Chapter Text
Law’s using Cora’s hunting knife to cut the poison out of him as they sail along the peaceful waters of the East Blue. He can keep the blue operating sphere, his “room” as they’ve been calling it, up for about ten minutes now. When he spots an island approaching in the distance, he drops the room. “Cora theres an island!” He says. Cora turns around from where hes sitting towards the front of the boat.
His face blanches. “Law – gah - your arm!” Law looks down at his still detached arm.
“Oh sorry.” He says as he puts himself back together.
“I dunno if I’m ever going to get used to that.” Cora muttered.
“Is that the island we’re going to?”
“Yeah.” Cora leaned over with the map. “See here, these are the conomi islands, and this –“ He points to one of the islands. “Is where Cocoyashi village is.”
The island approaches quickly, and then Law is tying up the boat and stepping onto the dock. His first time on dry land in so long, he’s not used to not having a boat rocking under him. Cora-san goes to get out of the boat but trips over the line he just tied up and pinwheels backwards off the dock and into the water.
“Cora!” Law yelled, diving into the ocean after him. The moment he touches the water he realizes his mistake. All of his leftover energy drains out of him. He tries to move his arms to keep himself afloat but he just sinks. Damn this devil fruit. He thinks. We made it all the way to East Blue just to drown. He struggles to move again. If he could just – grab something a rope, maybe he could – theres a splash as someone dives into the water and a hand grabs the front of his shirt, tugging him back up to the air. He gasps for air as he gets tossed onto the dock.
A second later a woman with a magenta mohawk is dragging Cora san out of the water. “Jeez, Roci – I thought you knew better by now that to trip into the water. This is east blue, ya know. You’re lucky I was coming to see you, no one else would have thought you couldn’t swim. The lady stands up and peels off her socks.
“And that coat, that’s gotta be twice your weight soaked, stop wearing that- ah damn.” She fishes a pack of cigarettes out of her back pocket, compleately soaked. She throws them at Cora. “You get to buy me new ones.”
Cora pickes the cigarettes off his soaked chest and stands up, sheding the coat in a puddle on the dock. “Thank you Belle-mere.” He says, wrapping her in a hug.
“ugh youre soaked.” She says, wrapping her arms around his back anyways.
“So are you.” He says.
“Who’s this lady.” Law scowls weakly, his hat still dripping salt water onto his face.
Cora-san clears his throat awkwardly. “Well technically she’s my wife.” Belle-mere lets out a biting laugh and slaps his shoulder hard enough for him to fall over.
“Wife? Hahahaha –“ she picks him up off the floor by his collar despite his height over her. “Call me that again and I’ll throw you back into the ocean.”
“Okay, okay I yield, she’s… a childhood friend.”
“More like we were in the –“ She continues to speak but no sound comes out. Law’s eyes widen and he glances over at Cora who deactivates his power. “We’ll talk about it later.”
“Touchy subject?” She asks Rocinante, really looking at the kid for the first time. He’s little, maybe Nojiko’s height. With light white spots on his skin. He has bags around his eyes like he hasn’t been sleeping well, or he’s sick.
“Hey kid what’s your name.”
He glares at her. “Law.” The kid has a mean glare.
“How old are you Law, nine?”
“Thirteen.”
“Well I’ve got two daughters, they’re seven and nine, so you get to be an older brother.”
Law glanced up at Rocinante confused. “They’re not my kids!” Said Rocinante, putting his hands up in defense.
“Well they’re your kids enough to help me take care of them.” She said. “Come on- let’s go home.”
Home. Thought Law. It had been so long since he had a real home. His months with Cora-san had reminded him that Spider Miles hadn’t been anything like a home. Home was gone, forever. He felt safe around Cora but that was it. This cozy looking home outside of the town at the edge of the tangerine grove would never be able replace what he used to have.
The lady – Bell-mere, showed him a room with a bunkbed and an extra bed off to the side. There was also a small desk that had drawings on it and two books. Law picked up the one titled ‘Charting the East Blue.” It was old and worn, with a broken black spine and a few missing pages. He wondered if he could get some books on medicine. He had more or less stopped learning when he joined the Donquixote Family, focusing his efforts on learning swordfighting and martial arts and marksmanship. He picked up one of the papers, now realizing that what he thought was just boxes on a paper was probably a map.
“Hands off my maps, stranger.”
Law turned to see a little girl with bright orange hair brandishing a hairbrush in his direction. “And what if I don’t want to? You think you can beat a pirate with a hairbrush?”
The girl took a cautious step back. “Pirate-“ She whispered. Law smirked. She’d probably be even easier to scare than Baby 5. Her face changed to one of fury and determination and she yelled “Take that you filthy pirate!” and chucked the hairbrush straight at Law’s forehead.
The blow came with surprising force, or he was more tired from his surgery and dip in the ocean than he thought, and he stumbled backwards onto the ground. “Ah Fuck.” He said rubbing his forehead.
“Law – are you okay?” Asked Bell-mere, peeking in the doorway. “Oh Nami, I see you’ve met your new brother.”
“Brother?” They echoed in confused unison.
“No he’s not! He’s a pirate who broke into our house and is trying to steal my maps!”
“Hey! Why would I want your maps! They’re shit maps, you’re supposed to be able to tell what a map is of you know.”
“I’m not finished with it! When I’m done it’ll look like a real map of the village!”
Bell-mere chuckled. “I guess you two are getting along already.”
The two kids objected loudly.
It was late. The kids were asleep. Or maybe just quiet. Law had complained about sharing a room with the girls, but there wasn’t much bite behind it. Roci knew he was used to sleeping in far worse places than a soft bed in a room he had to share with two younger strangers. He was surprised at how much they had grown. It hadn’t felt like he had been away for so long until Nami was walking and talking and antagonizing Law and Nojiko barely remembered him and would prefer to run off into the tangerine grove than talk to him. He felt out of place here. But…
“I’m leaving the marines.” Bell-mere paused.
“You? Leave the Marines? But you’ve always been a Marine. If this is because the kids –“
“No. Well, kind of.” Rocinante took a deep breath. “That devil fruit Law has, I kind of stole it?”
“From some pirates?”
Roci winced. “Yes, technically.”
“Technically, haha, what did you steal it from a Warlord or something?” Bell-mere laughed before spotting the pale expression on Roci’s face. She sighed. “Just tell me what happened. I may have been a marine at one point but I’m retired, I’m not going to turn you in. Besides, it’s not like I’ve always had the strongest sense of Justice. I was such a hell-raiser as a kid.”
“And as a marine. How many times did you go against orders and then blame me for it?” Rocinante starts to relax.
“Haha, I’ve lost count, of course I’d blame it on you! With your dad so high up you could never get in trouble.”
“I would get in trouble with my dad! That’s worse!”
They laughed for a bit more and Rocinante put out his cigarette.
“The marines were going to buy Law’s fruit, from some pirates. For a lot of money. I think it was under the order of the world government. Maybe the Celestial Dragons, I don’t know. But I stole it from the pirates before they could even get their hands on it, and I fed it to Law. He would have died without it. That disease- I- what would you have done, if it was Nojiko, or Nami.”
Bell-mere watched him. “Probably the same thing. I don’t know what I wouldn’t do for those girls. So, what are you going to tell your dad.”
Rocinante knocked his head on the table. “I don’t want to tell him. He’s going to be so disappointed in me. And I can’t lie to him.”
She shrugged. “So don’t.”
“Dad will arrest me. Probably. Or he’ll arrest Law, which is worse. I don’t want to risk it.”
“Tell him you want to retire to raise the kids, that being undercover was too much and you want to leave the marines. And don’t mention Law, or tell him he’s dead.”
“I just said I can’t lie to him.”
“Okay – call him, if he asks about Law give the phone to me. I really don’t mind lying to your dad for you. Again, I might add.”
“Again, I am eternally grateful for that.” Rocinante reached over and grabbed the den-den mushi and a cigarette from their shared pack. He held it out for Bell-mere to light before dialing.
“Why are we setting up a grave? Did someone die?” Nami looked around to double check everyone she cared about was still standing around them. She was holding Nojiko’s hand.
“I guess you could say that it’s for the people we used to be.” Said Rocinante.
“Ha that’s very poetic Roci” She turned to the girls. “It’s to trick everyone into thinking Law is dead.”
Law frowned at that. But didn’t comment as Bell-mere hammed the cross into the ground. There was no name on it. No one cried. No one was burring anything real. The ground was disturbed in a fraudulent matter. And then they all went home.
Law snuck out that night. Walked up the hill that overlooked the sea and the harbor to the new marker at the top.
He stared at the grave. His grave, he supposed. Or for the person he used to be. Perhaps it was for the person he was before the World Government exterminated his city. Perhaps it could be a memorial for the people of Flevance. For his sister, his mother, his father, his classmates and teachers. They never got graves.
Law took off his hat and sat down next to the grave. He didn’t have anything to offer up. Maybe next time he would bring flowers to his own grave. The sea beyond the cliff was dark. He could hear it crashing against the shore. See the reflection of the half moon on the waves. He was so far from where he started. Maybe a little lost, in this eastern sea. But he was still going to be a pirate. He was going to make the world government pay.
Smoke rises from the top of the small smokestack, Bell-mere’s cooking. Chicken in her special tangerine sauce. She looks out the window. Rocinante’s picking tangerines with Nojiko cautiously following to help. She hears a yell as Law sprints out of the Tangerine grove followed by Nami. He skids to a stop in front of Roci, yelling something at him, panting to catch his breath. A month ago, he couldn’t even run that far. Nami catches up and snatches the hat off his head before sprinting away. Law yells again before running after her.
“Nice to see their getting along.” She jokes, turning back to the stove with a smile on her face. She’s getting used to their lovely little family already.