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Day 9: Corazon & Law - Prompt: Christmas Lights
Law watched in morbid fascination as his very accident prone, adopted father climbed up the ladder, lit cigarette in one hand and a string of colored lights in the other. The small raven haired boy knew there was no way this would end well. He’d even tried to talk Cora-san out of it. They didn’t really need lights on the outside of the house did they? Law didn’t think it was all that important. However Rosinante seemed to think it was, insisting on going up there and doing it himself, despite his bad luck, balance and the weather conditions.
The young boy had already resigned himself to spending Christmas Eve in the hospital emergency room. That was the only out come he could see in this situation. Still, dutifully he held the ladder steady for the older man, hoping, maybe even praying that he knew what he was doing for once but Law doubted it. Who waited so last minute to put Christmas lights up anyway?
“Are you sure you need to do this, Cora-san?” Law asked one last time, hoping to talk some sense into the other but knowing it wasn’t likely. When the blonde set his mind to something it seemed there would be no changing it. He’d been like that since Law first met him several months ago.
The young boy had been living on the streets since his own family had died of illness. An illness he currently had himself. Back then Law was just wandering around, just surviving until he couldn’t anymore and hating the world. Rosinante had been someone he’d planned to pick pocket. However the clumsy man had taken that moment to fall flat on his back, right on top of Law. Needless to say he was caught. Well no, actually Rosinante had just assumed he’d taken out some poor child in his clumsiness until said child had gone off on him. Surprisingly instead of turning him in to the police, the blonde had dragged him home, fed him and once he found out what those strange white patches on the little boy’s skin were he’d taken him to every hospital in the area.
Well that was a mountain they were still climbing but Law couldn’t help feeling more content that he had since the loss of his family. Rosinante had given him something to live for and slowly his anger at the world started to dissipate so he really didn’t want to think about anything bad happening to the other man he’d come to think of as a second father and care about like family.
“I’ll be fine, what’s Christmas without lights?” Rosinante asked, carefree as ever. The raven haired boy sighed, having already expected that answer. Well he had the other man’s phone in his pocket and 911 on speed dial just incase this little project went south like he expected it to. “I just gotta hang these like thi- AHHHHH!”
Law only had seconds to move out of the way of being crushed under the much larger man as he fell off the ladder onto the ice and snow below.
Law said in the waiting room, frown marring his face as waited to hear from the doctor or nurse. Just anyone who would tell him how Cora-san was doing. In the mean time he couldn’t help berating himself, silently cursing that he hadn’t tried harder to talk the older man out of it. If he’d really insisted then maybe Cora-san would have actually listened…
“Mr. Trafalgar?”
The sound of his name jerked Law from his thoughts and back to the real world.
“Yeah, that’s me,” he said, standing to walk over to the doctor.
“Your father’s conscious now if you’d like to come seem him? He seems very worried about you despite his injury,” the doctor told him, not unkindly. Nodding Law followed the man to Rosinante’s room.
Inside, the blonde was sitting up in bed looking about as miserable as Law did. As soon as he spotted the little raven haired boy a smile made its way to his face.
“Sorry, I guess you were right about the lights,” the man said and Law couldn’t help but agree. He didn’t say it aloud though and when the doctor left them alone he made his way over and climbed up onto the other man’s bed so he could sit by him.
“Why were you so insistent anyway?” Law found himself asking because honestly he’d been wondering since the other had told him he was going to put some up so last minute. Rosinante was quiet for a time, not really saying anything and Law was almost sure the man wasn’t going to actually answer him.
“I just wanted to make this Christmas a perfect one,” Rosinante finally told him, the ‘incase you don’t make it to see the next one’ remained unsaid but it still hung heavy in the air between them.
“Idiot,” Law finally spoke, refusing to meet the blonde’s eyes. “It’s already perfect. I don‘t need Christmas lights for that.”
“How could this possibly be perfect, Law?” Rosinante asked, clearly disbelieving.
“I’m not alone,” the little boy told him, finally looking up at him, big tears leaking down his face as he did. “I’m with Cora-san this year. Not alone on the street so it’s perfect, but you keep doing stupid things and getting hurt and I should have tried harder to convince you not to. It could have been lot worse, you could have died!”
Before he knew it warms arms wrapped around his trembling frame before he was pulled to Rosinante’s chest. Law found himself clinging to the other’s hospital gown as he cried into his chest.
“I’m so sorry, Law,” the blonde told him apologetically as he ran a hand through the upset child’s hair. “I won’t do something so dangerous again,” he promised.
“G-good!” Law choked out. He couldn’t stand the thought of loosing Cora-san. Not when the man had done so much for him, meant so much to him. It hadn’t been easy at the start. They butted heads a lot, they still do but Law wouldn’t trade him for anything.
The two stayed like that the rest of the night, just taking in each other’s company, even long after they fell asleep. When they woke the next day, Law couldn’t help thinking it really was the best Christmas he’d had in a long time. He didn’t need anything, having someone there who actually cared was enough for him and if he actually made it to see Christmas next year, well he’d put the damn lights up himself so they wouldn’t have to spend Christmas eve in the hospital again.