This fic is one in a series where I’m taking a daily, month-long prompt event and just stretching it out by posting every two weeks or so instead of daily. Instead of putting making them all chapters in a single story (which is how I usually do (albeit much smaller) prompt events), I’m posting all of them individually so as to not terrorize each featured ship tag for fourteen months. Pairs will trend on the rare side and everything will be collected into an AO3 series as we go, including ones tumblr would not appreciate.
[FFN] - [AO3] - [Series on AO3]
make it right; make it work; After beginning to return the nation to sorts, Dressrosa's royal family adds another to their number. The question everyone has is: how? Surely, it has nothing to do with a washed-up pirate captain... or does it? [3334 words; Violaw]
Starting over from nearly scratch, Dressrosa decided to raise itself up from the rubble and ashes to become even stronger of a nation that it was before Doflamingo’s decade-long reign. Between the palace and the Coliseum they were able to create emergency shelters for everyone, making it so that no one went cold or hungry while they worked on rebuilding their lives. The king even stayed in the common encampments most nights, making sure that they were fit for his people and were not creating new problems. Soon, however, he left for the Levely, taking along his daughter and granddaughter in hopes of rallying support from the rest of the reigning monarchs. The Captain of the Guard stayed behind, acting in his father-in-law’s stead, helping to plan and build despite his missing leg and decade of built-up sorrow. People pulled together, knowing full-well this was the only chance they had to truly make Dressrosa better than before, not the lies and shiny veneer that Doflamingo had brought.
Things were good… or so they seemed.
It was not long after the royal family returned home before some of the maids began to notice a change in Princeseta Viola. She was tired frequently and mood-stricken and would become ill at nothing, all for it to pass just as quickly. It was only after her dresses began to not fit properly did everything click into place and the rumors began to spread.
Princeseta Viola was pregnant despite her lack of a husband.
Questions and wonder spread throughout the kingdom. Who put a child in their Crown Princeseta without so much as joining her on the wedding platform first? How did someone have the audacity to leave before facing the consequences, let alone why was she allowing it to progress? The people’s loose math figured she was taken around the fall of Donquixote Doflamingo’s reign. Was it the false king, who now was rotting underneath sea and stone in Impel Down? One of his cronies? Did they force themselves on her in a last-ditch effort to sully the kingdom? Would she let herself swell with child if that were the case? They pondered and theorized, quietly wondering what was to become of their royal family; even if they accepted a bastard child, would the other nobles and royals they were depending on for aid feel similarly? How would this impact the rebuilding of their nation, and could they bear it in the end?
Eventually, questions were slowly answered. News of the impending royal birth stayed in hushed tones out of solemn respect; if the royal family—after all they had just been through—wanted a bit of privacy, it was the least the nation could afford them. She had already endured much for her people, and so what if it meant not mentioning her seclusion in the months surrounding the birth? Word trickled out of the palace that the child was strong, happy, and healthy; the new mother was in fine shape, while the only tears shed by the family were ones of joy. It was done, and the people raised their glasses for their future monarch, whomever they might be, all while an important question remained unspoken:
…what of the father…?
-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Night was about to fall over Dressrosa as the pair of pirates carefully guided a small boat into the old underground port, careful to not attract much attention. It was mostly boarded up and in a state of disuse—there were more important things on the country’s to-do list than refurbish an illicit port used to exploit her people—making it the perfect place to slip in undetected.
“This place is spooky,” Bepo shivered as they tied up their craft to a dock. A set of emergency floodlights sat half-flickering in a corner, partially lighting up the space; it was enough for what they needed. “Are you sure it’s alright to be here?”
“Better than a lot of other places,” Law replied. He briefly glanced around to see what might have been left behind by the Marines and what sat untouched. “The royal family was very grateful for when we took down Doflamingo, the Crown Princess especially.”
“Wait…” Bepo’s nose scrunched as he recognized his captain’s tone. “Wasn’t the princess, like, sixteen when you were last here?”
“Her aunt, who’s about a year older than Penguin,” Law clarified. He made sure to keep referring to their longtime friend in the present tense—their crew was alive, he could feel it. “It’s rude to kiss and tell.”
“That sounds more like ‘nut and tell’.”
Law scowled and walked from their dock onto the main platform of the port. There was still plenty of debris from when Doflamingo’s men were rounded up and hauled away, though not all of it seemed like a waste of time. Some old rations and a campfire of planks later and the friends were munching on cold tins of beans. An awkward silence was settled around them; a lot had gone unsaid within the past year and they planned on leaving it that way.
“Uh… Captain…?”
“Hmm…?”
“If the princess was so grateful, then why are we sneaking around instead of, you know, heading up to the palace to eat palace food?”
“It’s… complicated,” he frowned. He couldn’t tell Bepo how the encounter had gone—passionate, yes, but more of a cleanse of the past decade or so for both—and he was sorry to say his performance was poor. They both had started sobbing halfway through and parted agreeing to never speak of it again. It had been a bad decision on both ends and he wasn’t going to hold that over her in exchange for lodging of all things; he was a pirate but he still had standards. If he and Bepo were discovered, they’d invoke his status as someone the nation was somewhat indebted to, and if not… it would be like they were never there, save for a charred pile of wood and some empty food tins.
“Sorry—it just seems weird, is all.”
“It’s nothing,” Law claimed. Because it truly wasn’t. He and Viola had embarrassing, subpar sex once after demolishing the ghosts of their pasts—it was not enough to build a relationship on. If Penguin and Shachi were there, they’d be cackling at him. “Let’s just get some sleep—we’re going to need to figure out what the ship needs in the morning if we want leave before someone finds us.”
“Okay,” Bepo agreed. The only pillows they had were their scavenged packs; Law laid on his back, his pack under his head, and stared at the ceiling for a moment before closing his eyes.
Could he have done things a little differently with Viola? Certainly. Law knew he almost habitually fumbled his chances at relationships and the Dressrosan princess was no different. Then again, a princess was out of his league, wasn’t she? Maybe it was the fact he was shooting his shots too high. He had kept the idea of a romantic relationship at-bay for so long because of the expectation he’d die at Doflamingo’s hands that… yeah, now that he thought about it, he really was just aiming way too high. Dressrosa’s princess, the Straw Hats’ archaeologist, and… well… he had to admit that at least Monet had been pretty… but now one likely never wanted to see him again, one was full-on missing, and not only did Monet have the huge disqualifier of being a Doflamingo sycophant, she was also now dead. Maybe he needed to adjust his expectations… maybe consider someone not a woman… ugh, that didn’t seem like a good prospect at all…
“Uh, Captain…?”
“Not now, Bepo. Go to sleep.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why’s that?”
Someone very much not Bepo cleared their throat and Law’s eyes snapped open. The ends of spears were shoved in his face, a bunch of very tense gladiator-looking men at the end of them.
Well, shit.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-
The guardsmen led Law and Bepo through the many tunnels that it took to reach the palace, but instead of bringing them to the royal family, they were thrown in one of the old prison cells that hadn’t looked like it was used in literal decades. It was by all accounts a biohazard, with dirt and mold on most of the surfaces, as well as what looked suspiciously like blood on the corner of the planks used as beds and the toilet in the corner covered in stains from things neither of the prisoners wished to think about.
“You know I can escape from this, right?” Law deadpanned, almost daring them to notice his lack of seastone cuffs. He then pointed at Bepo. “Plus he’s a Mink. You’ve done nothing to restrain us.”
“It’s on order of Princeseta Viola,” the head guardsman explained. He paused as he stared at Law, as though studying the other man’s face before shaking it off. “She was the one who found you, and she said you would stay without special force.”
“That’s presumptuous of her. All we wanted was to rest and not cause any trouble before moving on. She knows I don’t have plans on this place, so why the theatrics?”
“You’ve never been on the bad end of a Dressrosan woman, have you mate?” one of the guards smirked, his buddies joining in. Law blinked in confusion—what in the hell was that supposed to mean?
“It doesn’t matter,” the head guard said. “Now no funny business or I will have to slap seastone on you. Princeseta Viola might trust you, but I sure as hell don’t.”
“You wouldn’t dar—ow!” Law went to lean on the bars and the moment his skin touched the metal he recoiled: the bars were reinforced with seastone, no wonder. “Prepared for almost everything, aren’t you?” Just then, there was a commotion in the corridor and Viola stormed into the cell block, a sort of fire behind her he could not readily identify. Had they reunited differently, he would have dropped to his knees and told her to have her way with him; since they had witnesses… “There you are; can you please tell them that none of this is necessary?”
“Leave us,” she ordered. There was something… genuinely different about her… something Law couldn’t entirely put his finger on, yet knew was there. The guards did not move. “Leave us, now.”
“…but milady…”
Viola simply glared at the head guard, every bit the fierce monarch she would become some day. The guards all bowed their heads and left, their leader handing her the keys. She waited until they were all filed out before unlocking the cell, storming in and smacking Law across the face, hissing, “How dare you come back here!”
“We’re sorry!” Bepo panicked. “We weren’t planning on staying!”
“I tried to write you for months,” she continued, tears in her eyes. “You vanished! Not a damned trace of you! Do have any idea as to how worried I’ve been?!”
“My ship was wrecked out past Wano!” he fired back. “Bepo and I have been trying to find the rest of our crew the entire time since, which is frankly pretty damned difficult when you’ve got an Emperor up your ass and the nation-sized family of another not far behind! I didn’t exactly have the luxury to be thinking about you, Princeseta!”
“If you had contacted me, I would have helped!”
“Dressrosa is not known for its navy, and why would it help some lowly pirates?!”
“You think that?! Really?!”
“So soon after reclaiming the throne?! Don’t lie: you were glad to see the back of me!”
“You would have been the exception!”
“Wasn’t exactly under the impression you’d be that into me.”
“You absolute… you… you scoundrel!”
“Didn’t think you were the type to get jealous and clingy when there’s nothing between us!”
“There is everything between us!” As she glared at Law, Viola activated her Devil Fruit, eyes glazing over in a cool-white glow that spooked Bepo. A moment and it faded, Viola and Law never breaking eye contact. “Rebecca, why are you here?”
“I want to see the bear!” a voice shouted from the corridor. Both men looked towards the cell block’s entryway to see the teen standing there holding a bundle in her arms. She seemed to be thrilled at the sight of Bepo—Dressrosa’s climate and Minks were not always guaranteed to agree with one another—and she squealed as she went to the cell door. “Mr. Mink, can I please hug you?”
“Uh… yes…?” Bepo almost didn’t enough time to brace himself as Rebecca moved fast, handing the bundle off to her aunt and jumping at the opportunity to hug a talking bear. She squeaked happily—so soft! “My name is Bepo.”
“Oh, I’m Rebecca!” the teen replied. “Viola is my tieta—my auntie! I heard there was a Mink in Mr. Law’s crew, but I didn’t think I’d actually get to meet you! We all thought the worst when we read the news!”
“Why would the Dressrosan royal family care about what happens to a bunch of pirates?” Bepo wondered. He and Law then turned their attention back to Viola, who was cradling the bundle against her chest and shoulder. She glared at Law, whose chest began to grow tight.
“Why were you trying to write me?” he asked, voice quiet. His mouth felt dry; horrifically, in fact. “Viola…? Just tell me why you’re upset.”
Exhaling heavily, Viola pulled back part of the blanket to reveal a child with fluffy, wavy, dark hair that hid in her shoulder at the light. She did not move, instead waiting for Law to approach.
“She is named Scarlett, like her aunt, and will be the one to bring the name to the throne one day,” she said. She let him touch the child’s hair before brushing inked knuckles against her soft cheek.
“I didn’t realize you had a husband; it’s probably awkward having me around.”
“I have no husband, and my daughter is six months old.”
Law did the math in his head and blanched.
“Are… are you sure…?”
“There was no one else.”
“Wait… what’s going on, Captain?” Bepo wondered. He watched as Law was passed the child, the girl looking at him with wide, curious eyes…
…the same yellow as his captain’s.
“You… you didn’t have to do this,” Law marveled. The baby tried to lean forward and reach for his earrings, only for him to intercept her pudgy hand with two fingers and a thumb in a gentle grip. “We didn’t… we’re not…”
“Dressrosa needs an heir and who is their princeseta to deny them?” Viola replied, voice cracking. She held her arms as she avoided looking at Law holding her daughter. “They don’t know.”
“Who doesn’t know?”
“The people, the court, the other noble families who could make or break this country—if they knew Scarlett was a pirate’s child, a pirate not of Dressrosa at that, we’d never know any peace.”
“Even a pirate who helped save them?”
“A pirate is a pirate to many, no matter what happens. When we announced her formally to the nation, I purposefully made no mention of a father to keep that from her.” She finally looked at Law and her heart began to break. “I was writing to get you to come back, be there for the birth, maybe establish yourself under a false name so that there could be something we could do to legitimize her further… but when all my letters came back, I thought you were dead, or worse…”
“…that I didn’t care.”
She nodded.
“Viola, of course I care,” he insisted. His eyes flit towards Rebecca and Bepo, causing him to lean in and whisper. “I’ll be honest: I didn’t even think I came before we gave up.”
“You must have done something or else the last year would have been very different.”
Law glanced down at the child attempting to wrap her gums around his forefinger knuckle and his brow furrowed. There was no denying that she had his eyes, that her hair was sticking up in the ways his did, and if he looked close… the child turned towards him and smiled.
It was the same smile his sister gave him as a baby.
„Nika’s laughter on the waves,” he gasped, the words accidentally coming out in his mother tongue. The baby’s large eyes blinked at him as she listened to the new language and he realized his error. “What can I do to make this right?”
“Nothing will make this right,” Viola claimed. “We were stupid and short-sighted and riding the high of… taking down that beast.” That’s right—don’t give a man in Impel Down power by naming him. “You’re just lucky that Father and Brother Kyros are off-island, or you would have been dead before I got down here.”
“They’ve gone to Prodence to help broker a treaty,” Rebecca added. Viola gave her a look and the teenager shrugged. “Mr. Law and Mr. Bepo can’t do much about that.”
“True.” Viola watched how her daughter was playing with Law’s face, grabbing at his facial hair while curiously feeling his cheekbone; the amount of patience this man had was astounding. It should have been no surprise, given how long he waited to exact revenge on Doflamingo, but to see him carefully, expertly, handle a baby made her feel that at least she lucked out there. He seemed genuine as he shifted Scarlett in his arms until she was laying down, clutching his shirt as she snuggled in. “You’re good with kids.”
“I was just old enough when my sister was born to help with her,” he admitted. Law sat down on the bench, his legs turning into jelly. “I was good with her… baby cousins… classmates’ siblings…” He looked down at Scarlett and slid his pointer finger into her grasp, smiling slightly when she tightened her grip. “I know we’re not together, but I’d like to be around enough to be good with Scarlett.”
Viola sat down next to him and leaned into his side, resting her chin on his shoulder as she reached over and brushed some of the wispy hairs from their daughter’s forehead as she slept. She had spent so long dreading this day, and yet now she felt more relieved than anything.
There was nothing to do to make it right, but there was a way to make it work.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Rumor spread around Dressrosa, quickly becoming the talk of ale-drinkers and housewives and other such gossip-hounds: Princeseta Scarlett’s father had finally returned! He had been at-sea, it was said; doing business abroad on behalf of the recovering Dressrosan nation and the Riku Dynasty, people agreed; was kept secret for so long as to not incur Doflamingo’s wrath, many theorized. To have a man so dedicated to the cause of rebuilding after the Donquixote Decade… so dedicated that he was not there for his daughter’s birth? That he revoked the right to give his child his family name? That he did not marry the Crown Princeseta, so as to keep the question of who truly held power at bay? That he forsook the position of regnant-consort seemingly altogether? He was an honorable man—better than many Dressrosans felt themselves to be—and they thanked their future queen’s father for the sacrifices he was clearly making for his country, beloved, and children.
The few who wondered as to his identity were scolded into silence—it did not matter in the end, did it? The royal family already gave up so much for them—more than many other royal families would even consider—it was only proper to not pry as long as they stayed true to their oaths…
…and if word got around that the King and Captain of the Guard almost murdered the man upon returning from their own diplomatic mission… well… a little laughter never hurt anyone.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-
A/N: I have an entire AU in my brain now that’s bits and pieces of just Scarlett growing up and coming to terms w/her existence, but that’s a fic for another day.
Hey, everyone! Remember my giant Violaw fic from last year? The one I purposely put on hiatus until ¿¿¿2026??? Well, I've gotten enough of it written to where I can start posting again! It's time to get hype!
What...? You can find links to catch up/refresh [here]!
Why...? Call it jobless behavior, call it housespouse behavior, call it what you want, but I have a lot of time on my hands (and. again. have been writing this for... two and a half years now, so there's a lot that was in reserve).
Where...? From here on out, I'll still be posting links on tumblr, but the meat of each chapter will only be hosted on AO3 in an account-locked story. This is due to the introduction of Rebecca and how she is going to be very close to child-unfriendly things. Even though she's fictional I know how people are about that, and I don't wanna get nuked lol I've been here too long to quit. (Here's how to get an AO3 account! It only takes about a two-week wait!)
When...? 03 MARCH!!!! MARCH 3RD!!!! Updates are like before w/every other week afterwards!
How much...? I don't have hard numbers yet, but Act II is guaranteed to be longer than Act I, so we'll see...
What about Act III...? It is in active development at this time. No ETA on chapters, but I have had the ending since before I started posting this fic, so it's only a matter of getting there...
