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It had been a week since Kaido was finally beaten, and the entire country was rejoicing. The victory festival was probably going to take another full week, but the Straw Hats and their allies didn’t really mind—after the long and difficult fighting, the people of Wano deserved a long celebration, and they were happy to stay through the whole thing. Naturally, Luffy was among the ones most enjoying the festivities, but he’d noticed that Law didn’t seem to be in the mood.
“What’s with Traffy?” he inquired to Bepo as the two munched on meat skewers. “Shouldn’t he be having fun like the rest of us?”
“I don’t know,” the Mink admitted. “Captain had a rough life, you know. Might be that he doesn’t really know how to have fun.”
Taking another bite from his skewer, Luffy thought about what he knew of Law. He’d heard quite a bit about the other man’s past, and he had the feeling that Law never really had the chance to be a kid, especially because of that nasty illness.
No wonder he’s so grouchy all the time, he thought. Too bad I can’t go back and teach kid Traffy how to really have fun--
But maybe I can do something else!
********************
The next morning, Luffy dragged Law out to a nearby forest, telling him he wanted to help the captain of the Heart Pirates lighten up a bit. Naturally, Law protested, but it was half-hearted, as he knew full well that Luffy wasn’t going to be dissuaded from whatever he had planned.
“Alright, Straw Hat,” Law sighed, bracing himself for whatever Luffy had in mind this time. “Tell me—what hijinks are you dragging me into this time?”
“Gimme a sec.”
Luffy took a deep breath and closed his eyes, focusing on something. A moment later, Law was nearly knocked off his feet by a sudden gale-like burst of force. Once he recovered, he saw that Luffy had taken on a new form—one with white hair that reminded Law of a flame or a cloud, jointless limbs that seemed almost noodle-like, and a white and purple outfit.
“What…exactly…am I looking at?”
“I call it Gear 5!” Luffy answered with a laugh. “It’s how I beat Kaido!”
Law blinked. “…exactly what does this”—he waved a hand at Luffy—“have to do with rubber?”
“I’m made of rubber, remember?” Luffy chortled. “And you can be too! Here, I’ll show you!”
Without warning, he grabbed Law’s arm, and a strange feeling rapidly spread over the Surgeon of Death’s body. Before Law could ask what he was doing, he wrapped said arm around Law’s body, the limb stretching just as easily as Luffy had been able to for so long. He wound it three times before giving a sharp yank, and Law went spinning like a top, crashing into a tree. Once Law regained his bearings, he got to his feet, staring at his arm and watching it return to its normal length.
“What the actual—?”
“Tag! You’re it!”
A tap on Law’s shoulder, and Luffy was gone, dashing away into the forest. Law blinked for a moment, then let out a snarl, confusion turning to anger.
“Oh no, you do NOT get to just drop this on me and then run off! Get back here!”
He took off after Luffy, rocketing through the forest at speeds he would normally be incapable of. Before long, he caught sight of the younger man, but despite putting on an extra burst of speed, he couldn’t catch up.
“No, no, silly!” Luffy called back, twisting his neck to look behind him. “You gotta loosen up and let yourself have fun! Stop thinking about what those dumb rules say, and do what you want!”
At this, Law realized what Luffy was trying to do. Instead of conjuring a Room like he had been about to, he grinned before stretching out an arm and tapping Luffy on the shoulder.
“Tag!”
Luffy laughed. “Guess I’m it!”
Almost immediately, the chase reversed, with Luffy hot on Law’s heels. The two darted through the trees, Luffy trying to tag Law, only for the latter to keep stretching and bending out of the way.
“Now that I think about it,” Law remarked as he dodged Luffy’s arm again. “I do remember this new form of yours. And I think you actually made the ground rubber, am I right?”
“Yeah, but that’s cheating!” Luffy cackled before his arm looped back around and tapped Law. “Tag, you’re it!”
He sped past Law, who shook his head with a laugh before zooming after him. As much as Luffy drove him crazy, the boy’s natural cheeriness and optimism was infectious. Maybe that was why he’d ended up with Nika’s power—or did Nika’s power affect his personality?
Whatever the case, Law could ponder that question another time. Right now, he had a rambunctious rubber boy to catch.
*************************
Eventually, the fun had to end.
As Luffy reverted back to his usual form and the effects caused by said form faded, he and Law collapsed on the ground, the former still giggling slightly.
“If you tell anyone, I will deny it to my last breath,” Law said after a few minutes. “But to be completely honest, that was…actually fun.”
“You didn’t get to do that a lot as a kid, did you? Play tag and stuff, I mean.”
“Not really, no,” admitted Law, propping himself up on one elbow to look over at Luffy. “Between the whole Amber Lead mess and the loss of my family…” He sighed. “Wish I could have, but even in a world like ours, that just isn’t happening.”
“Yeah, I know.” Luffy sat up and flashed a grin. “That’s why I did this—I thought it might help you lighten up a little. Even if I’m not around, you should let yourself have a little more fun every now and then.”
Law allowed a small smile to cross his face. “You know, I think maybe I will.”