Chapter Text
It ends with laughter—as things tend to when the Straw Hats are involved.
A party is thrown, rich ale is shared, and countless bodies scatter across the space with cathartic ease. Even the marines find themselves cracking jokes and swaying lightly to the sound of a lively guitar, habitual animosity sliding farther and farther out of their reach in the face of such unexpected camaraderie.
Trafalgar D. Water Law is one exception to the joyous atmosphere. He is, however, not the only exception.
Vice Admiral Smoker sips begrudgingly at the steaming puddle of broth in his bowl, his permanent scowl etching deep lines into his forehead. After their brief conversation—ending in a silent truce neither care to outline—a resigned sort of silence fills the air between them. The two men seem determined to distance themselves from the rambunctious activity around them, eyes narrowed in judgment and twin frowns marring their expressions to ward off any drunken bystander.
Their combined hostility almost works. Most of the pirates and marines catch one glimpse of their foul moods and give them a wide berth, with the giant girl and the Straw Hat’s tiny doctor being the only ones to approach them so far. But even they beat a hasty retreat after Law had reluctantly accepted their peace offering of food.
And yet, Law can’t bring himself to care about the anxiety he gives them when his own crew is miles away and Doflamingo continues to rule from his bloody throne.
Just the thought of the man’s heinous smile is enough to make his blood boil. The churning bitterness is a good reminder that he’s not here to make friends.
“Smo—” As if summoned by his line of thinking, a hand comes flying in from his peripheral, rocketing past the tip of Law’s nose and burying itself in the collar of the older man sitting beside him, “—key!”
There’s a split second where Law locks eyes with Smoker, a mirror image of his own shock, before the rest of Luffy’s body comes sailing after his fist. The marine seems to gather his senses seconds before impact, his form erupting in a thick cloud of smoke that sends the young captain barreling straight through into a pile of snow.
Unfortunately, this does nothing to dampen the boy’s cheerful mood, and he merely bounces back to his feet to beg Smoker to ‘please please please join them for a song—it’s a really good one, I promise—have you heard of Bink’s Brew?’
Physically exhausted and mentally at the end of his rope, Law takes this as his cue to find a new hiding spot. Preferably somewhere far, far away from the Straw Hat’s captain. He quietly crunches his way through the fresh snow, swerving several times to avoid being splashed with beer from careless soldiers or elbowed in the face by dancing partygoers. How any of them have the energy to celebrate after the events of the last few days is beyond him.
He finds a semi-peaceful spot close to the fire but away from the drunken adults and settles down with his back against a crate full of supplies. Fully intending to drift off and sleep to pass the time, he crosses his arms and closes his eyes, attempting to tune out the sounds of revelry before him.
“I found her! I found her!”
“No, this one’s her!”
“Ah, over here!”
His eyebrow ticks at the sound of childish giggles and the pattering of feet. Someone stumbles over his long legs in their haste, not even bothering to apologize. Irritated, he finally cracks one eye open to see what all the fuss is about, only to furrow his brow in confusion.
There are copies of the Straw Hat’s navigator everywhere.
Some are clearly warped—her figure altered to be shorter, rounder, straighter—but others are nearly identical to the woman herself, and Law scrutinizes them closely from under the brim of his hat. How…how is that possible?
The children they’d rescued from Caesar’s clutches run around gleefully, their hands outstretched to chase after the various doubles and catch the real one. But over and over, their grubby little paws pass completely through her body, disrupting the copy until it fizzles into nothing.
The long-nosed sniper stands amidst the chaos, a wide grin stretched across his face as he purposefully misleads the children with an ‘aha! that’s her real hair, i’m sure of it!’ or a ‘hurry, she’s hijacking Franky Tank!’
He hears a melodic laugh to his right and startles a bit, though he tries to play it off. When he looks up, she’s there (the real her, he’s pretty sure), half-hiding behind the crate he’s leaned against with a knowing look in her eye.
He expects her to say something, to attempt conversation with him the way she would with her own crew. However, she only gives him a wink and then returns her attention to the silly game she’s engaged all the children in. After a moment, Law follows suit, content to sit by her as long as she’s quiet.
When he looks back, Usopp has successfully wrangled Franky into the fray, the two of them chasing the children while a Nami-clone stands atop the robot’s tank and orders them around with gestures befitting a dictator.
“YOW. Lord Nami has overtaken my super brain! Prepare for total annihilation!” The large man rolls around the fire, scooping wayward children up into his arms two at a time and holding them captive in his lap. They belly laugh as he twirls them around, tossing them into the air only to catch them once again.
Usopp skids to a halt and puffs out his chest, his goggles tightly in place as he points a thumb at his chest and declares, “Have no fear—Pirate King Usopp is here to save you!”
He quickly loads a snowball into his slingshot and pelts it straight at the robot’s face. Franky freezes, wheels coming to a hard stop as the clump of snow sticks to the cold metal of his nose. His round eyes narrow into slivers and he raises his massive hand to point directly at the sniper.
“My minions—charge!”
And then, suddenly, the space is filled with snowballs being flung left and right. The initial game of hide and seek is quickly forgotten as a snowball flies straight through the remaining clone, dispersing it into the atmosphere.
Law moves his head sharply to the side as one smacks straight into the side of the crate where his face had been. He clicks his tongue in annoyance and moves to brush off the debris on his shoulder when a second projectile hits him square on the chest.
Determined to find some peace amidst the idiocy of it all, he stands to begin the search for a new place of refuge. The sound of a suppressed giggle stops him in his tracks, and he turns to give her a dark glare.
She only laughs louder, undaunted by his moodiness, and pushes off the crate to join the rowdy group.
As she passes by, she waves a hand and says, “Luffy’s finishing the leftovers from Sanji-kun’s dinner.”
He blinks for a moment, confused, then relaxes as he realizes what she’s really saying. The other captain will be too preoccupied with gorging himself on food to bother him for the time being. He debates thanking her, but she’s already walked off to join Usopp and Franky, one hand spinning her baton over and over.
For whatever reason, Law hesitates, observing the odd trio as they continue to humor the children. While being far from the wildest thing he’s seen pirates do, it certainly isn’t normal behavior for a group of high-seas criminals.
Despite what the Straw Hats had originally accused him of, Law never approved of Caesar’s schemes for the kids—but he also hadn’t planned on ever addressing the issue himself. It was simply an unfortunate circumstance, a moral blip on his radar.
He studies the three crew members. He notices their gentle hands and soft smiles—their attentive eyes watching carefully for any sign of tears or pain—the way they shake off their own exhaustion for the sole purpose of bringing thirty-minutes of joy to a few dozen children.
Law has a quick mind—one that rarely rests—and before he can even attempt to stop it, the correlation is made and a picture of Corazon flashes across his mind’s eye.
A familiar sensation stings the corners of his eyes, but he only blinks hard once, twice, and resolutely turns away from the merry scene.
He thinks that—just maybe—he’s in way over his head.