Chapter Text
"Law," Doflamingo breathed.
Strings protruded everywhere, from various body parts, from different areas of skin. Law felt his body moved on its own, felt strings binding his wrists together above his head, spreading his legs apart. Pink feathers surrounded him.
Bile quickly rose to his throat. He would throw up right then and there if he could.
His bruised and bloodied body felt so, so weak, that he couldn't even close his eyes and stop watching the tragedy unfolding again, and again, and again in front of him:
There, lying on the snow, was Cora-san's body, shot beyond humanly possible. Though, really, Law should already know it was possible because the one who did it was a demon.
Then, there was a click beside his head. Cold barrel of a gun connected with his temple. Law saw Doflamingo’s ruthless smile from the corner of his eye. The demon spoke with voice both sweet and icy at the same time,
"So, Law, where were we?"
Law woke up with a loud gasp.
"Oh, finally. You've been asleep for fifteen minutes, sleepy brat," someone said—Doflamingo, Law remembered. He was frowning. The expression almost took Law aback because he didn't remember ever seeing anything beside cruelness adorning Doflamingo’s face—
Oh. This Doflamingo was this world's Doflamingo. That Doflamingo who was a demon had been long gone. Law didn't want to confuse one with the other; he really didn't. This Doflamingo took him in—that one too, but this one was different. This one gave him love, of all things. And, Law wasn’t the only one he loved—he loved his very much alive brother, too. Rosinante.
Rosinante.
Law turned his head quickly and found Rosinante staring silently at him. A small part of his brain screamed in gratitude for finding a living, breathing Rosinante near him.
"Your uncle is set on waking you up, but I shut him up. You deserve some break from studying, Law," said Rosinante.
Uncle, Law snorted. In this world, Rosinante firmly declared himself as Law's dad and by extension, making Doflamingo his uncle. Law would never called them with those terms, but Law wouldn't lie to himself that he regarded them as a family.
"OSCE is coming up. I have to study," Law replied. He couldn't afford losing precious time he could use for studying just to sleep. He also couldn't fall asleep in front of the Donquixote brothers because, Law swore, one of these days, his past life’s memories would tear a scream from his throat. The last thing Law wanted was the two most important men in his life knowing an irrelevant past that Law feared would change everything. He was happy now. Hell, Doflamingo was a decent person here; nice, even, not counting his strings of curses designated for piling workloads and stuffs.
"Eat first. Then you can continue swallowing your thick books," Doflamingo said. Law directed his eyes to Doflamingo. A plate full of onigiris greeted him.
"You made this yourself?" Law asked. This was quite unusual. Doflamingo was really busy these days. In fact, Law found it weird that the older brother was standing in the kitchen instead of running business from one place to another.
"You will believe I made it myself when you’ve seen how making a fucking onigiri set my brother on fire. A fucking onigiri. Honestly, Rosinante." Doflamingo rolled his eyes.
Law quirked a corner of his lips. That sounded like both his past Cora-san and his present Rosinante indeed.
"Hey!" Rosinante shouted in retaliation.
"Sometimes, I couldn't believe my clumsy brother is a federal agent. You sure you didn't get in using Sengoku's name, Rosi?"
"Do you want a shooting match or what, Doffy?" defended Rosinante.
"A federal agent shouldn't challenge a civilian in a shooting match of all things, dear brother.” Doflamingo rolled his eyes once again.
Law munched on his onigiri and watched the banter between two brothers. His face lit up in a quiet amusement. This, scene like this, was what reminded him of the good life he had now. The good life he wouldn't trade for anything. This and the fact that Sengoku, former fleet admiral of Law's past life, raised both of Donquixote brothers, instead of only one of them.
Rosinante looked like he didn't want to back down yet, but Doflamingo cut him off before he even attempted to speak. "Stop, and eat. I didn't make onigiri all the time, Rosi."
The three of them ate quietly. Law's mind lapsed a bit and he could even see an imaginary purple bubble of silence enveloping them.
When Law finished, he washed his dish. After that, he picked up the book he fell asleep on earlier. He was ready to get back to his room when a large hand grasped his arm.
Law raised one questioning eyebrow.
Doflamingo looked at him a bit too long. Law tried not to imagine an all too familiar red-lensed sunglasses and stared back at bare eyes instead.
"Good luck," Doflamingo said. For a split second, there was a hand patting Law's head and then it was gone. Law couldn't halt a small smile from blooming on his face.
"Okay, Doffy," he said, and then to the other figure in the kitchen, he added, "Bye, Rosi."
Law didn't call Rosinante with "Cora-san" because as much as he wanted to affectionately call him that again, this Rosinante was not his Cora-san. The same way this Doflamingo was not the Royal Shichibukai and the Heavenly Demon. Still, both these Donquixote brothers were his now.
"See you again, Law!" shouted Rosi although they weren't that far apart. Law walked back to his room with a smile wider than he intended. He couldn't help it, really.
In this world, they were all a family. And that, that was enough.