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It was relatively peaceful on The Sunny as she sailed towards the inevitable. Well, as peaceful as it got around the Strawhats, that is. Perhaps this was caused by the fact that Luffy was currently being forced to bathe, hence not on deck.
Nonetheless, Law enjoyed the moment of peace. Spent it preparing himself as they got closer and closer to Dressrosa. 13 years, and he could finally get revenge.
13 years, and Corazon would be avenged.
And Law would finally get to see him again.
By no means did he expect to survive a battle against the king of the underworld. He had accepted that a long time ago and death had not been something that terrified him since he first found out he would die at an early age.
At first it had been hard to accept. But then came the fall of Flevance, of his parents, his sister and every person he had ever known. Suddenly Law didn’t care about his death, but what he would need to do before then.
Revenge. That was all there was to it. That was what he'd been living for, and it was also what was going to kill him.
(At least, so he’d thought.)
The peace was interrupted by a sudden light, the sound of an explosion right on the deck of The Sunny. Law had been up within seconds, sword unsheathed and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Zoro in the exact same position.
“Motherfucker!“ came a voice, unknown and yet so familiar. Law squinted as the sharp light disappeared and he nearly lost his composure at what he saw.
Tattoos he knew all too well, the exact sword as the one held in his hand and the same mark as his Jolly Roger, embroidered onto the side of a dark blue turtleneck.
“Who’re you?” Asked Zoro as Law was unable to make out a single word. His voice held a warning and his expression impatient.
“Calm your tits, I’m not here to harm anyone,” stated the… the what? Stranger? Was it really a stranger? Law wasn’t quite sure what to believe, but he had lived long enough to know not to let his guard down at times like this.
“You’re-“ Law cut in, yet he failed to finish his sentence.
“I’m you, yes. Will you lower your swords? I’m really not in the mood,” said his… copy? This was giving him a headache.
This person before him looked so much like Law, yet older, different. He had a tired look on his face, almost as if he was bored being held at knifepoint. But Law knew himself enough to know that tiny furrow of his eyebrow meant that he was annoyed by something.
“What is going on?” Asked Zoro, looking over at him with as much confusion on his face as Law felt. This was not part of his plan for today. Or ever, really.
The older looking version of him began moving, ignoring the way Zoro raised his sword right back, eyes narrowed. He just looked down at the sword unimpressed and went to sit on the bench around the mast.
“Devil fruit. I was sent back in time,” he explained and Zoro lifted his eyebrows in disbelief. “Seriously, I don’t want to be here either.” Zoro scoffed, but lowered his sword, putting it back in it’s sheath, yet keeping a hand on the handle nonetheless.
“Devil fruit?” Asked a forth voice and Law just then noticed that Robin had been watching them from the upper deck, leaning over the railing. She was always so quiet, it was kind of creepy at times.
“Time travel, apparently. We don’t know much about it yet, other than the fact that it sends people back to a random time in their life for 24 hours,” explained older him, and Robin’s eyes widened with interest, now making her way down the stairs.
“So, how old are you, future Torao?” She asked once finally down on the grassy deck. Law felt extremely uncomfortable right now, looking at his older self. What did that even mean? Could he possibly have lived past Dressrosa?
“36, unfortunately,” he replied and Robin chuckled. “When is this? Where are you headed?” He then asked, eyes shifting over to look at Law once more. It was almost offending the way he grimaced when his eyes landed on him.
“On our way to Dressrosa, we should be there in about a day or two,” answered Robin, settling down on the bench as well, not so subtly staring with curiosity.
“What’s going on out here?” Came Nami’s voice, her stomping down the stairs, shirt drenched and sleeves rolled up. Law guessed it wasn’t all that easy to get Luffy to bathe going by her disheveled state.
“What the fu-“ was the first thing she said when her eyes fell upon their new guest. Robin was quick to fill her in on the details, and although somewhat getting it, Nami still held a distrusting look in her eyes.
“So you finally got rid of that ugly hat?” She asked and Law felt his jaw drop, eyes narrowing to glare at her. She just waved a hand in his direction like she couldn’t give less of a fuck about having insulted him.
And much to everyone’s surprise, their guest had laughed. Even Law himself was surprised, to see himself, or well, his older self, laugh so openly. He never did that, much less around other people.
Before anyone could snap out of their shock, a loud bang was heard, followed by a yell.
“NO, GET BACK HERE!” Came Sanji’s voice. To no one’s surprise, Luffy’s laughter was the next thing to be heard, his rubber arms stretching over their heads.
Luffy launched through the air, towel around his waist holding on for dear life. Law regretted this alliance more and more each passing second, and he had only been on the ship for two days.
“Hey, what’s going o- huh.” Luffy stopped in place, eyes wide with wonder. He then took a step closer, “Torao looks different,” he said, staring directly at the older version of him.
“Hi Lu-ya,” said their guest with a fond smile on his face and wasn’t that just absolutely disgusting? Law did not like the feeling of foreboding growing in his stomach.
“Eh? You look kinda old. Did you not eat enough?” Asked Luffy, as if that would have anything to do with it. Law watched himself lift an amused eyebrow.
“Torao was sent back in time, Luffy,” said Robin then, the rest of the Strawhats having gathered around them now. “This ones from the future,” she added and Luffy nodded thoughtfully.
“I don’t get it,” he said and half the crew facepalmed. Then Robin pointed over at Law and Luffy turned around to see him sorta just standing there awkwardly, his eyes going wide. He looked back and forth between them for a moment and then he practically beamed.
“Two Torao’s!! How cool!” Luffy exclaimed and Law really wanted to dig himself into a hole and die. This couldn’t get any worse, could it?
It could, apparently. Because the next second Luffy was in the lap of his future self, talking excitedly as his hair got stroked by tattooed fingers. The crew looked at the scene with skeptical eyes, some even disgust. Law himself being one of them.
“So you were fighting someone and got sent back in time?” Repeated Luffy, having been told the story in more detail. Everyone had listened in too, although their guests eyes had only been on Luffy himself.
“Will you being here change the timeline?” Asked Usopp curiously from where he was hiding behind Zoro. His older self finally looked up, yet didn’t stop petting Luffy’s hair. It would have been a lot less worse, had Luffy not been dressed in a towel only.
“It wont change my timeline, but I’m sure your future may change a bit,” he explained after a moment of thinking.
“How do you know it wont change yours?” Asked Robin curiously. She was watching the scene before them with great amusement, a small smile dancing on her lips.
“Luffy-ya was also hit by the power, that’s how we know it sends us back after 24 hours. Nothing changed in our world, though, and it’s highly unlike he wouldn’t have done something stupid to mess up the timeline,” he told her and Robin nodded. But Law suddenly felt sick to his stomach.
“The alliance is still going in ten years?” He asked, eyes wide as he failed to keep the shock off his face. Absolutely-fucking-not. Law was not spending another ten years with this headache of a crew.
He snapped his head up when the other began to laugh again, and he scowled in reply. He already dreaded the harassment there would be once this Law disappeared again.
“Alliance? No.” He said, and Law did not like where this was going. “Why do you think I wear this ring?” Asked the other as he held up his left hand, revealing the gold band on his ring finger. A silence followed that, Law having gone completely pale. The first one to break out of their surprise was Robin as she chuckled into the palm of her hand.
“Eh? Torao’s married?” Luffy asked, reaching for the hand that was easily giving to him, allowing him to play with the ring. Law was honestly surprised he had understood that much.
“Indeed,” he said and smiled at Luffy. Law was only few seconds from jumping into the ocean, never to be seen again.
“To who?” Asked Luffy, looking up at him expectantly. Apparently being the only one who hadn’t understood.
“You, of course,” replied the other and fucking booped Luffy’s nose. It was nauseating. Law felt like he could easily throw up at any given moment. Especially when all eyes were suddenly on him, some less friendly than others.
“I don’t wanna get married,” was Luffy’s reply, as if that was the only issue with the situation and not the fact that the two of them were apparently fucking married in the future. Why does the gods hate him so much?
“I’m sure you don’t,” smiled his future self.
Law decided that was it for him. Opening up a room and escaping into the storage room. No one would come in here, so it was perfect for crying.
There was so much to unfold and Law didn’t even know where to start. Apparently he’s in love with Luffy? Which is absolutely absurd. The only thing Luffy has ever made him feel is endless headaches. A whole ‘nother thing was the fact that he would somehow survive Dressrosa. Which in itself was quite a punch in the gut.
Law knows he’s not strong enough to take Doflamingo down. Has known so for almost 16 years. Which means it must be caused by this alliance, in one way or another. But Luffy’s bounty was lower than his own, so was it really possible for him to defeat Doflamingo?
Law felt beyond overwhelmed.
The next second the door opened and he looked up from where he had his face buried in his hands. His eyes narrowed when he saw who had walked in.
“What do you want?” He asked, making his displeasure known.
“You have questions, don’t you?” Asked his future self, sitting down on a wooden box next to him. “If I know myself right, you’re probably worrying more about the fact that you’ll survive, than the fact you got married to that moron out there.”
“It just doesn’t make sense,” he replied, admitting to his turmoil.
“He’s going to save you. Put his life on the line to help you and win in the process and when you watch that happen, you’ll also understand this-“ the ring was once again held within his field of vision and Law didn’t know whether to scream or cry.
“Why would he do that?” He asked instead and the other let out an amused snort.
“Because he’s stupid, that’s why,” he answered and Law didn’t know what to say to that.
“Why did you have to tell all of them. You would know how they are,” Law then asked, a scowl once again on his face. He could already hear the taunts. Or worse, the threats.
“‘Cause it’s funny,” replied the other and Law shot him a glare, which earned him a short laugh. “Also because it took you fucking forever to accept your feelings and confess and maybe knowing Luffy’s going to love you back will hurry that along. I’m saving you from a lot of mental breakdowns, trust me, I’d know.”
It was quiet for a while after that. Law felt like a child being consoled, but at least he didn’t have to worry about being honest with himself, since this person had already been through everything he had and ten years more.
“…you seem happy,” he finally said, feeling a little stupid for having voiced it out loud.
“It took a while, but you’ll get there,” he said and Law found that strangely reassuring.
“Torao!” Came Luffy’s loud voice from the deck, the both of them letting out a sigh as they got up and joined the rest.
….
“I’m sleeping in Luffy-ya’s bunk,” came the horrible sentence that made Law pale and choke on his food.
They had just been talking about where he’d sleep, as his future self wouldn’t return to his own time before tomorrow. The crew had been surprisingly nice to their guest and Law was surprised none of them had attempted a murder at the sheer amount of PDA that had been displayed throughout the day. He certainly had considered it.
(“I completely forgot how cute you were when we first met, Lu-ya,” the older Law had said, a thankfully now clothed Luffy sitting on his lap, just casually letting himself be pet. Law had watched with horror on his face, terrified that he would one day become the person before him.
“Shishishi, Torao’s a lot nicer when he’s old,” Luffy had replied, apparently just happy to have someone pay attention to him. Law hated everyone about this, especially the part of his brain that found this Luffy kind of cute.)
“Hell no you’re not!” He said, teeth grinding together as he tried (and failed) to keep his composure.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to fuck him or anything… probably,” the other answered and Law really hated himself.
Luffy seemed to find the scene far too hilarious, food flying everywhere as he laughed obnoxiously. Robin was snickering too and Nami looked like she was taking notes of things to blackmail him with.
Law briefly wondered if killing his future self would be considered suicide or murder. Another part of himself knew that there was no way he could defeat himself with an extra ten years of skill. He hated that all the more and the other Law just seemed to smirk as if he knew exactly what Law was thinking about.
Law ended up spending the entire night awake, terrified of what was happening inside the mens quarters. He’d prefer to never know.
…bonus…
The words he had heard from himself 2 days ago came back to him as Doflamingo was punched into the ground, the birdcage disappearing.
Luffy was now in front of him, exhausted and beat, yet victorious and Law had never seen anyone more beautiful. He hated himself for being right, hated even more that he felt this way.
And yet…
It wasn’t all that bad.
He found a small smile making it onto his face as he leaned back and closed his eyes.