Work Text:
A human heart was both strong and yet fragile. It was strong enough to pump blood within the entire body, thumping and showing life constantly. Although it was fragile enough that even the slightest bit of exposure to the outside made it hurt.
That wasn’t even mentioning the feelings that hurt so often and the constant abuse one could go to.
When Law first lost everything, he was five and for some time, he thought he couldn’t feel or hear his own heartbeat. He knew that it had to have been there, blood was still pumping through his body and he wasn’t dead, even though it felt like it.
Law simply thought he’d lost his heart and that he wouldn’t ever get it back.
Then, he met Doflamingo and he completely forgot about his lost heart, simply set to burn the world around him. Law was content with that life now, not that he had much more time to live for it.
Until Corazon slipped into his life and found his heart for him once again. Dragging him on a nonsense journey to find a cure for his sickness and for the first time in a long time, Law felt and heard his heart once again.
But that didn’t last long.
Doflamingo found them and took his heart once more, this time taking the one who had restarted his heart and brought him back to life, killing Corazon in cold blood in the cold on Minion Island.
Law stopped hearing his heart and feeling the warmth of it not too long afterwards and thought he would lose it permanently this time.
Things changed and occasionally, he could feel and hear his heart as he grew and began to form his own crew, though it was rare.
When he met Monkey D. Luffy and they formed an alliance, defeating Doflamingo and getting together through the aftermath, his heart roared and beat like a loud drum, causing Law to remember how strong the heart truly was.
The sound flickered briefly when he thought Luffy had died in Wano, but when Luffy reappeared with the sound of drums and the rings of laughter, the sound returned and Law felt his chest relax.
He thought he was finally free of being robbed of his chance at having a heart and separated from the Kid and Strawhat Pirates on good terms and left to complete his portion of his journey, heart thumping loudly in his chest.
And then, he ran into Blackbeard and was swiftly reminded that his heart wasn’t indestructible, no matter how many times he had it broken before.
The sight of his crew being treated like they had no right to be on the sea, even after all the battles and strife they had made it through, hurt more than the wounds on his body as he weakly looked around at the gathering of Blackbeard Pirates, their captain leading them as he laughed and spoke, but Law couldn’t hear a word of it.
The Polar Tang, the one place he truly felt safe and at home on, was gone…sunk to the bottom of the sea with his crew and leaving nothing but a broken man behind. His ears rang and yet throughout the noise in his ears, Law couldn’t hear it…
He couldn’t hear his own heart once more, this time surely having shattered the fragile organ in his chest for the final time as his golden eyes fluttered hazily and he tried to get breath into his battered lungs.
The former Captain (because you can’t be a Captain without a crew and his was gone-) laid there and waited for the finishing strike to come, only for Bepo to come in and swipe the enemy crew away from him, gathering Law’s weak form within his own warm paws and diving into the water, swimming throughout the freezing water that shook Law’s heavy body to the core as he dogged large boulders thrown to try and stop them.
“Bepo…you have to get out of here…”
“Not without you, Captain.” His best friend, Navigator and First Mate sounded heartbroken at his words. “We’re going to get help and save the others.”
“Bepo…they’re gone…” Tears finally dripped down his cheeks, mixing with the salt water as the Mink swam, slowing down as they got away from Winner Island. “They’re all gone and it’s my fault.”
“Captain, just rest. Our Nakama aren’t that weak…” A firm paw pressed comfortingly against his back and Law felt his body relax against his will. “It’s going to be okay, I promise. Just rest.”
And Law finally listened, body slumping fully against Bepo.
⸻
When he came to once more, Law almost thought it was all a bad dream and that his vivid nightmares just came up with a new way to torment him as he felt the gentle sway of a boat carrying him.
But the silence of his heart and the throbbing pain in his body brought that naive thought to a quick halt and he sat up, wincing when his body pulled at his injured parts too much.
“Torao, you’re finally awake.” Golden eyes looked over to the side and Law came face to face with Luffy’s stern face and he wanted to cry all over again.
His boyfriend, the one who brought his heart back after so long of the silence and not having it, was going to see him once more without his heart and crew. “Lu-ya…”
“It’s going to be okay, Torao.” Luffy’s hand moved to hold his own, giving it a comforting squeeze. “I promise, you’re going to be okay.”
“No, I can’t feel it…I can’t hear it...” Law felt the tears falling once more. “My heart…he took it and sunk it to the bottom of the ocean.”
“Then I’m going to pick the pieces up and fix it for you again.” Luffy’s thumb rubbed along the back of Law’s tattooed hand gently, his lips pulled into a firm line. “I’m not going to let you lose it forever.”
Law wanted to say more, but his body protested more and more, so instead, he fell into a dreamless sleep, hoping that Luffy was right and he would be able to put his heart back into place once more.