.
The grime it left on your skin has you taking a shower in the girls locker room. The warm water cascading down your skin from the back breaking labor of cleaning the whole base station by yourself.
The soap runs down your body, taking the dirt and cleaning chemicals with it. Replacing it with nourishing and moisturizing soap and scrub. It was one of the only things that helped you calm down after such a long, hellish day. The smell of your favorite products makes you sigh as the warmth of the shower and the safety of it almost has you falling asleep.
CLICK
Eyes snapping open, you whirl around, trying to figure out what you heard. Yet you see nothing through the steamy haze of the shower room. All there was, was you and your clothing.
“Guess I was hearing things.” Turning back, you go to finish your shower. Just wanting to enjoy the peace and quiet while it lasts.
~~~
When you were done with your shower, you put on a clean uniform and head to the cafeteria. It’d been a long day without breaks and you were starving. Anything sounded good at this point.
As you got into line, it felt as if someone was staring at you. Turning your head, you see people watching you. People you know and never talked to whispering behind your back and snickering. Unease settles in your gut as you grab your food. The tray heavy in your hands as you go to sit by the window. Wanting to be alone and eat in peace.
While taking a few bites of your food, Owen and his friends stop in front of your table. You look up to see a malicious smirk on all their faces. An ugly feeling fills you as the urge and need to eat seems to dwindle under their critical gaze.
“Can I help you?”
“Are you sure you should be eating all that (Y/N)? I would be counting my calories if I were you.”
Your face felt hot at the cruel words and embarrassment that fills your body. How could someone do this to another person? Humiliate them so blatantly in front of their co-workers.
“I mean have you seen yourself? Looks like you might need a reality check.” Pulling something his pocket, they throw it to you. When it lands on the table you feel the color drain from your face. There was a picture of you in the shower. Exposed and vulnerable.
Bile almost left your stomach as you struggled to accept it. Not wanting to think of how many people have seen this picture. Is this why people were snickering? Why were they whispering behind your back? Was that sound you heard in the bathroom really the click of a camera?
Quickly grabbing it, you shred the photograph. Wanting to get rid of the offending object. Tears begin to fill yours eyes as your lip trembles. It felt as if a boulder had been placed on your chest. Jumping from your seat, you move towards the doors of the cafeteria. Tired, sad, humiliated, and sick. The food you just ate now felt like acid in your stomach.
Passing by the nearest trash can, you double over. Getting rid of the small scraps, the only source of fuel you’ve had all day. Already burning off the energy from breakfast after cleaning the whole base practically.
Gripping the rim of the trashcan, tears continue to slip down your cheeks as your chest felt unbearably heavy. The want to collapse to your knees and curl up into a ball overwhelming.
Laughter rings out through the whole hallway. Their mocking words only causing you more distress. You pull away from the trash can, running to yoru bunk. The marine uniform you used to wear with pride now felt suffocating yet nauseating. How were you supposed to be someone who protects when you can’t even protect yourself? Yet despite it all, you coldn’t help but feel like you made a mistake. That you should’ve just sucked it up.
~~~
The salty wind hits your face as the ship sails to your new base. You were able to switch after talking to a representative about what was happening. They allowed you to be transferred yet it seemed to come at a cost. Apparently, when they talked to those who took the picture and spread it, they retaliated by telling everyone you were a snitch who couldn’t take a joke. Leaving you even more lonely in your last days at the station.
But things were different now. A new station, coworkers, scenery, everything. Maybe they could stop treating you like a burden. That you were able to do things beside tasks they deemed ‘womanly’ and below them. It was hard since you were the only girl in the entire station, so almost no one had your back.
“Everyone, get ready! We're approaching the archipelago!” A loud voice booms over the speakers, pulling you from your thoughts as you're now able to see the land ahead of you. It seemed so beautiful from afar. The bubbles shining in the sunlight, as you could even see the citizens laugh and enjoy the beauty of the archipelago. Maybe this is where you’d be able to find a place to call home, finally. To be able to help people instead of being stuck inside and being a maid.
Once you landed on the grassy land, you looked at your fellow crewmates, who, to your shock, seemed to ignore you. A whisper has you turning your head, seeing two men look at you with disdain. Only a few snippets of the words you caught, and it made your heart clench. An uneasy feeling filled youss you listened.
“Look, it’s that snitch. Heard she got transferred here because she couldn’t handle some teasing and would tell on people for anything. My cousin worked with her and told me all about it.”
Your heart dropped at the man's words. What kind of horrible luck did you have for one of the people who treated you like trash to be his cousin? How could they treat it as if it were some simple thing? Like it wasn’t months to years of hell? Of countless jabs and comments that made you feel less than? Even to the point of having your bosses hate you and a picture of you in the shower get spread through the whole base. How was going to upper management a bad thing?
“Oof!” A muscular shoulder pushes past, practically shoving you. Furrowing your brow, you see another dude go to the duo from seconds earlier. Rubbing your shoulder, you watch as they snicker and follow the Captain of the ship as he begins to move towards your new base. What once was the feeling of a new beginning now feels the same as when you just left.
Swallowing the lump in your throat, you follow, not wanting to be left behind.
~~~
Sitting on the bench, you people watch. Wondering if the smiles on their faces are real or not. If they don’t live in fear from all the pirates and bounty hunters that live on this island or visit it. Wouldn’t they be worried? About their family? Friends?
Sighing, you run your hand over your face before standing up. The sun beating down on you, much too hot for your liking. Looking around, you see a small market, the cool air tempting you in. Feeling how dry your mouth was, you make your way to the market, wanting something to quench your thirst.
Upon entering, you move to the drink where you find another girl, but instead of normal civilian clothes, you see her wearing a boiler suit. And with her hair down and the suit zipped up all the way. How was she not sweltering in that?
“Aren’t you burning in that?” The words spilled from your lips before you could think and the result was her looking at you with slightly wide eyes.
“Oh um…yeah I am. But uniform, you know?” She answered nervously, rubbing the back of her neck. “Gotta do what Captain says.” The word Captain rings in your ears. Something about it and the way she said it had alarm bells ringing in your head.
What solidified it for you was seeing the Jolly Rodger of the heart pirates on her uniform. A chill runs up your spine and you feel the hair on the back of your neck stand up. Now it felt like it was a one on one. You versus her. But you had no idea if she had a devil fruit powers. Plus you didn’t even have a weapon or anything to defend yourself. You could only wait and hope that another Marine walks in to help you arrest her.
“Yeah I get it. What are you getting?”
“Uh, just some aloe water. It’s supposed to be hydrating. I might get a snack too but i don’t know.” The tension was thick as the two of you looked at one another. Different worlds colliding.
“I’m (Y/N)” Holding out your hand, you wait to see if she’d actually shake it. And to your surprise, she did.
“Ikkaku…”
“Nice to meet you Ikkaku. Welcome to Sabaody.” She nods as if to say the same. “You're here for the New World right?”
“Captain says so and whatever he says I follow.”
The two of you talk for awhile, both awkward at first. But slowly it was a steady conversation. It got to the point you forgot you were talking to a pirate. Hell, you even forgot to look around for another Marine to help arrest her. The conversation felt easy now. Like two friends catching up with one another.
“If it’s okay to ask, why did you become a pirate? Surely you knew the risks of becoming one?” There was a silence between you two before she answered.
“I had nowhere to go. I didn’t trust any Marines as they had done nothing but make my life hell from the start.” Her words have a feeling of unease riddling from your body. What could have caused suck distrust? What happened to make her choose a life of crime over the life of a civilian?
“What about you? What made you become a Marine?”
“My parents were killed by pirates when they robbed our store. A Marine stopped them and saved me. Took me under their wing and now here I am.”
“Opposites huh?”
“I guess.” You chuckle, fiddling with the scarf on your neck. “I suppose your crew is your family now? It’s better then being alone.”
“Yeah. I know they care for me and I care for them. What about your squad mates?”
Her question brings you back to the reality of how alone you actually felt. No friends in your new station at Saboady and no friends at your old station either. No matter what you did it seemd like you were fighting against a hill that was determined to make you fall. Thousands of Marines yet you're here alone.
“Well, now that I think about it. No ones really close to anyone ya know? We all just listen to our superiors and do our things.” Ikkaku looks sad at your answer, almost as if she pitied you. The thought made you clench your fists. So pathetic to the point of a pirate pitying you?
“Oh. I’m sorry. That sucks.” You then grab some food from behind you, a (favorite drink) before turning back to Ikkaku.
“It does get a little lonely at times. But I guess I can’t complain. I’ve got a place to sleep, and a purpose to keep going. To keep people safe.”
“You're allowed to be upset about stuff and voice it. It’s human.”
“You should be grateful that you even have food. Other kids like you would kill to have a scrap of food in front of them. Yet here you are. Complaining that something that makes you sick. Your being ungrateful (Y/N).”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Taiga. It’s just I always-”
“Enough. My Marines are more disciplined then you. Stop these excuses and complaining. Don’t make me regret taking you under my wing.”
With teary eyes, you sniffle. “Yes Mr. Taiga.” Grabbing the spoon, you take a bite of the food infront of you. Despite knowing you’d be in almost agony later, you didn’t want to disappoint the person who saved you. If he hadn’t taken you in, where would you be now? Alone? On the streets begging for scraps like Mr. Taiga said? In an orphanage where her said the ‘unwated children’ were? The thought was terrifying. Even enough to just swallow down the sickening food.
“You okay?”
“Huh? Oh yeah I’m okay. Just remembering something is all.” You smile despite a feeling of unease running through your veins. The small snippet of memory that played made no sense. It played Mr. Taiga in a mean light. But he wasn’t. He was the man who raised you! Surely you’d remember if that happened. It was probably just a memory of a nightmare.
The two of you make your ways towards the checkout while your mind runs. Would Ikkaku run? Leave without paying? That's what pirates do right?
“Just these please.” To your surprise, you watch as she places her chosen goods on the counter. SHe pulls out a bag before grabbing the berri's to pay. The sight had you feeling sheepish, having judged her so quickly. She’s been nice to you and yet you judged her just cause she’s a pirate?
A war raged in your head. The warm feeling in your chest of being shown kindness battles against your sense of justice. Your job was to bring pirates to justice. And now that you have a pirate, a heart pirate no less, next to you, it felt perfect for you to show that you deserved the respect the people seem to hold from you.
After Ikkaku pays, you head up yourself. Placing your drink and snack on the counter, you watch the cashier scan them. Always watching Ikkaku from the corner of your eye. You didn’t want her running away when you had yet to arrest her. If only you had your own weapon and knew if she had a devil fruit power this’d be much easier.
When you finish paying yourself, you approach her again. “Where's the next stop?” Maybe if you followed her around or hung out with her some more, you might get more information. Right?
“Well if I told you, how do I know you won’t call for back up?” Her response had you stunned for a second. For a moment, you forgot that she might not even trust you as well. It’s obvious she holds the same skepticism as you do her.
“Fair. I might lose you even if I blink because this place is so busy. Not to mention I have no idea where I am even. I just got here today.” Chuckling nervously, you feel a bead of sweat on your forehead. Maybe you should’ve kept some of that to yourself.
“Wait, this is your first day as a Marine?” She says slightly shocked.
“Oh god no! I’ve been a Marine for a while! I just got transferred stations. I was on an island about two days away from here.”
“Why’d you move? Surely this must be more stressful?”
“It’s a long story. Let’s just say that people don’t enjoy feeling the consequences of their actions.”
“Ugh tell me about it. I’m the only girl in my crew and it’s horrendous.”
“I was the only girl on my first station and gosh I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. I have yet to see any other female Marines on Saboady but I'm sure they're here.” Sighing, you look to the side before looking at Ikkaku again. “The amount of cleaning I was forced to do at my old base was insane so I'm hoping it won't be like that here.”
“That’s everyday life on the ship. Our captain is a clean freak. All I ever smell now is lemon." The both of you laughed and it felt good. You couldn’t remember the last time you laughed. How could talking to someone who’s supposed to be your enemy make you happy enough to laugh.
“I’ll take the lemon smell over the gross bathroom smell.” Looking around your eyes can’t seem to stay in one place at once. “It’s so chaotic. Is this what it’s like to be on the field instead of being stuck at base?”
“Have you ever actually gone out? To fight pirates or anything?” Ikkaku asked, shocked. “So you have no training for stuff?”
“No! I was still supposed to train and I did! I know how to use a gun and last before I left learning a sword but you can see how that’s going.” Another silence falls over the two of you, both unsure on what to say. Where to go from here. Should you try to arrest her? Bring her to justice and gain the respect of your squadmates? Or let her go for being one of the only people to treat you with anything other than contempt?
“I’ve got to go…my Captain's waiting for me and I don’t want him to be annoyed with me being late.” She turns and waves goodbye before disappearing into the sea of people. You try looking for her but see nothing.
Grabbing your transponder, you go to speak. To report your sightings but your thumb refuses to press down on the button. Almost as if your heart was controlling you instead of the logic of you being a marine. This was your job. To bring peace and calm to the world and protect the innocent.
If that's the case, why couldn’t you press the button?
Sighing, you put the transponder back in your pocket. Running your hand over your face, you walk towards where Ikkaky left. If you wouldn't call her in, then the most you could do is spy. That way if she did something illegal then you could feel better about calling her in.
When you turn into an alley, hoping to catch a glimpse of her there, you hear thuds and whispers behind you. Turning you look where you just came from, wondering what's going on.
“I just want to go back home!” An unknown man's voice rings into an alley as you peek out. Your eyes widen as you see a man holding a woman by the throat while tugging at something on his neck. Grabbing your transponder snail, you go to speak, wanting to get back up for the dangerous situation. The man continues to scream and cry out, throwing the woman away to the side. He pleaded and begged for someone to take it off. Leaning closer, you see what he meant. A thick metal collar was wrapped around his neck. Despite tugging and pulling, nothing worked.
He cried about the family he left behind, how he wants to see his son and wife. Confusion hits you like a train as the scene made no sense to you. Everyone looked away from him in fear or hesitation, some even shaking. He seemed to know something. Something you didn’t, so you kept watching transfixed on the sigh before you.
Tick Tick Tick
The sound rumbles through the streets on alleys as civilians rush away from the pirate, screaming in fear. Panicking even more, the pirate continued to cry and scream for help. Begging for help before the tickling stopped. It got faster before it finally quit.
An explosion erupted from the collar, making even more civilians scream in fear. Falling back into the alley, landing on your butt, you can feel your heart thumping against your ribs. Your eyes were wide as your breath comes out in shallow puffs. The shock of what you’d just seen almost too much to handle. What the hell happened? How did it happen?
The sound of his groaning caught your attention, making you scramble and crawl back towards the entrance of the alley. When you went to check on the aftermath, you met with a gruesome sight. His face was bloodied and covered in soot, teeth missing while he shook from the pain. Yet despite it, you could hear him wish to be with his family once more before collapsing to the ground.
You stilled, unable to fully process what you’ve seen. Words left your mouth as the people around you now spoke of slaves and the words ‘Celestial Dragons.’
You knew of them. The descendants of the ones who made the world government but you’ve never seen one in person. They spoke of the Dragon's greatness at your old base. So surely the dragons were here to help right? To try and figure out what happened and who put such a device on the pirates.
Civilians began to fall to their knees looking down and whispering before going silent.
“They're here.” A stranger's word had you hopeful that the dragons were here to help. That people were simply bowing because they saw them as heroes right? You mean why else would people kneel if they weren’t heroes who helped the public alongside you.
Footsteps approach the man on the ground, making you look in the direction. To your disgust and shock a dog came up to the wounded man. It’s actions making you ill as you can’t fathom the sight.
A female voice hits your ears making your head swivel. Could it be the dragons here to help you? Thank god! Going to stand up from your crawling position, you heard the same female voice.
“Oh look father, another one of our slaves has broken down.” Her words make you stop, eyes wide as you look up again, a sick feeling in your stomach. Why did she say something like that? Like the fallen man before you wasn’t human? All your questions seemed pointless when you saw her begin to kick the man's already broken, bleeding body, mocking him.
Each kick felt like it hit yourself, kicking off the rose colored glasses you wore and the lies you were fed about them.
BAM
BAM
BAM
You fall back to your hands and knees, feeling tears hit your eyes as you watch the people you were supposed to protect and vice versa, to kill someone without hesitation. Taking the life of a man who wanted to change. And even so, she still walked off, talking about wanting another slave. A giant instead of the human child her father suggested.
You felt sick, like you were going to throw up any moment. Mind flying at a million miles a second as you try to gather on what you’ve heard and seen. The casual dismissal of life as if you all didn’t share the same air. As if you didn’t all bleed red. These people were who you were to defend with your life? Ones who care so little of what their ancestors tried to protect?
Jumping to your feet despite still feeling ill, you began to run to the nearest post. There would be a long distance transmitter there that you could use to call Mr. Taiga. Hell even tell your fellow comrades on what you’ve seen.
~~~
Bursting through the door panting, you look around for the person you now answer to. When you see his office door you knock in a hurry. “Captain Nick! There's something I need to tell you! It’s about the Celestial Dragons!” Huffing and puffing, you wait impatiently outside the door for him to let you in.
“Jeez! What the hell is it?” Opening the door aggressively, an older man stands in front of you with a scowl. “You better have a good reason as to why you're bothering me.”
“It’s the Celestial Dragon sir! I-I watched them kill a man in cold blood in the streets in front of citizens! They talked about slaves and how they wanted more! She mocked him and kicked him a-and!” Each word tumbles out like a landside as you spew out everything you saw and heard at once. “She acted as if everyone was below them! Nothing like what people said they were!”
“Thats it? Your bothering me over something so trivial?”
“...What?” The words leave your mouth in an instant as you look up at the captain. Eyes wide as you try to grapple how disconcerned he was.
“Listen kid. There's important things to worry about rather than something out of our control. Go back to your post.”
“But Captain-!” Slamming the door in your face, he leaves you standing there like a fish out of water as your mouth opens and closes. How could he act like that was nothing? Let corruption go rampant? That's not what a Marine was supposed to stand for!
Backing away, you rush to the long distance transmitter snail and called up Mr. Taiga. Tears rim your eyes as emotions overwhelm you. Threatening to explode with another thought of everything that happened.
“Please answer, please answer, please…”
“Hello Mr. Taiga speaking.”
“Mr. Taiga! It's me (Y/N)!”
“(Y/N)? What do you want? You should know I’m busy.” Sniffling, you then tell him everything you said to your captain. Nails digging into the table as you just want to hear him tell you that your Captain was crazy. That you were in the right on how horrible what the Celestial Dragons were doing was.
“Theres a status quo that you should already know about. They are the reason we even exist to help the people. Turn a blind eye. It’s your job.”
Slamming down on the transmitter snail to end the call. It felt as if your world was crumbling. Everything you thought and knew about the Marines was a lie. You put your entire life into the Marines. Dedicate your life after being saved by Mr. Taiga. Yet they still fed you lies, and look at you like you're insane when you realize the truth.
“The Celestial Dragon are the reason we are here today. We owe our lives to them.” Mr. Taiga words echo in the garden as he speaks. “Their kindness knows no bounds as they always help when we’re in need.”
“Wow really?!”
“Yep. That's why their protected no matter what. They live in the Holy Land of Marie Geois.” Sitting on the grass, you look up in wonder.
“Will I ever get to meet them?!” Jumping up and down, buzzing with excitement.
Sighing, Mr. Taiga puts a hand on your shoulder. “Unfortunately not. Their immune system isn’t great so they stay inside. They need to protect us from afar as we protect them.”
“Immune system my ass.” Standing up, you swipe your hand across the table, knocking over everything scattered across it.
“They just think they can do whatever they want! That their above us just because some ancient people created the world government. God, how could I have been so stupid?!” Stomping away from the scene, you leave the station and go back outside.
The sunny light did little to soothe your heart as you felt your world crumbling around you. All the happy faces of families ruined as all you can see is the mental image of that pirate begging to go home. To see his wife and child. And the vivid imagery of those Celestial Dragons taking anyone they want just to do their bidding.
It wasn’t long before you found yourself at the edge of one of the many islands of the archipelago. The water glistened at you, reflecting your teary eyes and angry face back at you. You hated what you saw. The uniform you once wore with pride now felt like it was soaked in acid, burning against your skin. The hat you never left behind now acted like a fifty pound weight pushing against you.
Pulling the hat off your head, you throw it into the ocean with all your might. One of the things that meant the world to you now is going to sink to the bottom of the sea. Maybe even become a home for some crab or something. All that mattered was getting that hat away from you and as far away as possible. Even if it was 10,000 leagues under the sea.
Ypu drop down on your butt as you hug your knees to your chest. Tears dripping down your face and staining your uniform. Nails digging into the skin of your arms. Hiccups leave your lips as your chest feels tight. Body shaking, your cries overlap the sound of footsteps approaching.
“(Y/N)? Is that you?” Ikkaku’s voice rings back from behind you. Turning your head, you sniffle with glassy eyes.
“Ikakku? What…what are you doing here?”
“I should be asking you that.” Stepping closer, she sits down beside you. “Are you okay?”
Sniffling with another hiccup, you wipe your eyes and speak. “No, no I’m not! My whole life has been nothing but a lie!” The reminder of betrayal hits you once again as you cover your face with your hands.
“I saw how they really are. I saw how…” The words seemed to stick to your tongue. “They killed him and mocked him. Treating him as if he was nothing but dirt.”
Ikkaku seems to be lost in thought before it truly comes to her what you're talking about. A light bulb practically lights above her head as she turns back to look at you. “Wait, you mean the incident that happened earlier? Which one? I know there were two.”
“There were two?!” Hearing that the violence wasn’t just a single thing to one person even though you desperately wanted to believe so only made you feel more of an accomplice. Running your fingers through your hair, you let out a shaky exhale. “And no one could do anything?” You whisper, already knowing the answer.
“No.” Ikkaku’s clean cut answer makes your jaw clench.
“How could I have been so dumb? How did I not see it?”
“Well, you said at that shop earlier that a Marine took you under their wing after your parents died?” Hiccuping, you nod. “If you’ve been trained to be a Marine since you were little, don’t you think they hid it from you so you didn’t rebel? So you’d trust them implicitly?”
“But…”
“And now, it’s probably a taboo they don’t talk about it in front of lower ranking recruits. Not wanting them to abandon ship when learning the truth.” While her words made sense, you still felt an overwhelming amount of guilt for being a part of something that could support something so horrendous.
“I just…when I told the only person who I thought would be there for me, he said it didn’t matter. That it was just the status quo. That I was supposed to turn a blind eye. When I told my Captain, he said I was bothering him over something ‘so trivial’. Even going as far as slamming the door in my face.”
“I’m sorry you had to find out the truth this way.” A silence runs between the two of you, the only sound being waves and distant sound of laughter.
“I don’t want to be a Marine anymore.” The words felt foreign on your lips as never have you thought them before or even speaking of them. Until now.” Hands shaking, you bit your lip. “I’m a fraud. Everything I stand for is a lie. And I went along with it.”
“Then don’t be one.”
“Then who can I be? Ever since my parents…my life had been set out for me. A Marine who’d climb the ranks and do her best to protect the people. But how am I supposed to protect when evil is coming from inside the walls?” Turning to Ikkaku, you see the back of your hand wipe away some tears. “They throw stones from their glass house and I don't want to give them more stones.”
A flame of hatred burns in your heart as you think about all the times you were treated wrong. The times you have worked so hard for a promotion but always overlooked since you ‘didn’t meet standards’. The isolation that came with rumored ‘special privileges’ of being at least somewhat tied to a higher ranking marine. Even though you were never given any of the sort. If anything, it only put more pressure to be the best. To prove yourself worthy of being saved, even though that's what Marines are supposed to do. What their supposed to stand for.
But now, learning the truth, the thought of being one of them makes you wanna puke. Of helping hide such vile acts. You signed up for justice. Not the other way around.
“I just want them to face the consequences of their actions. To feel the hurt that they’ve inflicted on countless others.”
“Hey, I’ve got an idea. Follow me.” Holding her hand, she looks down at you.
Tentatively, you put your hand in hers and allow her to help you up. WIth a smile, she then pulls you along, taking you god knows where. Perhaps it was better than wallowing in misery when you learned the truth and being alone.
~~~
It felt like a blur before you were where Ikkaku wanted to take you. There were three men and a mink standing near this giant building. Two of them wearing the same clothing as Ikkaku. The mink also wore one but instead of it being a beige type color, it was orange. It didn’t take you another second before you realized what you were heading towards. Well, rather who. He was one of the many pirates you were forced to learn about only recently. Another of the many pirates in the worst generation.
Trafalgar Law.
You remembered the day you saw his wanted poster. Standing in the meeting room, you examined each picture your commander at the old base put on the table. Out of all of them, his gray piercing eyes always seemed to be staring at you. It wasn’t even directed at you but it felt like it was.
It was the first time you felt a stutter in your heart and your face burned. Looking at it made you speechless as words seem unable to in your throat. An itch in your fingers as the urge to touch the pirate's paper face was unexplainable.
The captain explains his crimes with a serious face but it goes over your head. Mouth dry, you keep your eyes on his captured ones. His wanted bounty screaming at you to be noticed but all you can see is the full body picture that was thrown onto the table as well. The newer picture only made your eyes widen more.
What was this feeling? This need to continuously stare, the rapid beating of your heart and the warmth that spreads all over your body.
“Private (Y/N)! You’ve been quiet for a while.”
“Oh, sorry, just feeling unwell.”
“Wait wait wait…” Stomping your feet to the ground, you try to stop Ikkaku from bringing you any closer.
“What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
“No, um, yeah. I just have to go to the bathroom.” Just as you were about to break away, the man you were trying to avoid turns his gaze towards you and Ikkaku.
“Ikkaku, what’s going on here? Why are you holding hands with a Marine?” His narrowed gaze has you freezing in place.
“I have to discuss something with you, Captain.” Ikkaku lets you go as she tries to convince Law to talk her away from you.
You felt all eyes on you. Distrust running deep in their gaze. It made you want to disappear. Being surrounded by pirates without any protection. Despite Ikkaku’s kindness, there was still some fear, still some unresolved trauma from the memories of your parents death. Now were you supposed to think rationally when random pirates you’ve never met were eyeing you like the enemy you were wearing the Marine uniform.
Fiddling with your nails, you feel the urge to run away. To disappear from their view. Even with new burning hatred for something you spent your life dedicated, there was still a bias. Own bad experiences and stories from other Marines running through your mind.
“...”
“...” The silence was suffocating before Law finally came back with Ikkaku in tow.
“Bring me maps of Marine routes and where Marine bases are in the New World. And cut off every Marine transmitter that goes to HQ.” His eyes drilled into yours to the point it felt as if you were going to melt away. Your entire body feels hot as your mouth goes dry. Never had you done anything like that. Going against them? The only thing that has bothered you for years?
But did it now? After all you’ve learned and how you were treated? Did they deserve your loyalty?
“Until then, I won’t be afraid to cut you down. You're an enemy until then, no matter what Ikkaku says.” Gripping his sword, he looked you up and down. Seeing if you were even worth his time.
Finally gathering the courage, you nod. “Yes sir.” Which seems to satisfy him. Turning around, his head held high. He moved towards the giant building. Each step made your fingers twitch. Once he fully goes into the structure, you stay still as you weigh the pros and cons.
The rattling of chains hit your ears again. Making your heart stop. Looking over your shoulder, you see the same two celestial dragons that you saw earlier. Both of them walk back towards you. Fear almost freezes you but the memory of their careless gunshots brings you back. Snapping your head around, you catch sight of a bush. Not wasting a second, you quickly jump in. Hiding in the leaves as you watch from a small opening.
The employees of the building fall to their knees just like the citizens did earlier. You could see the sweet falling from their brows as they ask to stand just for the auction as it would make their jobs easier. Despite saying it’d be fine, you could feel your teeth grinding against each other.
They continued to speak all through their walk into the building. Each thing that left their mouths only making you more and more upset. You didn’t know what was worse, the fact that horrible woman had a brother or the fact said brother was using someone as if it were a horse! The the father speaking of using a fishman as a substitute?!
As soon as they were out of sight, you jump from the bushes and book it to the base on Saboady. All reservations you had gone while tears of anger blur your vision. The entire day replays in your mind, fueling you to run even faster.
While your run, your eye catches sight of one of those bubble bikes. You’ve never ridden one before, but no doubt it’d be faster than running. Changing directions, you take off to grab the bike. The only problem was the man holding the keys and leaning against it talking. He’d let you borrow it surely? No, you're a stranger. Why would he give his ride to a random person? But you were already on your way over there. It’d be weird to turn back now…
“Thanks!” Ripping the keys from his hands, you put it in the ignition. It roars to life and you don’t waste a second to press on the gas.
“Hey! What the hell?!” The man’s voice rang behind you as you nervously drove the vehicle, putting it in reverse. It rushes backwards before you manage to get it turned in the direction of the base and put it in forward gear. Both hands shake as adrenaline runs through your veins. While your breathing was quick, there was a feeling that seemed foreign to you as you rode the bike. This wasn’t your bike, you were stealing a bike. On your way to steal Marine maps, confidential documents and cut communications.
It was exhilarating.
Is this what it felt like to be a pirate? To do what you want? Live life how you want and not be told what to do? Not wake up at the crack of dawn to the sound of a siren? To have more than thirty minutes to eat? Actually have time to do hobbies, to be yourself?
It didn’t take long after stealing the bike before you arrived at the base. Two guards standing in front, looking at you with skeptical eyes.
“Whats the rush (Y/N)? A second rush today no less.”
“I’ve got a report to give to the Captain. Move.” Jumping off the bike after parking, you push through the two men. Something you’ve never thought to do before.
Sweat crosses your brow as nerves settle in, battling against the adrenaline still pumping through your veins. Your eyes flicker around, catching the glint of a gun in the corner of your vision. Quickly snatching the rifle, you hold it close to your side. If you were gonna steal those papers, no doubt you were gonna need a little…fire power.
Using your foot, you kick open the Captain's door. Stepping inside, you lock the door behind you, making sure no one could come in and bother the two of you.
“Private (Y/N)! What the hell do you think you're doing?!” The Captain's demand goes unanswered as you raise your newly acquired rifle up at him. Pointing it towards the captain, you put your finger on the trigger as you aim.
“Wheres the Marine maps for routes and where out posts are? Give them to me before i shoot a hole in your chest.” Narrowing your eyes, you take a step closer. “And hurry it up.”
Your Captain glares at you, not backing down. “I don’t know what game you're playing at, but just know that this won’t go unpunished.” His words meant nothing to you as your eyes scanned his office. No matter what, you were getting those damn maps.
~~~
Each camera in the halls now malfunctioning as sparks fly from each one. Just as Law had asked, you broke the comms to HQ. You weren’t an electrician by any means but with how many wires you ripped and satellites you destroyed, it’d probably make one cry.
Stepping out back outside, the fresh air hits you like a truck. The soapy scent getting rid of the gunpowder stuck in your nose. But you didn’t have the time to stop and smell the flowers. So instead, you get back on the bubble bike you gracefully borrowed from the man at the bar. Throwing your leg over the bike at the start of the ignition, feeling the bike purr to life.
With the bike driving fast and the maps clutched tightly in your hand, your eyes were trained in the direction of the auction house. It shouldn’t take long until you were at the front doors and handing off the maps. The world around you meant nothing when the hate in your heart burned brighter than ever. All the reservations you had before are now out the window. Hands gripping the handles, you lean forward and turn the accelerator even faster.
When you get back to the auction house, you're met with a whole squad of Marines holding guns and shouting. How the hell did they get here? You swore you broke all the coms to HQ! Where did everyone come from?!
“Shit. How am I supposed to deliver these now?” Stopping the bike, you look around, trying to find a way inside the building. With how many people there were, it was unbelieveable. Law would be surrounded!
Panicking you weren’t aware of Law and the two other men exiting the building. Heart jumping out of your chest, you drive the bike closer. The maps tucked under your arm, you try to think. What could you do in this situation? It looks bad on your part as you said you destroy coms to HQ yet here they are. Maybe if you could distract them somehow, you’d be helpful.
Yet as you get closer, a large blue bubble fans over tons of the squad, making you abruptly stop. Not wanting to get close to the mysterious bubble. Screams erupt from further ahead of you. Making your heart stutter.
‘This must be his devil fruit power. I’ve heard of it but I never would’ve thought…' Putting the bike in reverse and moving back, you jump off. Pulling out the gun from your back, you keep your eyes peeled. You wanted to make sure no one stuck up from behind him.
Ikkaku and the other Heart Pirates you meet catch your gaze. Instead of potentially facing the same fate like your once co-workers, you push past everyone in your way and make your way towards the crew.
“Ikkaku! Ikkaku!” You called out, stopping in front of them before pulling out the maps. “I got the maps! I even cut the communicators!” Huffing, you try to explain one defend yourself on having no idea why there were so many marines.
“Strawhat punched a Celestial Dragon and someone from the auction managed to get in contact with the HQ. It wasn’t something we planned for so don’t blame yourself.” The tears that threatened to fall dry up as you take a breath of relief.
“Besides, it seems like they didn’t give you those maps…willingly.”
Looking down at your uniform, you noticed the stained red liquid that covers the cloth. “Oh…” A small feeling of embarrassment hits you as you feel your face heat up.
“It doesn’t matter. Let’s go. Penguin, Bepo, and Shachi are gonna stay and help the Captain. Me and you can hang out by the ship until he meets us there.” Her words have your heart jumping in excitement.
“O-Of course! Let's go!” The two of you make a dash to the Sub. A happy giggle leaves your lips as the breeze hits your skin. A sense of freedom. Of a new life outside of the lies you were told. With your smile wide, you imagine a world as a pirate. Endless adventures, nothing holding you back. Going against the system that swore to protect yet lies through their teeth.
~~~
It felt like forever until you see Law and the other walking towards you and Ikkaku. You tried not to stare and act like a fool when he’d come to talk to you. He even had the maps in his hand and his sword in the other. It was almost impossible to not stare at the tattoos that covered his body and how his eyes made you feel weak in the knees.
“You got the maps. Nevermind the communication disabled request. There was an…unforseen problem. Even if you did disable them, it wouldn’t have mattered since a Celestial Dragon was attacked.”
“Ah yeah I heard.” Hands behind your back, you fiddle with your fingers trying to calm your racing pulse. When Law looked at you up and down, you felt your face burn under his gaze. The dried stains on your uniform reflecting in his eyes.
“You killed your co-workers for these?” Law looks over to his crew. “Leave us. Go to the ship.”
“C-Captain but-”
"Go.” Not wanting to argue, the crew moved to the sub, climbing in without another word. Now it was just the two of you and the air felt suffocating.
“I’m sure you're smart enough to know why I'm suspicious of you. A Marine wanting to join my crew?” Narrowing his eyes in suspicion, he waits for your rebuttal.
“I was told that the Marines were supposed to protect the innocent. That we were the good against the evil.” Your heart felt heavy in your chest as your mouth dries. The events of the day hanging heavy on your shoulders. “But…” Words die on your tongue as even recounting everything felt impossible.
“Ikkaku told me you never knew about the Celestial Dragons. How come?”
“I guess I wasn’t important enough to know the truth. Or corrupt enough to let them get away with it.” Clenching your fists you look him in the eyes. “I want to be a pirate. I want to go against everything they claim to stand for. I promise to be the best crewmate. I’ll follow your orders to the ends of the world if you let me.”
Breathing heavily, you look into Law’s gray eyes. Hoping that he’d see the sincerity behind your own.
“Fine. As soon as you change into your uniform, throw that one in a biohazard bag. I don’t know what's in their blood. And shower first.” Turning around, he begins to walk onto the deck. Not bothering to look over his shoulder. Probably already knowing the bewildered look on your face. “Are you coming or not?”
“Ah yes!” Pulled from your shock, you immediately go up to his side. Almost buzzing with excitement. “I promise you won’t regret it Captain!”
You pulled your car into your driveway, smiling at the sight of the two bicycles your daughters had received from the previous holiday season sitting by the door of your garage. The green one, Cora's, was upside down. Parking and grabbing your bag from the passenger seat, you pushed open your door and climbed out, walking around to the back door of your small house and pushing it open with your elbow.
“I’m home!” you shouted.
Immediately, little footsteps sprinted from the other room toward you.
“MAMA, I need to show you something!” Cora almost slipped on the floor with the speed in which she threw herself at you, wrapping her arms around your legs and trying to drag you toward the living room.
Laughing, you placed your bag down on the counter beside the door and followed your ecstatic daughter into the rest of your home.
The sight that greeted you made you wheeze.
Cora and her sister had somehow apprehended their father, holding him to the floor and wrapping him in fake gauze. Bepo was laying beside his dad with his fluffy head on his abdomen, snoring away despite the chaos.
“Daddy was a victim of an awful house fire, so we’re wrapping him up,” Rose blurted, tying more fake gauze around your husband’s arm.
Law lazily picked his head up from the floor. “Hey, babe. I was a victim in a house fire. No other survivors.” He didn’t even have time to ask you how your therapy appointment had gone before his younger daughter piped up once more.
“That’s right, and we’re the only doctors in the entire world qualified to help him!” Cora boasted, her small hands on her hips. It was then you noticed your husband’s white work coat, with his badge still clipped to the breast pocket, shrouding Rose as she finished sloppily wrapping Law’s forearm in gauze. She was swimming in it. Her hands barely peeked out from the baggy sleeves.
You laughed, sitting down on the floor next to Bepo’s rump and crossing your legs. “What are you teaching these kids?”
“Practical medicine,” he replied.
Rose smiled, giving a clumsy pat to her father’s noggin. “You never know when you might need a skin graft.”
You snorted, pinching the bridge of your nose between your fingers. “I think you might be the only five year olds on the planet who knows what a skin graft is.”
“Tomorrow, Daddy said he’s gonna teach us how to remove lung tumors,” Cora chirped.
You gazed at your husband, deadpanning. He stared back at you. “Before you say anything, this was their idea.”
“And who gave them the idea?” you asked, a smirk on your lips.
Law backpedaled, a small, faint blush ghosting over his cheeks. “Can you blame me?”
You laughed, letting Cora pull you closer to her so she could give your own arm an expert assessment.
“How was the drive over?” Nico Robin had one of her long legs crossed over the other, her laptop on the short counter in front of her as she typed notes into your patient portal.
You tossed her a smile. “Not bad, the seatbelt in my car feels really strange the bigger I get, but I’m just happy I can still drive for the time being.”
The blue-eyed woman nodded before turning to face you. “Based on your 18 week ultrasound, your babies have a heart rate of about 120 beats per minute, which is in the perfectly normal range during this gestational period. Their amniotic fluid levels are also normal. Overall, I’m really pleased with how healthy they are. You’re a few weeks into your second trimester now, have you noticed any significant changes? Any symptoms we should be concerned about?”
It took you a few moments to think. “Well, my skin is really itchy and my back really hurts. My breasts have days where they’re really tender and days when they’re not. My feet hurt sometimes,” you rattled.
Dr. Robin nodded understandingly across from you. “As strange as it is for me to say, hearing that you have normal symptoms of pregnancy makes me incredibly happy. Along with your bloodwork that has been consistently normal and your ultrasound from last week, I am incredibly pleased with your progress and the growth of your babies.” She pulled on a pair of rubber medical gloves and wheeled her stool over to your bed where you placed your feet on the stirrups for your wellness check.
“I am too,” you replied with a broad grin, your hand going to rest over your swollen belly as you reclined on the table, staring at the ceiling as Robin poked around and examined your condition. “I’d much rather have symptoms and know that everything is alright rather than nothing at all.”
“Of course, of course,” your doctor agreed, nodding her head affirmatively. She flashed you a cheeky smile from in between your legs. “Are you positive you don’t want to know the genders?”
Your hands braced themselves against the side of the bed you sat on as your shoulders bounced with the force of your laugh. “Don’t tempt me! I’ve been doing so well wanting to keep it a surprise!”
Your reaction made Robin laugh as she removed her gloves and marked a few final notes in her patient chart for you. “Well, if everything seems to be going normal then I’ll be seeing you again in another few weeks! But you know the drill, call me back immediately if you notice any changes or concerns.”
She helped you down from the table and you slipped into your clothes and shoes, following her to the front desk to receive your patient summary for the visit, along with scheduling your next check-up and ultrasound.
The weather had gotten absolutely stifling in the late summer days, and partnered with your ever-expanding womb, you were finding yourself more and more sweaty hauling around an extra few pounds during the horrendous heat. With your air conditioner blasting, you drove back home to spend the remainder of your day in the cool comfort of your apartment. You couldn’t even imagine how Bepo must have been feeling, all of that thick, fluffy white fur must have been suffocating for him during the summer months. You could barely get him to go outside during the daylight hours, but in the winter months, you needed to go through hell and back to get him inside. The thought of your pup at home made you smile as you pulled out of the parking lot and hit the road back home. He had become so much more attentive toward you recently, almost serving as your guard dog. Even when Shachi and Penguin came over, despite knowing who the two men were, Bepo would stand guard in front of you and refused to let anyone pass. His keen doggie instincts definitely knew there was something different about you.
It didn’t take long for you to get home, the traffic was incredibly minimal. What you wouldn’t give to be at the beach on a day like this, soak up some sun… with your pregnant belly on full display. The thought made you smile, blood rushing to your face. Law probably would take a minor issue with that. ‘I don’t want any other man tossing looks at you,’ he’d probably gripe. You chuckled to yourself as you turned down the road your apartment was on. Like Bepo, Law had also become much, much more protective of you. When he could help it, he refused to miss any update or appointment, staying by your side constantly. You thought maybe you’d get tired of it, but if anything, it made you feel even better about your relationship.
Knowing that Law had no plans on leaving you after you gave birth, loving you in and out of pregnancy, made your heart flutter.
You grabbed your bag and exited your car, locking it behind you as you walked through the stifling humidity into your building, up the elevator, and onto your floor. You slipped your key into the lock and pushed open your door, calling out to Bepo who snorted from the other room. You kicked off your shoes, hung your bag on a hook by the door, and proceeded to the living room where you could finally put your feet up on the couch. You grabbed your journal off of the counter on the way. You’d been so good keeping up with it, almost obsessively so. A few weeks ago, Ikkaku had told you about a similar journal that her mother had kept, and how nice it would be to have your kids eventually read it when they grew up.
That sentiment made you fill out entire paragraphs on some of the pages, a permanent smile plastered on your lips as you wrote.
Bepo stood from his bed when you sat on the couch and immediately laid down directly beside you, ears perked up and constantly on alert should anyone come through the door. You reached down and carded your fingers through the thick fur between his ears, watching with a giggle as his eyes slowly drifted closed and his pink tongue slipped through his muzzle.
“Are you blepping?” you asked.
The dog snorted.
You were periodically checking your phone throughout the afternoon. Law had another fairly large procedure today, a Transmyocardial Revascularization, which involved some technology that he didn’t frequently use in the operating room. When he left your apartment that morning, he was already laser focused, reading through his notes and charts while he scarfed down his breakfast. He only broke composure enough to give you a kiss in the doorway, his hand ghosting over the side of your belly before he left. You were hoping he would text you when the procedure was done, but at the same time were completely understanding if you didn’t hear from him until he got home. Sometimes, he got so swallowed up by his work that he forgot he even existed.
A sudden fluttering sensation from your abdomen almost made you drop your phone. You sat up, startled, your hands flying to your belly, pressing against your skin. The suddenness of your movements made Bepo stand up as well, staring at the door expecting someone to walk in.
Your heart was pounding in your chest, your mind immediately assuming the worst. You weren’t in pain, you hadn’t been spotting, everything had been completely normal.
You felt it again, this time against your hands. A quick flutter within your gut immediately followed by a shallow, quick rippling sensation against the muscles of your abdomen. You felt it in the palm of your hand. Near the other side, the same thing happened.
They were moving. Your twins were moving.
You stood up, startling Bepo who stared at you confused and alert. You gazed down at your dog dumbly. “They’re moving.”
He tilted his head as you spoke to him.
“I don’t know why I stood up,” you blurted, sitting back down with your hands flush against the couch cushions. A giddy, childlike grin crawled to your lips. They were moving. They were moving.
It took about another three hours for Law to get home, and while you waited you had been so overcoming with energy thanks to the excitement of feeling your babies fluttering that you vacuumed your entire apartment, cooked a pavlova with the leftover berries in your fridge, and deep-cleaned the inside of the oven. When your husband finally walked into the entryway and called your name, you almost sprinted to meet him, skidding across the floor in your socks.
“Hey, babe–”
You cut him off swiftly, grabbing his hand and holding it against your belly. You stared down at his inked fingers as they relaxed over your bump, his lips sealed.
“Come on…” you uttered. “Do it again…” It was a longshot, but you hoped that somehow they could hear you.
The fluttering sensation bounced around your abdomen once more, followed by the ripple against your muscle. Law jerked his hand away from your skin, almost like he was forced to touch manure without gloves. His golden eyes were boggling out of his head, his jaw slack and cheeks flushed.
“Was that…?” he stuttered out, words escaping him.
“They started moving!” you cheered, throwing yourself into him, bubbly laughter escaping your throat.
Law was quick to wrap his arms around you once his shock subsided, clutching you to his chest. His own broad smile was on his face as his chest bounced with your giddy laughter. “So I take it your appointment today went well?”
You pulled away from his embrace, excitement coursing through your veins so rapidly that the only thing your body told you to do was grip your husband’s cheeks and press a tender kiss against his lips. He muffled a surprise grunt against your mouth before his hands found purchase on your hips, slightly dipping you backward and ghosting his teeth against your puffy lower lip.
“Sorry,” you all but whispered, barely pulling away from him. “I think I got the zoomies.”
He quickly turned his head away to snort at your words. “The baby-kicking zoomies?”
“I made pavlova,” you sighed. “That’s how excited I got.”
Your husband pressed another hot kiss against your lips before kicking off his shoes and taking your hand to bring him to the kitchen. “Looks like our dinner is pavlova. Not that I’m complaining.”
As soon as you stepped back into the main living area, Bepo was at your feet, nuzzling your legs and sticking his nose into your butt. No matter how many times you shooed him away, he came right back, tongue peeking through his muzzle and beady black eyes melting your heart into oblivion. And now, Law was following the dog’s example. You served slices of your light desert onto two plates for the both of you, following Law to the couch where he proceeded to rest a hand against your belly throughout eating the sweet treat. And while watching the television… and while you washed the dishes… and while you showered… and while you curled up next to him under the covers to sleep.
“Am I going to have to follow you to work now? So you don’t miss a kick?” you asked over your shoulder, adjusting your body so you could press further into your husband’s chest with your back.
His hand lazily stroked up and down your side as he pressed light kisses to the back of your head. “Maybe. … Probably.”
“I won’t be very good in the operating room,” you laughed quietly into the darkness.
“Oh, that reminds me. I forgot to tell you something with all the excitement.” You felt Law push away from you slightly, giving you enough room to roll over and face him.
“What’s up?” you asked, curiously. Your eyes couldn’t quite see his face, but his hand on your waist kept you glued to him nonetheless.
“The biggest surgery of my life got scheduled today,” he said. “A heart-lung transplant.”
You bolted upright in bed, reaching over for the lamp next to your pillow and pulling down on the power chord, illuminating your small corner of the room. Your eyes were wide. “Are you serious?”
With disheveled hair, Law sat up as well, hunching his back to rest his elbows on his knees. “Yup. Early May.”
“Holy shit,” you uttered. “I… didn’t even know that was possible.”
Law nodded. “The man has been in the ICU for almost an entire year now. Every treatment option has been exhausted for both his heart and lungs. Stents, catheters, bypass surgeries, blood-thinners, every available diagnostic test for pulmonary failure has been tried and done. He’s approaching end-stage heart and lung failure and has been intubated for quite some time, and he recently got approved for transplant from the donor board.”
You absorbed his words with awe. “That’s a lot… poor guy.”
Your husband hummed. “It’s tough, but we all think this surgery will be the ultimate best thing for him. He’s got AB+ blood which is incredibly lucky for him, and a donor has been selected based on cardiopulmonary quality.” He glanced at you and could tell based on the slightly grim look on your face that you were curious where they even got the heart and lungs from. “Organs are usually harvested from people who have suffered from brain injuries. If they established prior to illness or injury that they would like to be a living tissue donor, then if they suffer brain death, they can be eligible for organ donation. I’m not familiar with the donor right now, but I assume that’s the case for them.”
Your heart clenched at the thought. “Wow…”
Law scooted closer to you and rubbed your back. “It’s tough medicine, but someone’s sacrifice might be able to save the life of another.”
A smile pulled to your lips before you realized something. “Wait…”
“What’s wrong?” he asked, eyebrows furrowing in concern.
“May 22nd is my due date,” you stated. “Not that I’m telling you to not do the surgery, obviously, but… what if…”
“You go into labor while I’m in the operating room?” he asked, finishing your sentence for you. “The entire procedure, if it still happens when scheduled, might be anywhere from 12 to 16 hours. So I guess we’ll just have to hope that you don’t go into labor on that day.”
“That’s a long time… are you going to be alright?” you asked, leaning into his touch, your voice filled with worry.
Law smiled. “Don’t worry about me. You remember my sleep schedule in college, I’ll be fine.”
You grinned. “Just don’t start drinking energy drinks again, I don’t want your kidneys to give out in the OR.”
Your statement made Law laugh as he reached over you and pulled the cord on the lamp once more, plunging the room back into darkness. “I promise I won’t, that shit’s nasty anyway. We can talk about it more in the morning and when it gets closer, though.”
The comfortable darkness filled the room as you snuggled into your husband’s arms. “Sounds good, baby.”
A kiss to the skin of your forehead was the last sensation you felt before drifting off into a peaceful slumber.
—
“Okay, I know you guys said you didn’t want us to go crazy, but we went a little crazy.”
You and Law were seated on your loveseat across from Ikkaku, Shachi, and Penguin, who sat behind a plethora (read: a metric ton compared to the total volume of your apartment) of bags and boxes. Ikkaku began rifling through some of the bags at her feet, grumbling about a list she had written down of your coworkers and what they had chipped in with.
Law was dumbfounded, his eyes wide and incredibly confused. You felt a small kick in your belly, prompting you to sooth your bump with your hand. You were about 24 weeks now, and your home wardrobe had largely consisted of Law’s oversized sweatshirts to account for your very pronounced abdomen.
Penguin clapped his hands. “So, we didn’t want the lovely couple to get themselves worried about getting all their baby gear, so in these two boxes,” he interrupted his words to violently slap the unlabeled cardboard next to the armrest on his side of the couch, “are the cribs. Two of them. You know, for two babies.”
“And in these boxes,” Shachi kicked two more unlabeled boxes with his foot, “are bedspread sets for the crib mattresses.”
“Oh, shit, we still need the mattresses,” Penguin gasped, slapping Shachi’s shoulder making the red-head wince.
“Don’t they come with the mattresses already?” Shachi replied, rubbing his arm.
“I found it!” Ikkaku hollered, pulling out a double-sided sheet of loose-leaf paper. “Okay, everyone from the office went behind your back and got a bunch of stuff for you.” She cleared her throat and passed you a large holiday-themed gift bag, which you leaned forward to grab by the string handles and pull to rest in your lap. “That one is from Nami. She went kind of crazy with getting clothes, I told her to keep them gender neutral since you guys don’t know the sexes yet, but a lot of them are feminine anyway, so… let’s hope for girls.”
Law leaned over to peer into the large bag as you picked through it. ‘Crazy’ was an understatement. Nami had seemingly given you an entire wardrobe for the first year of your babies’ lives. Onesies, shirts, pants, a bunch of bundles of newborn socks, little hats, headbands, swaddles with different patterns, mittens, and two winter coats that would fit them up to six months. There was more beneath the initial assortment you sifted through.
“This entire bag is from only Nami?” you asked, completely bewildered.
“Well, Nami and Nojiko,” Ikkaku responded, skimming her list. “Oh, there should be a small bottle of newborn laundry detergent in there, too. Just F-Y-I.”
“Okay, so the cribs do in fact come with mattresses. You just have to let them rise like bread for 24 hours before putting them in the cribs. They should be firm,” Penguin explained, scrolling through his phone.
You cringed at the mention of bread. You still hadn’t gotten your tolerance for the texture back.
“This next one is from Sanji and Zoro, but mostly Sanji. He got you a set of baby monitors, two mobiles for each crib, and a diaper changing table.” Ikkaku slid another box towards your feet. The top of it was labeled with elegant handwriting that read, ‘TO THE LOVELY COUPLE~’.
Shachi dragged over another box. “This is a double stroller. All assembly required.”
“This bag is from Usopp, I think it’s a bunch of baby hygiene products. Baby powder, light wipes, a few bags of diapers to get you started, some diaper station pads, little washcloths and towels, diaper cream, the works.” Following her words, yet another bag was slid over to you, this time snatched by Law.
“Diapers are expensive,” he mumbled. “How did everyone pull all of this together?”
Ikkaku shrugged. “Sanji and Nami are well-off. Usopp? No idea.” She dismissively looked back at her list. “Oh, this next one’s from Ms. Boa. I can’t remember what she put in it, though.”
Another box was kicked over your way, already open slightly for you to rifle through. It was completely filled to the brim with everything you would need for breastfeeding. Two breast pumps, a large volume of milk storage bags, nursing pads, and a few tubes of nipple cream. At the bottom of the box, there was a variety of decorative bibs, a few baby bottles, a bottle warmer, and a specialized bottle sterilizer. Your head was whirling.
“Guys, you’re making me dizzy,” you practically wheezed, leaning back against the couch. Law rubbed your shoulder reassuringly.
“We’re almost done,” Shachi stated. He picked up a bag next to Ikkaku’s shoe. “Oh, I forgot. This one’s from Rebecca.”
Law picked his head up. “My head nurse?”
“Is that who that is?” Shachi asked, sliding over the bag.
“How did you get her number?” the surgeon asked, picking up the package and opening it.
“The hospital has a database with contact info. You should tell them to update your picture, by the way. You look dead in your current headshot.” Penguin’s backhanded comment made you snort.
The gift from Rebecca was exactly what you would expect from a cardiology nurse. A thermometer, a pair of baby nail clippers, petroleum jelly, a few rolls of sterile gauze, a first aid kit, an assortment of pacifiers, and a few baby toothbrushes. He felt himself smile. She had always been a caring, generous person. While he was still a bit perturbed by the whole hospital database thing, it came as no surprise to him that Rebecca would be so generous as to provide gifts for her superior and his expectant wife.
“This is the last one I think,” Ikkaku mumbled, dragging over another box with her foot. “Oh, this one’s from Luffy and his brothers!”
This time, both you and Law perked up.
“Luffy?” you asked. “I haven’t seen him in, like, three years.”
“Where’d he even go, anyway?” Law asked. “I lost track of him after a while.”
Ikkaku laughed, pushing the box toward you. “Sanji told me something about his grandfather trying to force the three of them to join the military. I think they moved somewhere just to get away from the hustle and bustle for a bit, but also to get away from that marine grandpa of theirs.”
“What was his name again?” Shachi asked.
“Garp, I think. Isn’t there a picture of his face on that marine recruitment poster they keep hanging at the local community college?” Penguin queried.
“That’s right.” Shachi snapped his fingers. “I never liked that guy.”
You leaned over as far as you could manage with your belly to open the box from Luffy and his two older brothers. On top of the packing, which was surprisingly well-done (probably not by Luffy), was a hand-written letter.
To the happy couple,
Congratulations on your pregnancy! It’s been so long since we’ve all gotten together, but I’m so glad to hear you’re both doing well. At some point we’ll all reconnect, I’m sure Ace and Luffy would love to get to romp around with some toddlers, but at the same time, I would completely understand if you wanted anything but that. Regardless, I hope this box of goodies finds you well. Best of luck during the rest of your pregnancy!
From,
Sabo (who wrote all of this, by the way), Ace, and Luffy
Beneath the newsprint used as packing material, a large collection of toys was compiled for the two of you to pick through. A rolled up playmat, some teething toys, an assortment of cardboard baby books, some of which were medical themed, a portable pack-and-play, a generous bunch of baby toys for both the home and a stroller, and a few toy organizers. It was assumed by everyone in the room that Sabo was the one responsible for picking everything out. The other two most likely trailed behind and poked each other with toys from the children’s section of the local supermarket. Regardless, the sentiment was appreciated. A fond smile crawled onto your lips as you scooped up one of the toys from the box. It was a sturdy stuffed white dog with floppy ears and a pink tongue.
“Bepo,” you called, beckoning your fur baby over. “It’s you!”
Law grinned at the display, but quickly hid his face at the mischievous cooing noises his best friends were making from across the room. Bepo was excitedly sniffing the nose of the dog toy before you plopped it back into the box to save for later.
“What’s the plan for you guys in terms of crib placement?” Ikkaku asked, cleaning up the space around her.
You and your husband glanced at each other. You hadn’t actually thought about it much until then. While your apartment was technically a two bed-one bath, the second bedroom was substantially smaller and filled with storage that the two of you always insisted you would one day tackle, but never did. It became a closet forbidden for life, until now, that is.
“I think we’re going to clean out the second bedroom and use that,” Law answered for the two of you. “That won’t be for a few more months, though.”
“Better get on it soon,” Shachi chided. “Those little munchkins will be here before you know it!”
You grinned, tossing a glance at Law as he pinched the bridge of his nose in between his fingers. You turned back to your friends across from you. “Thank you guys for bringing everything over, though, I really appreciate it! We both do.”
“Of course!” Ikkaku piped up before the other two could speak. “I didn’t know when your maternity leave was going to start, so I wanted to make sure you got everything now.”
“A few more weeks,” you confirmed. “But I’m glad to have all of this stuff so early, then we won’t have to stress when it gets closer to the due date.”
“Do you plan on breastfeeding?” Shachi asked suddenly.
“Shut it, Shachi,” Law barked. “You just spoiled us. Don’t test it now.”
The exchange made you laugh, Law seeming to smolder in the direction of his rowdy friends. Your laughing seemed to trigger something in your babies, too, as you felt two simultaneous flutters in your belly.
You liked making them laugh.
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