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Sound ricochets off of the mountain side, slamming against everything that it can touch. Harsh, broken wailing fills Law’s ears, and he grits his teeth. Luffy woke up, and he’s processing the truth of what happened in Marineford. Grief overtaking him like a wave, swallowing him whole.
All Law can do is sit, eyes focused out onto the calm sea, and wait.
The noise settles after a while; loud breaking of rocks and cries have now dying down altogether. Law is glad he isn’t allowed entry onto the island. He doesn’t want to know what kind of destruction that Luffy has managed to cause.
Law would rather not think about what it’s like. He knows that deep pit in your stomach when you realize someone isn’t coming back. Helplessness is no stranger to him, and it’s distressing to have a friend in it. He hopes that Luffy processes it better.
Different than he did all those years ago.
Surviving for all those years with the cold holding his heart in a vice grip, and fever running through his veins. There are scars left that are far more than skin deep. He has one. One that continues to hang on him like a withering hand, clutching his shoulder as it guides him forward.
Forward…onto what?
A push that acts in odd ways, and Law is sure that’s what made him go to Marineford and save Luffy. It pushed at him after he watched Luffy in Sabaody, and he’s glad that it did. Luffy would’ve died on the battlefield otherwise.
Law had never seen such carnage in his life as he did that day.
Blood spilt like rain across the battlefield, sullying everything in sight. Death a harboring reminder of mortality as they pushed forward. Forward; a direction that Law didn’t think he would be able to follow when they left the base.
With the admiral’s ice chasing after the Tang, they barely escaped with their lives, much less Luffy’s. His heartbeat almost non existent, a slow thud of blood pulsing through him barely keeping him alive. Law was glad that he’d passed out. Whether from grief, shock, or exhaustion — it didn’t matter.
It saved him whatever it was.
The straw hat, now in his hands, bites at his skin, but Law doesn’t let it go. It may be just an article of clothing or an accessory, whatever he would consider it, but this hat means so much more to the man it belongs to. A small smearing of blood rests on the rim, and Law sighs. He saved his life, but that means nothing right now.
For survivors...they don’t really survive. Not as they once were, anyways.
“Captain.” Law hears behind him, and he turns to find Shachi with his arms crossed, “Strawhat returned to the base. Just wanted to let you know.”
There is a mutter of “Since there isn’t anything else to do here” said as he turns, but Law ignores it. He knows that this island isn’t welcoming towards them, and that the only reason that they get to stay is because of the shichibukai, Hancock.
Her power far greater than he could’ve imagined, and yet he expected it nonetheless. To be a warlord truly means something in this day and age. A power that comes with the price of being held by the strings of the government.
Strings that even Doflamingo himself can’t escape.
It could be beneficial, Law muses while raising to stand, If I could obtain that power, that protection, could I get closer?
Walking back through the flap closing off the side of the island, Law holds onto Luffy’s hat a little tighter. How will he find the man? Eyes bloodshot from crying with hands bruised from the rampage he conducted? He can’t know.
Luffy is some of those things, Law finds when he lets himself focus on the camp. He’s sitting with his eyes closed, legs crossed with his arms behind his head, and off to the side Hancock is fretting over something. Things are far too calm for Law’s liking, or rather his expectation. What happened to the force of nature that he heard earlier today?
Why is it suddenly gone?
“Mugiwara-ya,” Law says, walking up to Luffy, who opens a single eye. “Don’t expect me to keep up with your things.”
The words coming from Law’s mouth are cold, bent in odd ways that they don’t even sound like his voice to his ears. It’s like he’s far away. Standing at the bottom of a well, shouting up to the surface, when in reality their places should be switched.
Shouldn’t Luffy be down there? Isn’t Law fine?
Luffy holds a hand out taking the hat, and before he places it on his head he inspects it. A quiet examination, and Law swallows when his eyes catch the blood stain. An issue that doesn’t appear to be much of anything to Luffy, who when he spots it, licks his finger and rubs at it.
“Thanks, Torao.” Luffy says, and unlike any other time he’s heard the man speak, his tone is quiet. It’s serious in its tone. “I appreciate it.”
Luffy’s eyes are serene; a motionless ocean where things are swimming below the surface, and Law can’t tell what they are. Something is held between them in that exchange, uncertainty maybe. When Luffy places the hat back atop his head, Law feels himself pull back.
Mentally, emotionally, and physically as he steps backwards.
“Where will you go from here, Mugiwara-ya? Not back to that place, I hope.” Law says, words biting into his cheek. It’s natural that Luffy would want revenge. They killed his brother after all, and given how headstrong he is his target is likely Akainu. Right?
Luffy shakes his head, laughter spilling from his mouth, and it leaves Law confused. Though he’s known him a short time, nothing about Luffy is what he thinks it’s going to be. Nothing that he does fits what Law would do, and maybe that’s just it.
Maybe that’s why he’s so drawn in.
“I have to get stronger, and have to let my nakama know what to do too. I’m their captain.” Luffy smiles with certainty, and a mirroring one pulls on Law’s mouth as well.
He’s inverted to him, it seems. Where Law is concerned about his crew in ways that leaves him to venture alone, Luffy seems to do the opposite. It’s not like Law doesn’t think they can handle themselves, they can, it’s more that he doesn’t want to involve them in the decisions he makes.
Luffy wants it all. The good and bad, all tied together with the people he’s chosen. There is something admirable about that, and Law can’t deny it. Maybe, he too will learn to practice it. Not now, though. Not when his plans include—
“Thank you, Torao!” Luffy beams, cutting into Law’s thoughts. “You’re a pretty good guy. Your bear is pretty cool, too.”
Bepo looks over from stacking the fruit in the stand, no doubt blushed red under his fur. Law sighs, pressing his mouth into a tight line, and again Luffy laughs. He’s pushing himself up to stand and Law nearly chokes on his breath. The bandages, soaked red, shift around with Luffy’s movement, and everything in Law is demanding to push him back down.
Even though he heard his rampage earlier, and knows that Luffy has his full range of movement back, Law wants him to rest. Needs him to rest. There is so much more to injury than the physical, but still, that gaping scar on Luffy’s chest hovers in his mind.
“I helped you once, Mugiwara-ya. If we cross paths again, don’t expect the same treatment. Understand?” Law asks and Luffy nods. A little too eager. Shouldn’t he be wary?
Luffy adjusts himself, oddly meticulous in how he pulls on his shirt, and sets his eyes upwards. He seems to see something that Law doesn’t, and for a second Law considers turning to see what is behind him. But Luffy isn’t looking past him, he’s looking dead ahead.
“Don’t worry, Torao. If we cross again, I understand.” Law knows that he’s telling the truth. Though Luffy is young, he’s anything but naive. He’s experienced more war, grief, and terror than men far older than he is. Nothing about him makes Law have any sort of ease, not for a moment. “Where are you going, anyways?”
The question is simple enough. Luffy must know that Law isn’t as carefree as he is, and given their position he knows that the only way is forward; out onto the New World.
That isn’t what Luffy is asking, though, and Law knows it.
“Ahead. I have business to take care of, and saving you has been a detour I never planned on making.” Law answers, still a bit too cold, but the ice doesn’t seem to touch Luffy. An ever present sun that only knows how to glow. Something that can only give off warmth.
Whether that be love or anger, it’s warm all the same. Luffy all the same.
“Good luck on ahead!” Luffy says. His eyes are pinched tight, and Law tries not to get lost in the small crevices of skin pulled at the edges.
He holds a hand out to Law, and while it hovers in the space between them, it does not shake. There is a certainty that comes with Luffy, and Law wishes he could stay. If only to watch him longer, to figure out what makes him tick.
Law knows he doesn’t have time for that.
He doesn’t know how much time he has at all.
Law grabs Luffy’s hand, shaking it carefully, and the friction against the rubber feels odd. He’s well aware of how Luffy works, having held his heart in his hands, and yet this brings him pause. Law fears he’ll leave this island with more questions than he had when they landed, and the idea makes his head swim.
“Aren’t you resentful?” Law asks, hand still wrapped around Luffy’s, and the handshake slows until it stops entirely. They stand hand and hand, staring in silence, “Aren’t you mad?”
There is something that makes Law uncomfortable with how serene Luffy is. He just lost his brother, along with sustaining several life threatening injuries by trying to save him. He has every right to be upset and want Akainu dead at his hands. No one would bat an eye — if anything it’s expected.
Instead of seething with anger, Luffy’s eyes are soft in their gaze and in an instant it’s as if he aged years. Out there in the forest with that fishman, something must have happened. Something that changed Luffy for a better that Law never got to receive. A better that still escapes him, no matter how tightly he tries to hold on to it. What is he missing?
“It’s ok, Torao. I have my nakama.” Luffy replies, simply, like it was the easiest answer in the world. “They’re going to have to wait a while, but that’s fine. No one has to be mad.”
Law furrows his brows, and only then does he realize that they’re still standing, hand in hand. Dropping it, his hand instead clenches into a fist. Maybe that’s it. Maybe it was because he was alone. Would it have been different if he had others then?
He’ll never get to know.
“Good luck, Mugiwara-ya.” Law says tugging on his hat, and Luffy does the same. A smile held in secret beneath the brim, “I’ll see you in the New World.”