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It was the last day of the semester, and the last day Law would set foot in the school grounds before he graduates for good. Law had never been a fan of school, but there was a heavy feeling in his heart when he thought about moving forward. It was bittersweet.
The two of them were on the rooftop. Zoro was leaning on the wall, expressionless as he stared at the clouds. Law was next to him, looking at his hands. They hadn't spoken a word to each other since Zoro came up and found Law. It felt weird to sit there with Zoro and not touch him, not look at him. But there was a lot on his mind right now. A lot he wanted to talk to Zoro about, but couldn't find the words for it.
A few minutes passed, and Zoro's voice was steady when he broke their silence. "Excited to graduate?"
Law didn't know why, but he felt laughter bubble up inside him. He didn't laugh, but he wanted to. He glanced to his side. Zoro was still not looking at him.
"I guess," Law replied after a beat.
"You guess?"
Law shrugged. "I mean, good that I'm finally out of this shitty school, but I'm just gonna enter another one soon. The only difference is whether that new school is shitty or not."
Zoro scoffed at his side. "You won't find a single good university in this godforsaken place if you tried."
"Yes," Law said slowly. "Which is why I'm leaving."
Zoro knew this already. Law told him the night he made up his mind. "I know."
They fell silent again. It was an unbearable silence, but Law didn't know what else to say, so he drowned himself in his musings. Lets the thought of leaving the city simmer in his mind.
With his grades, he could go anywhere he wanted, and he wanted a university out of states or even the country where he could actually grow and become the surgeon he had always wanted to be. He could leave the city, where he spent all 17 years of his life. He wouldn't really miss it. He had never liked this city and its grimy buildings, shallow people. It's a city he grew up in, but he could live without it. If he left, he'd never come back, because a part of him wanted to forget everything here altogether. Turn to a new chapter. Make a fresh start.
He wanted to chase his dreams. He wanted to make Cora proud. He wasn’t sure he could do it here.
(But leaving would mean leaving Zoro. Another part of him didn't want to leave Zoro.)
As if he could read Law's mind, Zoro spoke up again.
"You're turning eighteen in October," he pointed out.
Law already knew where this conversation was going. He didn't want to continue, but despite himself, he said, "Yes."
"Would you come back, then? For a while."
Law knew what Zoro meant. He wanted Law to come back, so Law could tell him if his soulmate string led to him. He wanted Law to come back, and maybe stay if it did.
"I don't know," Law answered in earnest. He had always been a coward in that aspect, too scared to know the truth. Too scared to know what would happen if Zoro wasn't his soulmate. There was always a possibility that they're meant to be, but.
But Law didn't like risking things. The one thing he and Zoro didn't share opinions on.
Deep down, Law expected Zoro to fight for it, to convince Law to come back, but he didn't. Just stayed quiet, letting the birds chirp in his silence. They reached an understanding, and Law, however uncomfortable he was with the fact that Zoro wouldn't fight him over this, felt that it was better to leave it that way. He wasn't a risk taker. He wasn't about to change now.
The shitty bell of the shitty school they met in rang, and Law stood up. Lunchtime was over, and he didn't skip classes even if it was his last day. Zoro stayed seated, his eyes closed and arms crossed, and Law didn't know what to say to justify him leaving. He knew he didn't have to say anything, knew Zoro didn't need his justification, but the want for closure still rang in his mind. Law lingered.
"Will you be okay?"
Zoro said nothing for a moment, but replied: "I will."
And even though that wasn't enough, even though that would never be enough, Law nodded, an act Zoro couldn't even see, and left stupidly, shutting the rusty door to the rooftop behind him. They didn't say goodbyes.
Law never came back.
Zoro was eighteen, and the string on his pinky finger led somewhere far, far away.
Law still never came back.