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“Hey, Torao!! Sanji said it’s time for dinner!” The shout, accompanied by the sound of flip-flops slapping against the deck, woke Law from his uneasy nap against the mast. It may be great wood —as Franky was happy to proclaim to the ship's guests— but sleep definitely wasn’t a recommended use for it.
His brain fought to wake up, peeling his eyes open to squint blearily at his fellow captain. Blinking until his vision cleared, Law was greeted with one of Luffy’s bright, wide smiles. The kind that had Law pushing down the sudden swarm of butterflies that erupted in his stomach. Damn Luffy and his sunshine smiles. Even when he was tied up in Punk Hazard he was still smiling. Law had tried ignoring it —he had his mission to focus on— but it was almost impossible to get away from on the close confines of the Sunny. And each flash of teeth just made the swarm grow larger.
“It’s dinner already?”
“Shishish, yeah! Chopper said to let you sleep through today’s snack. Which was great ‘cause me and Chopper shared your serving— oh! Sanji said it's pasta tonight.”
“You can tell Blackleg-ya that I’m—”
Not hungry . He wanted to say not hungry (despite how empty his stomach felt), so why couldn’t he? Growling, he tried a different approach. “You can tell Blackleg-ya that I need to clean up, I’ll join in a bit.”
“Don’t take too long! If Zoro’s not allowed to be late, neither are you,” Luffy called before slingshotting himself up to the crow’s nest, presumably to wake Zoro from his nap.
Sighing, Law pushed to his feet. He might as well get to it before he got dragged to the dinner table. Loud popping noises from his back as he stood made him groan and prompted him to stretch his arms above his head as he wandered to the bathroom, each pop relieving more and more tension. His body felt lighter by the time he reached the bathroom, and he grabbed a washcloth so he could wash at least some of the sea salt from his skin. Submarine life had kept him below the sea so often, it had been ages since his face felt this gritty and his hair this coarse (since Cora , his mind whispered), and he was glad to wipe some off in the evenings.
Cold water cleared what was left of the fog from his mind and he could focus on the conversation with Strawhat. He’d missed snacks, so he must have been asleep for three or four hours. The cook was making pasta for dinner —maybe it would be a seafood pasta, that would be great. He hadn’t been able to lie to get out of dinner. The washcloth dropped with a resounding splat, though it hardly registered through his racing thoughts.
He hadn’t been able to lie to get out of dinner.
Oh fuck. Damn it, damn it, damn it. . . How was he just noticing this now? One of them should have messed up earlier and said something, right? He maybe preferred to work in half truths more often than lies —easier to sidetrack enemies that way— and Strawhat was more the type to blurt out whatever was in his mind, but it shouldn't take this long to figure out that they were SOULMATES!
In a distant part of Law’s mind, he can tell his thoughts have spiraled as his knees gave out and he sank to the bathroom floor but he can’t stop it. This is big. After everything that happened with Flevance and then Cora, he figured that that kind of happiness wasn’t meant for him. He was cursed to hurt people; doomed to never have a soulmate like in the stories.
Lami had always loved soulmate stories.
Nights when their parents had time and came to tuck them both in, she begged them to tell the story of how they met. Mother would settle in next to her, a soft smile on her face. Making sure her voice was loud enough to be heard, despite Law’s frequent protests that they had heard it a million times and he didn’t want to hear it again.
(She had listened, once, and he fell off the bed straining to catch the ending. Lami had laughed herself silly.)
From there, Mother would spin the story, embellishing little details of their meet-ups and how much they enjoyed working together. Sometimes, Father would chime in when she forgot a detail or —with a knowing smile— to say how pretty she looked in her scrubs (it always made Mom blush).
Then came the lie. ‘Even small lies can do it,’ Mother had warned before getting to the lie that exposed it all.
It was so minor. Mother had tried to say she had gotten enough sleep since their last shift together but found herself tongue-tied and unable to say anything at all. The smile that she always wore whenever she told this part of the story, of how confused Dad was when she didn’t answer, it was. . . How could Law even get close to describing the amount of love he saw shining out from that smile?
‘Unfortunately,’ she would laugh, the sound so sweet it made Law ache just thinking about it. ‘I was too excited and immediately shouted that we were soulmates. I think the whole floor heard me.’ Dad always commented that his ears certainly rang afterwards. But his equally big smile told them that he was just as happy to learn that they were soulmates, destined to be together, and even happier when she took him out to dinner afterwards.
The story always ended with their parents kissing his and Lami’s foreheads and telling them how fortunate they were to have such beautiful, smart children to complete their happily ever after. Lami would mutter a sleepy ‘thank you’ as they turned off the lights. The memory was well-worn, a thought Law returned to frequently. A small spot of happiness in an otherwise bleak childhood.
He missed them.
Thinking about his family —how happy they had been— helped even out his breathing, but his stomach still felt like a tight ball of anxiety. What was he going to do about Strawhat? He had accepted never having a soulmate. Who would want some terr—
A knock sounded from the door.
“Hey, Law? Everyone else is eating already, are you done?” Sanji called out, sounding annoyed.
“I’m not feeling hungry, Blackleg-ya.” Now the lie worked. Great.
“I don’t give a shit, it’s ship rules to eat dinner together,” Sanji replied, throwing the door open, only to stop three steps in when he spotted Law sitting on the floor, knees hugged to his chest. “Did you slip?”
The question was so ridiculous, Law let out a small chuckle. “No. I just found out your captain is my soulmate. It seems insane, so I’m trying to rationalize it.” Under normal circumstances, Law wouldn’t tell anyone this, but the news was so big he couldn’t keep it to himself.
“Well, that sounds like a tall order.” Sanji crouched down in front of Law. “Zoro and I learned we were soulmates two years ago and I still don’t understand the universe’s decision there.”
“Oh? Figured you’d be the type to be all excited to find your soulmate?”
“I was. But learning it was him. . . The first thing I did was lock myself in the kitchen and cook for hours trying to wrap my head around it. I was so sure I hated him, you know.”
“What changed?”
“Well, sometimes I still hate him. But I also realized I wouldn’t be the same without him. He’s someone I trust completely, my equal. We can get in some big fights, yet even mad I know he would die to protect me.” Law saw a brief grimace cross Sanji’s face when he said that, but he turned to light a cigarette before Law could fully decipher it. “He makes me want to be better.”
The scent of tobacco wafting over them comforted Law as much as his words did, the memory of Corazon's smell soothing his nerves. Sanji paused the conversation to stand and take a couple of drags off his cigarette, leaving Law with time to think. Maybe (and that was a very big maybe) if he came out of Dressrosa okay, it wouldn’t be so bad to be with Luffy. His uncomplicated view on things was as refreshing as it was infuriating and when they had time to talk, Luffy’s voice made Law forget about his own anxiety. Allies and soulmates, it could be interesting.
Two kicks against his shoe disrupted his thoughts, forcing him to look up and see a proffered hand in front of him. Law stared for a moment before accepting, letting Sanji tug him to his feet.
“Now get outta here. You still need to eat and Luffy should be finished by now, so you can overplan on how to tell him over dinner.”
By the time dishes were done (he had been pulled into helping since he was late), Law had figured out a plan.
With only a few days until they were to Dressrosa, he would have to work fast. That meant pulling out the best approach to get a definite answer —the scientific method! He was already through half of it anyway. There was an observation, that he hadn’t been able to lie to Strawhat-ya; a question, did that mean he is Law’s soulmate; and a hypothesis, that they were soulmates.
The next step was gathering data through experiments. Although, really, the experiments were just going to be normal interactions and conversations with the crew but calling them experiments made Law feel better.
Thinking it through and setting up the plan with the rhythmic sound of splashing water and clicking dishes in the background had helped quell the rest of his anxiety and he was feeling composed once again.
Unfortunately, that assuredness threw itself right off the ship when he walked out the kitchen door straight into a dance party. Usopp and Robin were spinning each other around wildly on the second deck, nearly getting hit by Law opening the door, only for Robin to laugh lightly and pull Usopp away from any collision. It seemed everyone was up and having a great time.
Down on the deck, Nami was teaching Momo some fancy moves that Law couldn’t even begin to describe. Looking further, Franky, Kin’emon, and their instruments had taken up most of the bench with Brook swaying close by, playing a lively tune for the rest of the crew.
Law even spotted Sanji, who had left the kitchen not long before him, doing something with Zoro. It might have been dancing, but it was hard to tell when they kept fighting over who was leading. This was definitely different from the quiet night Law had been expecting. He was hoping to slip into someone else’s conversation with Luffy to test the waters, get a feel for how to ask questions before diving in headlong tomorrow. Instead, it felt like mayhem.
“Torao!” Luffy shouted from the deck, waving as excitedly as he could while carrying Chopper to the music. “Come dance with us!”
Law made his way down the stairs slowly, grip tight on the railing; his determination to follow along with the plan the only thing that kept him from beating a hasty retreat and ignoring the party altogether. But he needed data to get good results. He could do this.
“Torao, hurry up! You’re being slowwww.”
“I don’t dance, Strawhat-ya. Whether I'm here or not doesn’t matter.”
“Of course it matters that you’re here, you’re nakama! I could teach you to dance if you want, or Brook can lend you somethin’.” Chopper hopped off Luffy to trot over to Brook, who stooped to hand him some maracas. “Do you know how to play anything? I think dancing’s more fun, but Brook loves showing off with other musicians.” He was practically bouncing as he sped through the last sentence, darting forward and snatching Law’s hand to drag him further onto the main deck.
Thrown for a loop by the unexpected touch —it was so comforting and warm— Law took a second to realize he would actually have to answer. He could attempt to lie on purpose this time.
“I’m surprised Bone-ya lets others touch his instruments. I—” don’t play anything. Despite the jolt in his stomach, Law picked the conversation back up faster this time, mentally categorizing the response under experiment data. “I’m afraid I haven’t practiced in a while, but my parents taught me the piano. However, I’m not in the mood for that kind of effort, so I guess we can dance a bit.”
He certainly wasn’t staying because Luffy's touch felt right. At least he could tell that lie to himself.
The bright grin his fellow captain shot him sent a tingle through Law’s heart; quick as a flash he grabbed Law’s other hand and pulled him into a simple dance around the deck. Surprisingly, they didn't step on each other's feet the entire time and Luffy even unexpectedly spun Law out at the end of the song. Law was definitely grinning by then.
The analytical side of his mind tried to justify his happiness as the well-known rush of endorphins dancing brought to the body. Serotonin and dopamine were just running rampant, lighting up his brain to give him an energy boost. He tried to grab onto that reasoning, instead of the alternative.
Still —although loath to admit it— he was unwilling to let go of Luffy's hand. Sadly, he didn’t have a choice when Luffy pulled away to clap wildly for their ragtag band.
Clapping more sedately, Law took the chance to step away, somehow making it to the bunkroom before he could be caught and tempted back to the cheerful scene. He needed to record the data from today, besides once again going over his plan for defeating Doflamingo.
Tomorrow was their last free day, so he would have to try talking more to Luffy then. But first he needed to get some sleep.
(If he could manage it; the knowledge he had a soulmate along with his insomnia and general stress levels made that unlikely.)
Law woke up earlier than usual the next morning, feeling far more like a zombie than a person but he wanted to try to gather further data before the end of the day with just a few questions, plus time between conversations to avoid suspicion.
Yet in spite of a generally calm day, and the mission to ask as many questions as possible, he had failed.
It was almost evening and he had only gotten through three measly attempts for more information. Sagging onto the railing to stare gloomily at the ocean, Law had to admit none of his attempts seemed to be going right. Maybe Luffy was just impossible to catch in a lie.
He had gotten the first question done early. Honestly, it had been an accident, but he wrote it down and was counting it anyway.
Breakfast had been well underway and Luffy was attempting to sneak extra food off his crew’s plates; Law was savoring his first cup of coffee, letting the caffeine fully wake him before he touched the bacon and eggs waiting on his plate. A rubber hand crept too close to his food, almost touching one of the strips of bacon and he smacked at it without thinking, sharply asking whether his brother had ever taught him not to steal others' food. Luffy just laughed, saying something about how Ace used to sneak food from him too so he couldn’t complain if Luffy did it back.
Overall, it was a far better reaction than Law had expected after bringing up his dead brother and being a dick about some food, but Luffy was completely unphased. It did prove that he wouldn't lie about his childhood, even if family wasn't something he was likely to bring up on his own.
Annoyingly, after breakfast Nami had called Luffy and Usopp to help her with the mikan trees —it took them most of the morning— so the next opportunity Law had was just before lunch.
He had come out of the aquarium to hear Luffy on the swing doing a dramatic retelling of their time on Thriller Bark to Kin’emon and Momo who were listening intently; Usopp leaned on the tree next to him, adding commentary here and there. Law hated to admit it but Luffy was a captivating storyteller, even going so far as to reenact some of the fights for his enraptured audience.
At the end of the tale Law jumped in to try and catch him in a lie by asking if Brook was his reason for saving Thriller Bark. Luffy was all smiles when he said Brook being a skeleton and agreeing to join his crew was part of it, but also that he just wanted an adventure. Another bust.
His attempt after lunch got screwed up too, though that was his own fault.
Hoping for some time alone together, he had mentioned going to the infirmary to review Luffy’s medical history and examine how his scar was healing. Instead he got taken away by Chopper, who presented him with a very large file on Luffy and his many injuries. While it was an annoyance to not get the answers he was searching for, it was useful to finally understand more of what he had been dealing with after Marineford.
Sadly, after going over that Chopper kept him there longer to swap some medical advice —which, while it was nice to talk to someone who understood his explanations, it also kept him away from Luffy.
Thinking back, maybe his attempts were just shit.
Law had enough data to accept that his hypothesis was correct and to conclude that Luffy was his soulmate because he’s unable to lie to him. Which he should probably tell Luffy before they hit Dressrosa tomorrow. He sighed and sank further into the railing at the thought of trying to start that conversation.
“Hey, Torao.” Think of the devil long enough and he will come.
“Hello, Strawhat-ya. Did you need me?”
“Eh, not particularly,” Luffy said as he settled next to Law, lounging over the railing enough to press their shoulders together; the simple touch somehow soothing a bit of the fear in Law’s chest. “But you looked sad and I wanted to fix that.”
Fuck, that’s nice. Maybe this would be a good time to tell him. First though there was one final thing Law could ask before he told Luffy about their bond. One final test to make sure he wasn’t completely wrong.
“Hey, Strawhat-ya, do you like our alliance?”
Pushing himself further into Law, he didn’t miss a beat and replied, “Yeah, I love our alliance Torao! It means we get to fight together and have fun and eat lots of meat.”
“That’s not what’s normally included in an alliance,” Law sighed. It wasn’t a bad answer; at least he knew Luffy wouldn’t hate him.
“Well you haven’t included it all either, Torao.” Law looked down to see a pout on Luffy’s face. Meeting Law’s eyes, he continued, “You’ve been messing with me since yesterday, asking a bunch of questions and being all weird.”
“I swear, I haven’t been messing with you, Strawhat-ya, I was just trying to figure something out.”
“You know you can call me Luffy, eh Torao? Soulmates are allowed to do that.”
“What?!” Law stood up so fast he about knocked Luffy over. “When did you know? Is that why you agreed to work with me?!” Straightening to face Law, Luffy blinked slowly at him.
“I dunno, known for a while I guess. And ‘course not, I agreed ‘cause you’re strong and I want to beat the Emperors. You being my soulmate is just a bonus. Like more meat for dinner.”
“Oh thanks, Luffy-ya. Glad I’m meat now.” He rolled his eyes, but warmth spread through him at the answer. He was wanted.
“Hey Law!” Nami shouted from the helm, startling him to look up where apparently the rest of the crew was also watching them. “What do you think of our alliance?”
Law flushed slightly; those damn nosy bastards had been listening in on their conversation. Luffy didn’t seem to care about their eavesdropping though as he looked at Law with puppy dog eyes.
“Yeah, what do you think of our alliance, Torao? Do you like it?”
He can’t lie when it’s his soulmate asking. Instead, Law grinned and pulled the brim of his hat down over his eyes before he nodded minutely at Luffy, who beamed up at him —god, he could get used to that view— and let out a loud whoop. The rest of the nearby crew cheered, though Law could barely hear it through his happiness.
Luffy seized his free hand and tugged him down to kiss his cheek, pulling back with a blinding smile. Law smiled back. It likely wasn't nearly as dazzling or as attractive as Luffy's, but how could someone ever hope to compare to the sun itself? Luckily, it didn't seem like Luffy minded.
Soulmate, his heart thrumped as a hidden piece slotted itself into place. Something he hadn't even known he was missing. Law was so lost on this man, and he wouldn't have it any other way.