Chapter Text
The war had started.
Law kept the Polar Tang placed firmly in the depths.
If they weren’t smart about this, all of them could very quickly be killed.
“It’s impossible to tell what’s happening from this broadcast,” Usopp-ya complained, wincing at the crashes and cracks over the den den mushi that seemed just slightly delayed from the way the ocean would shake and thrash around them.
“Uh, Torao-bro, isn’t it time to get a move on?” Cyborg Franky asked, and Law even managed to keep himself from twitching at the name this time. It seemed Luffy’s entire crew had unanimously adopted the nickname from their captain.
And just like he told Penguin and Shachi, it did not matter to him. He had more important things to focus on than correcting people. So it was fine.
“Not yet,” Law answered sharply.
“Captain, we gotta descend!” Bepo announced, and Law didn’t even have to speak the order before Hakugan was plunging the Polar Tang even closer to the sea floor, and looking at the top view port it wasn’t hard to spot the problem.
“Aokiji,” Robin-ya confirmed as the sea finally ceased freezing from above them. That didn’t exactly make this less of a problem, though. The thick ice made it dark enough that they had to turn on the Polar Tang’s lights. It would probably be imperceptible to most at the surface, but Law didn't want to test the perception of some of the monsters around, not if he could help it.
“Get us out from under the ice,” Law commanded, and the Polar Tang quickly turned in the dark currents.
“Wait, that’ll take us back towards the entrance to Marineford, how are we supposed to get in from the outside?” Nami-ya argued, and a part of Law was quite proud to see how not a single member of his crew hesitated as they continued to follow his order.
“The same way the Whitebeard Pirate’s allies will be making their way inside, I presume,” he said, keeping a close eye on the ice above them as they moved. He had debated it for a long time, but Law had never regretted returning to the North Blue to begin gathering his crew. “Knowing the beasts fighting up there, this ice sheet isn’t going to be permanent. We don’t want to be under it when it shatters,” he explained. As they managed to reach the part where the ice started to taper above them, they cut the lights again and raised up slightly.
Still not to the surface, though.
“What are we still waiting for?” Nami-ya asked, clearly starting to get irritated. Above them they could see the hulls of the Marine ships encircling Marineford. More ships were closing the distance, all lacking the distinctive sea prism stone coating that made the Navy stand out so clearly.
“Are those all Whitebeard?” Usopp-ya asked, voice practically a whisper.
“His allies,” Law explained, although he could agree that it was impressive. An Emperor of the Sea certainly did command a terrifying force.
So that was the kind of power that would even cause Doflamingo to bend the knee.
“Torao, we have to start moving,” Nami insisted, and for all that he could tell she was terrified, it was clear that wasn’t stopping her. Luffy's crew really was as stubborn as he was.
“The Tang will surface when I tell it to,” he shut down because he could be stubborn too, still just looking up and waiting.
“But Luffy might already be up there!” Chopper argued.
“And he might not be,” Law answered back immediately. How were any of them supposed to know when he would show up? Sure, a part of Law half expected to hear familiar laughing over the navy broadcast at any moment, but that was a bit deluded. “Until your captain arrives I’m responsible for getting you back to him alive,” he added. It was obvious the moment they reached the surface the Strawhats would disperse and Law would have absolutely no way to guarantee they weren’t immediately cut down. How the hell could he even look at Luffy if he showed up trying to save his brother and Law had already managed to get over half of his crew slaughtered?
So they needed to wait. There would be a moment, surely? Something that would help them identify their best chance.
“Doctor Torao,” Nico Robin-ya spoke up, her voice sounding calm and almost amused. “Thank you for caring so much about our Captain,” she continued, and Law stubbornly ignored the way his whole form locked up in panic for barely a moment. He wasn’t thinking about how Sachi and Penguin had tried to reassure him that it was only the heart and Strawhat pirates that knew! Well, and maybe that Rayleigh guy.
“Your captain is a vital ally for my own ambitions,” he said simply. He wasn’t doing this for thanks anyway, so really, there was no point in this conversation. Except it seemed like Nico Robin would not speak if she didn’t have a point to make.
“Then, as allies, might we begin our section of the operation?” she asked, a perfectly pleasant smile on her face.
Damn it.
Fine.
Time to see what kind of storm they could make.
“Bring up the Polar Tang.”
-
Law found his prediction was spot on.
The moment the Polar Tang was at the surface and the hatch unsealed, the Strawhats were moving. Some of them faster than others, but all of them quick enough that it really would have been beyond his means to stop them all. He wasn't even out the door yet before Cyborg Franky-ya had grabbed the two Devil Fruit users and took a running leap from the Tang to the closest edges of ice.
Law could see it crack as they landed, but Franky-ya was already running further onto the ice towards the thick center, taking Nico Robin-ya and Chopper-ya with him.
“For Luffy. We’re doing this for Luffy,” Law heard Sogeking muttering shakily, and when he glanced over he saw Nami-ya was with him, clutching a weapon she’d called the Climatak before. Law wasn’t sure what Usopp-ya was aiming until he saw the grappling hook go flying, and then the two remaining Strawhats were shrieking as they were pulled the short distance towards the outer edge of Marineford.
“Submerge until I give the signal,” he told Bepo, not waiting for a response before activating his room and Shambling himself with one of the scattered chunks of ice that had been broken up in the fighting.
Fully engulfed in the chaos of Marineford, Law lost all traces of the Strawhats.
Well, he told his crew he was confident in this alliance.
Time to have a little faith.
-
This was a mistake. They should have just listened to Torao and stayed in his submarine.
What difference were any of them supposed to make in a battle like this?
Usopp had no idea when he lost track of Nami, he just knew that after running from the absolute mountain of ice one of the Whitebeard pirates had thrown he couldn’t find her in the chaotic crowd. He couldn't find anyone he recognized, and the Whitebeard pirates were just as terrifying as the Marines.
He needed to hide. Or- or he needed to find Luffy, or Zoro, or Sanji. Anything instead of running in a panic, Kabuto feeling like a child’s toy in his hands as the sounds of shots and swords clashing bellowed all around him.
“This isn’t- this isn’t-” he was panting, his eyes squeezed shut in terror as he just ran. “We aren’t ready to be here!”
“What can we possibly do?”
The shout, which seemed like it was directly finishing his own, caused Usopp to open his eyes just enough to catch sight of pink before he crashed into it, sending him and another form crashing to the ground.
“Koby!” the voice that had shouted cried. Quickly scrambling to his feet Usopp shouted as a curved blade nearly took off his nose. “Get away from him, pirate!”
“Wait wait wait wait-” Usopp continued as he dodged back, frantic, shaking hands rummaging for a smoke star.
“Helmeppo, stop!”
The marine waving the sword in his own panic stopped, and recognition made Usopp pause as the one he crashed into jumped to his feet.
“You’re Luffy’s-”
“You’re Luffy’s-”
The echoed realizations were both cut off. Without thinking Usopp released the smoke star behind Luffy’s friend Koby, obscuring the vision of the pirate rushing in from behind, causing him to miss his swing on the Marine. He didn’t notice Koby knocking out another marine too Usopp’s back until he saw the form collapse out of the corner of his eye.
The smoke let them run deeper into the backstreets of the residential districts of Marineford.
“Why are you here?”
Oh, sometimes it was a relief to find someone just as panicked as he felt. It was why he didn’t know what to do when he lost sight of Nami. Luffy’s friend looked just as out of place as Usopp felt, it didn’t really matter that he was a marine. They were playing on a different scale from the monsters around them; they just had to survive.
Still, the question threw Usopp for a bit of a loop.
“Why?” he asked back, wondering if he even heard that right. “Are you joking? That’s Luffy’s brother!” he shouted, pointing what he assumed was vaguely in the direction of the execution platform. What other reason could there be? “Hey, you work for the vice-admiral, right? Maybe you can shed some light on what the hell that old man is thinking?” he asked, because it was pretty hard not to think about.
He was right there as Fleet Admiral Sengoku made those speeches about his grandkid. Luffy’s brother.
“That’s-” Koby paused, and the confusion was plain as day on his face as he tried to think of a reason. “He’s following his sense of justice,” he said, and Usopp couldn’t quite keep from making a face.
“Pretty messed up sense of justice, if you ask me,” he said.
“I didn’t,” Koby replied, faster than Usopp expected. He hadn’t really talked to the guy when he came to see Luffy in Water 7, but it did seem that there was this inherit state of stubbornness in anyone who managed to be one of Luffy’s friends. “He’s here too, isn’t he?” he asked.
“Somewhere,” Usopp answered, even though he had yet to see his captain. He glanced up at the sky almost instinctively, half expecting to see Luffy sling-shotting across it or caught up in a tornado of blows with some other monster.
Instead Usopp found himself pausing as he caught sight of a... strange silhouette.
How in the...
“Zoro!” Usopp shouted, only to realize that his voice was drowned out by the sound of fighting all around. The ground was still shaking and oh, huh, that thing in the distance looked as big as Luffy’s zombie in Thriller Bark.
“Zoro?” Koby asked, but Usopp didn’t bother explaining, sending a red signal star so that it flew right in front of the swordsman and whatever poor fool had been roped into helping him.
“What the- Usopp?” Zoro called down, spotting him, and there was a moment of relief, before the sniper saw who it was carrying him.
The ghost princess looked as horrified to see him as he felt seeing her.
“Noooo!” she shrieked, and Usopp barely had time to process that Zoro was falling before he was breaking the man’s fall with his body. “You didn’t say anything about Negative Nose being here! You can do the rest on your own, you stupid swordsman!” Perona shouted, not that Usopp could really pay much attention as he was trying to shove Zoro off of him.
“What are you doing with the ghost girl?” he shouted, and looking up at the sky she was already flying away.
“Didn’t have a lot of choices,” Zoro muttered, still not looking at his best. He still wasn’t recovered from Thriller Bark. “Where’s Luffy?”
“Haven’t seen him yet, or Sanji or Brook. The rest of us came with Torao,” Usopp explained, and he could see the moment Zoro noticed the two Marines still standing with them.
“Oh, hey Koby,” he said, his eyes glancing over to the blond marine that was always with the other boy. Usopp couldn’t say he was shocked when Zoro ultimately said nothing and turned back to him. “We need to-
“Remember my damn name, Roronoa!”
“-get to the execution platform,” Zoro finished, ignoring the enraged Marine. Usopp nodded, taking a deep breath. This he could do. Probably. He just had to help Zoro move forward. Usopp started leading the way, before pausing and turning back to the two Marines again.
“Don’t die. You made a promise to Luffy, didn’t you?” Usopp asked, Koby seeming surprised for a moment, before nodding.
“You’re not gonna try to stop us?” Zoro asked, and Koby took a step back.
“I’m following my sense of justice,” he said simply, and Usopp laughed.
“Not bad for a Marine!” he called, before grabbing Zoro and running forward.
-
Law had tried to plan for this. Even when the Strawhats started showing up piecemeal, he tried to make adjustments. He tried to work around the limited knowledge about what Whitebeard could bring to the table as a grandstand. Tried to anticipate as many of the secrets the Marines would have concealed in the innerworkings of their base.
He tried.
Now that he was here, it was all useless. He really only had one choice.
He had to find Luffy.
It should have been impossible in the chaos, with Warlords and Giants going up against living legends.
And yet his entrance falling from the sky managed to catch the entire battlefield’s attention.
Ace was furious. Luffy didn’t care.
Luffy insisted they were brothers. Sengoku revealed his parentage to the world.
Whitebeard ordered his first mate to not let Ace’s brother died, and Law wondered what it was about Luffy that did this to people.
Law didn’t think he could be blamed for being swept away in it all.
Although he already had been a long time ago.
-
Goa
Luffy age 15
Law age 16
Something was wrong. Law didn’t know what exactly but Mugiwara-ya had been acting weird all day today. It wasn’t an important anniversary, he’d checked. He couldn’t think of anything that’d happened over the last few days.
His current guess was that it was something he said. Why he said it, he still had no idea. He shouldn’t have talked about Flevance. It was one thing to tell Luffy about Cora-san and his desire for revenge, because that had a goal. That was something he could understand, and care about. It was the future.
Flevance was just… misery. Just a burned scar across his past, and now Luffy had disappeared off somewhere because Law told him and it was depressing and Luffy was the opposite of depressing.
As he walked along the beach, Law almost didn’t notice the boat off in the water. It wasn’t until a jerky movement and a flash of yellow drew his attention that he looked out to the water.
That was when the panic hit.
“Mugiwara-ya!” he shouted, because the idiot was throwing a fist into the water. Law immediately regretted that decision, Luffy’s head shooting up at him and the sudden movement threw his balance off.
Law was making a room before he even hit the water, but it was farther than he’d ever made one before. Luffy was struggling by the time he could reach the boat, and so all Law could do was shambles himself onto the tiny rocking ship.
“Muigi-ya!” he shouted, reaching into the water and grabbing one of Luffy’s flailing arms.
He was almost immediately yanked into the water himself, and jerked back hard to rebalance. The thunk of Luffy hitting the bottom of the boat caused him to wince, but Law pushed past it. Luffy was tough, and banged up wasn't dead. Law grabbed him by the back of the shirt, and they both nearly went over as he finally managed to get him back onto the boat.
Mugiwara-ya was soaked, and so was Law now. The younger boy was coughing and shaking, and all Law could do was sit and stare at him as he slowly started to get control of his breathing.
“T-thanks Torao,” Luffy managed after a moment, looking up at Law finally with a shaky smile.
Law didn’t process swinging his arm until he felt the sharp sting of his hand against rubber and Luffy was clutching his cheek, eyes opened wide in shock, a film of tears already developing over them.
“What the hell were you thinking?” Law shouted, which only caused those built up tears to spill over.
“I- I don’t- I didn’t mean-" Luffy struggled to respond, and Law realized he really did not want to be stuck out on this tiny boat anymore. He couldn't do this here.
“Stop, just- we’re going back to shore,” he said, grabbing the oars and starting to make their way back. Luffy just nodded, still wiping away tears.
The second they were on the beach again, Law slammed into Luffy, pulling him tight into a hug.
“You’re- you’re not mad at me?” Luffy-ya asked hesitantly, and Law grabbed his shoulders so he could push the other boy back enough to look him in the face. Luffy flinched at the surely enraged expression on his face.
“I’m fucking furious!” he snapped, because he was. Luffy looked like he was about to start crying again, but Law didn't stop. “What am I supposed to do if I lose you too?”
That seemed to surprise Luffy, who’d stopped crying to look at him quizzically.
“What?” he asked, and Law couldn’t believe he didn’t get it.
“Everyone I’ve ever loved is dead! They were all killed,” he snarled, and he could see Luffy finally starting to understand. “After Flevance I found Cora-san, but then he died and I found you. What am I supposed to do if you die?” Law asked, because he genuinely wasn’t sure. “I’d kill Doflamingo but then what? Cora-san told me to live freely but how am I supposed to do that if I can’t care about anyone without them leaving? You're not the only one who hates being alone!”
"You-" Luffy-ya paused, and i took Law a moment to even realize what he'd said that had surprised him so much. "You always say you want to be alone. That you like being alone."
Law tried not to flinch, but he wasn't quite sure he managed it.
"I used to," he admitted quietly. He was sure that was true, and there was still a part of him, maybe even larger than before, that needed the solitude. That didn't mean he enjoyed it anymore. "But I could always not be, if I wanted to. Then after Flevance, I didn't care if I was alone or not. It didn't matter." Nothing had. He barely even considered himself still alive, at that point. "Then Cora-san... you wouldn't leave me alone, just like him! You can't take the pain away like that and then go and die just like him!"
“I won’t die!” Mugiwara-ya declared, grabbing both of Law’s hands. “I promise I won’t ever die!”
Law pulled his hands away sharply.
“That’s not a promise you can make. That’s not a promise anyone can make,” he insisted. Luffy was immediately shaking his head though.
“It is! Ace promised me already!”
Law had to take a deep breath, making himself pause before he said something he would regret.
“Luffy-ya, no one can promise to never die,” he said firmly.
“But-”
“No one.”
Luffy looked like he was about to start crying again, but to his credit he managed to fight it back, instead doing his best to glare stubbornly at Law. He could already see the doubt starting to creep into those eyes though, and the older boy sighed.
There was one way that someone could live forever. He would be able to make it happen. He already knew how, as instinctively as when he first tried to make a room.
He wasn’t cruel enough to put that choice on someone as kindhearted as Luffy, though.
“Everyone dies. You’re smarter than this Luffy-ya,” he said simply instead, and that stubborn frown started to waver as well. “Promise me this, then,” Law decided suddenly, and he could see the immediate interest, and he probably could have asked him for anything and he would have agreed. “Don’t die when I’m around. If we’re ever both going to die, let me die first.”
“What?” Luffy looked horrified.
“I want to- I will be a doctor. Let me keep you alive, if you ever need it,’ he insisted, and he could still see the hesitance in Mugiwara-ya at the request. “Promise you’ll let me be a doctor!”
“Okay!” Luffy gave in, clearly no happy about it, but Law didn’t need him to be. “But I’m also not gonna let anyone kill you when you’re helping me,” he added.
That was fine.
That would still work.
“What were you even doing out there?” Law asked, finally letting himself slump to the ground, staring out at the ocean. “You promised Ace you wouldn’t hunt on the water alone. You don’t break promises.”
Mugiwara-ya sat down in an exhausted pile next to him, also turned to look out at the waves.
“I wasn’t hunting,” he said quietly. Law didn’t bother moving when Luffy slumped against him. “I was looking for Sabo.”
Law wasn’t quite sure why that made him forget to breathe for a moment, instead not able to do anything but stare at the other boy resting on his shoulder.
“Mugiwara-ya,” he finally managed, but it came out more as a whisper than anything, and Law still didn’t know what he actually wanted to say.
“When- when you were talking about your home, and what they did to it,” Luffy continued, staring at the ground as he flicked listlessly at the sand. Law had nearly forgotten that the whole reason he’d been looking for the other boy was because he disappeared.
Because he’d been acting weird since last night
Since Law told him about Flevance.
“I shouldn’t have tol-” he started to say, but Luffy cut him off.
“You said no one got a proper burial,” he started, giving Law pause. He didn’t expect that to be a detail he would latch onto. “You kept saying it was convenient because since they dumped all the bodies that’s how you managed to escape, but you seemed really, really upset! And it got me thinking that we- we never gave Sabo a burial,” he curled into Law’s side slightly more as he continued. “Once that guy’s ship left, no one was stopping us from trying to get him back, but we didn’t. What if he feels like we abandoned him?”
Oh.
That’s what this was about.
“Your brother was a pirate, right? He set sail as a pirate?” Law asked, and the question seemed to confuse Mugiwara-ya slightly, who finally looked up at him again.
“Yeah, Dogra said he had a flag and everything,” Luffy confirmed.
“Then you didn’t do anything wrong. He went down with his ship, the ocean is the grave of countless pirates like that. I can’t think of anything more proper for a pirate,” Law reassured him softly, maybe leaning back against Mugiwara-ya slightly as well. At some point Luffy had basically wrapped Law’s arm up like a vice, holding one of the older boy’s hand with both of his.
“I can’t either,” he said, and he could hear the smile starting to return to Mugiwara-ya's face. “I’ve decided. That’s how I’m going to die!”
Law burst out laughing at the declaration.
-
It was a stupid thing to be confident in.
Law was confident though.
The Strawhat’s ship wasn’t here.
So this wouldn’t be where they would die.