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Muffled yelling was the sound that followed Usopp’s slow retreat from the Sunny’s galley. For what felt like the first time in a while, he breathed in the cool sea breeze without his lungs recoiling from the sensation of existing. The exhale that followed trailed after the wind; it skimmed past his cheek and highlighted the warmth that had settled onto his skin during the crew’s celebration. The foreign comfort of their new home mixed into a saccharine stew alongside the familiar emotions that bubbled in his chest within earshot of his friends’ happiness…
…it all felt wrong.
He hoped his departure went unnoticed as he stepped away from the wood against his back. His journey towards the stern was accompanied by nary a creak, only the sound of footsteps across pristine wooden boards. Usopp resisted the urge to retrace his step, to wear out one of the boards quicker, so at least something would happen to distract him from the overwhelming feeling of the unknown that surrounded him from all sides besides one.
Finally reaching the stern, Usopp rested his back on the railing to cast his eyes towards the twilight painted sky. Some things never changed; he traced the lines created by the slowly encroaching star-freckled cobalt. Light would be scarce soon, but Usopp found the idea of near-total darkness strangely comforting.
With no one around to come looking and the shadows offering some semblance of space away from everything that had come to make up Usopp’s life in that moment, he slipped to the floor and brought his knees to his chin. If asked he wouldn’t say that he was hiding from his friends, but it would be pretty evident to anyone who could string together a cohesive flow of logic that that’s what he was doing. Yet, for him hiding meant that he was afraid of something and the thought of Usopp being afraid of them was dumb, in his opinion anyway; no, he wasn’t hiding, Usopp just needed to get away for a moment.
He only needed a moment to think.
A shaking breath fell from Usopp’s lips. Who was he trying to trick? Himself? It would take more than a moment to swim through the waves of thoughts crashing against the inside of his skull. Each one created a thick foam that clogged up his ear, making the actual waves lapping against the Sunny’s hull seem too distant to be real. He wished that his brain had a little ship in it, one who could brave his thoughts for him and gather up the important ones for him.
A small, dependable ship that could help him.
A little ship for him.
The sticky sensation that trickled down Usopp’s cheeks went unnoticed as he let that train of thought set in. A sudden chill accompanied the arrival of additional weight in his bones to create an aching, biting cold. The prickle of a shiver slithered up his arms to wrap around his ribs and squeezed enough for Usopp to finally register the choking sob that filtered across his chattering teeth. He pressed his forehead into the tops of his knees; now letting the grief filter across his senses, Usopp wept for himself and for the friend that was no longer celebrating alongside him.
His Merry.
She’d been with them until the end, her last adventure being one of theirs, and he still couldn’t bear to let her go. It just wasn’t fair that they had to leave her behind. She was their friend too and they-
No, it was thinking like that which led to him leaving the crew. Usopp shook his head, uncaring to the coarse fabric of his overalls scratching at the skin on his face. He needed to grieve in a way that wouldn’t lead to him lashing out at those around him. She deserved to be remembered in a happy manner - one fitting of the way that Merry lived alongside them. But how could he do that?
The question felt impossible to answer. If he went to the rest of the crew for help, they might think he was bringing up the argument that he and Luffy had back in Water 7. They might even kick him out the crew this time, instead of him leaving, because he was being stubborn and childish. Usopp sniffled. He quieted his breathing, leaning back on the railing to scrub at his cheeks, and mentally chastised himself for not having the solutions to his own problems. He couldn’t be a burden so soon after begging for their forgiveness and getting to be a part of their lives again.
His tired eyes cast themselves towards the sky once more. What could he do when there was too much to say about her? Usopp’s gaze tracked along a set of stars like they were a dotted line on a map that would somehow lead him to a response to his call for an answer. A cloud lazily moved to obscure the shining pinpricks and blot out what little light filtered from the moon. His hope dimmed in tandem with his surroundings and Usopp held in the sound stuck in his throat.
Maybe he really should give up on laying Merry’s memory to rest on his own terms. She was already gone. She wouldn’t know if he failed to live up to the expectations set by her passing. She couldn’t be disappointed in him, but Usopp could.
The moment of thought was broken by a foreign noise. A slightly musical sound rang out far louder in Usopp’s ears than the mutterings of his inner turmoil. He traced the path of this mysterious entity to somewhere around the corner; now focused on finding explanation to this new mystery, a worldly distraction from his problems, Usopp failed to muster the physical strength to stand and crawled towards the galley’s outer wall. A clunk not accredited to his knees hitting the floorboards sounded out as he peaked around the corner to squint through the gloss over his eyes and the inky blackness cast over the Sunny. The ship shifted, teetering him further around the corner, causing the discordant melody to begin again.
He peered further into the darkness. Whatever was moving around along the edge of the galley couldn’t be dangerous; after all the others would have noticed it by now if it was. With that in mind, Usopp continued to search for the source of the noise. He shuffled closer and almost shrieked when something cold made contact with the back of his palm. Scurrying backwards, Usopp caught sight of a stray bottle as it continued its journey across the ground. It rolled in time to the Sunny’s shifting, trailing the sound of glass lightly impacting wood behind it. He watched it for some time. Unsure if he should be laughing at himself for being frightened by something so dumb or crying because he had been scared by a glass bottle; Usopp mutely observed the bottle’s final moments on their ship before it rolled past the struts in the railing and dived overboard. He imagined it being carried off by the torrent of water swept up by the Sunny’s passing, never to be seen again.
A stray bottle off to have adventures of its own on the Grand Line, that sounded like a good story.
Usopp blinked at his own absurd thoughts. Without a stopper the bottle would most likely fill with water and sink; after all, messages in bottles always had the stopper on for that reason, and to prevent the messages inside from getting wet. They could travel miles at sea under the whim of the currents before being picked up by sailors or washing up on an island. Truly, a method of communication worth its weight in nautical whimsy and wonder.
He sighed. Fantasising over seafaring adventures wouldn’t help solve his problem. He needed to think of how to honour Merry’s memory…
…unless the bottle was a sign!
Usopp could write something for Merry and put it in a bottle! A drawing of her? A story of one of their adventures? Both? Neither? He didn’t have time to think about the details as he finally stood from the ground to find a piece of paper and a pencil. His once frantic brain was focused on writing down anything that came to it for the sake of Merry’s gift. A gift for her that would allow her to continue her adventures and make someone else as happy as she had made him. A story of the Merry that wanted nothing more than to explore the ocean alongside her friends.
—
The insurmountable task had taken a week. Seven days of the Straw Hats watching him mutter and mumble to himself and a piece of paper covered in scribbles at mealtimes, biting at the end of his pencil instead of on the food in front of him until Sanji reminded him to eat, before he escaped back to his workshop. It wasn’t long enough for them to consider an intervention, but certainly a correct amount of time for Nami to prod her friend for answers and get a frantic excuse in reply. And breaking his cycle of avoidance and outright hiding from them to take an empty bottle from Zoro’s hand as the man finished drinking from it was the cause of a short period of suspicion. None of them knew what he was up to, except for Robin but she knew how to keep a secret, and that’s how it would stay.
The bin in his workshop had begun to overflow after his second day of acting like a shut-in. Each crumpled ball a blow to his pride and knife to his heart as the feeling of inadequacy overtook the determination manifested by the bottle that had fallen overboard. His drive to continue had sunk to lows deeper than that bottle’s final resting place at the bottom of the ocean. However, nothing could stop the embers of desire to fulfil his plan for Merry, fanned by his grief.
In the end, his efforts amounted to a story worthy of people calling it his magnum opus. Her adventures were his greatest work, and that was enough for Usopp to be happy. Each prose contained on the pages was purple enough to be mistaken for pressed crocus flowers. His accompanying illustration had been drawn in painstaking detail, any mistake being worth sending previous attempts to the pile of paper once known as the corner of his workshop.
At the end of it all, Usopp found himself standing back at the Sunny’s railing. The sunny sky overhead was a stark contrast from the one he had sought answers from. Nevertheless, the sun remained his silent audience. No clouds served to blot out the sunlight and Usopp’s heart felt clearer for it.
The bottle in his hands contained his wishes for Merry’s adventures to continue. He clutched it in one hand to manoeuvre himself to crouch in front of the stern’s edge. The position felt fitting as he prayed that whoever found the bottle would hold her story as close to their heart as he had. That whoever read the pages within the fragile glass could find it in themself to cherish them. And, somewhat selfishly, Usopp hoped that he would see the pages again, in the hands of someone who understood him.
A small smile quirked up the edges of the frown that had etched itself onto his face for the past few days. Putting all of those responsibilities onto a total stranger who just happened to come across it was greedy, he knew that, but Usopp trusted that someone Merry would have been able to call a friend would find it.
With a final wish of luck and health, Usopp let the bottle slip from his fingers into the foamy waters below, happy to let tears welling up in his eyes fall for his lost friend one last time.
Goodbye, Merry.
—
Life on a submarine was much more different than life on a ship. Most of the variations between the day-to-day experiences had on both of them were small in nature, like not being able to open a window or that the air they breathe is maintained by several machines (any of which could break at a given moment and spell their untimely doom). However, there was one glaring detail about submarine living which underpinned everything else: one had to be comfortable with living beside a group of people in quarters close enough that ‘intimate’ was too soft a word to describe it. Submarines were designed to be economical with space; comfort was a secondary thought, and so the habits developed by those who served within them reflected that.
All that being said, it wasn’t as if Law hated being around his crew, far from it. There was simply a limit on how long his boundaries could be tested before he needed space. They surfaced semi-frequently to allow for breathing room from each other and to soak up sunlight - Vitamin D deficiencies were one of his biggest concerns for their time spent between islands. But, his time alone during the short stints the Heart Pirates spent in the ports of random islands were something Law would prescribe as necessary for the health of his crew; they didn’t need a captain who was so irritable that they were afraid to approach him.
Law blinked slowly. Expecting to wince away from the glaring sun that had hung overhead at the start of his trip along the beach, he squinted at the now blackened sky and had half a mind to close his eyes once more. He had wasted the afternoon, evening and what he could only guess was most of the night asleep.
After docking that morning and ensuring his crew was set to work in his absence, he had slipped away from the small port town on this random island, the name of which escaped him in the post-unconscious haze still settled onto the high-functioning part of his brain. The journey ended with him settling onto the sandy shores of an isolated beach for some deep thinking. His thoughts began on short-term planning for the next destination along the Grand Line they would venture to; he would discuss it more with Bepo later, and other miscellaneous things he needed to organise while they were there. Then, he had relaxed; his mind silent aside from the sound of the gentle lapping of ocean waves near his feet which swept past his ears.
It had been a moment of near silence.
That was the last thing Law remembered before his sluggish awakening. It was foolish of him to make himself vulnerable out in the open like that. While the island had no Marine outpost, pirates with a high enough bounty could never be too careful. Grumbling to himself, Law sat up and grimaced at the sensation of sand sticking to the exposed areas of his skin on his forearms and the back of his neck. He took the time to rub at the affected spots before standing up. The trip back to the Polar Tang would take longer than he wanted, so Law got begrudgingly started on trekking his way up the beach. He had wasted enough time today.
There was another reason he had wanted to consider their next docking island carefully. Rumour had it that a nearby island played host to a fairly famous trading village with a secret: a large percentage of the goods they traded was information. Classified Marine secrets, copies of treasure maps stolen from pirates of all levels of infamy, information about the underhanded dealings of major criminals, anything could be learned if you knew who to talk to and had the money to pay for it. It was the kind of place Law had spent years searching for, somewhere to gather dirt on him.
Law’s fists subconsciously clenched and he scowled at nothing in particular. Doflamingo could only keep so many cards to his chest when playing as many games as he was across the Grand Line. An ex-associate who had finished business with the man, a nosey Marine Commander who had been paid off to keep quiet but was too slimy to resist a payday, someone along the line would have had less sense in their head than needed to deal with him and that’s what Law was counting on. Getting the right piece of information about Doflamingo’s operations was just another step in Law’s plan to see an end to him.
More would be done in the future; there were still many moving pieces he needed to organise, fix or remove entirely (if they ever became too much of a problem). And the fact that he was still too weak to face the man directly? It was another thing on the list of tasks needing to be done for him to succeed; it was on a checklist of sins that would one day be soaked in more blood than ink and by its weight he would eventually be crushed.
Yet, Law would never find it in himself to grieve his own death.
Sighing, he forced some of the tension out of his posture, his steps slowing. He knew his crew, his friends, would feel sadness over his passing, but they would be alive for them to do so. None of them deserved to be dragged along to act as an audience for his swan song and if everything worked out like planned they would be unable to. They also wouldn’t have time to talk him out of it.
As he cast his eyes towards the clear night sky above his head to observe the solitary full moon, he wondered if they would continue sailing after he left. They would have his blessing. Yet, his crew had always been stubborn to a fault, an attribute described as being ‘part of their charm’ on more than one occasion. They might insist that since Law was their captain and the reason for the Heart Pirates existing that they couldn’t continue without him there. Maybe they wouldn’t think much of it at all, his role as their captain not amounting to much in the end. He wasn’t sure which outcome he preferred.
His attention strayed onto the stars. They trailed over the sea, past the edge of the visible horizon and somewhere Law may explore one day. Exploration. His travels as a pirate were never marked with much in the way of ‘adventure’ as such unnecessary things. Lost treasures were left to fanciful stories in the face of thievery, unfound lands non-existent as even legendary places had been found by the man who started the era of piracy they found themselves in, there was no reason to place meaning in wondrous ideas when it would all end in the same place: death.
His thoughts were interrupted by him almost tripping over something in the sand. Catching himself after his momentary distraction, Law glanced down at his foot to find the neck of a forest green bottle protruding from the beach’s surface. He raised an eyebrow at the offending object while he reached down to pull it fully out of its resting place. At the sudden motion the bottle emitted a muted rattling.
The sound made Law pause. Bringing it closer to eye level, it was hard to see through the sand and murky glass but there was something hidden within it. For a moment his mind supplied tales of secret maps being sent by sailors and pirates alike via bottles. However, he ignored them. Whatever was in the bottle was important enough for someone to store it in a rudimentary waterproof container; therefore, it could be valuable and worth bringing back for closer inspection.
Forgetting his deep musings for now, Law dusted the bottle free of the sand which remained clung to it. Then he tucked it under his arm and continued slowly down the beach.
—
The contents of the bottle turned out to be nothing special at first glance.
It was a short story about a girl named Merry. She loved the rain, puddles, rivers, oceans, anything with water really, and always wore a yellow raincoat. Her dream was to travel the world’s oceans to see everywhere she could - the entire world in fact. And that’s exactly what she did, her and a little sailboat.
The pages were filled with details on all the strange and wonderful places she visited on her journey. The words spoke of her treasure hunting adventure in the deep jungles of an island where it never stopped raining that held an ancient temple and ended up finding more than she bargained for with the temple’s ferocious guardian. Then there was one where they recounted her perilous journey to stop a villain from erupting the volcano of an island inhabited by tiny plant-based creatures who liked jelly beans. And another in which she won a boating race by asking a family of turtles to help navigate her way through a coral reef. The list went on and on, as the pages numbered more than should be physically possible to fit within the bottle in Law’s possession.
However, each of her stints at these locations ended in her gathering a new friend to travel with. A plant-based creature named Titi, a singing snake who went by Hissther, Johnsy the talking puppet who dreams of flying, her friends travelled alongside her in her little boat and they saw the world together. It was a simple children’s story, sunshine and rainbows in a written form, that Law had reasoned to put down more than once while reading it. But, he failed to go through with it.
Merry’s journey held a realistic darkness that grabbed his attention. Her life was a struggle sometimes as the sea which Merry loved so much wasn’t always forgiving and not everyone she met was kind. Yet, her smile never faded; she persisted through it all, so that her goal could be kept in sight. She would face her future with a kind heart, strong will and the friends she had made along the way.
Altogether, this fictional girl was a better person than him.
Law spent hours in his room reading through page after page of the story. His earlier worries filtered past the words on the page like sand until he reached the last entry in Merry’s saga. She had done it. The last island on her journey around the world was in sight, and what an island it was. A place full of wind and sea breezes that snowed beautifully in the winter, the last place for Merry to explore an unknown shore. It was where her journey of discovery would end…
…and where her dream would die.
He could sympathise with her. A life’s goal is named as such because it was meant to take that long and there would be nothing beyond that. The end of her story would be the end of her life; when Law’s plan succeeds it will be the conclusion to his time living with his friends too.
Self-loathing had finally overcome his desire to read Merry’s story and so the final pages of it had been stuffed in the drawer of his desk. He didn’t need to distract himself from the real world with silly make-believe. Getting his revenge was too important for his thoughts to stray from for too long.
Until a month later, on the anniversary of an event that ignited his dreams with fire, he had sought out the end. Law needed to know the ending of a life that wasn’t polluted with misery. He read the tale of Merry finding the final island, of her climbing its highest mountain, and declaring her new goal to the land, sky and sea: to live her life with friends in the special place they had found. And her words broke something in him.
Law’s steadfast belief that his life would end with his plan’s success splintered, not quite breaking but nowhere near as strong as it previously had been. The final page of the collection showed only an illustration of the brave little Merry atop the highest peak of the mountain where she had breathed hope into her life and, somehow, his along with it. The rest of his time awake that night was spent staring at the drawing, clutching the edge of its page tightly enough to crumple it slightly, and making a promise to reconsider some parts of his plan - if only to give a better chance at living long enough to find a dream of his own someday.
—
It had been two years since that little bottle had set off on its journey to find a suitable reader for Merry’s story. Since the day Usopp let it go he would think about it every time he caught sight of a yellow raincoat and simply wonder. Meanwhile, Law had spent every day he could with the drawing of Merry on his person as a sort of good luck charm for the happy future he strived to grasp onto one day.
However, neither could have predicted how the adventures of Merry and her story’s bottle would continue.
—
Law could feel a migraine forming. Even in the night’s quiet, when most of them were asleep, being within close proximity to any of Straw Hats’ crew was enough to make everything seem unnaturally loud. In the absence of their yelling and playing, the Thousand Sunny’s wood creaked and groaned as it battled the tide; it was a contrast to the subtle warble of the Polar Tang’s metal that had long become a comfort for him.
Speaking of his submarine, he should check in with his crew. Closing the medical journal loaned to by Chopper, making sure to place it back on the shelf overlooking the aforementioned doctor’s desk, he stood from the desk chair. Law took the time to extinguish the candle he had been using to read by before stepping out into the fresh sea air. The taste of salt which hung on the breeze did nothing to quell the pressure building at the back of his skull, if anything it succeeded in worsening his symptoms. Nevertheless, Law heaved a deep sigh and relished in the feeling of the atypical weightlessness on his chest.
Finding his current spot along the side of the Sunny’s stern-most upper deck structure pleasant enough to have a conversation from, Law checked for any of his temporary allies. When the coast came up clear, he pulled out his Den Den Mushi then dialled a familiar number. The little snail puttered for a handful of seconds before it clicked and began groggily muttering, “...could be calling at this hour? Hello?”
Law furrowed his brow at the sleep clearly marking the other’s voice, commenting, “I’m sorry to have interrupted your beauty sleep Shachi. You’re not on communication duty now, are you?”
“Shit!” Shachi’s voice spat before there was some hasty shuffling from the other side of the call. Then he returned, voice more awake than it had been moments ago, “Captain! It’s good to hear from you. How’re things going with the Straw Hats? You killed anyone yet?”
“Not yet… But, we both know this call isn’t to check up on me, is it?” Law responded with a smirk that he knew came through in his voice. “What have you all been up to?”
The snail in his hand gave a meek chuckle, “There have been no problems on our end, aside from everyone missing you. We’ve been keeping up maintenance on the Tang, so she’ll be in near perfect shape for when you get back.” There was an unspoken hope in Shachi’s tone as he finished his report.
Law bit back the resigned sigh and trapped it in his throat. They both knew the answer to the unspoken question that hope whispered. It was the cause of many arguments as the last couple of years had sped past them. He refused to back down now and more so he stood firm in any of them stepping in to stand beside him during his fight against the person he despised. But, they could agree to hold onto the wish that they’d sail again when it was all over - to somewhere Law had only read about in a story.
“You go get some sleep, Shachi, and tell everyone to keep out of trouble,” Law concluded his side of the message with a smile, “And to stay out of my room while I’m gone, okay?”
“Whatever you say, Captain,” Shachi replied.
The click of the line going dead hung in the air while Law remained still against the wall. He replaced the Den Den Mushi with a well-loved, if a little worn around the edges, folded piece of paper from within his coat. After glancing about his surroundings once more, Law unfolded it to admire the old drawing. A part of the page was held together with tape due to a stupid mistake he had made during a mundane battle against a crew of Grand Line newbies wanting to punch above their weight. Other than that, his good luck time charm had remained pristine through all of the missteps he had taken to get to where he was now. He brought it to rest gently against his chest, muttering, “Damn it.”
“Hey, are you okay?” A voice asked from above Law’s head.
Scowling at the interruption to his thoughts, he folded the picture and slipped it into his coat before glaring up at the person looking down at him from the roof. Two owlish eyes met his while he took in who had been eavesdropping on him for an unknown amount of time: Usopp, the Straw Hats’ sniper. The man was talented, Law would give him that, but he appeared to be just as nosey as some of his crewmates. He was leaning over the railing with what looked like a watering can held loosely in his hand. They silently stared at one another for a minute prior to him countering with, “How long have you been listening to my conversation?”
“Not too long,” he answered in a mumble without looking Law in the eye.
He narrowed his eyes and clarified, “What did you hear?”
Usopp cringed, “Oh, just, you talking to your crew and stuff.”
Law shook his head, “Nothing important. Good.”
His quiet moment now ruined, he set about turning to head towards the room he had been given to sleep in but stopped when Usopp called out, “Hey, I’m sorry for overhearing your call, but, I did mean what I said.” Law stopped in his tracks, half-turning on his heel to shoot the other man a questioning glance. Finally meeting eyes for the first time since the start of this encounter, he repeated, “Are you okay? You seem more… Intense, yeah, that works, and stressed than usual.”
Completing his turn back towards Usopp, Law let silence answer for him for a moment. The splash of water on the hull, the whisper of a chilling wind, the frustrating mutterings from his inner voice telling him to just leave already, all of them spoke truer than whatever response had prepared itself on the tip of his tongue. However, something, a thing fuelled by the loneliness he felt without his crew and the exhaustion which had seeped further into his bones deeper than the cold of Punk Hazard, within him spoke out in honesty, “Why would you care?”
At that, Usopp blinked a couple times before answering with an uncertain smile, “Because, it seems like you need someone to talk to right now, and I’ve been told I’m pretty good at conversations, maybe even the best in fact.”
In other circumstances Law would have found that response pathetic, but instead he countered with, “I’ve been told I’m pretty bad at them.”
“That’s fine, I can be good enough for the both of us,” he shot back, smiling more confidently than before, “Let me just put this away and we can go talk on the lawn.”
Law wordlessly watched as he dipped behind the railing, listening to the slowly quieting footfalls left in Usopp’s wake. His previously aching head was awash with warring emotions of shame over being needlessly vulnerable around a near stranger and of naive curiosity from the desire to have someone nearby who could share in his struggles - like a friend…
Upon reaching the aforementioned grassy area, he voted to sit and let his hands stray back to the picture tucked in his pocket. With it free once more Law held it folded between his fingers in his field of vision, leaning back to observe the stars. The dream the slip of paper ignited was close to becoming true or dying along with him.
The end of his adventures, would it be the same as Merry’s?
His musings came to an end when Usopp’s fast moving steps stopped near his side. He said nothing as Law lowered his hand, acknowledging his presence somewhat, and elected to joining him on the ground. Despite his earlier claim, Usopp remained quiet for a while longer after his arrival to stare at the man who was pointedly not looking at him. Then he started, “So, you like the stars?”
“They help me think,” Law answered flatly.
“Oh,” Usopp commented before pausing for a beat, “Did you know that people used to trace the stars as a way of navigating?” He sagely nodded along to his own words, “Before log poses, sailors found their way at sea using constellations and their wits. Now people look to them to help them find things.”
He had been looking at the stars when he had found Merry’s bottle, so maybe people were right to ask them for answers. However, Law doubted another life changing revelation would come from trailing after small white dots in the sky, so he found himself asking, “What do you think I need to find?”
Usopp joined him in his stargazing, eyes wide in thought and wonder, and Law took a moment to catch sight of the stars in them. Eventually, he said, “That you need a friend while you’re here.” The voice he spoke with was quiet, but determined to say its piece, “I know that we’re only in an alliance to defeat Doflamingo and that you’ve already shot down Luffy’s idea of it making us friends. But, being away from your crew must be tough, and so I wanted to offer friendship instead of just, sort of, expecting it.”
Friends.
Law pinched the folded paper wedge between his fingers. Striving for the same goal without taking the proper steps to get there was impractical, and so…
“Do you have a dream, Usopp?” Law prompted.
Usopp’s attention moved to him and they stared at one another while he hesitantly responded, “Yeah, I want to become a brave person.”
“And what about after that? When you become brave, what’ll be your next dream?” He laid down and brought his hand into his vision once more, explaining, “I’d like to find a certain island, one that I’ve read about, but…”
“But?”
“But, I don’t think after everything I’ve done that I deserve to find it when all of this is over. With all the blood on my hands, I’m the same kind of monster as the men we’ll be fighting,” he calmly continued. “And none of the monsters I’ve ever heard about get happy endings.”
“Hey! That’s not true! I know plenty of stories about monsters who get happy endings. In fact, I could tell you one right now,” Usopp offered without thinking. His eyes widened as he realised how ridiculous he must have sounded. A warmth spread across his cheeks and his gaze ducked down towards the grass twisting in the breeze between them, much like how his stomach was currently rolling in embarrassment.
Law, for his part as audience to the outburst, watched expectantly while the other man heaved in a deep breath before letting it out in a long sigh. Then he listened to the new version of Usopp’s reply, “I don’t know what I’ll do when I finally become brave, but I know I’ll be happy with whatever I choose to do.” His head snapped back up, expression once again determined, “And you, and your island, I’m certain you’ll find it one day. You’re a person, like me, not a monster, so you can chase your dreams just as well as I can.”
It was for a second time in Law’s life that his outlook for the future changed for the better beneath the stars. As he watched Usopp continue to flounder through his encouraging speech and a story about a monster, Law felt the sense of resignation around his heart crack and crumble into pieces while it skipped a beat. In its place was a sense of warmth which fanned the embers of hope within his soul. It was also the second time Law found someone whose smile made him return it.
—
There was a noticeable change in air around the Sunny when everyone woke up the morning after. A sense of relief dusted with the kind of hope suitably matched by the dawn of a new day, breakfast was a mystifying affair as the Straw Hats observed the source of these feelings as one of their own and the terrifying captain they had taken as an ally quietly conversed across the table. None of them had the heart to eavesdrop on or interrupt the pair; it was the first time any of them had seen Law smile the way he was, like Usopp’s words were a lullaby for his very soul.
Then Usopp gestured grandly, waffle laden fork in hand, and his food landed on the other man’s plate. There was silence from the room. For his part, Law stared down at the offending morsel before picking up his own utensil to scoop up the section of pastry. He wordlessly offered towards its owner. To all of their surprise Usopp leaned forward to bite it from the utensil prior to continuing with his story.
He remained oblivious to the way Law’s apparent surprise towards his actions morphed into a slight laugh and grin, but the rest of the room noticed. They watched on while something none of them could have predicted happened in front of them: the Surgeon of Death was content.
—
The Straw Hats continued to be the audience for moments shared between Usopp and his strange choice of company. Small verbal exchanges in passing that none of them could quite hear, Usopp choosing to spend time quietly sitting next to Law on the Sunny’s deck in favour of playing (a fact that had Luffy complaining to their ally more than once about trying to steal his crew), the pair volunteering to take night watch together for days in a row: there were more instances than they could count.
Confusion had switched lanes into concern before swerving into suspicion as they noticed more about each interaction they caught a glimpse of. Law smiled at Usopp’s jokes as if they brightened his whole day. Usopp sat with Law for hours, neither of them talking the entire time, and watched over the other with eyes full of warmth whenever Law fell asleep while leaning against him. The two of them were inseparable outside of Usopp’s regular duties, and Law’s occasional check-in with his own crew.
It was getting to the point where even the more levelheaded members of the Straw Hats wondered if their captain’s complaints about coercion weren’t unfounded. It took Robin stepping in to say, “They’re growing closer. I think we would be ruining something special if we stepped in now.”
Realisation washed over most of the gathered crew members at her explanation.
“But Robin,” Luffy whined during their almost-crew meeting, “What if Usopp leaves forever with him?”
“He won’t,” she placated with a smile.
It was Nami’s turn to interject, “How do you know?”
If she were one for long, honest gossip Robin might have answered that despite all of the secret moments she observed from afar where the two men’s hands touched, occasionally edging close enough for one to cradle the other, it seemed far-fetched for Usopp to leave them. Not even eavesdropping on the stories passed between them of their successes, struggles, mistakes, hopes and regrets was enough to make Robin say more than, “Making Usopp choose between us and himself would make Law do the one thing he would rather avoid doing at all costs.”
“And what’s that?”
“Make Usopp unhappy.”
—
Another day at sea found the pair sitting idly on the deck. Law rested on the bench around the Sunny’s main mast, eyes closed as he feigned sleep, while Usopp sat cross-legged in the grass in front of him. The latter had been scribbling in a ringed sketchbook for the duration of their companionable silence.
Then the sound of pencil on paper halted. “Hey Law, want to see what I’ve been working on?” Usopp quietly asked.
Law peaked an eye open and nodded. He expected to see a plan for some kind of machine that the other man wanted to build. However, when Usopp turned the wad of pages around he was greeted by a sketched out drawing of his own face. The relaxed position the version of him on the page rested in made him assume it was supposed to be him from a few moments before.
“Do you like it?” Usopp prompted with a small smile. “It’s not my best work, but I think I’ve managed to capture your good side.”
Law leaned forward, now fully awake, to take the sketchbook out of Usopp’s outstretched hands. Mindful to keep himself from brushing and subsequently smudging the pencil lines, he analysed the simple rendition of him on the page. It was evident that Usopp had spent more than the short time shared between them on the deck on the drawing; Law had been on his mind outside of their time together?
Law’s lips upturned slightly at the edges. “I like it,” he answered quietly. Absentmindedly running his thumb along the edge of the page as he continued to stare at the carefully sketched drawing before him, he asked, “Can I keep this?”
“Yes!” Usopp agreed in a snap. Then realisation filtered across his nervous features before they settled into an expression of hesitation. He grabbed the sketchbook from Law’s loose grasp while backpedalling, “I guess it would be weird for me to keep a picture of someone else for no good reason. I’d even go so far as to say it would be creepy if I did, and I’m not a creep. Nope. But I do want to keep it for a good reason and that’s because it’s not finished. It would go against my code of honour as an artist to allow a work of mine to go out into the world unfinished!”
Law followed his retreat as Usopp leaned back and closed the book with a muted snap, “But…”
Still keeping the book out of reach, Usopp parotted, “But?”
“I asked to keep it now, if I thought it needed something changed then I would have told you so,” he explained, taking one edge of the sketchbook in hand.
A moment of silence fell between the pair as they remained locked in their struggle to take possession of the sketchbook. Usopp refused to look him in the eye, his grip starting to falter as a rosy tint began to rise on his cheeks. Law found himself wondering how warm his face was at that moment. Usopp’s smile reminded him of the sun, a shining dawn for the starless grief in his soul, so Law imagined his face to be just as warm as the happiness that displayed itself upon it.
This time Usopp began before trailing off, “But…”
Leaving no room for hesitation, Law pulled the book free. He held the object reverently, as if the pages within it held the answers to every question in existence, and concluded, “It’s perfect as it is.”
Usopp slumped into himself. His forehead was pressed against his knees to hide what Law assumed to be a slowly deepening blush. A small part of him considered returning the drawing and receiving it when Usopp considered it completed; however, that solitary voice was silenced without mercy by the egotistic voice that whispered an addition to his earlier words:
After all, you made it while thinking of me.
“At least let me sign it for you,” Usopp mumbled into his lap. His arm was the only part of him that moved from his solo huddle, ending with it outstretched towards Law expectantly.
Law took his statement to be the victory it was and couldn’t help but counter with a slight smirk, “Only if you promise to give it right back…”
“Of course.”
“...and that you let me see your face,” he finished over the quick agreement shot back at him.
Usopp’s hand twitched in mid-air. It took a few more motionless moments before Usopp propped his chin atop his knees to glare at the other man. Despite the fiery gaze being directed at him, Law allowed himself to find warmth within the embarrassed expression on Usopp’s face. In his moment of distraction the sketchbook was retrieved by its owner. Usopp was quick to do what he promised in signing and then handing the newly freed page to the person depicted upon it.
Law took a second to once more admire it. The addition of the signature made the piece feel complete, but it also ignited a sense of familiarity that pulled at the edges of the blanket of serenity Usopp’s presence draped across his heart.
Where had he seen that scribble before?
—
The sky was pretty that night. Clear and pristine, open and endless, it was the opposite to Usopp’s thoughts and heart.
He found himself once more laying beside his recently gained companion on the Sunny’s deck underneath the stars. Their previous moments of closeness had been overflowing with whatever thoughts and memories had felt right to share at the time. Each collection of words existed within bubbles that once burst radiated rain-like melancholy, nostalgia tinted in the hues of sunset and so much more. Yet, their topic of conversation for that moment only caused a sense of dread to bubble up in his chest.
Their destination, Dressrosa, was mere days away. A silent understanding of what this statement implied about the proximity of themselves and the man Law despised more than anyone else passed between them.
Since then, Law has remained quiet. The soft sounds of inhales and exhales were Usopp’s only hints to his status as an alive man. However, figuring out if the other man was ‘an undead creature of the night’ as Nami joked shortly after the formation of their alliance remained low on his list of priorities.
Instead Usopp focused on the slip of paper gently folded in between Law’s decorated fingers. It was a small, delicate object he had seen many times before, kept safely out of sight within the cobalt folds of the other’s attire. The mystery of what was written on the page that the other seemingly drew comfort from plagued his thoughts sometimes; however, it also felt wrong to steal away the fleeting moments of oblivious peace Law slipped into whenever he stared at it.
“Hey, Usopp.”
The aforementioned man blinked a handful of times as his gaze shifted from the previous subjects of his thoughts to the new one. The unblinking stare that greeted him made his heart stutter, but he pushed past the sudden instance of arrhythmia to ask, “Yeah?”
“Does the name ‘Merry’ mean anything to you?” Law’s question was spoken in a curiously innocent tone. Yet, it threw a lance of grief through the beating light of Usopp’s very soul. Of course he knew of a Merry: she was his entire world until the day she was fully embraced by the sea she loved so much. A ship, a home and a friend, Merry was everything. Usopp let out a strangled noise, eyes dropping to the floor. It felt like an age since he last cried over her passing, but a single question left him blinking away the stinging sensation in his eyes.
A hand came up to brush against his cheek as Law whispered, “Don’t…” Usopp remained still. “Don’t cry, please. I just wanted to confirm a hunch I had… And to ask you to do something selfish for me.”
Neither of them moved.
“What?” Usopp sniffled.
Law’s hand manoeuvred his head such that their eyes met once more. His thumb rubbed at the small dew drop of a tear sluggishly trailing along Usopp’s cheek. Then he slowly answered, in a voice so breathless it could be mistaken for the sea breeze sweeping across the deck, “When this is all over, after that man has died by my hand. Could you tell me about your Merry? I want to know her the way that you do.”
His lip quivered. Usopp bit back a sob and took hold of Law’s wrist with his own shaking hand, desperate for a solid lifeline in this moment of emotional collapse. He let out a damp laugh; it was funny, he didn’t have to ask what was on the mysterious piece of paper Law kept on his person anymore, but now he kind of wished he never found out. It felt like too much to deal with…
…but, Law deserved to hear an answer.
Usopp sobbed. “Alright, alright. But you have to do something for me too.”
“Anything,” was shot back with ease.
“Don’t die.”
—
Five fingers to a hand, one hand to an arm and two arms to a man: a fact untrue for himself only hours prior. Law flexed the hand of his reattached arm as he leaned against the small house that had been leant to himself and the recuperating members of the Straw Hat Pirates.
The nighttime air was still, creating an inescapable quiet outside of the orchestra of thoughts vying for attention within his mind. He sighed. The day had begun with an incomplete man in spirit, continued on without an earthly limb before ending in…
…silence.
His brain overflowed with questions, but none of them mattered.
What do I do now?
Was this how I wanted this battle to end?
Is this enough to lay my need for revenge to rest?
It was too much to think about, so Law sought out silence and the promise he had yet to keep.
Hearing footsteps come around the side of the building, Law raised his gaze from the moonlit dirt to find the person he’d been waiting for. Usopp wordlessly sat beside him against the wall, quickly huddling his legs closer to his torso and resting his chin on his knees; his eyes settled on his own feet while they slowly kicked at loose dirt. Then he mumbled, “Hi.”
“Hi,” Law muttered back, keeping his voice low so as to not break the mellowness of the moment.
Usopp reached across the space between them, placing his palm on the ground, continuing, “Thanks for keeping up your end of the deal…” Unable to respond verbally, Law tentatively rested his own hand over the other’s. His thumb swept across Usopp’s knuckles as the latter went on, “And, I guess, now it’s my turn, to tell you about Merry. Do you still have the picture?”
Using his free hand Law gave him the folded wedge of slightly aged paper and Usopp opened it.
Finally, he could see his Merry again. The edges of his pencilled lines were smudged from wear and the paper showed scars from the life it had lived within Law’s pocket - as well as the hardships the man had faced. It was a miracle that everything was over now. Unless, it wasn’t and there was something else Law felt like he needed to do before starting the next part of his journey.
Taking a deep breath in, Usopp began his story, “Before being a small explorer who travelled the world making friends, Merry was a ship. She was the first ship we sailed on in our journey to help Luffy become the Pirate King, and had been there since I joined, like a twin on the crew.” His tone was subdued for a few words into his speech, before flowing into wistfully nostalgic as he continued. “We went on so many adventures together, in the East Blue and in Paradise. It was good back then, but eventually we…”
Usopp swallowed the saliva that had built up around his slightly chattering teeth. He hadn’t realised how cold it was when he stepped out before, or maybe it was just nerves.
“We had to say goodbye, because she couldn’t sail anymore,” he finished. Usopp tilted his head to catch Law’s eye and flash him a mournful smile. “I couldn’t accept it at the time, so I left the crew after this big fight with Luffy. A bunch of stuff ended up happening with the Marines, so I came back, and she ended up sailing with us one last time.”
He felt Law’s grip tighten, hands entwining as his started to tremble, and Usopp sighed, “But I just couldn’t let it end there, even after having to beg for forgiveness to return to the only home I had at the time. Merry deserved better than being left at the bottom of the ocean. She wanted to sail the entire world with us, and we failed her. I couldn’t fix her.”
He turned to stare at the picture of the small girl standing on a mountain’s peak. It was as if Merry was in the sky again.
“You gave her the journey she sought after in your story,” Law contributed, his eyes flicking between the picture and Usopp’s own.
“That was the idea,” Usopp laughed as his vision grew blurry. “I also kind of hoped that I’d be able to meet the person who found it, and that they’d care about her as much as I do.” He sniffled, rubbing at the stray tears on his cheeks, while looking at Law with hope, as if whatever the man said next would define Usopp’s life from that moment on.
Law used the hand not intertwined with Usopp’s to take hold of the free edge of Merry’s illustration, so he could get a better look at it. The familiar roughness of the worn paper had long since been a source of stability for him, like a sandy blanket across his mind. Now, he was sharing it with someone who understood - both him, his pain and the life he wanted to pursue from then on. Law took his hand away from the paper to rest it on his chest; his heartbeat was quicker than he would have cared to admit, but it showed that he wasn’t in some postmortal paradise.
“I’m not one to disappoint, so I hope I’m everything you expected from the one who’d read Merry’s story,” Law slowly admitted. He watched as Usopp went to say something, but refused to let the man interject for fear of losing his nerve, “But, she saved my life. I had lost hope for whatever future could have existed past killing Doflamingo, and so I accepted my own death alongside his. That’s why I chose to leave my crew out of it.”
“Because they’d stop you?” Usopp whispered.
Law pursed his lips. Thinking about them, there was a pang of longing that filtered across his senses. He could already imagine them crying and yelling at him for being so reckless with his safety, and for allying with the Straw Hats of all crews. However, what mattered more was the slowly solidifying actualisation of Law’s future with them…
…and maybe…
“Yeah,” Law sighed. He smiled for the first time since they sat beside one another. “Their care towards me has been one of the things to keep me going. Them and you.”
“Me?”
“With Merry as the moon for my night, you would be the sun in the dawn of the future I want to start. I’m bad with words, I know. Just know that I’d give my life for you, even if you don’t want to come with me.” Law spoke with conviction. He was determined to finish his piece without shedding the tears he knew were welling up in the corners of his eyes.
“Come with you? As in join your crew? I don’t think-” Usopp floundered while sinking into himself once again.
“No, I know you want to sail alongside them for a while longer, so I’ll wait. Then we should find it: Merry’s island. The one where she was happy to live with her closest people.” The tears eventually came, Law failed to hold them back as his heart clenched. “An adventure free from my past alongside my friends and the one I love, that’s all I want from life now. That’s the dream I found because of you.”
“Love?” Usopp’s face developed a rosey hint as he stuttered, “You can’t mean me.”
“I do. I’d tell you as much a million times over, until you understand how much you changed my life. Through your actions, your words and the story you gave Merry, I now want to be happy,” he ended his confession by showing Usopp the best smile Law could muster. The expression that played out on his face seemed more like a pleading grimace.
Usopp finally unfolded from his bundled up stance to fully turn towards him. He glanced between the drawing in his hands and Law while observing both with an abnormal amount of scrutiny. There was no way to tell what he was thinking. However, Law didn’t have to wait long for Usopp to start meekly speaking, “If you’re sure about waiting, then, yes. I want to sail with you again, and be the one you love. But, no dying for me, that promise of not dying is still going to be valid forever, because I feel the same about you.”
“You do?” Law whispered, leaning forward to bridge the space between them.
“I do,” Usopp clarified while moving to meet him in the middle.
The tender moment was audienced by the early morning sun as it crested the line of the horizon. Law smiled against Usopp’s lips; the golden warmth of the sunlight on his cheeks couldn’t compare to the burning desire for life ignited within his soul by the man in front of him. His dream would take time, effort and the patience to keep his promises to the ones he cared about, but Law was certain that he would get to share the land of Merry’s story with Usopp.
Their life together would someday begin on an island at the end of the world full of wind and sea breezes that snowed beautifully in the winter.