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Chapter Text

It could have been worse. That’s what Law tried to tell himself in the immediate aftermath. Then again, that could be said for just about anything and he had it on good authority that could have been worse did not necessitate the state of currently being as fine. 

There remained one other living soul in the alleyway who, contrary to the alarm exuded in the midst of the preceding drama, now seemed blissfully unperturbed. As their eyes met, Law was rewarded with an enthusiastic tail wag—as if its owner was not the catalyst for the definitively not fine situation Law found himself in. 

Law opened his mouth. In retrospect, he wasn’t quite sure what he wanted to say. Maybe something sarcastic, or caustic, or maybe conciliatory because unfortunately this particular creature was somehow more adorable than Bepo and Chopper combined. It turned out to not matter in the end because when he tried to speak, all that escaped was an incredibly pathetic, “Wooof.”

Ah. Fuck. 

His fellow canine appreciated the attempt, tail waving frantically as a series of excitable barks were launched at Law in an apparent one-sided conversation. In the face of this adorableness—overwhelming, despite the circumstances—Law realized he was now smaller than his unintelligible discussion partner who was too tiny to be a comfortable pillow for a regular-sized human. 

No one can find out about this, Law thought. The sheer mortification from his current predicament would lead to an untimely end via spontaneous combustion. And that’s just for his own crew. What if word got out? Front page news, the fate of Trafalgar Law, Surgeon of Death, once a feared and notorious pirate though certainly not anymore, as proven by a single widespread photo that explained all that needed to be said. 

Law would have to murder Eustass before any of that. On the off chance he did come into that knowledge before his heart was expelled from his body, death wouldn’t be enough. Law would simply have to find a time travel devil fruit user willing to toss him into the past to rectify that egregious error. Even if Law could never get back or fucked up key historical events, that would be the preferable alternative to Eustass Kid’s ugly gloating face once he got a good look at Law’s newly acquired fluffy paws. 

Of course, there were always worse options than Eustass finding out too, reminded the insidious little voice that never seemed to leave Law well enough alone.

“Woooof,” said Law despondently. The other dog sympathized with his misery and gave an affectionate headbutt before sniffing him curiously, nose to nose. 

Well, if Law had ever been concerned that the universe got bored of fucking with him, he’d certainly earned a middle finger to dispel all those fantastical notions. 

The problem was he had been rather preoccupied. Wallowing, in fact, enough that he admitted it to himself and told his crew to enjoy a few days off at an overly expensive, terribly posh resort—the type of resort that had sections for all the seasons, including a winter wonderland tucked away even though the weather outside lay somewhere between volcanic and the center of the sun. Law had stumbled into an exclusive invitation a couple years before when he’d inadvertently gotten into the good graces of a member. He’d balked at the ridiculous price and never taken up his card-carrying privileges. But it also happened to be the sort of expensive that squashed all rumors regarding who was docked there.

So his crew, despite their tendencies to hover when they sensed he was “in that mood,” did not complain much. One look at the waterfall pool had been enough to quench any serious protests. 

“He’s in his wandering phase again,” Ikkaku cheerfully informed the others during the meeting after they’d anchored. She was already in a newly bought bikini. 

“I’m not in a phase,” was Law’s refute, even though wandering was pretty much the exact plan he had in place. 

“Don’t get lost, Captain,” said Jean Bart, wearing swim trunks with a matching pattern to Ikkaku. 

Law scoffed and kicked them all off the submarine. 

Bepo hung back, dressed for the beach even though Law knew he was heading straight for the snow. 

“It’s just for a few days,” Law preemptively repeated. “I’ll be back in a week. Two at the most.” There was a cluster of islands nearby he was planning to explore. 

“Have fun,” Bepo said. “It’ll be nice to clear your head.” Then he wrung his paws. “Sorry, it’s just… do you think they’re following us?”

“Who?” said Law blandly. 

He was rewarded with a patented Bepo look, the one that said You’re the biggest idiot I know, Captain, but I love you anyway so I want you to know that I know you’re spouting complete bullshit but I’ll let you get away with it because of the aforementioned how much I love you. 

Bepo could say a lot with The Look. 

“Okay, Captain,” he relented, with the usual accompanying disapproving Bepo tone. “If you’re not back in two weeks we’ll come looking for you.” 

“Three,” said Law, suddenly feeling the need to find a really deep cave to traverse, far away from civilization. “And you don’t need to worry, Bepo. What’s going to happen to me?”

That was the thing with Law’s lot in life. It always seemed to be one big cosmic joke. 

There were several days left before his crew would start searching for him. That could be either a blessing or a curse but Law wasn’t going to wait around to find out. Readjusting to his new center of gravity, he stumbled his way over to Kikoku, left helplessly sprawled on the dirty cobblestone. As soon as he drew near, she gave off a distinctly unimpressed hum.

“Rrruff,” Law told her. It’s not like he was any happier with his current doggy form. He rested a paw on her hilt, half to reassure her and half to be reassured. Whispers rushed through him, less distinct sounds and more a physical sensation. The familiarity of the melancholic bloodthirst soothed him. 

He did not want to leave her here. She could howl all she wanted but she wasn’t the sort of cursed sword to slice off any ill-intentioned hands. But Law didn’t think dragging her through the streets in his mouth (if he could even pick her up) would do either of them any favors. 

The island’s lackluster draw was a boon in this situation though. Without many people around, there was a good chance no one would find her in the definitely very short time until he had opposable thumbs again. Law surveyed the alley and spotted some sad-looking barrels that seemed to have been abandoned for more than a season. 

His fellow canine ambled over to give Kikoku a hearty sniff before turning to nose around Law again, heading towards his backside with clear information-gathering intentions. Law let out a growl that was the opposite of intimidating and sat down emphatically. He was not about to test whether he could die of total embarrassment with only himself and his sword as witness. 

The dog gave him a pathetic look, panting with less pep than before. 

Law sighed. “Arruf,” he tried to apologize, while still making it clear such actions would not be allowed. He began panting too. Funny how being covered in fur made it even more excruciatingly hot outside. 

Turning back to Kikoku, Law gingerly sank his newly sharpened teeth into her hilt and tugged. As predicted, his new form was not much use against her size. But a furry body brushed against him and the other dog grabbed Kikoku’s hilt as well, tail wagging with fully restored enthusiasm.

They must have made quite the ridiculous sight, two tiny animals dragging a foreboding cursed sword across the alleyway, but there was no witness and Law would never confess that this scene occurred. They managed to get her safely situated out of sight without too much mistreatment. Law touched her affectionately, promising he’d be back as soon as he could. 

Then he faced the mouth of the alley and realized he had no clue what to do. 

His newfound friend followed him towards the street, barking incomprehensibly and brimming with the sort of cuteness that got Law into this mess in the first place. 

“Woof,” Law agreed politely, taking one step out only to nearly get bowled over by a man and his cart.  

“Watch it, mutt!” boomed the man, throwing a kick that was a bit like having an Elbaf giant attempt to stomp one’s person out of existence. 

Law yelped. It was high-pitched and panicked and not his proudest moment. 

“Rrrruff!” yelled Law’s canine companion, offended on Law’s behalf. Apparently unafraid of challenging humans, he went straight to nipping at a heel bone. 

“Ahhh, damn mutts!” hollered the man, twisting and turning as the dog scurried around him. One vicious nibble and the man went toppling down to the ground. The dog barked victoriously over the crumpled remains of his enemy before trotting over to Law with a let’s get outta here look. 

Law followed, trusting the dog’s street smarts. The man was already kicking up a storm of curses by the time they rounded the corner, taking refuge in the next alley over. Barely a couple minutes out in the open world and Law already required a breather. The world was a lot scarier as a dog small enough to get into height wars with human ankles.

He needed to get out of this mess. Quick. 

However, the culprit had fled and now Law needed to start some sort of canine investigation. How? Where? Who? (Why? Law mourned internally.) This was a small island, yes, but he’d already nearly been trampled. If—when—he managed to track the culprit down, what would he do then? Yap with deadly threats until he was turned back? What if that failed? The possibility of living out the remainder of his now significantly cut lifespan covered in fur was not something he wanted to dwell on. 

“Wuh-ooof,” Law despaired, dwelling anyway.

“Rrowo!” sympathized his new friend. At least he seemed interested in sticking around. Law should probably give him a name even though he was notoriously not very good at naming things. Lack of imagination, according to his crew. Lami used to make fun of him for it too. She had an entire phase of thinking every object in existence was worth naming and insisted he give his hat one. She was quite displeased with his suggestion of Hat. Then again, she’d dubbed it Dotty so maybe the creative gene was missing from the Trafalgar family altogether. 

Dog was a good name. Short and utilitarian. 

“Rhuff?” Law asked Dog, which was supposed to convey Hey you don’t happen to know where to find that devil fruit user and possibly be able to show me the way so I can turn back into a bipedal mammal and collect my sword and never speak of this to anyone?

Dog wagged his tail happily. Law suspected his message was lost in translation.

No worries. He might be significantly rounder and shorter than before but he was still Trafalgar Law, Surgeon of Death, one of the most dangerous pirates in the seas, and he wasn’t about to let a little fur problem get in the way of figuring out how to get home. He could be menacing as a dog. All he needed to do was track the devil fruit user down and take it from there.

Law stepped out onto the street again, filled with resolve to not let this debacle keep his tail between his legs. He’d survived far worse than this. Dog trailed dutifully behind as Law tried to navigate to the rather dismal town port—admittedly without much of a plan beyond brute force searching and attempting to not smell all the strong, unpleasant odors his new nose was picking up. The port was one of the busiest areas on the island (which wasn’t saying much) and there was a decent chance he could simply find the devil fruit user there. The universe owed him a freebie anyway. 

Most of the islanders didn’t give Law and Dog a second look as they scurried past. Law scanned their faces before getting distracted by the smell of something mouthwateringly delicious. Dog caught it too, veering out of the way and leading Law to a butcher’s shop. Wow. Law could finally understand how someone could be obsessed with meat. Dog began nosing along the door, searching for a way in. 

Unfortunately, even a second’s distraction was enough. Before the danger registered, two hands gripped Law’s tiny body tight and lifted him into the air. 

“Oh my god, aren’t you just the cutest thing in the world?” 

Law struggled furiously against the hold, angry yips embarrassingly non-threatening even to his own ears. 

“Rororuff!” complained Dog, worriedly scampering around on the ground. 

“Hey, there’s two of them!” 

Law snarled, trying to deepen his voice. He craned his stubby neck back to figure out who would dare only to be met with a rather horrifying sight: a young man and woman wearing marine uniforms.

“You think they’re lost, Corin?” asked the woman, bending down to try and pet Dog.

“No collars,” Corin remarked, angling Law away when he tried to bite him. 

The young woman looked up. “You know who would love these?” She had a mischievous expression on her face that didn’t bode well for Law’s future. He struggled harder. 

“You think?” Corin eyed Law thoughtfully. “But how are we…?” 

“Don’t worry about that. This is your chance to impress her!” The young woman carelessly waved her hand and spoke to Dog in a baby voice. “Hey there, little cutie, you wanna come home with us?”

Law attempted to make his feelings clear through rage-filled barks and bites but his squirming was completely useless. 

“We’re gonna get in so much trouble,” said Corin, not seeming overly concerned. Easily warding off all of Law’s vicious attacks, he began carrying him away from the butcher’s shop.

“C’mere, boy!” the young woman called to Dog as Corin turned the corner. 

This cannot be happening. Law stared in horror at a huge marine ship bobbing in the waves. That had not been docked there this morning. 

“Don’t worry,” Corin reassured him. “You’ll love your new home!”

It was a simple failure of focus. Embarrassing really, especially for a pirate of his stature.

He was on the third island of his so-called soul-finding expedition (as Shachi had dubbed it when waving him off). It was hot. Too hot. The worst island of the bunch. Humid in that way where it sat on his skin like a damp towel smelling of wet dog. Law loathed heat like this. He’d arrived the day before from the largest of the clustered islands, thinking it would be nice to get away from the city there, only to be hit with a horrid swamp-like environment and a terrible night spent tossing and turning and sweating like a pig. The backwater island didn’t even have anything to offer except unfriendly sneers at his tattoos and disparaging comments about damn pirates. 

Fair enough. Law wouldn’t want the majority of the pirates he knew mucking around his home either. Possibly not even any of them. And with what he’d seen of the island, he really didn’t want to muck around anyway.

But, despite his foul mood, he was having a cup of coffee before leaving. 

It was not the first time in his life this particular action led to an escalating series of regrettable events. He doubted it would be the last because he was going to have a goddamn cup of coffee in the morning everyday until he died anyway. 

The only town of the island was small and somewhat dilapidated but he found a café on the main street. There was a handful of patrons: an elderly man with a beard reaching the floor muttering to himself in the corner, an exhausted-looking father who seemed to be lecturing his restless preteen daughter, and a middle-aged woman sitting at the counter. The owner gave Law an unimpressed once-over when he walked in but beri spoke just as well here as anywhere. 

Law sat by the counter as he drank, angling himself so he could sort of read the daily newspaper the woman held. The coffee was pretty decent, a dark earthy bitterness that hit just right. A good distraction from the unpleasant musings on the second page about a particular pirate crew that had been spotted not too far away.

“Bah!” exclaimed the woman to the owner. “Like we need that pile of trouble coming over here.”

The owner laughed. “Why would they come here? There’s not much going on ‘round these parts.” Then they’d both given Law suspicious looks. 

Law gulped down his coffee and left. They were right. There was no reason for anyone to be on this island, including him. In fact, he shouldn’t be anywhere near here at all. Instead, he should collect his crew and leave the Grand Line in search of the most boring place in existence, so dull and remote that no one would sail there even by pure happenstance. 

He hesitated outside the café, torn about discarding his plan to move to the next island in favor of returning to his crew early. The North Blue was awfully tempting when the alternative was hell’s sauna. But his crew could be so nosy sometimes. 

An upset bark broke through his turmoiled thoughts. 

He could have left. That’s the worst part, he really could have just walked away. He was a pirate, not an altruistic fool tripping over his own feet to help anybody stumbling along; no, he was selfish and ill-tempered and had crimes like forcible dissection and excessive property damage in his repertoire. He was one of the most wanted individuals in the world and despite the existence of a certain calibre of pirates who had an irritating habit of overthrowing governments because of a friendly face or sob story, Law certainly never did that intentionally. Or at least not for any reasons beyond personal gain. 

So he could have left. He should have left. But instead, he followed the next bark that became more of a whine by the time he found himself peering down the length of a back alley. 

It was a mess, halfway to being a dump, and it took Law a moment to locate the source of the noise. But there it was, a flash of bright white beneath a lopsided array of junk. Law knelt down to dig. After moving a heavy metal beam, a rounded face popped into sight, looking up at him hopefully. 

“Woof!” 

Oh god. Law stared down with a carefully stoic expression at the tiny creature he had just revealed. Its short neck stretched out to try and give his nearby hand a lick as if in thanks, no longer seeming perturbed at its trapped state now that someone was there to help. 

It was excessively adorable. 

“Where did you come from?” Law asked aloud, letting it sniff around his hand for a minute before getting back to digging it out. The dog had really wedged itself into quite a pickle. Or, Law thought with a frown, someone had put it there. 

The dog responded with some cheerful barks, helpfully wriggling its body as Law moved dangerous items away. It was almost free besides its back legs which were caught in a tangle of sharp mesh. Law painstakingly began to maneuver it out. After this was off, he’d be able to lift it out of its uncomfortable prison. 

The dog sensed this and began barking excitedly, trying to forcibly yank its remaining trapped leg out, forcing Law to hold it tightly still as he finished up. 

Someone inhaled sharply behind him. 

Law let go of the dog and whirled around, groping for where he’d set Kikoku aside. He’d been so preoccupied he hadn’t even noticed anyone approach. 

A young girl stood at the mouth of the alley, looking at him with wide eyes. She was maybe twelve or thirteen and it took Law a second to recognize he’d seen her in the café. A flash of anger ran through him. 

“Is this your dog?” he snapped right as she demanded, “What’re you doing?”

They glared at each other. The dog, sensing the tension, began barking worriedly and struggling to release its leg. 

“I-I’m not afraid of you!” said the girl, squaring up. “G-give me t-the dog!” 

To her credit, despite the obvious fear, she held herself remarkably well. Unlucky for her, Law really was someone to be feared, especially for individuals going around mistreating adorable balls of fur.

He drew himself up, not intending to get into a fight with someone whose brain was not yet fully developed, but fully meaning to intimidate. “I’m not giving you the dog,” Law said sharply. The dog’s barking turned frenzied. “What do you think you’re doing?” He clenched his hand around Kikoku, aware that slicing a preteen up might be considered bullying but would also be quite a memorable lesson. 

The girl quaked in her boots but held her position, hands clenched at her side. “I-I’ll fight you if you don’t!”

Law scoffed, readying a threatening speech as a follow-up, but was distracted by a loud, pained yip down around his feet. 

Turning to look, he saw that the dog had managed to wrench its leg out of the mesh, scraping it in the process. He bent down to examine the scratch with just enough time to deem it shallow and un-worrisome when from behind, the girl shouted, “Don’t hurt him!” and began audibly running towards them. 

Law had a split second to arrive at the conclusion that maybe they had both misinterpreted the situation before a small hand landed on his back and the entire world turned upside down. 

It felt like being sucked into a squeezing whirlpool, all of Law’s guts and bones meshing together in a soupy mess before rearranging and solidifying in a bout of excruciating pain. Law was just cognitive enough to think, This is how I fucking die? before it was already over and he staggered helplessly in aching bewilderment only to collapse on the ground, momentarily blacking out.

Silence blanketed the alley while he recovered, the aftershocks of pain fading. A small, wet nose nudged his face and he opened his eyes, vision briefly swimming. As it settled, it became quite clear something was off. His head pounded, senses so overwhelmed that he couldn’t even discern what was wrong. He struggled to stand, balance screwy enough that he tumbled back onto his face for the first attempt with all the elegance of a toddler learning to walk. 

The dog prodded him again and he finally sat up with a strange, almost out-of-body sensation. Law slowly collected his bearings. He spotted the girl standing a few paces away, staring down at him with a horrified expression. She seemed awfully tall, even for him sitting on the ground. Glancing to the side, he was met face to face with the dog, who for some reason had exploded in size.

That’s when the alarm bells finally went off. 

“Oh no,” said the girl. “My dad is going to kill me.” 

Then she ran out of the alleyway right as Law looked down and discovered he had paws. 

That cursed backwater island faded from view as a young marine held onto Law’s struggling rotund body. It felt almost pointed, holding Law up so he could see out the porthole, watching his sense of direction and last solid inkling of hope disappear into the horizon. At this point, the devil fruit user may as well be on the sun for how easy it would be to find her again. 

The nightmare had only just begun. His handler was not actually purposefully taunting him but was displaying him to a crowd of fascinated peers who revealed the actual truth: he wasn’t supposed to be on this ship, beyond the fact that he was secretly Trafalgar Law. The junior marines snuck him on. He was an unwitting stowaway on a blasted marine galleon because a dumbass kid was trying to impress someone. 

“Oh, they’re so cute!” squealed said someone.

Law’s abductor looked pleased. His female friend, whose idea this was, nudged him and said smugly, “Corin saw them and thought of you, Sadie.”

Sadie blushed. She reached out to scratch Law’s belly. He bit her really, really hard. 

Dog ended up being a bit more popular.

While his companion traitorously enjoyed some pets, Law managed to elude his captors’ grasp and went exploring the ship, doing his best to be as stealthy as a shock-white sentient marshmallow could be. He managed to get out to a deck where he spent a not inconsiderable amount of time wondering whether it was worth testing his anchor status in this form or not. Bepo would have been alarmed. But it’s not like Law could use his devil fruit. He’d tried. And some situations were worth risking death to get out of. 

Unfortunately, a passing rookie spotted him before he could decide and he was unceremoniously returned to his supposed new home.

“Well, aren’t you just a crafty little escape artist?” Sadie cradled her hand with a sour expression. 

“Aww, Grumpy here’s just getting adjusted,” said the other young woman, Hana. 

Law memorized their faces carefully. When he regained his human form, he would slice them up into extra thin pieces. 

After being acquainted with the entirety of this ship’s recruits, a makeshift bed was made for him and Dog, hidden under Corin’s bunk. The room was crowded with young marines. Once the chorus of snores started up, Law snuck his way towards the door. He craned his neck up. The handle felt like it sat a mile above him. So he surveyed the room, searching for some sort of nook or cranny that he could fit through, but found nothing. Even if he did, he reasoned, returning to where Dog slept, what the hell would he do next? It was obvious from the ship’s motion they were still out at sea.

He reluctantly curled up next to Dog. A flicker of true despair crept in. There was still a week left until his crew would even notice his absence and once they did, then what? It’s not like they’d be on the lookout for a lost dog. How was Law going to get home?

Dog shifted beside him, dark eyes glinting in the moonlit room. Perhaps sensing Law’s mood, he pressed closer. Despite it all, the gesture was comforting. If he closed his eyes, Law could almost pretend it was Bepo at his side.  

Still, it took a long time to fall asleep that night. 

—

The young marines were surprisingly adept at keeping two smuggled dogs a secret. Law and Dog were well fed but mostly confined to the bunks, aside from a daily sneak outside. On their third day aboard, Law was forced to participate in the most ridiculous plan to keep them hidden during the weekly bunk inspection. It was like witnessing an intricately planned heist. 

All the young marines were aware of the two new passengers so there was a steady influx of people filtering in and out the room to coo over mostly Dog (though some took Law’s attitude as a challenge). This meant they were rarely alone. Conversation among the marines tended towards the banal, he unwillingly discovered. Having learned far too much gossip about this unit than was necessary, he resorted to information gathering whenever he did manage to escape the bunk. Rather unsuccessful information gathering. Moreover, he gained a reputation as a flight-risk and was treated as such while Dog was treated much more leniently.

What he did know was the ship sailed constantly and it probably wouldn’t be advantageous for him to have the marine higher-ups discover his presence. They’d probably put him in some animal version of Impel Down. Law’s hopes for escape were dashed for now. He divided his time between being a complete nuisance and sulking. 

“C’mere, Grumpy!” 

Law ignored the dried meat being waved at him, even though it smelled delicious. He deliberately pressed further back into his shadowed hiding place under a corner bunk. 

Hana sighed, exasperated. “Fine! Then you’re not getting any treats!” She crawled back to where Corin and Sadie were playing fetch with Dog. They’d named Dog after one of their superiors who Law was not familiar with. It was hard to tell whether the name was born out of affection or disrespect. 

“What’re we gonna do, Corin?” asked Sadie. “The only reason Captain Moreno didn’t see us was because Lola distracted him and now I owe her. She was stuck listening to him answer her one question for a half hour! Anyway, someone’ll find out sooner or later and Vice Admiral’ll have our hide.”

“We could train ‘em as Navy dogs!” said Hana cheerfully. Dog ate Law’s treat out of her palm. 

Sadie eyed Dog, looking equally doubtful and protective. 

“Or I could look for someone to adopt them on the next island,” said Corin. “I don’t actually want to get kicked out.”

Sadie pulled Dog onto her lap, not seeming to like that prospect. “You really think we could convince the Vice Admiral? Or it might be easier to hide with just one. Grumpy could be adopted.”

Fuck you too, Law thought. 

“Grumpy might make the better Navy dog,” Hana remarked. “It’s kind of impressive how he keeps getting out.”

“I dunno. If you think you can sell a couple dogs to the Vice Admiral, I’ll leave it to you. But I’ll look around next island just to see.” Corin frowned as he threw a ball for Dog. “Assuming we get there and aren’t sunk. I don’t know what they expect us to do if we actually manage to catch up to the Pirate King.” 

Law’s ears twitched. 

“They’ll send back-up if we do,” said Hana. “’S just unlucky we were the closest in the area when they were spotted.”

“I took this assignment because it’s probably the most boring place in the Grand Line. Now we’re running after the Pirate King?” Sadie crossed her arms. “What the hell is he even doing around here? It doesn’t make any sense!” 

It rarely did with that man. Law frowned. The Pirate King never stayed in one place for long. Doubtlessly he’d be moving on soon enough, the sheer coincidence in sailing trajectory finally breaking off from Law’s submarine, and hopefully he’d depart without engaging in naval warfare with the vessel Law was imprisoned on—because if he did, Law doubted it would be anything less than a woeful end for himself.

The chances of such a fiery fate were low. Law put all thoughts of the Pirate King out of his mind. He had bigger problems to worry about. 

—

The last day of Law’s grace period for returning to his crew ticked past without fanfare. A week spent in this frankly embarrassing form, getting used to his new biology, and trapped with a group of troublemaking, gossip-fueled marines. 

It was almost funny to compare his current circumstances with his initial intentions for wandering around. Almost.

His crew would start searching immediately. They were very sensitive about punctuality when it came to Law going off on his own. No matter how much he tried to alleviate their fears, they always seemed to fret over him, flocking around like clucking mother hens. Law kept his ears peeled for possible word of the Heart Pirates in the area. Maybe—impossibly—they would figure out what happened to him, learn of his situation and location through some worry-filled osmosis and come collect him. Law would have to live with their teasing for the rest of his life but as long as he could do that as a human—as long as he could do that with them—it was fine.

But there was silence. 

Law tried to convince himself that was okay as one week as a dog turned into two. They needed sailing time. They needed investigation time. They needed planning time. They just needed time. And really, he should be relieved there was silence instead of something worse. At least his crew hadn’t put out a Missing Person poster. That would really seal the deal of this entire humiliating escapade. They would do it too. If you see him, please return Trafalgar Law to his crew. They’re worried about him and want him to know they love him very much.

While they gathered their resources, he would continue conjuring up his own escape plan and what he’d do after he was off this marine ship, as a newly freed stray dog not used to being a dog in a strange place with no clue where exactly he was, with no easy way to get back to that cursed backwater island and the devil fruit user, with miles and miles of sea now doubtlessly between them and…

Compartmentalization. Law was getting some good practice in. 

Ikkaku was only partially wrong when she called it a wandering phase. It wasn’t a phase so much a habit, one Law tried not to indulge—notwithstanding a pirating career could theoretically be described as wandering the seas.

It started when he was young. He couldn’t remember the first time precisely, beyond his mother’s relieved hug and his father’s stern lecture when he returned home. He’d said sorry and probably somewhat meant it because of how stressed his mother had been. 

But then he did it again. Didn’t come home after school one day, not until the sun had fallen in the sky. His father sat him down for a serious talk. Why are you doing this? Where is this coming from? You’re worrying your mother and me.

“I don’t know,” Law admitted. “Sometimes I just need to get away.”

He was seven so that didn’t do much to alleviate his parents’ concern. And his childhood was a happy one, before the sickness. But sometimes, everything just became too much; when he struggled to understand a textbook and saw his future as a surgeon crumbling before his eyes; when his favorite neighbor contracted a mysterious illness and died; when he and Lami got into a real, shake-the-walls argument. There was this pressure that built up so much he almost couldn’t breathe. So he’d leave and wander around the island without thinking too much. It was like he could leave his problems behind when he went somewhere new, somewhere where he wasn’t really him, where he could almost pretend nothing bad had happened, long enough to pull himself back together before going home. 

His worried parents eventually acquiesced with some caveats. Tell us when you leave. Don’t go to the mines. Be back before dark. Remember we love you, Law, no matter what.

Law didn’t know if it was irony or fate that his wandering of Flevance gave him enough knowledge of the land’s geography to enable his escape.

So no, it wasn’t a phase, just a bad reoccurring case of cabin fever, the type that only popped up in specific times, where it wasn’t so much as the walls closing in as it was the cabin filling up with water and Law couldn’t swim. Wandering, well… sometimes that was the only way Law could stay afloat. 

It was not until nearly the third week on board that Law was afforded a chance at escape. The marine ship would occasionally dock but Law was kept locked in the bunk room that was irritatingly sealed up like a vault. But not today. Apparently it was some sort of mandated relaxation. Corin and his friends gathered Law and Dog and snuck them off the ship, right under Captain Moreno’s nose. Probably because another rookie was distracting him. The young marines were right; that man was a walking talking textbook. 

The disembarkment would have been a wonderful boon if it wasn’t for the fact a goddamn leash and collar were put on Law. The indignity was beyond words. But Law didn’t let that stop him. As soon as his paws hit solid ground, he mustered all his energy and took off like a shot, intending to yank the leash right out of Corin’s hand. 

He nearly hung himself. Corin wasn’t even perturbed by the escape attempt, just glanced down from his conversation with Sadie to give Law a light scolding, like all his powerful strength amounted to that of a flea. 

Dog offered some panting sympathy while Law fumed. His own leash was loosely held by Sadie. 

Biting Corin’s ankles would probably not fall in Law’s favor but he briefly considered it anyway, just on principle. When Corin tried to walk away, Law sat firmly down on the ground. 

“C’mon, Grumpy! Bad dog!” Corin pulled hard at the leash, practically choking Law. He might have let himself be suffocated just to prove a point but Dog, hovering nearby, was obviously growing upset. The look on his face reminded Law so much of Bepo that Law reluctantly followed, directing the death glare of all death glares at Corin’s back. 

Being taken on a walk by junior marines must really be the lowest point of Law’s pirating career. If it was possible to go lower, Law would rather take his chances swimming solo in the ocean.

There were hordes of people in the city they were docked at. He didn’t recognize the island. It was possibly part of the island cluster but it was just as likely they’d moved on. The junior marines complained a lot about their superiors and training and rival marine units but weren’t so inclined to give detailed reports to their captive dogs about vessel assignments. They could still be tracking the Pirate King or on some new patrol route. 

The marines ambled along the streets, chatting with each other. Dog trotted at the lead, sniffing everything curiously and receiving lots of attention. Dragging along at the rear, even despite his gloomy attitude, Law received some too. He was used to people staring since he stood out in general with his tattoos and his sword, even if no one recognized his very recognizable and wanted face. But that was not how people looked at him now. If he never had to hear the phrase Aw what a cutie! again, he could die with at least a little relief. 

They reached a large park in the city center. The marines were gossiping about one of their peers who Law had unfortunately gained an encyclopedic knowledge on due to Sadie’s level of loathing for this individual. They settled in a lush grassy area by a beautiful pond filled with wildlife, letting Dog off his leash and rudely tying Law to a bench. Law stewed in fury, swearing revenge. Dog ran around the edge of the pond barking at a duck. 

It was early afternoon. The heat was already unbearable but that didn’t stop the park from filling up with kids and families and raucous fun. 

When it happened, it happened very fast. 

The marines were getting quite worked up about their juicy Navy gossip which involved a lot of exclamations and handwaving. They were not paying close attention to either of their hostage canines. 

Law was busy trying to unravel his leash’s knot which was extraordinarily difficult without dexterous appendages. But the marines had not anticipated a dog who understood the intricacies of knots so it gradually started to loosen. 

Meanwhile, the duck ignored all of Dog’s overtures so he turned his attention to a nearby family of swans. This was a grave mistake on his part. 

Sadie yelled something along the lines of, “Who the hell does she think she is?” right as Law’s knot slipped free and a swan attacked, radiating an aura of pure bloodlust. 

“Holy shit!” Corin exclaimed, which Sadie thought was about her arch-nemesis but was in fact directed towards the avenging fury of a swan father. 

“Ah fuck!” Hana cried out, which wasn’t directed towards either of their problems but at Law’s newfound freedom.

Dog did the only sensible thing any living creature would do when faced with such avian wrath: he turned tail and ran.

“Shit!” Corin yelled again, leaping up and causing Sadie to finally turn around to the sight of her favorite well-behaved dog fleeing a pissed-off swan. 

“Hey come back!” Sadie called out, dismayed. 

Hana shot to her feet yelling, “Grumpy, stay!” while Law gathered the leash in his teeth. If he could have flipped her off, he would have. Instead, he took great satisfaction in leaving her in the dust as he took off as well. 

“GET BACK HERE!” Hana shrieked, presumably in pursuit. 

“Fucking shit!” was Corin’s contribution.

It was a race through the city. Law ducked and weaved between legs and carts. The crowds clamored around him, noises and smells overwhelming. He ran with no discernible direction beyond get away. 

“That’s my dog!” he heard Corin cry out. “Stop him!” 

Hands grabbed at Law but he expertly dodged, zigzagging through the throngs of people, cutting corners and twisting through tight spaces to hopefully outpace and lose his pursuers. He ran until his lungs nearly gave out and only then did he finally turn down a secluded alleyway and slow to a halt, chest heaving and mouth aching from how tightly he’d clenched his jaw around the leash. 

There was no sign of the marines. 

Law caught his breath, panting heavily. He had to consider his next step carefully. A second escape attempt would not be so easily given. Assumedly the marines would be docked no more than a day, so Law just had to elude them until the ship departed and then figure out his own way off this island. It’s not like they could put out lost dog posters. Law and Dog were illegal pets. 

…what about Dog?

The best course of action was to assume the marines would find him and bring him back aboard. They’d reveal his presence to their Vice Admiral who would be bewitched by Dog’s adorableness and he’d become the mascot of the New World Government, living out the rest of his days as the most pampered Navy dog in history. 

It was the reasonable assumption, surely. Law was faced with the daunting and possibly impossible task of navigating the human world as a stray (now complete with a collar to make everything more suspicious) as he tried to retrace his steps. It would not be fair to drag Dog along on that journey. 

His heart panged.

But what if the marines don’t find him? came Law’s insidious inner voice. What if he got lost on the streets all alone as he’d been when Law first found him? What if he found himself trapped again? Or someone with unkind intentions picked him up next? The world could be very cruel.

It was folly to go back on the streets with the marines searching for him. They’d probably recruited some other rookies to help out, alongside some well-meaning citizens. Law stood out. And he had no clue where Dog was. The city was huge and they hadn’t fled in the same direction. Even if he wanted to, attempting to track him down was unfeasible. 

Dog’s round face had been so hopeful when Law first found him in that junk pile. He’d guarded Law so fiercely even though they just met. 

He had to try. If he could just get eyes on Dog, make sure he was safe, then he could focus on getting back to the devil fruit user. 

Mind made up, Law cautiously poked his head out the alley. There weren’t as many people mulling around on this side of town. No sign of marine white. Law stepped out, treading the streets with trepidation, heading towards the busy market streets along the docks. 

The only place Law could think of where Dog might have ended up was somewhere with food—preferably with a lot of meat. 

Still not fully used to his formidably competent canine nose, he tried sifting through the numerous stimulating scents. Potent perfumes and stinking fish, sweat and musk, sea salt air and smoky fire, it all blended and mixed together as he headed back towards the busy port with a sharp eye. He passed a butcher’s shop, a bakery (still disgusting, even as a dog), and dozens of restaurants, all with no sign of his erstwhile companion. 

A passing child boggled at Law and asked his mother if he looked lost. Law scuttled past without hearing the response and turned down a side road. More smells from the seaside market drifted through and Law caught a waft of sizzling meat. He peered out onto the crowded main street. A vendor was set up with a full barbecue. The stall was attracting a large crowd of people, both queuing up and mulling around eating. Law scanned them briefly before beginning to turn away, disappointed. Then a flash of bright white caught his eye. 

It was Dog. Law had almost missed him. He was partially blocked, receiving some much appreciated pets from a squatting figure with their back turned. Dog was panting happily when his nose twitched and his eyes darted to Law. Even from here, Law could see how Dog lit up. A rush of warmth ran through him. The risk had been worth it. 

After a quick glance around with no sign of any marines, Law warily took a step out from the side street. The person petting Dog started to turn, probably curious what got his attention. 

Law’s breath caught in his throat. The world slowed down. All around him, the crowds and bustling noise faded to a distant hum until it was as if a devil fruit user had frozen time. 

Because there, beyond all careful reasoning, stood the Pirate King.

A bird once flew into a hospital window in Flevance. Many worried medical professionals gathered around but it was Law’s father who ended up taking it home after the broken wing was discovered. That’s because Lami was there that day, stepping on Law’s heels as he trailed after their father. 

It should have been a rather unmemorable occasion. Law called their new house guest an interesting specimen, mostly to annoy Lami, but also because it would afford him a close-up study of mending bones. 

To Lami, though, that bird meant everything. 

She named her new best friend Birdie (another strike against Trafalgar creativity) and spent every free moment she could with her (“Only girls are this pretty!” Lami declared, not very well-versed in avian biology at the ripe age of six). Birdie was beautiful, a gray songbird with a bright yellow belly, who went right back to twittering melodies within a couple days. Lami painstakingly built her a comfortable nest that she kept in her room. She showed off her new friend at school and even secretly carried her to the oceanside because she believed Birdie was missing the wide open air. 

But the wing healed fast. Only two weeks after Birdie arrived, Law’s father broke the news that it was time. Lami’s face screwed up immediately, fat tears rolling down her cheeks as she insisted that Birdie should stay. 

“Birdie’s all healed up,” said their father gently. “She needs to go home.”

“She is home!” Lami wailed. “She belongs with me!” 

But she already recognized their father’s kind but firm look that meant he wouldn’t budge. So Lami turned to their mother, then to Law, and must have concluded no one was on her side because she pushed back her chair and fled the room. 

Their mother followed and Law did too, admittedly less because he was sympathetic to the cause and more from the innate voyeuristic need to watch the outcome of a sibling’s current drama. 

Lami was bawling in her bed, tears soaking her pillow. Birdie was close by on the nightstand in her carefully constructed home away from home. 

“Lami,” called their mother. 

“GO AWAY!” Lami shrieked. 

Their mother sat on the bed and tenderly picked up Lami’s braid. For a few quiet moments, she didn’t say anything, just unwove the tangled strands while Law watched from the doorway. 

“What am I going to do with you, Lami?” their mother finally said. “You love so much. You always have.”

Lami hiccuped. “I-it’s your fault,” she accused. “It’s a family trait!” Despite the hoarseness from her sobs, she quoted it in the same proud yet self-effacing tone their mother always used. 

“I’m afraid you caught me,” their mother teased. “You know how your father and I met?”

This was one of Lami’s favorite stories. “You saw him across the room and he was really handsome so you got married. Love at first sight.” She sniffled loudly. 

Law watched the smile bloom on his mother’s face. “That’s right. The moment I saw him, I knew he was the one. That we were forever, before I even knew his name. Freaked him out a bit, honestly. Thought I ruined everything for a time.”

“He loved you too,” said Lami, voice muffled in the pillow as nimble fingers worked themselves through her loosened hair. “Even though you were kinda scary. It was a ‘whirlwind romance.’” She said that last part in the same inflection their father did. 

“Scary?!” their mother repeated, in a ‘who, me?’ type of voice. There was a nostalgic look in her eyes. “Couldn’t’ve been too scary! We married only four months after we met.” She began to re-braid Lami’s hair. “I’m afraid that’s how we Trafalgars love. Everything all at once.”

Over in her little home, Birdie gave a somber trill. 

“I know you love Birdie,” said their mother gently. “I know you love her so much, Lami, and that thinking of her flying away hurts. Love hurts, sometimes.” She twisted a band at the end of the braid before giving it a small tug. 

Lami rolled over onto her back, face splotchy and cheeks still wet with tears. “I don’t want her to go. I want her to stay!”

“I know.” Their mother drew her into her chest. “But even though you love so much, sometimes that’s not enough. Sometimes love means letting go.” 

“Then I hate love!” 

Their mother brushed a stray strand away from her face. “I don’t believe that for a second. You love love, just like I do, even though it can hurt in terrible ways. Maybe that’s why they call it heart break. They take pieces of your heart away.”

“Doesn’t that mean my heart gets smaller?” asked Lami. Her eyes began to droop, worn out from the emotion. 

“No,” said their mother, cradling her close. “It just means they take your love with them, even if they don’t know it.”

“Oh. That doesn’t sound so bad,” Lami murmured sleepily.

Her eyes closed as exhaustion overtook her, so she didn’t see the expression on their mother’s face. But Law did. “Perhaps not,” their mother said. She glanced up at Law as Lami drifted off and gestured to him. 

Law crept over quietly, standing beside the bed and allowing her to draw him into a one-armed hug. He rested against her, even though he didn’t need hugs. But she seemed like she did. “You don’t need to worry,” he told her. Even though they fought sometimes, he’d always look out for Lami. 

She huffed. “Oh Law. The way you love, the way you both love… it’s impossible for a mother to not worry. It can’t be helped.” She squeezed him and whispered into his hair, “Sometimes love is like that too. Inescapable.”

Monkey D. Luffy had grown up. 

Law had noticed, despite himself. He’d tried to ignore the newspaper photos documenting how over the years Luffy gradually filled out, lost the rubbery baby fat in his cheeks, achieved some truly spectacular muscles. But that was a theoretical Luffy on page, vibrant in his own way, but far from something tangible and real. In Law’s mind, Luffy was as he’d left him all those years ago. 

But here he was, incomparable to the one in print. Hunched over in a dog-petting stance, dressed in plain loose clothes with a thin black cape and his straw hat strung around his neck, he should pass as another simple traveler but Law didn’t see how anyone could make that mistake; not when energy thrummed around him like a livewire, a force of nature tightly coiled and bursting at the seams.

Law tried to comprehend the inexplicable sight in front of him, unable to dismiss it as a hallucination because Luffy’s presence demanded not to be ignored. He’d known, of course, the Pirate King was in the area. Had felt almost hunted with how the location of the Straw Hats never seemed too far away from the Hearts for months now. But he’d still thought they wouldn’t run into each other. Made sure their paths would never cross. Hadn’t prepared himself for this eventuality. 

“Are you onigiri’s friend?” asked Luffy nonsensically. 

Dog trotted over to Law, nuzzling him affectionately, thankfully unharmed from his spat with the swan. But Law couldn’t pay any attention to him, not as Luffy’s voice washed over him, deeper and richer than before; not as Luffy straightened up, backlit by the sun; not as Luffy drew closer and closer one step at a time; not as Luffy stood in front of him, forcing Law’s head all the way back to see. 

He was clearly taller. Surely not taller than Law though… current form excluded. That might be the sort of thing Luffy would accomplish just by sheer bullheaded competitiveness but the universe had to give Law a win somewhere, right?

After all, here was Luffy, showing up to an unanticipated reunion looking tall and strong, resembling some sort of ethereally handsome scruffy god descended from the heavens. Meanwhile Law had shown up as a certifiable floof-ball. 

Life really wasn’t fair. 

“You are!” Luffy nodded in a self-satisfied way, like he’d just solved a head scratching mystery. “I’m Monkey D. Luffy, King of the Pirates!” He crouched down and held out a hand for Law to sniff. Luffy smelled of the sea, rubber and salt mixed with ozone, a tell for the power lurking beneath. It was a heady smell, filtering through Law like a strong incense. Familiar, too, as achingly familiar as the shishishi that accompanied it and the dark brown eyes Law could lose himself in.

Luffy smiled, that same bright grin that would play in Law’s mind during nights he couldn’t sleep. He exuded all the boyish charm and foolish attractiveness that always led Law to question everything about himself, that such a dumb look could send his heart aflutter. 

Firm, rubbery fingers brushed through the fur of his head. Law’s ears twitched and he swayed forward. 

“Are you lost? Zoro gets lost all the time.” Luffy laughed boisterously at that, affection obvious. “Onigiri was worried about you.”

Law took a moment to run that befuddling sentence over in his head before it clicked. Oh. Onigiri. Luffy meant Dog. Law glanced over. Dog was standing by, tail wagging enthusiastically as he watched Law receive pets. He didn’t seem jealous of Luffy’s singular attention, more pleased that Law was getting some. Now that it was pointed out, he did resemble onigiri—just as round as Law was but with a large splotch of black fur on his back shaped like a diamond. He seemed un-offended by the new name bestowed upon him. Well, fine. It was probably better than Dog, not that Law would ever admit that to Luffy. 

Had he been worried for Law, just as Law had been? 

Onigiri noticed the attention and eagerly rubbed against him, far too similar to a Bepo hug when he was upset at Law for doing (in his words) something really dumb. When Law got out of this mess, he expected to be greeted with one. 

Law leaned into Onigiri as Luffy’s fingers skittered down Law’s body. They stopped along his sides, tracing circles over the spots in his fur. 

“You have such a grumpy look on your face,” Luffy commented. 

Law glared though he supposed it was good to know his resting bitch face transcended species. 

Luffy cracked up. “You’re the grumpiest dog I’ve ever seen! You’re so funny!”

Disgruntled, Law tried to pull away but Luffy softened the teasing by giving him some vigorous pets. It must be canine instinct that made Law stay put. He sank into the ministrations. It felt good, terribly enough. On the marine ship, he’d bitten anyone who tried to touch him. But this… no wonder dogs loved pets. 

“Hey,” Luffy said. “Wanna join my crew?”

Law’s eyes snapped open.

“Onigiri can too,” Luffy added. His hands slithered around Law. Before he could blink, Luffy stood up, holding Law in front of him like he was preparing to have a very serious conversation with a baby. “It would be so fun.”

“Aruff!” Law complained, short legs kicking pathetically. This degrading position reminded him that Luffy had no clue who he was. Not that it would’ve stopped him if he did. If anything, Luffy was treating Law politely and it probably would’ve been much worse if he knew who actually dwelled in this tiny body. 

“Shishishi, c’mon, join my crew! You’ll love everyone!” 

And despite Luffy not knowing, the invitation still rankled. Law had carefully maintained his independence of Luffy as his ally’s status shot above his own, especially after their renewed alliance on Laugh Tale. Friends, yes, he’d reluctantly admitted, but equals. Luffy himself always treated Law as such but Law was well aware how others would see it if Law let the lines blur. 

But Law was in a bit of a… predicament, one could call it. An extremely embarrassing one, of which Luffy was the obvious solution. Perhaps Law could navigate his way back to the devil fruit user but there was a very real chance he’d end up somewhere worse than collared on a marine ship. He really didn’t have much of a plan beyond hoping some luck would fall into his lap. And, well… 

…if this was the freebie he was being handed, Law would like to have some words with the universe. 

Luffy waited patiently. Even though he could just tuck Law under his arm and drag him across creation—something he had unfortunately done many times before when Law was not pocket-sized—he was waiting for some sort of assent. That was the thing with Luffy, wasn’t it? He demanded and cajoled, was unapologetic in his selfishness, but in the end wanted the best for those he cared about, wanted to give people the freedom to live life as they pleased. Woe to anyone concerned if Luffy thought what was best for them meant being with him. 

It was the simple answer but Law still hesitated. Luffy was really the last person he wanted here. The last person he’d expected to see, even if that was perhaps foolish. Because what would happen after Law’s identity was revealed? What would happen after this mess was concluded? 

Would it really be so easy to sail away again? 

But his crew was looking for him. They were definitely worried by now. Law could swallow some of his pride if it meant getting home to them. Luffy would ensure that. No matter how much time had passed since last they met, he always knew Luffy would never turn his back on him. The bastard. Law hated how reliable he was. 

Onigiri barked. Law peered down to see he was wagging his tail encouragingly. The traitor obviously loved Luffy immediately. 

After this, Law thought glumly, he would most certainly be making it his life’s mission to never see the Straw Hats again. Their teasing was going to be insufferable. 

He gave in with a despondent, “Arff.” Chopper could talk to animals. This whole fiasco could be done and over, quickly and efficiently, with as little public humiliation as possible. 

Luffy’s smile shone with the force of the sun. “Wahoo!” he cheered, whirling around in a dizzying circle, taking Law along for the ride. “You’ll love everyone!” 

Law did not get a chance to protest the celebration. An angry shout broke through the crowd. 

“Hey! Those are my dogs!” 

Luffy stopped, puzzled. Corin was pushing his way through the crowd with grim determination before suddenly drawing up short, a comical expression of complete horror forming. 

“Your dogs?” Luffy repeated. He glanced down at Law as though noticing the leash and collar for the first time.  

Law vehemently shook his head. 

Luffy understood that easily enough. “Nah. They’re not yours.”

“Y-you’re t-the…” Corin gaped, his voice sputtering out to leave an awkward silence. People were starting to stare.

“I’m Monkey D. Luffy, King of the Pirates!” Luffy helpfully declared. A wave of whispers broke out.

Corin’s mouth opened and closed like a beached fish. 

“We’re leaving,” Luffy added, tucking Law carefully under his arm and scooping Onigiri up in the other one. He turned away, unbothered by both the marine and the forming crowd. 

“Y-you—” tried Corin. Behind him, Hana suddenly stumbled out a side street, followed by another junior marine. Law’s suspicions of possible recruited help was correct. The backup gave Corin enough confidence to shout, “H-hey! HEY! Come back! You’re under arrest! Stop him! The Pirate King is stealing my dogs!” 

The alarm was raised. Seemingly out of nowhere, marines began to pour onto the main street. 

“Ah man,” Luffy said. “Nami’s gonna be so mad.” Then took off running down the main street with an entire Navy battalion on his tail.

Sandals slapping against the pavement, Luffy careened through the crowd. Most people darted out of the way but a few brave souls attempted to apprehend him, spurred on by the copious shouts from the pursuing marines. One brave contingent of citizens were swept aside by an elongated rubbery leg, knocked into a group of marines trying to cut them off. Luffy cut through the opening and tripped over a vegetable cart, sending its products rolling around the ground and starting a domino effect with the next cluster of marines rounding the corner. His laughter caught on the wind, ringing above the angered yells and surprised cries.

As he bounced along in Luffy’s grip, Law thought about how he could have been a simple doctor, in another life. He did his best to peek around Luffy’s stomach to catch a glimpse of Onigiri who was panting hard and completely unbothered.

Luffy sprung up, landing on a roof and sliding down the tiles to make it to the other side. The Thousand Sunny appeared, docked proudly in open view of the busy port. A crowd of onlookers were gawking at it even before Luffy burst onto the scene. 

“NAMI!” Luffy hollered. “SORRY! WE GOTTA GO!” He landed hard on the cobblestone and raced towards his ship, sending startled bystanders scattering out the way. 

The Straw Hat’s navigator popped her head over the railing. Even from this distance, Law could see her vexation as she yelled. “Luffy! What did I say about keeping a low profile?” Her eyes slid past Luffy and her mouth dropped open. The cacophony behind them grew louder as the marines presumably turned the corner. “Oh my god, what did you do? JINBEI!” She disappeared out of view. 

Luffy’s laughter continued. Another group of marines appeared on the opposite end of the docks, rapidly drawing closer. Sunny’s wood creaked as she began moving. A rubbery arm coiled around Law a second time and then stretched out to grab Sunny’s mast. They zipped through the air at a dizzying speed as the sails picked up wind. Luffy landed perfectly on deck and straightened up, giving Law the perfect view of Jinbei working the helm as a frazzled Nami screeched something to another unseen member of the crew. The marine shouts continued from land, accompanied by gunfire now that they were sailing into the open sea. 

Luffy held Law and Onigiri up in front of his chest, protecting them should a stray bullet whizz past. Law stared out at the familiar ship, nostalgia hitting despite the chaotic scene. It had been a long time. Never had he imagined his return would be via inadvertent recruitment.

“Shishishi! Welcome to the crew!”

—

The Thousand Sunny sailed peacefully in the open ocean. There was a pleasant calm settling now that the cries from shore had faded. Law’s sixth sense tingled, screaming danger. 

BONK

“What the hell was that, Luffy?!”

The Straw Hat navigator loomed above her captain with a menacing aura reminiscent of some ancient otherworldly terror. 

“Oww," whined the fearsome Pirate King, rubbing at the bump on his head with his free hand. 

Nami’s gaze swung down to Law. Her lips pinched. “Luffy,” she gritted out. “What is that?”

Luffy held Law up proudly like he was a prize fish he’d just caught. Law had been carried through the entire country of Dressrosa with all the propriety one would have for a sack of potatoes and yet this moment—being gripped beneath his front legs so that all four dangled helplessly akimbo in mid-air—was somehow his most undignified yet. 

“This is Hat,” said Luffy. 

What the fuck? Law wanted to kick up some sort of fuss but all the energy normally reserved for being upset had been utterly drained. 

“And that’s Onigiri!” Luffy jostled Law in the direction where Onigiri was sniffing at Jinbei’s feet, blissfully free, the lucky bastard. 

Nami’s hands went to her hips. “Luffy, why are there two dogs on board?”

“They’ve joined our crew!” 

Nami stared hard at Luffy then down at Law. Law stared back, caught between praying they would never figure out this was him and trying to communicate he was indeed Trafalgar Law, in desperate need of some assistance. 

“Hat?” Nami repeated. She raised an eyebrow. “What are we going to do with two dogs, Luffy?”

“What do you mean?” Luffy looked perplexed. He shook Law at Nami again. “Look at him! Look at all his spots!” 

“They’re both pretty cute,” Nami admitted. “This one kinda looks like a baby seal.”

Law watched a flock of seagulls flying past, wondering what sort of deity he had insulted in a past life. 

Luffy turned him around so they were face to face again. “You’re gonna love it here, Hat! Sanji’ll make you the best food! Ah, he’s my cook. He’s the best cook ever.” 

“Luffy, this isn’t like recruiting Chopper to the crew. Someone has to take care of them!” 

Law was still stuck on baby seal. 

“Dogs can make excellent companions.” Jinbei came over to join the conversation, head turned to watch Onigiri follow closely behind, still intently sniffing him. “Very loyal and can be great protectors.”

Onigiri switched his interest to Nami’s sandals, nosing around them curiously. Nami eyed him dubiously.

“By the way, where should we head to meet the others?” asked Jinbei. 

Nami smacked her hand against her forehead. “Oh, that’s right! Luffy!” She delivered a harsher punch to her captain, sending his entire head swinging to the side like a demented tether ball. “We left half our crew on land because of you!” 

Luffy’s head snapped back. He laughed, completely unashamed. “Whoops!” 

“Including Sanji,” Nami reminded. “He was out shopping. Dinner’s gonna be late now!”

“Aww, I’m so hungry though!”

“Well maybe you should have thought of that before alerting an entire unit of…” Nami trailed off. She seemed to be calculating something in her head and not liking the results. “Luffy.”

“Huh?” asked Luffy, blasé. 

“Did you just kidnap two marine dogs?”

Luffy looked to the side and pursed his lips. “No.”

They were still going at it when Franky came on deck. “Yow! What’s this?” he called over Onigiri’s barking and Nami’s vicious lecturing as she shook Luffy like a rag doll. 

“Our new crewmates, I believe,” Jinbei told him. “We’re currently circling back to collect the rest of our friends.”

“Nice! Hey there, little bro!” Franky knelt down to greet Law who had been thankfully released from Luffy’s grasp. Law reared back, firmly stamping down on any doggish instincts when they’d soon find out it was him. Onigiri ran up to Franky in alarmed curiosity, not seeming to know what to make of him, alternating between sniffing him cautiously and running around in circles. Franky wasn’t bothered. From within the confines of his machinery, he stretched out a dangling cord that Onigiri immediately latched onto in a game of tug o’ war. 

Nami sighed. “That’s Onigiri. This one’s Hat.”

“Two new little buddies? Suuuper!” 

“Onigiri and Hat?” Jinbei repeated. He stared closely at Law who tried not to meet his eyes. Jinbei currently held the record as the Straw Hat to have witnessed the least of Law’s humiliations and had retained some semblance of respect for him when last they met. Apparently that was being corrected.

Onigiri and Franky were already great friends. Nami watched Franky play with Onigiri then side-eyed where Luffy was snatching Law up again. Even in the midst of his struggle to get away from Luffy’s arms, Law caught the moment she resigned herself to the inevitable. “Alright, alright. We need to head back and pick everyone up without pissing off a whole contingent of marines. Again.”

“We can just beat ‘em up,” Luffy shrugged. “C’mon, Hat, let me show you Sunny!”

Nami glared suspiciously at him but Luffy didn’t stick around for another potential lecture. She was certainly right to be wary of his intentions. Luffy wandered around Sunny, giving Law a tour just long enough for the coast to be clear. Then he took Law straight to the galley, as pristinely clean and booby-trapped as Law remembered. 

Luffy placed Law on the kitchen island which doubtlessly would displease Sanji. But it gave Law a front row seat to Luffy raiding the fridge, which included a blaring alarm that was disabled within two wails and a painful looking mouse trap snapping down on rubbery fingers. It was only minutes before the fridge was open. Luffy was never more brilliant than when something lay between him and meat. 

Law watched as Luffy stuck his head in. There was a strong déjà vu to the scene, though nothing quite like this had ever happened before. Being back on this ship, with these people, after all this time… it was uncanny in its familiarity. It had never mattered how much he pushed memories away over the years. They’d come back, forceful as their central star. And, truthfully, a part of Law didn’t want to forget. 

A small but juicy steak was placed in front of him. Law stared down at it in surprise, having fully expected to be a mere spectator. Luffy was already gobbling up his own giant’s share but that didn’t mean much. Luffy could always eat more. But it had been a long time, Law reminded himself. Who knew in what ways Luffy had changed? Besides, he was hungry. It had been a long day. He dug in, devouring the meat in a most definitely ferocious manner as Luffy inhaled his own food. There was a companionable silence as they ate. 

“Sanji’s food is the best, isn’t it?” 

Law looked up, mouth full. Luffy had finished and was watching him. 

It was good, of course. Sanji’s cooking was always perfection and it tasted familiar, like meeting an old friend. Not unlike Clione’s food, in a way, which perhaps was not as good as Sanji’s but which Law would always choose if he had to pick. There was nothing like the taste of home. 

“Glad you like it,” said Luffy. “I bet you’re really picky.”

Law huffed, nibbling his way through the last remnants of his steak. 

“It’s ‘cause you’re like Torao.” 

For a second, nothing about that sentence registered as bizarre. Law was Torao, after all, even if it had been awhile since he’d been called that. Then his paws entered his periphery. No, he was nothing like Torao at all. He stared up at Luffy indignantly. 

Luffy’s expression was surprisingly soft. “You look like him,” he said, which was even worse. He seemed to sense Law’s irritation and laughed. “Torao has a hat that’s all white and fluffy with spots, just like you.” He reached back to where his straw hat hung on its string and pulled it onto his head. “The hat’s important to him.”

Oh. Law hadn’t really gotten a good look at himself. He’d seen the spots but hadn’t realized he resembled his hat. He didn’t know how to feel about that. 

“Ah, Torao would like you and Onigiri a lot. He really likes cute things.” 

“Ruff,” said Law, offended. He did not like cute things and even if he did, Luffy didn’t need to go around exposing all his secrets. 

Luffy crossed his arms on the counter and rested his chin. “I haven’t seen Torao in a long time.” 

They were awfully close. Law’s heart stuttered. He could count the multi-colored flecks of brown in Luffy’s eyes. Luffy wasn’t looking at him though. He was looking somewhere far away. 

It had been a long time. Five years, in fact. It was strange to sit here and listen to Luffy talk about that. Law always believed that Luffy didn’t think about him at all. Why would he? Law was a long-gone ally and Luffy didn’t look to the past. Law thought about that a lot because he thought about Luffy all the time, even when he tried not to. 

There was an unusual pensive expression on Luffy. Luffy who was different now, older, a stranger in many ways. Law couldn’t imagine what he was thinking. He thought about moving close, offering a comforting nudge. Dogs could be good for a blue mood. Law read a study once. 

But he held himself back. Hopefully Chopper would be back on board soon enough and the Straw Hats could have their laugh and then put to work their insane reliability to recover Law’s humanity. Maybe there would be too much chaos following that, between the devil fruit user and the shape-shifting and getting back to Law’s crew, enough that he and Luffy wouldn’t have any time to talk. And then Law would return to his submarine and sail away yet again, full of fresh new memories to keep him awake at night. That was the only way it could be for him.

It was just as well. The galley door slammed open to reveal Sanji, who was less than pleased by the canine paws on his kitchen counter.

Love, after all, was a tricky thing. Law spent a lot of time trying not to think about it, even more time trying to run away. It was better off carefully tucked away in the dark recesses of his soul. 

That was easy enough after Flevance, when he believed all his love had burned away to ashes. Then there was Cora, who Law hated, with his smile and clumsiness and tears, hated so much until one day it tipped over and all at once it wasn’t hatred anymore. Except then he was gone. Law was left with clear skin, new abilities, another piece of his heart lost, and echoes in his mind of a baffling Law, I love you, which never made any sense no matter which way Law examined it. 

After Cora, he told himself never again. 

Love didn’t hurt sometimes. It hurt all the time and Law decided he didn’t love love at all and would be better off without it as he set out on a quest for revenge. It’s not like his mother was around to be disappointed by his numerous bad decisions. 

He met a lost little polar bear a few days later. 

That’s how it was. Love kept finding Law when he least expected it. Right when he wanted it least though perhaps, one could say (though Law never did), also right when he needed it most. 

In an ideal world, Law would have liked to reunite with the Straw Hat crew holding some amount of grace while communicating his current plight. Unfortunately, as was common when dealing with the world contender for migraine origins, Law was afforded basically none. 

Instead of putting Law down like any sensible person would do with a sentient, mobile creature, Law tucked Law under his arm as he brought him to face the music. It was unbelievable, really. No matter what form Law was in or how long it had been since they’d seen each other, Luffy was still determined to manhandle him like a piece of luggage.

Luffy did set him back down on his feet outside, where Law staggered trying to regain his balance. The excruciating heat meant he started panting uncontrollably. This was a very cute look on Onigiri. Law tried very hard not to look the same.

“Oh my god, there’s two of them,” said Usopp. 

Law closed his mouth and tilted his head up. Canine instinct opened it right back up to help filter out the humidity. The entire Straw Hat crew surrounded him, looming like giants against the blue, cloudless sky. 

“Oh my.” Robin covered her mouth with a hand in an unsuccessful attempt to hide how adorable she thought he was. 

Zoro stared down at him with a disappointed expression. “This one doesn’t look like it can fight either.”

“Perhaps we should not attempt verifying that,” said Jinbei. Onigiri was sitting between him and Franky, wagging his tail happily at all the attention. 

“No no, let him. He’s finally found someone to communicate on his level.”

“You wanna say that again, curly-brows?!”

“You think they can fight?” asked Luffy, even more enthused. 

“No one is fighting the dogs!” Nami yelled. 

“Yohohoho, what an excellent addition to the crew! Some dogs are great appreciators of music!” 

Law cast his gaze around desperately for Chopper. Better to get this over with right away. 

Chopper, bless him, was a step ahead. He approached Law in his regular form, a carefully constructed doctor-approved bedside smile firmly fixed. It was nice not having to crane his neck back so much to look up at people. “Hi! I’m Chopper, I’m the crew’s doctor! You don’t need to be afraid, everyone’s really nice.” Chopper side-eyed Sanji and Zoro, still quarreling about utilizing tiny dogs as training partners. It was such a grown-up look, filled with a confidence that was missing years before. It elicited a strange feeling in Law. “Who are you?” 

Law’s words briefly failed him. The familiar faces swam in his periphery, faces he’d honestly thought he’d never see again. In the event of a reunion, this was about the worst case scenario. Anxiety wormed away in Law’s gut, born from so many different causes it would be impossible to unravel them all. But his crew must be worried sick by now. Law had to get home. He could not chicken out and spend the remainder of his days with fur just to avoid the embarrassment. 

Without further delay, he informed Chopper, “Roruff! Ruff woof arruf!!” and braced himself. 

There was a moment of silence. 

“Excuse me?” asked Chopper. 

“Ruff woof arruf,” Law repeated.

Chopper stared blankly. 

“What’s he saying?” asked Luffy eagerly. 

“Er.” Chopper rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m not really sure. He’s just talking Dog. I can’t understand him.”

Law’s stomach dropped. A scenario where Chopper didn’t understand him hadn’t even crossed his mind. “Ruff woof arruf!” he tried again, carefully enunciating. 

“You understood that one, didn’t you?” Sanji jerked his head towards Onigiri. 

Chopper turned to him. “Can you tell me what Hat’s saying?” he asked, having apparently already made introductions. 

“Arf roff warff awoof!” Onigiri explained. 

“Er, he can’t understand him either,” said Chopper. Trying hard to sound polite, “I think Hat is a little… different.” 

“Ah,” said Sanji, not bothering to disguise his insulting tone of voice that implied he interpreted that as Law being ‘not very bright.’

“Aw man,” said Usopp. “I was wondering what kinda hilarious things this one would say.”

“How strange!” Robin mused. “Is it another form of animal language? You’ve only ever encountered one, have you not?”

Chopper nodded.

“So Hat’s a mystery dog!” said Luffy wisely. 

A nugget of nausea took root. “Roruff ruff arruf!” Law exclaimed at Onigiri desperately. Tell him I’m human! Tell him about Kikoku! Tell him anything!

Onigiri panted back, of course not understanding a word but obviously upset at Law’s distress. “Arf woof waruff,” he said to Chopper. 

“What’s he saying now?” asked Franky. 

“Well… I think he’s saying they were lost. It’s a bit hard to tell even with Onigiri. Dogs tend to be pretty straightforward and… simple. He’s really nice though!”

“Aww.” That was enough for Nami to be charmed. She squatted down and took Onigiri’s face between her hands, massaging his ears. 

“I’m sure Hat’s nice too,” said Chopper diplomatically. “Most dogs are really friendly.”

Law was not feeling particularly friendly in this moment. 

“Not like Onigiri is,” Nami cooed. “Hat’s way too grumpy but Onigiri’s just a little cutie, right? Aren’t you just the best? Yes you are!”

Fuck you very much, thought Law, now exceptionally pissed off, getting flashbacks of the marines. He looked around, trying to figure out some other way to get his message across. Robin was watching him and he darted over to her, pawing at the deck in an attempt to spell out his name. 

Robin knelt down, brow furrowing. She was observing closely but the more Law tried to spell his name, the less his limbs would cooperate. A headache announced itself with an unpleasant throb. Giving up, he searched around for some loose items and spotted a pile of Usopp’s tools. 

“Oi! Bad dog!” Usopp squawked as Law dug through his things. Law ignored him, dragging the tools around to try and spell LAW. But the harder he concentrated, the more his brain turned to mush, headache pounding away at his head until his vision turned black. 

Someone pulled a wrench out of his teeth. 

“Bad Hat!” Nami screeched, shooing him away. He stumbled, spots swimming in his eyes. A furry body brushed against him. Usopp moved past, complaining loudly as he started gathering up the mess. 

Because it was a mess. Law stared as his vision cleared, cold washing over him despite the stifling heat. There had been no reason to try and convey his situation before, having been with the marines since the beginning. He’d assumed he couldn’t understand Onigiri because he was human. But something was stopping him from communicating. A part of the devil fruit’s curse, preventing any allusions of his humanity.

His ears rang with the revelation.

Gentle hands carefully picked him up. He didn’t fight the hold as numbness crept through his limbs. Long, thin fingers brushed through his fur. It was Robin, Law realized distantly, her calm voice filtering through the white noise. “—an adjustment,” she was saying. “Hat looks a little overwhelmed.”

Luffy popped up in front of him with a slight frown. “It’s okay, Hat. You’re not lost anymore! Sanji’ll make you really yummy food.”

“You a dog chef now, curly?”

“Shut the fuck up, marimo!” 

“Don’t you two start right now!” 

“Sorry, Nami-swan~!”

“Tch, of course you roll over that easy, love-cook.”

“Three thousand beri.”

“What the hell did I do, witch?”

The old, familiar chaos of the Straw Hat crew was taking over. Franky called for Onigiri. He’d been sitting at Robin’s feet but he followed his new name, drawn by the promise of a fun game. It grabbed the attention of Usopp and Chopper as well. Law watched as Onigiri began to play, instantly fitting right in with the crew.

“He’ll be okay, Luffy,” said Robin. “Just give him a little time.”

Law looked back. Luffy was still bending over to eye-level. When their gazes met, he reached out a hand and brushed it over the spots on Law’s back. It was a fleeting touch, barely a whisper against his fur, before Luffy pulled back to lower the straw hat over his eyes. His face was shadowed for a long, tense moment. Then he looked back up with his usual cheer. “M’kay. Take care of him, Robin!” He left, attempting (rather unsuccessfully) to follow Sanji into the kitchen. 

Robin cradled Law close. For all that Law hated these indignities forced upon him, the hold was comforting. She shuffled him in her arms, resting her cheek against his head. “They can be a lot at first,” she murmured. “But there’s no need to be afraid. You’re safe here. And Luffy likes you quite a bit.”

Law buried his face in her arm, not caring about appearances as the very real possibility that he was stuck with this form forever settled in his bones. He hadn’t been fully aware of the weight lifted off him earlier, too distracted by the shock of having Luffy in the flesh after all this time, the rush of emotions that came with him, as well as the promised embarrassment once the Straw Hats discovered his identity. 

But the truth was, as soon as he’d seen Luffy in that busy street, he thought everything would be okay.

Nothing was ever so easy for him. 

Robin carried him to the library, letting him rest on her lap as she picked up a book. Law did not fight it, lingered in the solace of an old friend’s company while despair flooded in. He didn’t know what he was going to do. Didn’t know what he could do. A part of him wanted to run away, an itch under his skin, the walls closing in. It might be better just living off the land and trying to search for a miracle rather than have this false hope dangled in front of him. 

But if he wanted a miracle, he was in the only place where he knew to look for one. Exhaustion overtook him and he slipped off to sleep with the smell of sea salt and ozone all around. 

Chapter Text

A door banged open, shattering the early afternoon calm. “Where is that shitty mutt?!” 

“Keep it down, curly. Some of us are enjoying the weather.” 

Sanji’s stomps screeched to a halt. “I don't need commentary from some overgrown moss lounging under the sun like he's also a dog!" 

“It is too nice out here for this!” came Nami’s voice.

“Sorry, Nami-swan~! Instead of some lovely iced juice, I shall be making delicious fruit smoothies!” Sanji moved away. 

Law poked his head out from around Zoro, double checking the coast was clear. 

“You really know how to piss Cook off,” said Zoro, sounding impressed. He picked up the juicer Law had stolen from the kitchen in a fit of pique. 

“Aruff,” said Law. Sanji was a gracious host to all manner of species but just because he fed Law well didn’t mean he’d allow Sanji to groom him in adorable ways to impress the ladies. Each time he tried, Law retaliated, which meant Sanji tried even harder. It was already a full-blown war. 

“Careful with him.” Zoro set the juicer aside for Sanji to stumble across later. “When he really gets going, he gets creative. And he knows how to hold a grudge.”

So do I, thought Law. 

Zoro looked amused. Over the past few days on board, he’d proven a reliable ally when Law needed to escape the more irritating members of this crew. Law sat back, watching as he polished Wado Ichimonji with confident, well-practiced gestures. He wondered if Kikoku had been found. Either way, whether it was from the dilapidated barrels or from an entrepreneurial scavenger, she was going to be upset when he retrieved her. A full month now, since that day in the alley. This was far beyond any time spent apart since he first found her. 

“You like swords?” 

Law glanced up from Wado. Zoro smirked at him, finishing off the polish and tossing the cloth aside. He tilted Wado so she caught the sun. A beautiful blade, shining from precise care and promising a ruthless reliability.

“Yeah you do,” said Zoro. “I can tell from that look in your eye.”

You can tell that but not that I’m actually human? Law groused.

“Wanna learn?” 

Law stared blankly. 

“How to sword fight,” Zoro clarified, like that was a normal thing to offer a dog as tall as his ankle scars. “Well, knife fight, in your case. Same principle with your size. Cook’ll probably get mad if I take one of his knives though…” He considered this quandary thoughtfully. 

This was one of the most ridiculous propositions Law had ever heard. He was completely on board. If he was stuck in this form, he may as well become the most deadly dog in the Grand Line.

Zoro’s grin was shark-like. “Oi, Usopp!” he yelled. 

From across the ship, “Ehh?”

“You have a knife?”

“Yeah! Why?”

“I need a knife!” 

“You have three swords!” 

“I need a knife!” 

“Why?”

“Oh my god, you two, some of us are trying to relax! Shut up!” 

“Hat needs a knife!” 

“Huh? The dog?!”

“Yeah!” 

“What the hell are you doing, Zoro? Five hundred beris per word yelled from now on! This is the first day in ages we’re not being cooked alive!” 

“You’re yelling too, Nami!” But Usopp appeared on the upper deck, looking skeptical. “Uhh, why does the scary dog need a knife?”

“So he can sword fight,” said Zoro, in a tone of voice implying Usopp was the dumb one for not getting it. 

Law stared up at where Usopp was warily eying him from the top of the stairs. Yes, there were a couple times where he’d purposefully terrorized Usopp. It was only to prevent him from attempting to rope Law into all the experiments and games Onigiri enjoyed so much and the method had proven wildly successful. 

Usopp blanched. “That dog is already out to get me! And now you’re gonna teach Hat how to be a swordsman? Swordsdog? Swordspooch? Swo—”

“Yeah. You got one?”

With a deep sigh, Usopp dug around the bag he was carrying. He pulled a small knife out. “This good?”

There were the sounds of a brief scuffle across deck followed by an ominous twang of rubber. Usopp’s eyes widened and he turned, instinctively gripping onto the guardrail right as his captain careened into him. For a brief moment, Usopp’s free arm waved frantically, trying to keep his balance, before he failed and they both went bouncing down the stairs to collapse in a heap at the bottom. 

Luffy wasted no time in scrambling off him, ignoring the oofs he elicited. “What’s happening?! Hat can fight?” His eyes were bright, grin huge. 

Usopp lurched to his feet and hit Luffy over the head. “I was holding a knife! You could’ve gutted me!” 

The responding laughter was completely unashamed. 

Zoro got to his feet. “Not yet. Give it here.” He examined the knife; Luffy’s curious close-up face tracked his every move. “Good make. It’ll work for now.” He squatted and turned the handle towards Law. “We’ll start with the mouth grip.”

“You’re seriously teaching that tiny demon dog how to sword fight?” 

“Hat’s not a demon dog, Usopp!” 

“Yes he is! He is plotting my untimely gruesome demise! You haven’t seen how he glares at me?”

“Shishishi, he’s not glaring at you, that’s just his face. It’s so cute!” 

“It is not cute! It is an evil glare that can only come from the depths of hell! When I die, Luffy, you’ll—”

Law sank his teeth carefully into the knife’s hilt, ignoring Usopp’s continued background ranting. A concerned thought crossed his mind that attempting some form of swordsmanship would be too much like exposing his humanity. He braced himself for the vicious throb in the back of his head that signaled he was skirting the edge of the devil fruit curse. But, thankfully, it didn’t come. 

Maybe the devil fruit thought sword fighting was an appropriate canine activity. Or perhaps it didn’t know what to make of sword fighting via mouth-wielding.

Excited anticipation coursed through him. 

“Yeah,” said Zoro, reaching out to expertly adjust Law’s grip. “You’re gonna do just fine.”

The very first night on board, Luffy tried to drag Law into his hammock for sleep. Law had survived several weeks as a new species only to almost die of a heart attack. 

A brawl started, not just between them but the entire room of men (minus Jinbei on watch) after Luffy accidentally kicked Usopp in the face, causing him to spill some ink on Sanji’s nearby jacket, whose irritation morphed into rage at Zoro’s analysis. Chopper joined in to feel included. Franky joined in because it was fun. Brook played some accompanying battle marches and Law escaped out the door.

Heart beating frantically, he lay down under a new moon. Mere hours and already the force of Luffy’s presence was threatening to overwhelm him. Law hadn’t asked for this. Had been perfectly fine without it. Being back here, irregardless of the Straw Hats not having a clue, was not what Law needed right now. What he did need was a solution to his fur problem and, lacking that, a way to get home. 

He was safe at least, excluding all the inherent dangers of simply existing around this crew’s questionable enthusiasm. Instead of worrying so much about escaping the marines, he could focus entirely on a solution and simply not think of anything else. 

What solution is that? asked his insidious inner voice. What is your next step, Law? It sounded like Doflamingo, mocking and overly amused. Law envisioned stabbing it in the heart. 

A wet nose nudged him in companionable reassurance. Onigiri had joined him outside, always seeming to sense when Law was feeling particularly woeful. Law gave him an affectionate headbutt. Even with the nocturnal heat, Onigiri eagerly curled up against him as had been habit every night on the marine ship. Law could feel the movement of his breaths, muting his worries and calming his mind. They fell asleep together just like that.

The next day, Franky built two doghouses, one for the deck and the other in the men’s quarters. Luffy was given explicit instructions to not bother them if they were hiding inside and despite his sulking, he mostly took it to heart. 

Law was busy the first couple days, which saw him wholly focused on experimenting with how to possibly outwit the devil fruit curse. But those attempts dwindled soon enough, though it took him blacking out so hard he lost time to reach the reluctant acceptance that he wouldn’t be able to impart his identity. He woke up under the scorching afternoon sun to Usopp outlining his body like a crime scene. Both Luffy and Onigiri peered worriedly at him during Chopper’s examination which ended in a confused announcement that there was nothing wrong. 

Hah. 

“Don’t do that, Hat,” Luffy scolded. He picked Law up, a now anticipated action considering Luffy lugged him everywhere like a mandated stress ball, glare and all. 

“Rrow,” replied Law and sank into the guilty pleasure that was Luffy’s embrace. 

The cold reality settled into his bones overnight. He was stuck in this form, stuck on this ship, stuck far away from his crew, and there really wasn’t much he could do. So he hid in the doghouse, ignoring all attempts at coaxing him out. Hours wallowing away, wondering if he would ever see his crew again. 

“Be gentle with him, Luffy,” was Robin’s practical advice. “He’s in a new place. We don’t know what he’s been through to get here. It’s natural there’s an adjustment time.” 

Law refused to turn around, knowing all he would see was Luffy’s face taking up the entire entrance of the doghouse. 

“He’s sad though,” Luffy insisted. “He’s been there all day. C’mere, Hat! The sun is good for you. Chopper said. He’s the best doctor in the world so you gotta listen to him!” 

“Fresh air and sunlight is a good medicine,” Robin agreed. “Even in this heat. But sometimes a little space is needed. Give him some room for today.”

It was a kindness and a warning. One day of lonely listlessness was all this irritating crew would allow. 

He woke up the next morning to the familiar sound of Sanji cursing. His locker would swing open if Usopp closed his own locker door too hard. A godawful AM hour but thanks to his doggish instincts he was immediately alert. Sanji held the door open for him and Onigiri and they followed him to the kitchen to receive their breakfast (possibly the finest cuisine any dog could ever hope for). After that, Sanji started brewing coffee, the scent of it filling the galley. Law missed coffee terribly but could do without the fallout of the embarrassing effects it would likely have on his current body. He sat enviously beside Robin who habitually enjoyed her own cup in the meditative quiet dawn.

Luffy was thrilled he was out and about and heaved Law up onto the kitchen island to chatter away at him while he ate. Sanji turned around and caught him, yelling about doggy paws on his counter “for the hundredth time, Luffy!” Luffy swallowed the rest of his breakfast and dragged Law outside. Inexplicably, Law was his favorite fluff ball even though Onigiri was right there, the epitome of cuteness. Law was offended for him. At least the rest of the crew had sense. They all adored Onigiri, who likewise loved everyone in return. He basked in the endless attention. Law would be running for his life from Luffy’s antics only to catch Onigiri sitting proudly at Jinbei’s feet while he steered or being slipped treats from Nami or playing games with Usopp and Franky. 

It was only right. Really. He was the greatest dog in the world and deserved to be showered in love. Plus, such an affectionate creature could hardly be expected to choose a favorite person—of which Law was not even a contender for, considering he wasn’t a person anymore. 

A routine fell into place, including the necessary Usopp human-training and the first battles against Sanji. It was exactly the one-week mark aboard when Zoro determined Law was worthy of being a pupil to the World’s Greatest Swordsman. That entire afternoon was dedicated to training. Every Straw Hat stopped by to observe as Law learned the balance of the knife and basic techniques. Brook stuck around with Luffy and Usopp as a dedicated viewership. Robin wandered past long enough to contribute a factoid of death statistics where the culprit was a weapon-wielding domestic pet and cheerfully departed as Usopp’s knees quaked. Onigiri scurried in, eager to try and join, but Nami scooped him up and left after charging them all for being too loud. When Sanji dropped off snacks and discovered his juicer, Law got some practical practice dueling irate humans. 

They stopped as the sky began to morph into fiery colors. It had been an invigorating but exhausting afternoon. Zoro supplied some gruff praise, a starting time for tomorrow, and a promise he’d get Franky to craft a dog-accessible knife sheath, ignoring Usopp’s squawks. Despite how different the experience was from his regular sword fighting style, it was the most normal Law had felt since this entire fiasco began. 

After slurping up an entire bowlful of water, he didn’t have the energy to protest when Luffy dragged him into his lap. Rubbery fingers carded through his fur and Law sank into it, letting the casual conversation around him fade to white noise. He was able to nap as a dog, one of the few advantages to the form. If he tried to nap as a human, he could expect his hard-earned sleep pattern to be screwed up for at least a week.

“Luffy.”

Nami’s voice cut through Law’s foggy thoughts. He cracked open an eye to see her coming down the stairs. 

“You gonna join us, Nami?” Luffy shuffled slightly so she could sit between him and Brook. Onigiri full-body hopped down the stairs and beelined over to greet Law.

Nami sat down, giving Law a little greeting scratch. He was tired enough to allow it. “We gotta figure out where we’re going next. We can’t keep sailing around in circles with the marine eyes on us now.”

“Did you hear anything?” Luffy asked. 

The chattering between Usopp and Brook quieted. 

“Not yet,” said Nami. 

“Then we wait.”

Onigiri, satisfied with Law’s response, began his quest to acquire pets. He stopped by Nami first even though he’d spent the whole afternoon basking under her umbrella. She massaged his cheeks, sending his tail into a happy wag. 

“We’re not giving up, Luffy. It’s just to shake off the marines for a bit, give us some breathing room.” Nami gave Onigiri a gentle pinch and he moved onto Brook. His spindly fingers gave the best pets, even more than Franky’s newly installed dog scratcher. “Our leads are dried up right now and we don’t know when they’ll surface again. You know how good the Hearts are at avoiding detection.” 

Law started. Luffy’s hand immediately jumped to his head in a soothing gesture. 

“Yeah, we lost them for almost two months that one time,” Usopp chimed in. “Remember? That’s when we got stuck on that theme park island.”

And people accused Law of being paranoid. These fuckers had been trailing him. For months! Months where Law had gaslit himself into believing it was one giant coincidence and ignored all of his crew’s silent exchanges whenever he redirected their route. 

Luffy began drooling. “Ahhh, their fried chicken was so good!” 

“The only way to travel was on that death trap of a roller coaster! That was not worth any good food!”  

“I had a great time,” said Brook. 

“Yeah, because you joined their band and got a VIP badge which included using their secret underground train!” 

Nami snapped her fingers. “Focus!”

“Well, Law certainly did always enjoy doing things the difficult way,” Brook remarked, giving Onigiri a little head ruffle as he drew away. 

That was certainly rich coming from a Straw Hat of all people. 

Luffy’s fingers found a now familiar path, tracing over the dark spotted fur on Law’s back. “We’ll wait,” he repeated. 

Nami watched as Onigiri placed his front paws on Zoro’s legs, requesting pets. “Okay,” she agreed. “We’ll wait a bit longer. If the marines catch up, it’ll be good for this one to let off some steam.” She jerked her thumb at Zoro who scowled. “Law can’t hide forever.”

“It’s possible he doesn’t know,” offered Brook. “He could be enjoying his time at a nice spa.”

If only. Had he stuck with his crew at the resort, his life would undoubtedly be much simpler right now. 

“How could he not know we’re looking for him?” said Usopp. “Months, remember? Man, things would’ve been easier if we’d replaced Bepo’s vivre card when we had a chance…” 

“Doesn’t matter,” said Zoro frankly. Onigiri was in his lap, wriggling with joy from the scritches under his chin. “He’s a stubborn bastard but we’ll find him.”

Find him for what? Luffy’s expression was placid but when he caught Law looking, his lips curled up. He brushed his fingers gently across Law’s cheek. 

It didn’t make any sense. So little sense, in fact, that despite the plain data written on his screens detailing their coinciding routes, he’d made himself believe it was just a stroke of incredible misfortune. Because why, after all this time, would Luffy care? 

No answers were offered. Sanji’s voice rang out, announcing dinner, resulting in a mad scramble and leaving a great many questions drifting in the humid air. 

Law’s first time with someone had been an almost clinical experience, done to get it over with. It was fine, he supposed, although he wasn’t about to wax poetry about it like Penguin and Shachi did. It had been with a man and he found he had no interest in trying it another way so the next time it was with a man again. 

It never meant anything and it never would. Law was not looking for love. His future only held the Grand Line and the fulfillment of a dead man’s dream. There was no room for anything else. The encounters only occurred when someone was brave enough to approach him which was rare. Law tended to not turn them down despite them being usually regrettable and more trouble than they were worth. He just said yes because there wasn’t much reason not to.

When he was twenty-two, making serious plans to finally leave the North Blue, he slept with a very good-looking man; a stranger whose name Law probably learned at one point. Nothing more than a one-off tryst who was rather awful in bed and would have been entirely unmemorable except the man burst into tears afterwards. It was hideously embarrassing for all involved and Law wished the waterworks had been saved for after he left. Instead, he stood awkwardly by as this random stranger started flooding the room. 

“Have you ever been in love?” wept the man, still naked under the sheets. 

Fuck, Law thought, already dressed, not wanting to get into philosophical discussions when he felt vaguely disgusting and in need of a long, hot shower and was wondering again why he’d gone through with this. Unfortunately, this particular individual had been ludicrously handsome and had very buff arms and held an intelligent conversation before they left together. Either way, he was here now so Law answered, “No.”

“I’m in love,” said the man. 

Law began edging towards the exit.

“She is a goddess, a star in the sky, a cool wind on a hot summer’s day—”

Why me? Law rolled his eyes up towards the leaky inn roof. This was the last time. He would remain celibate for the rest of his life. Sex was not good enough to suffer through this. 

“—and when she laughs, it is like a clear bell ringing across the lands, calling you home to a warm—”

“Is there a point to this?”

A loud sniff, huge tears rolling down ruddy cheeks. “She’s getting married.”

“Not to you,” Law presumed, now debating if their romp had been so unpleasant because this man was used to women, was on the verge of a breakdown the entire time, or was just generally terrible as sometimes happened with overly attractive people—rather than get better with experience, they seemed to think they never needed to improve. 

“I’m not enough,” moaned the man. “She didn’t choose me.” Then broke down into violent sobs. 

Law considered simply walking out the door. This man was remarkably hopeless. “That’s unfortunate,” he offered in the interim. 

“It hurts,” the man wept and it should have been childish but there was a wrenching tremor in his voice that signaled a true agony. It made Law hesitate. He had never been in love, had never lost love in that way, but had certainly experienced his own share of heartbreak. 

“Yeah,” he said, after a long moment. “Love hurts sometimes.” 

It was too late to leave now. Law waited as the worst of the breakdown subsided. “Sorry,” the man finally offered. “I’m not coping too well.”

Law couldn’t judge much. His coping methods so far had been to join a vicious pirate crew in revenge and then become a pirate himself in revenge. An unhealthy response, some might say. 

“You learn to live with it,” he said. 

The man eyed him curiously. Law looked away, regretting the bitterness that had seeped through. 

“I tried not to love her,” said the man. “I knew it wouldn’t be me. But I can’t help it. I don’t want her to leave.”

It was the worst sort of moment to think about his sister but Law did. All those years ago in her bedroom, weeping over a bird. 

“How do I let go? How do I let go of this love?”

He thought of his mother’s words, as he had sometimes over the years, in those darkest moments when he hoped his parents could not see his actions and if they did, wondered whether they would still love him. Inescapable, his mother had said, and Law never knew what she meant. 

Did she mean someone else’s love, like Lami giving a piece of her heart to a bird, to carry over ocean waves? A love that is given even if the person never knows or forgets. Was she speaking of her own love, a mother’s love, a promise that no matter what he did or who he became, it would reach him even from another plane? An endless, forever love. Or did she mean love itself? That a person would love and keep loving even though they might wish, as Law did, to seal their heart away from any heartbreak? 

“I’m not sure you can,” Law said slowly, all those questions churning around in his brain. “Some love you can’t let go.”

Law didn’t remember how the encounter concluded beyond that. He walked back to the Polar Tang thinking of Cora and all his bewildering actions towards a boy who wanted to burn down the world. Then, during a long, hot shower, of Bepo and Penguin and Shachi who had bullied their way into Law’s life even when he thought he had to do it all alone. And that night, as he worked on his plan of attack with the Grand Line looming in the horizon, he wondered who he was without love? 

Someone too close to Doflamingo, he feared.

He didn’t sleep that night, distracted by too many unwanted thoughts and a growing resentment for that hopeless, nameless man who should have disappeared into the night as no one and instead left a conversation niggling away at Law’s mind. Entirely rude of him. Law gave up on trysts following that. 

The problem with being a dog, aside from the problem of being one, was information gathering was extremely limited. For all the crew’s flaws (of which there were many), long discussions and endless heart-to-hearts were not one of them. Law was left in the dark as to why they were sailing around in circles in search of him of all people. 

So Law had to do what had become the theme of his entire time as a canine: wait. 

At least life was never boring on the Thousand Sunny. His training with Zoro became a daily occurrence, a beacon of absurd normalcy. Whenever he was free of Luffy’s clutches, Law focused on his warfare with Sanji, which utilized a turn-based strategy and grew increasingly unhinged on both sides—Law still didn’t know where Sanji conjured up dog-sized clothes. 

Luffy nearly threw up from how hard he laughed after that particular incident. “You look so silly,” he gasped, after sniffing Law out of his hiding place like he was the one with the superior nose. He gently pulled Law’s legs out of the last stubborn remnants of fabric. Law was already brimming with bitter vengeance. He nipped at Luffy’s hands when he wouldn’t shut up. “Shishishi, sorry Hat. Wanna help me break in tonight?” 

They pulled off their heist perfectly. Not a single alarm raised and Brook pretended not to see them from the crow’s nest as they lay on deck munching away under the stars.  

“That was fun,” Luffy whispered, dragging Law into his side and Law forgot himself, burrowed right in, aching with how much he’d missed him.

That had always been his problem. There was never any in-between. Only days with them, with him, and already all the careful walls he’d built and feebly constructed lies he’d told himself were crumbling apart. Despite himself, despite everything, despite his upset and how little he wished to be here, Law fell back into his orbit so easily. He wasn’t surprised. That was a big reason he’d stayed away. 

—

“Luffy! Stop moving! You’re gonna give us away!” 

“I’m not doing anything,” Luffy complained, fidgeting relentlessly. 

Law couldn’t see Chopper from his vantage point but he had a perfect view of Luffy’s bored face in the rafters.

“This was your idea,” scolded Chopper. “You—”

A door opened down the hall. 

“—shhhhh!” Chopper’s shush was very unsubtle but luckily added more to the atmosphere rather than detracted. 

“Er, hello?” called Usopp, still out of sight. The sound of the door clicking shut behind him was audible. 

Silence in return. 

“Just the wind,” Usopp declared confidently. Law watched as Luffy purposefully shifted some of the rigging, resulting in a long and ominous creeeeeaaaaak. Usopp’s footsteps halted. “H-hello? Brook?”

“Pshfush fush kshuff fushphs,” Chopper began murmuring, unintelligible and sinister.

“Who’s there?! I am the Great Captain Usopp, Brave Warrior of the Sea! You are not welcome here!” 

Luffy created another menacing sound. Usopp cautiously edged his way closer as Chopper’s muttering increased. 

“I-I alone have slain one million demons, with one hand tied behind my back! Y-you have no power here, spirit! T-this is the Pirate King’s grand ship! I—” Usopp poked his head around the corner. His eyes blew wide and his voice died. Chopper’s chanting cut off. Luffy stopped the creaks. 

Law, silhouetted in the doorway, glared at Usopp.

“H-Hat.” Usopp stood tall. His knees knocked together. “Fancy meeting you down here. Uh, listen, Robin, you know Robin, you like her, right? She forgot something down and asked me to get it. It’s for Robin! You’ll let me past for her?”

Law didn’t move, tracking Usopp’s every move. 

“Niiiice doggy,” Usopp soothed. “Goooood doggy. We’re friends, right? No need to—”

“Pfft!” 

Another moment of silence. Usopp finally seemed to remember he was an excellent Observation haki user and looked up at the rafters. “LUFFY!” he yelled.

“Awww, Luffy,” Chopper rolled out of his hiding place. “We didn’t even get to the good part.”

Luffy broke into full-blown laughter. “S-sorry, Usopp just looked so f-funny!” He was laughing so hard it was difficult for him to get the words out. Chopper tried to look angry but was biting his own laughter back, expression constipated before he too broke and joined in.

Usopp crossed his arms, bearing the conjoined laughter with grace. “When that demon dog actually comes for my soul, you’ll all regret this!” 

Luffy landed on the ground, giving Law some pets. “Hat won’t eat your soul. He likes meat and stuff.” 

“Are you saying my soul doesn’t taste good?!”

“I don’t think souls are good for dog diets,” said Chopper, genuinely concerned. 

“My soul would fit into any diet! It is the greatest, most delicious soul to ever exist!” 

A mouth sprouted on the wall. “Crew meeting,” Robin called. “We’re stopping for a resupply shortly. Oh and Usopp, thank you for looking, but it turns out my notebook was in my desk all along!”

The muggy heat was even more horrible out in the open air. Law flopped down in the shade as the crew gathered on deck. He wasn’t sure what kind of dog he was but he certainly felt like a winter dog trapped in an endless summer. After this debacle finally concluded, he was sailing to the coldest winter island he could find. Bepo would be thrilled. 

A hollow ache throbbed in his chest. He wondered where Bepo was right now. Was he okay? How was everyone else? They were worried, certainly, but how was the mood on board? Law had gone missing in the middle of bumfuck nowhere so perhaps they weren’t assuming the worst and life was continuing as normal while they searched. Maybe Clione finally figured out it was Hakugan stealing his jerky and not Shachi. There was a bet going on with a rather hefty payout for when he would. Law never participated in those sorts of things as a rule, keeping up the propriety as captain, but because of his unbiased stance he was rewarded—for better or worse—with all the juicy gossip from all sides of his crew’s current drama. 

…when would he see them again? 

Onigiri scurried over from where he’d been play-wrestling with Franky, bellyflopping in the shade next to him. He was panting heavily but gave Law a look so cute it should be outlawed. It scattered his cloud of worry into wisps. 

Nami was relaying instructions. “Remember there are marines in the area. This is only a brief stopover.” She reached out and pulled Luffy’s cheek. “What does that mean?” 

“Aghh, Namiiii.” 

Nami pulled his skin out further. 

“Don’t cause a scene,” Luffy pouted. 

Nami reached out her other hand for Zoro’s cheek. “And what else does that mean?”

“What do I have to do with this?!” 

“I’ll go with Zoro-bro,” said Franky. “Nothing to restock on my end.”

“I don’t need a babysitter!” 

Several Straw Hats sent Zoro pitying looks. 

“We’ll go to a bar,” Franky reassured. Nami released their cheeks. Luffy’s snapped back loudly while Zoro rubbed his, scowling furiously. 

“What about the dogs?” asked Chopper. 

“I’ll take them,” Sanji offered gallantly. 

No fucking way. Law sat up in alarm, already picturing how Sanji would utilize two adorable creatures in the markets. He slunk over to Robin, trying to look cute enough to bring along. He wasn’t above wielding his looks if needed. She smiled at him and bent to give some light pets, misinterpreting his plea. 

“Well I’m taking Onigiri for the day,” said Nami. She nodded at Law. “That one has too much of an attitude for what I’ve got planned. He’s all yours, Sanji.” 

“Aww, I wanna take them,” said Luffy. 

“You’ll lose them, Luffy!”

Luffy stuck his lower lip out. Law took a brief moment of self-reflection over this childish man being not only the Pirate King, but also the man who haunted his dreams. Law really was the most hopeless case of all. 

But he didn’t have time to dwell. Sanji turned towards him with a glint in his visible eye. Law looked desperately at Robin but she’d already straightened up for a pleasant chat with Jinbei and Chopper, going over their own plans. Maybe Zoro? No, he was already huffing away from the circle with Franky. 

Shit. Law took off, determined to wedge himself into the tiniest hidey-hole he knew of. But this form was no match for one of the deadliest fighters in the Pirate King’s crew. Sanji’s hands closed around his sides and he was yanked into the air. 

“Nice try, marshmallow,” said Sanji, holding his struggling body tightly. “You’re coming with me.”

—

“Ohhhh, what a cutie! Can I pet him?”

“Of course, my lady,” swooned Sanji. “He’s quite friendly.”

The beautiful fruit seller bent low, taking Sanji’s word for it despite the ferocious glare being directed from dog to man. Law tolerated the nice ear scritches while drilling a hole into the side of Sanji’s head—who rudely didn’t even notice, too busy emoting heart eyes at the woman. 

“He’s so adorable! Let me get him a little treat!” 

“Oh no, such a beautiful woman as yourself needn’t—”

The harness around Law pulled as Sanji followed the fruit seller around the backside of her stall, blabbering on. Franky had crafted it for ultimate comfort but now Law needed to take a swim in the ocean. He’d honestly thought the marines walking him with a leash had been the lowest he could go, but having Sanji at the other end… 

The fruit seller gave him a slice of apple. Law ate it, resentful over how delicious it was. He purposefully lagged behind as Sanji moved on, making his displeasure known by being as irritating as he could. The dark look on his face did nothing to stop the attention.

“Such a sweetheart!” exclaimed a particularly vivacious young woman. Sanji tripped over his own feet when he spotted her, possibly because of her most generous bosom. “May I?”

At Sanji’s assent, she scooped Law up, suffocating him against her chest. If he was attracted to women at all, this might’ve been a to-die for experience. Instead he struggled for air while plotting his revenge. Sanji had upped their conflict to a whole new level. Though it was a good thing Sanji wasn’t the one turned into an adorable creature. He might’ve died from overexposure to feminine attention.

Vast though his annoyance was, he still begrudgingly appreciated when Sanji stopped in the shade and made sure Law was watered, giving him the rest of the apple slices while he took a leisurely smoke break. “Not too hot?” he asked, giving Law’s back a little rub. The bastard. Law wished, not for the first time, all the Straw Hats were terrible people so he could just hate them and be done with it. 

Franky wandered past in search of Zoro who he’d lost around a corner. He chatted briefly with Sanji and gave Law some pets before moving on. Sanji muttered something about the deficiency of brain cells contained in moss. He held a bag up against Law, clearly sizing him up as a potential pack-mule before rightfully concluding Law would bring the bag great harm. They continued as they were. 

As Sanji briskly flew through a transaction at a delicious-smelling butcher’s shop, Law examined the leash and harness. They were possibly the most finely constructed canine accessories in the world. Damn this crew and their habit of high competence purely to spite Law.

A loud cacophony of noise started up out of sight. Law perked up, for once hoping for some familiar chaos to free him from this hell.

“Don’t tell me,” Sanji grumbled, rounding the corner just in time to witness Luffy being a complete nuisance. The illustrious Pirate King was being chased out of a restaurant when he spotted them and waved vigorously. 

“Oiiii! Saaanjiii! Haaat!” 

A heavy object went zooming past his head and he laughed, darting away from the screeching restaurant staff. 

Sanji rolled his eyes and walked right past the scene like he had no clue who the rubbery menace was. They made it down a block in relative peace before Luffy circled back to them. 

“Hi Hat!” he called enthusiastically, swooping down to crush Law against his bare chest. Law wriggled around for breath but admittedly, this was a much more positive experience than before. 

“What about me, shitty rubber?”

“Shishishi, hi Sanji! Didja see the fish restaurant at the docks? Its sign was just like your eyebrows!” 

“What the hell are you talking about?” 

Luffy whirled his free arm around in a spiral. “Their fish cakes were great!”

Law stilled. Sanji began spluttering but he didn’t pay any attention. Something about that imagery nagged at him. It took him a moment to figure out why. Before reaching the resort, the Hearts had briefly stopped at one of the archipelago islands Law would later return to on his ill-fated journey. There had been a fish restaurant near where they anchored and Law had the same exact thought when he saw it. The Straw Hats were stubbornly at the forefront of his mind those days as it felt like they were closing in. Which they had been, he now knew. 

He scanned the street as best he could with Luffy jostling him, busy laughing at Sanji’s irritation. It was only a pitstop so they’d barely left the docks. But if it was that island, that meant he wasn’t too far away from the backwater swamp at all. The interconnecting ferries meant if he got on the right one, he could be yipping furiously at the devil fruit user by tomorrow. 

His mind whirled. The Straw Hats were keeping him safe but singularly useless in solving his problem seeing as they were completely unaware one existed. Moreover, there was a very good chance this was the closest he’d be to that cursed island ever again. He had to take advantage of that fact in some way. But how? Slip his leash and make a run for it? Convince someone to follow him to a ferry?

“Oh you have such an adorable dog!” called a passing trio of women. 

Sanji twirled over to them in delight, tugging Luffy along to show off Law. 

“Can I hold him?” one of them asked, giving Law some light pets. 

“Of cour—”

Luffy pulled Law away, frowning deeply. “No.”

“Luffy!” Sanji hissed. 

“He’s my dog!” 

Law never thought he’d be so grateful for Luffy’s possessive streak. And with Sanji distracted by his apologies, it was a perfect opportunity. Luffy was always ready to go off and do something stupid. Following a dog aboard a ferry for no reason was right up his alley. Law began squirming.

“Woah, watcha doing?” Luffy let him down, leash loosely tangled around his wrist. He’d received a lecture about how the leashes were for the dogs own good and to not let them off lest they get lost. Law didn’t think it would take much convincing to change his mind but he didn’t need to. Instead he pulled, signaling Luffy to follow him, which he did immediately, the idiot. “Where’re we going?” he asked cheerfully.

“Oi, Luffy! What’re you doing? Don’t let him run away!” Sanji grabbed Luffy’s arm, halting him. “This furball will probably take off the first chance he gets.”

“He wants to do something,” said Luffy, expert dog-mindreader.

“This is a short stop, Luffy. You can’t go getting into trouble.”

God damn this cook. Law pulled harder at the lead. 

“I’m going to feed you gruel tonight if you make Nami mad!” 

All bets were off. Law cursed silently, now moving onto Plan B, which was somehow slipping his expertly constructed harness or pulling the leash out of Luffy’s grip with no one noticing. A difficult task when up against the Pirate King and his crew, who were never more reliably obstinate than when Law had a plan. 

But, in the end, he never got the chance. 

“Luffy!” 

Luffy ceased his whining to wave at Usopp, rapidly walking towards them. “Usopp! C’mere, we have—”

“Luffy, you have to come! Now!” 

Luffy faltered. There was an edge in Usopp’s voice.

“What is it?” called Sanji, frowning. 

Usopp drew up to them. His expression was serious and both Luffy and Sanji tensed as Usopp said, in a tone promising nothing good, “It’s the Hearts. They’re here.”

Law asked his mother once what it had been like, to look across the room and know this perfect stranger was the one. 

“Terrifying,” she admitted, holding him close. They lay together on a spare cot that had been moved into Lami’s hospital room, facing the bed where she slept. The entire hospital was overrun, rules and propriety thrown out the door as Flevance’s condition deteriorated. “I’d never thought of anyone like that before. I used to wonder if I ever would, even though I was young. Only eighteen. But there he was, across the room… the most handsome boy I’d ever seen. It was like being gut punched. All the breath knocked out of me.”

“But how?” asked Law. “You didn’t know anything about him.”

His mother was quiet a moment, expression thoughtful. “It’s a bit hard to explain. Everything, I guess. The way he held himself, his kind face, his presence. The warmth in his eyes. I had to know him. And when I went up to him, there was an instant connection. We fell into each other’s orbit. Tidal locked.”

From outside the door, down the hall, a grief-stricken wail started up. A familiar background noise these days. His mother’s arm tightened around him. “I hope you find that one day,” she whispered into his hair. “Someone who steals the breath from your lungs.”

“Who wants that?” grumbled Law, nestling into her even though he was supposed to be too old for that at ten years old. “Maybe I won’t feel that way for anyone.”

“I think for the right one, you will.” His mother, pretending he had any chance of a future when usually she was the realist to counter his father’s optimism. “There’s someone out there for you, Law. You’ll know it when they come.”

Looking back, Law couldn’t say for certain if it was immediate, as it had been for his mother. It was possible that it was born all at once, much later on, alongside the realization which was like a bomb going off in his chest as the thunderous crack of opposing monstrous hakis warred above his head. But perhaps it really was present from that first glimpse of a name and a smile so wide that it tugged at something in Law’s heart even through a wanted poster; born so small that as the pressure swelled within, Law didn’t notice it balloon, rearranging his guts with its force, until eventually there was nowhere left for it to go except an explosion of cataclysmic design. 

Either way, there was not much time to linger in the revelation that in other circumstances would have stunned him with its force. It was pushed aside as Law, inconceivably alive, returned to the fight. It was not until the aftermath—after the birdcage had lifted, when the celebratory cries began to ring across the city, the phantom strings binding him now fallen away, sitting beside the person who had just gifted him a liberation he never dreamed of—it wasn’t until then that he acknowledged the resounding truth. He reached out a hand to rest it over a wild, beating heart, confined within a scarred chest, and didn’t so much think as feel Oh, you’re the one. His stomach swooped as he stumbled into a terrifying free-fall. 

Somehow the world kept turning. Somehow the sun kept shining. Somehow Law was breathing and Cora’s dream was fulfilled and his heart was beating in a way it never had before. A new reality settled into his skin, like it was always meant to belong. 

He understood then, how his mother must have felt: this terrifying knowledge that, whether the other person returned it or not, this was a part of him forevermore. 

Law fought Sanji the entire way back to Sunny. 

“Calm down, you oversized cotton ball,” Sanji snapped. Law snarled, attempting to twist right out of the ironclad grip. His crew was here, on this very island, and this fucking cook was preventing him from getting to them. Short of biting Sanji’s hands, he tried everything he could to escape. 

“All good?” called Brook as Sanji boarded. 

Sanji replied with an explanation, interrupted by expletives as Law nearly thrashed right out of his grasp. “I’ll be catching up with them after dealing with this little bastard.” Law was taken to the men’s quarters where Sanji practically threw him in. “Stay!” he ordered, blocking Law as he attempted to dart out. “You better not claw anything, shitty marshmallow.” He pushed Law back with his foot and kicked the door shut right in his face. 

Law was stunned silent in a moment of pure disbelief. Then the rage poured in. He howled, utterly incensed. The first chance he’d had at returning to his crew and it was being snatched away by a punchable cook and a block of solid wood. He scratched at the door and threw his body against it, hearing Sanji mutter something disparaging under his breath as he walked away. 

“Aroooo!” Law yowled, his colorful curses not translating well. He had to see his crew! Surely Bepo wielded some weird mink sense and would be able to tell it was him. 

But Sanji simply left. The Thousand Sunny fell silent. Law was trapped, again. 

His chest heaved with furious breaths as he stared up at the door handle he had easily opened so many times before, with no clue it would one day be the very thing keeping him from his crew. An overwhelming sense of powerlessness nearly crushed him with its force. 

Fuck that fucking cook. Law whirled around. Usopp had been the last one getting ready that morning, meaning Sanji’s locker had swung open. Well. Law was going to fucking show him. 

—

It felt like hours later when the door finally creaked open. After his ballistic tantrum died down, the ticking clock nearly drove Law insane. As literally clawing at the walls had proven ineffectual, he retreated to the doghouse where he remained, filled with numb despair, when someone walked in. The footsteps paused by the mess he’d made. Sanji should consider himself lucky that Law, quelled by the infuriating logic it was hardly the man’s fault, stopped after only one suit. 

A shadow fell over the doghouse entrance. “Bad day?” asked Robin as she knelt down to peer inside. Her voice was gentle but her expression pinched. She beckoned him. “Come here, Hat. We have a crew meeting.” 

Law crept forward and allowed her to carry him out. Night had fallen. They were docked still and his heart jumped. He considered leaping out of her arms and attempting to make it to land. But not only was the gangplank pulled up, his crew was nowhere to be seen. He’d be wandering lost yet again. 

Robin entered the galley. It was quiet inside, the atmosphere tense. All the Straw Hats were gathered around the table with Onigiri beneath, wandering anxiously from person to person. Luffy sat in his usual spot, back turned to the door. 

Nami glanced over as the door swung loudly shut, breaking the hold of silence. “It doesn’t make any sense. Why…” She trailed off, fingers drumming against the table. 

“I do not believe it’s a matter of why,” said Robin. “Law would not do that to his crew.”

Law tensed. Robin looked down at him with a melancholy twist to her lips. She walked to the table and gently deposited him in Luffy’s lap before taking a seat. An achingly familiar smell filled Law’s nostrils. He buried his nose in Luffy’s shirt. Bepo. A bitter homesickness swept through him. 

“So something must have happened,” Brook was reasonably saying. “Only…”

What? lingered in the room. 

“Not just anything could take down a man like Trafalgar,” mused Jinbei. 

“Yeah,” said Chopper. “It’s Law. What would…? Who would…?”

There was silence. 

“Bepo looked really worried,” Nami murmured. “The whole crew did. Robin’s right. Law wouldn’t do that. So something must have happened.”

Law’s heart twisted. He poked his head over the table, surveying all the solemn expressions. He’d known his crew would be concerned but hearing it was another beast. They were so close now, somewhere on this very island, yet still impossibly out of reach. He thought about trying to make another racket, hoping to clue them in that something was wrong, but he feared they would just kick him out of the meeting and leave him in the dark to what was going on. So he remained silent. 

Rubbery fingers brushed against his fur, tracing the familiar pattern over his spots. Law looked back. There was an unreadable expression on Luffy’s shadowed face as his eyes tracked the path his fingers took. 

Sanji took an audible drag of his cigarette. “Law’s a pain in the ass on a good day and he’s one of the stubbornest fuckers in the sea. Probably won’t be long until we hear about the complete shitstorm he’s causing.”

That was a compliment coming from him. It made Law feel a little guilty about the suit. 

“Hell yeah,” Franky agreed. “He’s probably giving some sorry sons of bitches a mad migraine right now.”

“But that means someone’s keeping him from returning to his crew,” Brook observed.

Luffy’s eyes darkened. 

“R-right,” stuttered Usopp. “Someone out there who could take down Law…” He laughed nervously, nudging Zoro in an attempt of brave camaraderie but Zoro’s gaze was steadily trained on Luffy. 

“We’ll look, Luffy,” said Nami. She paused, then added firmly, “We’ll find him. No one can just disappear without a trace. Between us and the Hearts… we will find him.”

“Oh, yeah, definitely. Temporary takedown, is what I meant,” said Usopp. 

Robin leaned against a hand. “Plenty of distance can be covered in five weeks. And that is only when he missed the meet-up. We don’t know exactly when he… vanished.”

“Maybe he just lost track of time,” suggested Franky. “What’s he into again? Is there like a comic book island around here or something?”

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Law felt extremely peeved. God this crew was so fucking annoying. They had to embarrass Law any chance they had even when they were worried about his wellbeing. 

“Or maybe he wasn’t taken anywhere and is right under our noses,” said Sanji, thinking aloud, then winced. That probably insinuated something more morbid than they currently intended to be even though it was depressingly accurate. 

“So he was taken?” asked Chopper, voice sounding small. 

“No need to jump to conclusions now,” Robin reassured. 

“But it’s been over a month,” said Usopp, then yelped as Nami clearly kicked him. 

Luffy’s fingers flexed on Law’s back. “We will find him.” His voice cut through the room, booking no room for argument. “Torao’s okay. He’s strong. He probably just got lost.”

A pause, as silent exchanges flew about the room. 

“That may be it,” agreed Jinbei. “I’m sure we’ll find him suitably embarrassed by the trouble he’s caused.”

“Is this a universal swordsman issue?” asked Usopp. “Brook, don’t you start getting lost too.”

“Nonsense,” said Brook. “I can find my way perfectly easily. Not that I have eyes with which to do so!”

“Oi, what’re you implying?” Zoro snapped. 

“That you’re a directionally-challenged idiot, dumbass,” said Sanji. 

Zoro sat forward in his seat but before he could respond with his own insults, Luffy stood up abruptly. The crew fell silent but he merely set Law on the ground and walked out the galley. Law hesitated for a split second, knowing there would be more information available in the kitchen, but as the door started to swing shut, he moved instinctively, slipping out right in time. 

The atmosphere had shifted outside and the taste of impending rain sat in the air. Law took the rather arduous journey down and up the stairs from the galley to Sunny’s figurehead where Luffy now sat. The ship was docked but he faced the open sea. Law could actually smell his darkened mood as he heaved his tiny body up the stairs. Luffy glanced back and with stretched arms, carefully picked him up and settled him in his lap. Law looked up into large brown eyes as Luffy carded his fingers through his fur, circling the spots again and again. 

The only visible light was from flickering lanterns. Clouds hid the stars in the sky. 

“Torao’s really strong.” Luffy’s brow furrowed at his own words. In the near distance, thunder rolled. Law nudged his nose against Luffy’s hand, trying to offer comfort. Luffy’s mouth tightened and he leaned down, burying his face in Law’s fur as he murmured, “Ace was strong too. And I’ve almost lost Torao before.”

His body blocked Law from the stormy breeze. Wishing there was a way he could tell Luffy he was okay, Law pressed into his warmth. A distant, endlessly proud part of himself wanted to be annoyed that Luffy was focusing on his collection of failures. But Law was human—well, mostly—and well aware of how innately fragile life was, even for apparent monsters. There were times Luffy seemed inhuman in his strength, the strongest man in the seas, but Law knew intimately the feel of that liberating heart as it ceased to beat. 

When the rain began to fall, a precursor to the violent thunderstorm that would rage for the next two days, Luffy carefully cradled Law in his arms and went inside. Law didn’t protest when Luffy carried him to bed, only curled up against his chest, snug in his arms and listening to his heartbeat as they fell asleep with cracks of lightning filling the night sky. 

The truth was Law had known from the beginning not to say anything. Luffy wasn’t like that. Or if he was, if there could be a somebody someday, that somebody would not be Law. Law was… well, a friend, as Luffy declared over and over again in an intended harmless gesture of goodwill that somewhere along the way began to stab Law in the gut.

There were many people who flit in and out of Luffy’s life, stuck on the periphery of his crew, and the number of exceptions for non-crew who actually mattered was small. Law was not one of them. He was a friend, a rival, an ally, someone who was useful in his time and whose time had run its course. A friendly face to see in passing was his fate. 

That quiet ache in his chest was something he could live with. A secret that he had no intention of revealing because somehow he sensed that the knowing was something he could not bear. But of course Luffy never let Law see any of his plans through to the end. 

There had been a festival. The Hearts arrived first, taking a relaxing break from their leisurely journey towards the island where the massive one-year Laugh Tale anniversary jamboree was being held. So it was only a small coincidence the Straw Hats happened to dock there as well, having been headed in the same direction and unable to ignore the whispered rumors of a party. Luffy had been thrilled to see them. More friends meant more fun. 

And it was fun. The Straw Hats and Hearts mixed and dispersed into the lively crowds. In the middle of attempting to follow Robin on a calm stroll through the stalls, Law was abducted by Zoro and spent the first half of the night with him; which meant when Luffy eventually found them, he was rather drunk, leaning into Zoro with a bit too much familiarity but Zoro was a friend and didn’t care. Luffy was stone-cold sober and delighted. He’d plopped his arms in a crisscross on Zoro’s head as he laughed at Law’s state.

As the night wore on, he said, “You’re so fun like this, Torao,” and got a mischievous look in his eyes. “Come with me.” Without waiting for a response, he heaved Law up, and then suddenly it was just the two of them wandering down the streets together. Luffy took advantage of his loosened state, getting him to join in while Luffy sampled every food for a second time, challenged him to each rigged festival game, stopped to watch a puppet show about a local ghost legend that Luffy decided they should go investigate. They snuck away from the bright and bustling streets to go up to a cliff where some age-old incorporeal fool supposedly haunted the rocks, and then…

…and then. 

The stars twinkled like fireflies in the night sky. Law remembered that distinctly, how many there were, how the haze from the festival cast a sheen of ethereal gold over the little sparking lights high above. By that time, he could scarcely be classified as drunk anymore unless one counted being high on an overabundance of street food and an addictive laugh. So maybe there was something that caused all loss of control of his mental faculties as he stared up at the glittering heavens and felt some inexplicable urge to open his mouth. He was with Luffy, was the thing, Luffy who always told him he was too far in his head, who always dared him to let go, so for once he didn’t think, didn’t hesitate, just let the words slip right on out. 

It was a mistake. As soon as they were let loose on the world, Law wished he could take them back. He wasn’t even looking at Luffy when he said them, eyes still upturned to the sparkling night, and he was terrified of hurtling back down to Earth like a meteor ready to splinter into a million shards. 

But down he went anyway because he couldn’t live in the stars forever. He turned to his side to see Luffy with a puzzled look on his face. 

Sorry, Law wanted to say. Bad joke. Then maybe take advantage of the confusion to inflict a bout of single-use short-term memory loss on Luffy’s brain.

Instead, Law quietly said, “I just wanted you to know,” even though that was a lie because he had never wanted Luffy to know anymore than he wanted to make himself known like that. 

“I don’t—” Luffy started, looking a little lost, a little befuddled, off-kilter in a way Law had never seen him before. 

“I know,” said Law. 

“You’re my friend,” Luffy said, emphasized in a way where maybe he was trying to tell Law that everything was okay, that nothing would change between them—but it was too late for that. Law already knew, with perfect clarity, that he could not be around Luffy anymore, not with this newfound shattering pain. 

It wasn’t Luffy’s fault. It was always Law’s, for yet again letting his heart slip out of his palm to land in a field of thorns. 

They went back to the festival with a strange awkwardness between them. As soon as their crews came into view, Luffy beelined over to them, squishing himself between Zoro and Jinbei like the rubber contortionist he was, reaching out to drag a performatively protesting Chopper into his lap. Safely at home with the people in his heart. 

Law lingered on the edge, watching him, memorizing him, aware that this was the end. He’d fucked up like only Trafalgar Law could. Yet despite the gnashing heartache tearing at his chest, despite the burn of embarrassment crawling under his skin, screaming at him to run away, he felt almost… free, in a way, in a well that’s that type of way. 

“Captain?” called Bepo and Law went to him, settled amongst his own crew as they bled through the boundary of the Straw Hats. When fireworks exploded in the night sky, he watched the colors dance over Luffy’s upturned, smiling face, and silently said goodbye. 

After the initial doom and gloom of the news, an air of forcible optimism was born, at least among everyone who wasn’t Law. Perhaps because of Luffy, who adopted a chipper attitude that probably infected everyone else. He engaged in his usual routine of getting into trouble, eating ridiculous proportions, and bothering Law all day. Hounding Nami about new leads wasn’t even an added step since they’d already been looking for him. 

“Torao’s okay,” Luffy told Law each night as they curled against each other to sleep, with a quiet confidence like saying so willed it into existence. Law wouldn’t put it past him. He tried to appreciate it but even with the coordinated search effort set up between the crews, optimism was not exactly in Law’s repertoire. 

Right away, he ingratiated himself to Nami so he could slip into the communications room during her daily call with Bepo and listen to the sound of his voice. He tried barking loudly the first time, with a forlorn hope there would be some ancient mink comprehension, but Bepo only asked when they got a dog. That’s when Law gleaned some most unwelcome news as well: the Hearts had already combed the cluster of islands, including the backwater hellhole. They were sending their feelers elsewhere now, farther and farther away from where the true solution lay. The Straw Hats followed suit. 

“Why did he leave?” Nami asked Bepo one day. Law lay at her feet, listening close.

“Oh, Captain does that sometimes,” Bepo replied. “He does it when he’s, well… he just does it sometimes. Sorry. But he always comes back.”

“I meant—” Nami started then cut herself off. She sighed. “I’m charging him a fortune for all this trouble he’s causing. We’ll go drinking together after this, only you and I, on his beri.” Nami smiled softly at the snail. “It’s nice talking to you again. Let’s do it in better circumstances. 

“Okay,” chuckled Bepo shakily. “I’d like that.”

Sanji made onigiri for afternoon snacks. Brook played an old North Blue song that Uni had taught him from his home island, the one the Hearts always broke out when they were extra drunk. Usopp frequently reminded Luffy that Law was just lost like Zoro got, which meant they’d find him in the last place they looked. Even with the obvious worry, spirits were relatively high.

Then the first week passed. Then another. Then a third. Two whole months since Law disappeared with no word. 

“There would be news, right?” he overheard Sanji discussing with Jinbei and Franky one day. “Someone would collect his bounty.”

“Those processes can take time,” said Jinbei. “But yes… there would be a headline as his status updated.”

“Or someone felt they couldn’t approach the Government themselves,” said Franky. “And we’ll, ya know… never know.”

“An accident is a possibility,” Jinbei said. “But with how valuable his fruit is, it could be someone either has him themselves or did turn him over and, regardless of his… state, they’re keeping it quiet as they…”

They fell silent. Then started discussing Franky’s new modifications to the mini submarine. 

The mood on Sunny turned somber. With few leads and all the rumors turning up nothing, the crews were chasing ghosts. They turned to contacts, including—Law’s pretty sure—the Revolutionaries. After each failed island, the ship would embark again with Luffy sitting on her figurehead, new tension in his shoulders. The growing pessimism started showing on his crewmates’ faces. Law wasn’t sure where they were searching and had no way to direct their attention to the correct place. The debilitating helplessness and rising guilt was tortuous and he was not the only one feeling that way. 

“I should’ve gone with him,” said Bepo at the end of a call. Luffy was listening in that day, as was Robin, and Penguin on the other line. “I shouldn’t have let him go alone.”

“It’s not your fault, Bear,” insisted Luffy, just as Penguin said the same. “If someone did this, it’s their fault. And I’ll make sure they pay.”

“What else could it be?” asked Penguin hopelessly. 

No one had any reply. 

With each passing night, Luffy’s whispered, “Torao’s okay,” grew more and more uncertain. Law always pressed close, tried to say that he was, and Luffy never understood. 

—

It was Zoro who sloshed his way through blood and guts over to Luffy. “Let’s spar,” he said bluntly. 

Law, hidden beneath the stairs with Onigiri, could see Luffy vibrating from pent-up energy. An unlucky errant sea king had, only a minute ago, been rewarded with a single punch that literally blew it up. Nami’s loud complaining was drowned out by Franky as he started up some contraption to swab the deck. Sanji was picking through the meat in search of something salvageable for dinner. 

“I’m fine,” said Luffy sharply. His fists were white-knuckled. 

Zoro drew his swords. 

They went all out. The force of their clashes reverberated through Law’s body. Onigiri burrowed into him, shaking. Nami fetched them from under the stairs with a telling lack of yelling at her crewmates. She took them to the baths where he endured a forceful scrubbing. He and Onigiri had been at ground zero when the sea king rose out of the sea, unsuspecting of its impending swift and brutal end. 

Onigiri liked the water so after he’d been thoroughly bathed, Nami let him paddle around. She wrapped Law up in a fluffy towel—which admittedly felt amazing—and gave his ears little scritches as she leaned against the bath. 

Law listened to the continued sounds of the spar. Onigiri swam up to the side to make sure Law was still there before doing another lap. It took Law a second to recognize Nami also seemed to be tracing dots, presumably right beneath his ear. He struggled to get his exceedingly short neck out from the towel so he could peek around at her. She was frowning contemplatively down at him. 

“Woof?” asked Law hopefully, willing the knowledge of his identity into her brain. 

“Where are you?” she murmured. “You can’t do this to—”

A boom echoed outside and the physical force of it swept through the room. Onigiri yelped and Nami leaned over to fish him out, wrapping him in his own fuzzy towel. 

Law stayed with them in the library as the fight dragged on, keeping Onigiri company beneath Nami’s desk while she plotted. The ship eventually fell silent. In the new calm, Onigiri dozed off. Robin entered and graciously held the door open so Law could slip out in search of Luffy, only to be blocked yet again by another closed door. He was forced to wait outside the baths, swearing he would forevermore appreciate the simple act of turning a handle.

Zoro exited first but Luffy pattered out right behind him, freshly scrubbed with wet hair still dripping on his shoulders. Much of his tension was gone. 

“Hat!” he exclaimed, immediately snatching Law up. “Were you waiting for me?” 

Law initiated a perfunctory struggle that lasted about three seconds. Luffy chattered at Zoro as they walked outside where the deck was mostly cleaned though looking significantly windblown from the force of the fight. Chopper called for Zoro and Luffy veered off, thankfully carrying Law away from the scorch of the afternoon sun. He took him to the aquarium room, letting Law down on his way to flinging himself onto the couch where he stretched dramatically with a “Waaah!” before going loose-limbed. “It’s nice in here!” he announced. 

It was nice, and much cooler in this room. Law had always liked it here, watching the multi-colored schools of fish in the encased blue water. Nowadays, their quick darts niggled at his canine brain but to his human mind, it was a mesmerizing, relaxing view. But he wasn’t looking at the fish today. Law lay down, tracing his gaze over Luffy. The sunlight gleamed through the clear water, casting rainbow hues over his body. It made him look otherworldly. Untouchable. 

“Torao liked this room. Reminded him of his ship.”

Law startled. He’d never said that aloud. Luffy just did that sometimes, pulled out knowledge about Law like they were secrets hidden in his straw hat. 

“He spent a buncha time here when we were going to Dressroba. Guess cause he thought he’d never see his home again.”

Another thing they’d never discussed that Luffy just knew. He’d always seemed to be scouring inside of Law in search of parts that Law himself didn’t think existed, digging up some better version that Law could never live up to. He’d waited for the other shoe to drop eventually, when Luffy would see all the scars carved in Law’s heart and realize there wasn’t anything worth it there. But Luffy liked him anyway. Even now, somehow, after all these years. It may not be all that Law wanted but it still meant something, that they could be friends. Maybe after this, if Law really was able to get back, they could rebuild what they once had. Law had missed him. As he feared, it would not be so simple to sail away again.

“Hey, Hat. Can I tell you a secret?”

Law lifted his head. Luffy was still staring upside down at the fish swimming past. The watercolored sun rays swayed across his face. 

“I wanna marry him,” Luffy said. 

Law blinked. A jumble of emotions occurred in rapid succession. What? came first, blindsided and perplexed. Who? bled into that, with a punch of righteous anger. Oh he’s found someone, was next, with a heart wrenching stab. Who? reappeared, hopeless and resigned. Of course he has followed, pretending not to care. Then, What? again, as the logical part of his brain reminded him Luffy had just been talking about Law, leading to What? one more time, filled with stark bewilderment. 

Luffy kept talking. “I dunno if he wants to anymore. When he said he loved me, I felt kinda sick and I didn’t know what to do because it wasn’t like Hammock or anyone else. It was Torao and he always made me feel weird. I didn’t get it. Then he wasn’t there anymore. He never came back.”

Law’s breath caught in his throat. 

“Torao always did his own thing so I didn’t notice at first. We just sailed everywhere and had lots of adventures and kept running into friends. So I figured we’d find Torao soon too. Then we sailed back to visit Dadan and Makino and the windmill guy again, and a buncha other places. When we got to Usopp’s home, Kaya was waiting for him. Usopp got this weird look on his face when he saw her.” Luffy did an exaggerated mimic of it, eyes blown wide, mouth hanging slightly open, complete with a peculiar smile. It broke a second later when he laughed at himself. “He looked really dumb. But he was so happy and I dunno, I thought of Torao.”

The fish swam around and around, displacing the water and shimmering the light. Luffy watched them. Law, frozen, watched him. 

“It’d been awhile since we’d been there. Usopp stayed with her the whole time! But when we left, he said he needed to sail some more and it wasn’t fair to make her wait. Kaya said don’t be stupid. So Usopp’s gonna go back and make a family and only sail every now and then and not for very long ‘cause he says he doesn’t wanna miss anything. Then everyone started thinking about what they’d do when Usopp leaves. Like Sanji’s gonna go back to his restaurant. Zoro’ll probably join him ‘cause he said he’d travel on his own if we weren’t together but then Sanji said we’ll never see him again if we let him go ‘cause he’ll just get lost by himself and accidentally wind up in hell or something so he had to stay where Sanji could find him.”

Luffy’s silhouette shifted against the bright, clear waters. “Everyone has lotsa things they wanna do. Really amazing things. We’ll still sail together. Robin called it part-time. We’re always gonna be crew and we’ll always have Sunny as home. But we’ll have other homes too. Then Nami asked what I wanted to do. And I wanted to see Torao again. Nami said it had been so long. And it had. It kinda hurt. I wanted to go on another adventure with him.”

A brief pause.

“‘Cause I miss him,” said Luffy quietly.

More silence. Law could not move. If he did, he might shatter the tableau in front of him like glass.

A beautiful rainbow fish stopped above Luffy, peering down at him. Luffy reached up and poked at it, sending it darting away. “Robin said she’d always wondered if something happened so I told her about the festival.”

Law squeezed his eyes shut. He couldn’t tell if that particular conversation took place with only Robin or in front of the entire Straw Hat crew. 

“And she asked about the funny feeling I had, where I felt kinda sick around him, and if it felt bad. It didn’t, just kinda weird, and sometimes it felt really good, and I got all uh, uh,” he wiggled his fingers, “tingly! Or how I feel when I use gomu gomu no fusen, and there’s more of me everywhere, like I’m full enough to explode. Robin said that didn’t sound like I was sick. It sounded like love.”

A horrid anticipation took root, a nausea that swelled in Law’s stomach. He was unsure if he wanted to hear the next words or was hoping they wouldn’t come. 

“She was right,” said Luffy. “I didn’t get it, before. But it was. It was always Torao.”

Law’s heart full-stopped. Then it thundered, only to be drowned out by the white noise ringing in his ears. He wondered for a moment if this was a dream. He stood up wildly, desperate to do something, anything, intending equally to go to him and to run away, but he was off-balanced and stumbled on his face, reminded all at once of his current form. A bad joke of a dream if it was one. 

Luffy’s gaze finally tore away from the circling fish. His lips quirked at Law’s clumsiness then dropped into a frown. “He was supposed to come back. But he didn’t. So we started trying to find him again. Torao can be really sneaky and changed his snail number and we lost the cool bear’s card on Laugh Tale and it was kinda fun at first, like a chase. He kept going to all these weird places. But now he’s…” Luffy trailed off. His head tilted back again, up towards the glimmering aquarium waters, suddenly far away. 

Breath rattled in Law’s lungs, made ragged with the helpless frustration that coursed through him. He wanted to scream. He wanted to find another sea beast and carve it into a million pieces. He wanted to yell at Luffy for saying this, for how deeply unfair it all was. Wanted to do something, say something, words bubbling up in his throat that he wouldn’t be able to identify until they came flying out. Maybe why now? or you’re mistaken, you can’t possibly feel that way or even you’re too fucking late. Or, perhaps, I love you so much it hurts to breathe. Law didn’t know, couldn’t say, because he could not say a word. 

Slowly, furiously, he lay back down, eyes glued to the silhouette in front of him, with a head full of utterly useless thoughts; because even though Luffy was so close he could reach out to touch him, there lay—more than ever before—an insurmountable barrier keeping them apart. 

After the festival, the Hearts sailed to the anniversary party. It was a wonderful celebration and everyone had a great time. Luffy treated Law normally; at least Law thought he did, but maybe that was because they barely saw each other and without a single moment alone. All of Luffy’s collected friends, family, and allies were there and Law was one in a crowd. They said hello and Law shared a drink with him and Zoro, briefly chatted with some other members of the Straw Hat crew, then spent a not insignificant amount of time quarreling with Eustass. It was a days long celebration and Law stuck around for an appropriate length and then was one of the first ships to slip back into the night. 

They did not say goodbye. 

It wasn’t unusual. They ran into each other often enough that they’d departed with little fanfare before. But this time, Law sailed further away with no intention of looking back, knowing Luffy always faced forwards, living in the here and the now with no worries for anyone out of sight, out of mind. It would appear as the natural order of things, a relationship that had run its course, a silent distance grown from ordinary circumstances. 

Law left because that was the only way. Left a piece of his heart behind that burned with a forever love, something Law knew to be as true as if the sun would rise tomorrow. An inescapable love, Law thought wryly, on those early nights when he allowed himself to dwell before he tried very hard—and ultimately spectacularly failed—to never think of it again. Inescapable for him, and inescapable for Luffy even if he didn’t know it or eventually believed he’d lost it because surely Law would do the sensible thing and let it go. 

Or most likely, Luffy wouldn’t think of him at all. 

That’s how it was as the years sailed past. For Luffy who never looked back, Law would be nothing more than a memory. For Law who could never look away, Luffy would be nothing more than a dream. 

Except, of course, about a year ago, the Thousand Sunny was spotted in the horizon. Law, heart in his throat, ordered a dive, dismissing it as an awful coincidence and with no idea—as was often the case with Monkey D. Luffy—of the headache doggedly sailing his way. 

Chapter Text

Luffy slept like a weird starfish-octopus hybrid. He drooled on his pillow while loose rubbery limbs splayed out to take up the maximum amount of space, flopping every which way and dangling down for Usopp to unconsciously cuddle. There was nowhere for Law to really go so he lay directly on his chest, moving with the rise and fall of Luffy’s breath and feeling that rhythmic heartbeat reverberate throughout his body. 

It was always Torao. 

How stupidly selfish of him. Law wanted to claw his face off. All these years later with not a word between them and now what? What the fuck did this bastard expect? For Law to keep pining around for him like some loser with nothing better to do with his time?

Fuck. Law sat up, tempted to leap off the bunk and risk breaking his leg. Luffy snorted loudly in sleep. Usopp sighed dreamily into a rubbery hand, murmuring incomprehensible sweet nothings.

The confession was hours ago but his furry body still felt too tight, too small, like it was closing in and crushing him. It was all too fucking much. Law wished Bepo was here. Wished he was home, where he could tell everyone to fuck right off and lock his door and bury himself under the covers like he was five years old. He wished he could kiss Luffy. Wished he could knock him off this bed. 

There was a soft, “Rrrow.” Law peered down to where Onigiri was nestled with Chopper, staring worriedly up at Law. 

“Aruff,” Law reassured. 

“What are you mutts yapping about?” came Sanji’s grumbling voice, out of sight from Law. “It’s too damn early.” 

Onigiri was unapologetic and unsoothed. He let out a little whine, wiggling out from Chopper’s very comfy embrace (not that Law would know anything about that) to paw at Law’s bunk. 

Sanji sighed deeply. He got out of bed and dressed, pointedly shutting his reinforced locker with a click before lifting Law off Luffy’s chest to set him safely on the ground. Onigiri immediately rubbed against him, giving him little licks. 

“Rrruff,” Law tried again, not even believing himself. 

With the sun not yet risen, the only visible light was a dim lantern in the crow’s nest and the embers of Sanji’s cigarette as he smoked against the railing, letting them do any needed morning business (thankfully Franky had created a rather discrete location). He herded them into the galley after to prepare his usual fare.

Onigiri’s tail swept across the floor in an eager wag as he waited. Law couldn’t find it in himself this morning to produce his customary glare when Sanji ordered them to stay while setting the dishes down. 

“Good boys. Go ahead.”

Onigiri dug in immediately as Sanji turned back to the counter. Law stared down at his meal. He hadn’t slept at all last night, too wired up from the bombshell yesterday. Now he felt carved hollow. Was this what the rest of his existence would be reduced to? A handful of years being treated as a pet, unable to interact in any meaningful way? Until ultimately he would be forced to watch those most important to him slowly lose hope? How many years would it take until his crew stopped searching for him? Bepo might try and look forever and Law didn’t want that for him. 

Sanji’s long legs stopped in front of him. “This is what I usually make. Don’t tell me you’re suddenly picky over this too. I have a guy who would eat garbage and a dog who won’t eat high cuisine on my crew. This better be gone when I come back.” He pushed the dish closer and exited the kitchen with a small snack, presumably for Zoro on watch. 

Law sniffed his food, resulting in a surge of nausea. He pictured the Straw Hats sitting Luffy down, gently suggesting an unwanted conclusion. How long until the endlessly stubborn Pirate King stopped sailing in circles chasing a ghost? 

He was supposed to come back. 

His dish was still untouched when Sanji returned. Law was busy fighting back the urge to vomit up an empty stomach. Sanji knelt beside him to grip his chin, encouraging him to lift his head. “Guess we’re all out of sorts these days, huh?” He released him with a sigh and dug out another cigarette. “Drink some water at least.” 

Onigiri had finished up his breakfast. His first order of business was to inspect Law’s dish, resulting in such a Bepo-look of disappointment it hurt. He nudged Law encouragingly but was distracted when the door opened. 

“What the hell are you doing up?” asked Sanji.

“I dunno.”

It was Luffy. Law watched him patter over to the kitchen island. He was sleep-rumpled but otherwise normal. Obviously. Law didn’t know what else he expected. Just because Luffy delivered world-shattering information yesterday didn’t mean anything else had changed. Law’s furry prison proved that well enough. 

Sanji took a drag. “The sun isn’t even up. I’m not supposed to be up. You’re gonna have to wait if you want food. Sit. I’m slicing any thieving fingers.”

Luffy sat on his hands. The sounds and smells of sizzling sausage filled the room while Luffy and Sanji conversed. 

The Hearts on the early shift would be awake by now. Law closed his eyes, imagining the scene. Last time he’d joined in for first breakfast, he’d sat with Ikkaku and Jean Bart as they poured over a hobby magazine. Ikkaku had gotten very into painting miniature figurines and Jean Bart, as her favorite gossip buddy, was recruited into the pastime. She’d long given up on trying to get Law to join in. He liked his figures already built and painted, thank you very much. That’s what he paid a premium for. 

That day, he had been running on three hours of sleep and was valiantly trying not to doze off, greatly helped along by Ikkaku’s indignant and very loud exclamations over the (in her opinion) poorly chosen winners of some contest. She could do better than that, she complained, leading Jean Bart to point out the nice beri reward which ended in the inevitable conclusion that she would enter the next one and blow the competition out of the water. The entries were a couple months away. Was Law going to miss that too?

Hopelessly, he nosed at the chunks of food in his dish, but as soon as he tried to form an L, a warning throb appeared. He lay down, dizzy just from that. As he blinked away black spots, a body plopped beside him. Luffy was steadily inhaling an armful of sausages. “You’re not eating, Hat.” At least, Law assumed that’s what he said. It was a bit muffled. 

“Leave him alone, Luffy,” Sanji called. “I don’t think he’s feeling well. Chopper can check him out when he’s up.”

Luffy frowned deeply, chomping on more meat. He swallowed loudly and waved a sausage in Law’s face. “C’mon, eat some. It’s soooo good!” 

“Don’t feed the dogs that, Luffy!” 

Obstinance was instinctive. Law took a bite. 

“He likes it though!”

“He should eat the food I made him!” 

It was good, as to be expected. Law tugged the sausage out of Luffy’s hand to share it with Onigiri who gleefully dug in. While they ate, Luffy dragged Law’s dish over. He peered inside and sampled some dog food. After chewing curiously, he kept scooping more into his mouth. Law should probably be disgusted but considering it was his meal, he figured he’d give Luffy a pass. 

“Luffy, I’m literally cooking for you! Stop eating dog food!” 

“It’s good though!” 

This ridiculous man. An unexpected burst of laughter welled up in Law’s throat, coming out like a wheezing bark. Luffy smiled goofily at him. “What was that? You’re so weird, Hat!” He dumped the rest of the dog food in his mouth and gave Law some vigorous ear scratches. Onigiri too, when he batted his head against Luffy’s leg. “Torao’s really gonna love both of you, y’know. You’ll like him too. He pretends he’s all serious all the time even when he finds something really funny. He can be pretty dumb too, even though he’s super smart. Also he thinks he’s all scary and mean but he’s not. He likes alotta weird stuff too. Like coins! I mean, I like treasure and stuff, you can’t be a pirate if you don’t, but he gets super excited about old coins that are all dirty and you can’t buy anything with. He’s gone on whole adventures for them! One of the islands we followed him to, he defeated this big beast before we got there.” Luffy looked put-out. “That beard guy said it’s ‘cause he told Torao about all the old coins in the mountain so Torao went and probably had a lot of fun.”

This was the worst description of himself Law had ever heard. Moreover, the coins he’d turned up had been extremely valuable actually, and included one of the rarest coins to join Law’s collection—well worth the giant pain in the ass the beast had been. 

But there was a soft look on Luffy’s face. Law had seen it before but never knew what it meant. Not until yesterday. I wanna marry him, his mind supplied, a phrase that had been relentlessly haunting him all night. God, he wished he was human so he could strangle Luffy for being a fucking idiot and then kiss him until they both couldn’t breathe. 

He gave into his own weakness and crawled into Luffy’s lap. Immediately, his warm body folded around Law. “You’ll meet him soon,” Luffy murmured into his fur. And even though it was highly improbable, near impossible, his conviction was clear. Law wished it to be true. Selfishly, he wanted another miracle from Luffy. Just once more. So he did his best to believe as Luffy promised quietly, “Torao’ll be back home soon.” 

—

Nami gave Law a greeting scratch before letting him into the communications room. It was a long-established habit by now, just like Onigiri accompanying Jinbei when he steered. The stress and worry burdening his crew blatantly grew heavier and heavier but Law dutifully listened to each call, self-loathing bubbling up like toxic waste. 

The snail began ringing early. Nami answered it with a, “Hey, Bepo.”

“Hey, it’s me, sorry Nami. Bepo’s on his way.” 

Penguin. He sounded tired. He was the one who usually took over running the day-to-day of the crew when Law was gone.

“Everything good?” Nami took her seat. 

“Oh, y’know…” said Penguin vaguely. He hesitated. “I actually called early on purpose.”

Nami frowned. Law curled up at her feet. He suspected why Penguin was calling. Law would’ve done the exact same thing and Penguin knew that. 

“I just want to say first that your help has been invaluable. It’s a debt we can’t begin to repay. Really, I don’t know how to express… yeah.” Penguin’s voice was strained. “But it’s been ten weeks with no solid leads and we know you can’t look forever so—”

“Five thousand beris if you finish that sentence,” Nami interrupted tartly. “We’ll look until we find him. Which we will. You’re not giving up, are you?”

“NO! No,” Penguin repeated, quieter but just as emphatically. “We’re never giving up on him. It’s not that at all. It’s just… we’re not, y’know, allies or anything—”

“That’s right, we’re friends. We all want to find him. If you think Luffy’s not going to scour every inch of the ocean until we do, you don’t know him very well.”

“…thank you,” said Penguin, weakly but heartfelt. “We just need him back. We just need…”

To know, Law filled in morbidly, having already calculated how much time he would have left if stuck in this form forever. Not much, relatively. 

“I know Straw Hat does whatever he wants and not trying to imply we could force him otherwise, but…” Penguin sighed. “The door’s open for you to leave anytime. No hard feelings. Law would say the same thing. Actually, he probably would’ve already kicked you out and locked the door behind you.”

“Law’s an idiot,” said Nami. 

Excuse you, Law grumped, glaring at her ankles. 

“Yeah,” Penguin agreed. 

This was mutiny. 

“So are you,” Nami added pointedly. “I’m assuming Bepo doesn’t know you’re saying this.”

“No. But I didn’t want him to be the one you told if you needed to stop looking.”

“Luckily that won’t happen.” Nami’s tone softened. “We’re going to find him. I know you won’t give up and neither will we.”

“Thank you.” Penguin’s voice cracked. “Really, you don’t… thank you.” He coughed loudly, regaining his composure. “Anyway, Bepo’ll be here in a minute and we can dive into details. We’re heading back towards those islands again.”

“Where he disappeared?”

Law’s ears flicked upwards. 

“With no leads, we’re sailing blind,” Penguin explained. “Plus we know he didn’t change his plans ‘cause of those eyewitnesses. So we must’ve missed something. We had to have missed something.”

Nami began jiggling her leg. “That’s a good idea. Our recent lead just fell through. And Sabo called yesterday with no news. You’re right, there must be something we missed.”

A wave of hope rushed through Law before he firmly tamped it back down. There were too many variables at play to get any foolish ideas of optimism. 

“There’s a marine base in that area,” Nami continued, excitement sparking. “Robin checked it out after we met up with you guys but we should take another look. A much closer one this time. If there’s a paper trail or anything else, it would have to be there.”

“You’d risk that? We could—”

Nami scoffed. “Please. If Luffy thought Law was there he’d go crashing through the front door without a thought.”

“Dumb question,” Penguin acknowledged sheepishly. “We’ve got a whole plan for our next search of the islands too. You should see the walls of our meeting room right now. Uni color-coded them. And they… oh hey, Bepo! Bepo’ll tell you.”

Robin and Jinbei were fetched to listen as Bepo outlined the extraordinarily detailed search effort the Hearts had put together. Luffy even showed up, pulled away from his game with Onigiri using Chopper as a cross-species translator. All the details of the plan flew past him beyond the detail that there was a plan. An air of anticipation was brewing. Despite them being unaware, after weeks of chasing false leads, the Straw Hats and Hearts were finally pointed in the right direction. 

It was a great plan. Law was inordinately proud of his crew, even if “interrogate innocent-looking young girls about heinous forcible shapeshifting crimes” was lacking from their list. But therein lay the fatal flaw. Scouring the islands and breaking into the marine base was all well and good until they inevitably did not turn up any clues. They’d missed Kikoku the first go-around and the devil fruit user had kept her mouth shut so it was likely they’d go through all this trouble and find neither hide nor hair about Law’s whereabouts.

“I’m going!” Luffy exclaimed to the room. “I’ll be a ninja!” He immediately disproved his own declaration by adopting a ninja-esque pose that was as inconspicuous as Chopper’s hiding attempts. 

“That’s not stealthy at all, Luffy!” Nami argued half-heartedly. Gloom permeated the Sunny these days and Luffy’s enthusiasm was an infectious relief.

“We can gather information in town while our more investigative members take on the base,” suggested Jinbei. 

Law kept an ear on the chatter flying about but none of it mattered beyond them going back. It was clear he needed to make his own plan. Any potential consequences of going off on his own paled in comparison to the possible end of this excursion when both crews, empty-handed and nowhere else to look, sailed away with Law, never to return. 

No, that could not happen. He needed to try and return to the devil fruit user alone, come what may.

With a plan of action, spirits were lifted as Sunny changed course. Law promptly got to work, not sure how long it would take to reach the islands. Breaking into Nami’s map room was the first hurdle. Luffy was always game to raid the galley or Franky’s workshop but that area was a no-go zone. Law had to do it without help, a difficult task when faced with the blockade of another goddamn door handle. 

So he turned to some… unseemly methods. 

“Oh, you’re so affectionate today!” Nami exclaimed when Law nuzzled her legs. She reached down and plopped him in her lap, something usually only allowed by Onigiri. Nami rubbed at his ears, eyes narrowing as she warned, “You’re not getting any treats from me.”

Law was busy being relieved his concern whether he was tall enough to see over her desk or not was unfounded… just barely. 

The marine base was isolated from the closest surrounding islands. Law had neatly avoided it on his way from the archipelago towards the resort and hadn’t bothered fully investigating the base as his destination was as neutral as money could buy. It was a modest size and boasted a lackluster patrol route that was only completed to check off boxes. Nothing to worry about, Law thought back then, unaware of the soon-to-be heightened marine presence due to the largest bounty in the seas, present solely because of him. But, through personal experience on board one of their ships, he knew the marines here were not addressing the area’s crime with any sort of gusto.

From Nami’s maps and notes, he gleaned the well-populated civilian town on the island engaged in regular trade with neighbors. A fair number of ships sailed in and out and there was a daily ferry to the major port on the largest archipelago island. It departed only once per day which meant timing would be tight. It also stayed on the archipelago when not in use which made stowing away more difficult. But if he managed to get on board the correct ship unseen and make it to the correct island unfound and make it back on land without getting caught, he’d hunt down the girl and… well, he had a knife now, alongside an improved threatening growl. 

If it didn’t work out then hopefully humans-turned-dogs went to the same afterlife as everyone else and Bepo could yell at Law several decades down the line after he lived his own vastly happy and fulfilling life. 

All he could do now was wait and hope any complications were able to be dealt with. But the first one reared its head before they even arrived. 

“He’s worried,” Chopper informed Nami, who had fetched him after growing concerned. “About Hat.”

“Why?” asked Nami and Luffy simultaneously, standing side-by-side holding their respective favorite canines, resembling a pair of overly alarmed new parents. 

Chopper dutifully asked Onigiri. He’d grown increasingly clingy of late. Law felt his pile of guilt balloon. Of course his loyal companion sensed something was wrong. 

“He’s saying Hat’s sad,” relayed Chopper, concentrating hard. “And that…” he scratched an antler, “…well, Onigiri doesn’t like something. Something happening? Something bad? Did happen? Or will? Can you say that again, Onigiri?”

It wasn’t possible to communicate his plight to Onigiri anymore than he could to the rest of the crew. There was no way for Law to explain why he needed to leave… and leave Onigiri behind. 

“Something bad,” Chopper concluded, shrugging helplessly. “I’m not sure. But he’s upset.”

Nami frowned at Law like he had personally wronged her. 

“Over Hat,” Chopper added. “For him.”

“Oh.” Nami softened. “Something bad happened to Hat? Or will?”

Law was jostled while Luffy leaned over so he could look Onigiri right in the eyes. “Don’t worry,” he ordered. He was using his captain voice, dead-serious and intense. “Nothing bad will happen to Hat. I won’t let it.”

That night he couldn’t sleep, curled up with Luffy and Onigiri both. His stomach roiled with nausea. Even in the best case scenario where Law returned wholly human, Onigiri would likely have no idea who Law was. Would he believe Law abandoned him? He nudged Onigiri who blearily lifted his head, squinting at him before panting happily. His tail wagged as he wriggled closer to Law and fell back asleep nestled into his side. Beyond him rested Luffy, mouth open and breathing easily despite two canines laying on his chest. 

Law’s heart cracked open. If something went wrong, he would never see either of them again. At the very least he could console himself that Luffy would be fine and now Onigiri would be happy and safe with Luffy. He’d forget all about Law soon enough. 

But he didn’t want that. This scene was so close to what he wished for. He wanted this mess to be over, to be home, to be himself again. Wanted to go to sleep in his own bed with the hum of his sub and sounds of his crew surrounding him, with Onigiri curled up to his chest, blissfully unperturbed as he should be, with Luffy there, taking up more space than he should and running so hot he could warm Law all alone. 

If he wanted any possibility of that, he had to do everything he could. After all, this was likely the last chance Law had. 

—

They arrived at the marine base three days later, pulling up in the early morning. Even then the humidity that bled over from the nearby summer islands was stifling. Law was cursed to pant endlessly, doing his best to conserve needed energy. 

Only half the crew piled onto Mini-Merry for the discreet trip to land. The others stayed behind on Sunny in open water, prepared to make a quick escape. This nowheresville marine base would probably not be much match for the Straw Hats but they didn’t want any escalation. 

“I can look after the dogs for the day,” Brook offered while Luffy bounced impatiently in place with Law in hand. It was a worthy sacrifice. Onigiri really liked gnawing on his shin bone. 

“Maybe Onigiri,” said Luffy. He gave up on waiting for Usopp to board and scrambled in. Law had already charmed his way onto the team—a combination of utilizing a new knife technique in front of Luffy paired with Zoro insisting he needed real combat training (“Fifteen opponents,” he ordered, pointing to the tendon they’d been practicing how to cripple).

As soon as Law disappeared onto Mini-Merry, alarmed barks filled the air. Law tensed and carefully tried to tune them out. He’d avoided Onigiri as best he could since they awoke to the changed weather pattern. Onigiri was anxious and unhappy about being left behind. But he actually was an adorable ball of fluff, unlike Law who even in this form still held one of the highest bounties in the world—notwithstanding the Straw Hats being unaware of that. To them at least, Onigiri had not been training as an attack dog these last few weeks. 

Law pretended his chest wasn’t tight and tried to ignore the simmering guilt. Better a clean break. 

“Is he okay?” asked Robin, pausing as she boarded. She lowered her tiny pink pince-nez sunglasses. Combined with her smart outfit, she was halfway between a librarian and a Cipher Pol agent. 

“He’ll be fine,” said Nami. “We’ll look out for him. Just don’t get into too much trouble, you guys!” She frowned at Luffy, the main troublemaker coming along. 

“Bah! This will be easy!” Usopp crowed, preemptively victorious. His own sunglasses were neon-colored and likely found discarded in a Vegapunk lab. “The marines will never even know we were there!” 

Robin laughed and chose to sat between Jinbei and Usopp, much to Sanji’s blatant disappointment. “Good luck!” called Chopper as Mini-Merry cast off to sea, Franky posing behind him with a big thumbs up. Onigiri’s barks turned frenetic. Law carefully turned his attention to the distant island, ignoring the stones sitting in his gut. If everything worked out, he’d see him again, even if Onigiri wouldn’t know it. 

Eventually, his upset howls faded into ocean waves. 

It was not a long journey to the island. The town was awake and full of energy. Marine vessels littered the water and a New World Government flag fluttered in the wind. Law peeked over the side. The streets were bustling with an eclectic crowd which was promising for maintaining stealth as long as Luffy was able. He scanned for the section where the ferry docked, right past the fish market. There were about two hours before it departed. If Law missed it, hiding away until tomorrow for another chance would not be easy.

“…and we’re not gonna cause a scene, yeah?” There was a snap of rubber as Sanji pulled at Luffy’s cheek. His giant orange hexagonal sunglasses were heavily tinted and big enough to hide his curly eyebrows. They were an absolute abomination but had been handed over (or, in Sanji’s opinion, gifted) this morning by his beloved Nami-swan. 

Luffy was not much better. He had the most recognizable face in the seas and his disguise was a pair of lopsided sunglasses and an elegant straw hat atop his regular one (one of Robin’s—it had a very nice purple bow). He didn’t even bother to close his shirt, identifiable scarred chest exposed for all to see. 

Not that Law really minded that view. 

Jinbei steered them into port with no problem. Robin handed out high fives before their strange-looking group broke into two parties. Law trotted after Luffy, Usopp, and Jinbei (who’d come out on top in the sunglasses department with a fashionable pair that were quite suave on him), the ground-team intent on digging up information in town while Robin and Sanji broke into the marine base proper. 

As to be expected, there were marines everywhere. Law lost count of how many they passed on their way towards the town center. The markets were bustling and full of distractions. An onslaught of foreign smells woefully reminded him how he had grown used to life aboard Thousand Sunny. Busy cities contained too many noises and overpowering scents for his sensitive canine senses. The crowd could at least be a blessing for losing line of sight but the potential of being trampled was heightened. 

Law kept a close eye on the scattered clocks. Usopp and Luffy seemed to have already forgotten the entire purpose as to why they were here, attention caught by the sights, oohing and ahhing at every other vendor. When they reached the main market street, Law immediately lost track of them both. He took refuge by Jinbei, who had paused to casually interrogate a ceramics stall owner. 

“Any pirate activity?” Jinbei asked.

“Not much around these parts.” The stall owner, a middle-aged woman, looked Jinbei up and down in plain interest. “We got our own problems. Word was the Pirate King was sailing ‘round not too long ago but I think those were overblown rumors. What the hell would he be doing here?”

“Hmm.” Jinbei adjusted his sunglasses carefully. 

She leaned in. “There are unsavory sorts around though. Keep an eye on your dog. Also the resort nearby attracts a wide range. Not supposed to talk much as it gives good business to the area. Guess the Pirate King coulda been going for a spa day.”

Luffy in a spa sounded like the antithesis of a spa day’s purpose. Law surveyed the street in search of him. Ah, he was a few stalls back, busy running a grillmaster out of business. Past him, some marines were taking a lackadaisical walk. Law kept an eye on them as they passed, tensing when one of them pointed to Usopp further down. But they only seemed entertained by him getting duped by an obvious scammer. 

Everyone was distracted. It shouldn’t be hard to disappear down the street and make his way to the ferry from there. But Law stalled, watching Luffy argue loudly with the irate grillmaster, cheeks stuffed full as he yelled, sunglasses slipping down his nose and feminine straw hat flopping into his eyes. 

He’d hesitated before, believing he would never see Luffy again. Surrounded by a barely thinned crowd and an overladen banquet table, the Pirate King feasted smack dab in the middle of the still raging anniversary celebrations. Law had thought he’d already detached himself from it all: the festivities, the Straw Hats, the residual embarrassment over his recent faux-pas. But still he’d lingered even though his crew waited on their sub, eyebrows questioningly raised but happily partied-out and well-fed enough to silently obey. 

Leaving Luffy was like tearing his eyes away from the sun. It hurt to look and yet the world around him darkened when he didn’t. 

Now or never, Law reminded himself, and turned to slip into the crowd. 

Most of his vision was filled with feet so Law navigated by pointing his nose towards where the stinking odor of fish was strongest. The street was tight and stalls lined both sides so he was forced to snake his way through the crowd. A huge, muscly dog ran into him and tried to exchange some doggish greeting but Law ignored it. There were eyes on him as he walked. He was too cute, he thought morosely, and looked forward to being human again when no one would dare.

Once he reached the waterside, the crowd lessened enough he could breathe easier. Now able to pay attention to signs, he passed the fish sellers and located where the ferry docked. It hadn’t arrived yet, its daily departure at noon on the dot. Less than an hour and a half from now, if Law was correct. He needed to avoid trouble until then. 

There was a big argument playing out between a couple nearby. Law tucked himself behind some barrels where a big scary-looking fellow sat on a smoke break. He tuned into the upset. It was something out of one of those trashy romance novels that got passed around his sub as supposedly a joke except his crew was a bit too invested. Law was not alone in his eavesdropping—the dockworker was scribbling down notes and muttering critiques over the plotline of the couple’s personal problems. 

Hopefully no one missed him yet. The crowd drifted past as he waited, some loiterers stopping to watch the fallout. The same dog passed by, sniffing in Law’s direction before moving on. Jittery, Law alternated between laying down and pacing, trying to focus on the quarreling as a distraction. What would be the best way to threaten the young devil fruit user to give his body back if she refused? He didn’t exactly want to slice her tendon. And what if she turned him into something worse? He didn’t know the limits of her ability. 

The ferry pulled in about fifteen minutes later while the drama reached a tense climax. The aspiring writer heaved a disappointed sigh and slowly walked away, ear turned to hear the yelling as long as possible. Law peeked out, watching the passengers disembark. It would be tricky to board unnoticed but not impossible. The small crew trickled off, pausing to listen as a marriage proposal suddenly made an appearance. Law could see only one sailor left fussing around on deck. 

The coast was as clear as it would get. 

Law darted out from the barrels, wishing not for the first time he’d been turned into a cat or a bird rather than a shock-white fluffy dog. The proposal did not seem to be going well which was attracting everyone’s attention. A stroke of luck for him. He used as much cover as possible before the last section, an open break to the bottom of the gangplank, only feet away. Right then the crowd let out another shocked gasp, which surely meant he’d be able to—

A furry body blocked his path with a loud bark. It was the muscly dog again, frowning down at him. The dog sniffed him and huffed, apparently unimpressed with his findings. 

“Ruff,” Law retorted, feeling weirdly insulted. He tried to skirt past but the dog mirrored his movement, nosing around in uncomfortable places. Law growled, impatience rising. Going so low hurt his vocal chords but it made it sound fairly impressive.

But the dog was unfortunately unconcerned by a floofball a quarter of his size. He returned a warning growl of his own and blocked Law again when he tried to move past. Law didn’t have time for this. He bared his teeth and wondered whether brandishing a knife in a dogfight was considered cheating. But he was a pirate so he didn’t care either way. The dog barked loudly as Law reached back. It didn’t sound like he was attempting to communicate with Law, which was odd enough to take note of. Why was…?

His senses tingled. Too late he realized the bark was a signal. Someone approached too close behind him and fingers latched onto the scruff of his neck. He snarled as his feet left the ground and unleashed a vicious bite on the first thing to enter his vision, beyond fed up with being manhandled. His teeth latched onto thick, impenetrable gloves. The hand roughly shook him off, his head snapping back from the strength. 

“Good boy,” said a gravelly voice. A proud tail wag from the muscly dog. “Fresh one.”

What the fuck did that mean? His neck throbbed from the whiplash. Law tried to reach his holstered knife but the grip on his body was unyielding. Dignity thrown out the window as all the concerns he’d had for his solo venture happened before it even began, he howled loudly. If this man wanted trouble, Law was going to cause a whole fucking scene. 

“Shut up, mutt.” The man’s gloved hand clamped Law’s jaw shut, holding it so tight his teeth ground painfully together. He struggled furiously, catching a glimpse of his captor. The man was unfamiliar and unremarkable. “Sorry,” he addressed some onlookers. “Dog broke loose. Still needs some training.” He clicked his tongue and turned away, his dog falling into step.

This couldn’t be happening. This could not actually be happening again. Law fought harder, willing to break bones and worse if it meant not going through another dognapping. Rage gave a surge of unexpected strength and he managed to yank his mouth out to sink his teeth into the man’s glove, hoping to puncture through to draw blood. 

“You little…!” The man squeezed hard enough Law’s bones creaked. His whole hand encircled Law’s snout roughly, half-suffocating him. Law thrashed, refusing to be easily taken away. He was so fucking tired of this, of being helpless against all the shit situations thrown his way. If he had Kikoku, he’d slice this man into pieces so small he’d never be able to put himself back together again. His lower legs kicked out, trying to scratch through the man’s light shirt. His back claws caught on skin. “Motherfucker!” The man jerked back. His dog was growling now but Law could only pay attention to the hands constricting him as they shifted like the man was planning to fling him right to the ground. He braced himself, eyes closing instinctively against the anticipated upcoming pain, knowing if the strength was there, this was about to be a sorry end. 

The man abruptly halted. “Who the fuck are you?”

Luffy, Law thought, but when he reopened his eyes, it was Usopp bravely holding onto the man’s arm.

“Nevermind who I am.” Usopp stood tall, voice deeper than usual with a flair of affected authority. “He’s not yours.” 

“Sir, sir,” called another man, fluttering irritably around Usopp. “If you don’t come now, the blessing will run out and the statue will be useless. Please keep following me.”

“This is my dog,” said the man. “Escaped out my front door. Was worried ‘cause of the rumors.”

Usopp’s eyes narrowed. Law twisted and was just able to reach the fleshy part of the man’s arm not covered by a glove. He sank his teeth in with a satisfying squish, the tang of iron hitting his tongue. His captor jerked back with a shout of pain and unceremoniously dropped him. As soon as all four paws hit solid ground, he drew his knife and slashed. It went through the tendon, smooth as butter. The dognapper’s leg collapsed beneath him and he toppled to the ground with a look of pure surprise. He looked down at his leg, gushing blood, and let out enough colorful expletives that the nearby sailors looked over, blushing. 

Law had only a few blissful seconds on the ground before Usopp swooped him up, hastily pulling the knife from his teeth and holstering it for him. “Don’t bite me, Hat. This is for both our sakes!” He took off running down the street just as Law spotted two obvious compatriots of the man pushing through the ogling crowd. 

“Attack!” roared the dognapper, trying to staunch the blood loss. There was a skitter of claws against pavement as the dog raced after them. 

“But the statue,” mourned Usopp’s hapless guide. 

“Decoy!” yelled Usopp, dropping a piece of meat he’d probably picked up from the grillmaster Luffy was harassing. The dog brightened and slowed enough to gobble it down in two bites before resuming chase. Clutched firmly to Usopp’s side, Law could only despair over the unexpected turn of events. What the hell was this? What happened to leaving endearing tiny furballs alone?

Usopp passed the fish market and grabbed a giant trout by its tail, pivoting a full circle to fling it behind him as another distraction. Law was spun breathlessly, relieved he rarely got motion sickness. 

“Hey, you have to pay for that!” shouted the fishmonger. Some marines idling nearby turned towards the commotion, interested but not overly invested. The dog barreled down the street and skidded to a halt as the fish flopped in front of him, sniffing enthusiastically. The two men appeared, weapons drawn. That caught the marines’ attention. 

“Trouble?” called the rookie marine as Usopp ran past. Her superior frowned at the men and rummaged around his coat, pulling out what looked like a stack of papers as one of their pursuers yelled about dognapping. 

“You stole our dog!” Usopp rejoined. “And I’m a totally innocent civilian who the marines should help!”

“Halt!” called the marine officer. “I know you two! You work with the Mad Dog! You’re wanted for—” 

The men didn’t wait around to hear what they were wanted for. They turned tail and fled, one of them nearly tripping over the muscly dog happily chowing down on the giant trout. Both marines burst into action after them.

Usopp slowed to a backwards walk until all of them disappeared into the crowd. “Huh. That’s not how this usually goes.” He put a jaunty hand on his hip, victorious. “Nami won’t kill me now!”

“Hey!” yelled the pissed off fishmonger.

“Shit, I don’t have any more money,” Usopp muttered. He pointed dramatically. “That dog’s eating your prize fish!” 

The fishmonger turned and that was the last Law ever saw of him. Usopp ran down a side street and turned enough corners Law lost all sense of where they were. 

This was just great. His plan was not yet fully caput, attempted abduction aside, but he needed to ditch Usopp and figure out a way back before the ferry left. The passengers would probably be boarding by then, making stealth even more difficult. This whole day was turning into a mess. 

When it was apparent no one was chasing them, he nipped at Usopp’s hand, begrudgingly appreciative of the assistance but fed up with being hauled around as a purse. 

“Don’t bite me! I was helping! Helping!” Usopp started singing a soothing melody used for warding off evil spirits as he hastily let him down. Law shook himself off and tried to reorient himself. “Luffy and Onigiri would’ve been really upset without you. Me too!” Usopp added, eyes wide like Law would be offended otherwise. “What were those guys’ problem? And how’d you end up way over there?”

They seemed to have ended up on a restaurant street. Would the marines be at the ferry where the dognapper was left? That would really fuck with Law’s plans. He tried to think of another alternative. The problem with trying to hide away for another day was he feared Luffy would doggedly sniff him out rather than leave him behind. 

“Usoooooopp!”

Shit. Speaking of which. Luffy waved frantically from down the street. He spotted Law and brightened. “Haaaaaat!” 

Law braced himself. Luffy had enough sense to not stretch out his arm but he ran down the street, flip-flops slapping against the pavement, and scooped Law up for an aggressive cuddle. Sometimes it felt like his canine existence revolved around being exchanged from one pair of hands to the next. 

“Where’d you go, Hat?” Luffy complained, nuzzling his fur. “I was looking for you.”

“What about me?” asked Usopp indignantly. 

Law couldn’t even enjoy being rubbed against Luffy’s bare chest. If he was unable to drum up some sort of distraction in the next ten minutes, he would be resigned to a continued and endless furry future. 

Usopp was telling Luffy about the ancient statue. Luffy listened open-mouthed, eyes sparkling. There was a distinct lack of information gathering, Law noted with more fondness than he’d ever admit. Jinbei, Sanji, and Robin were the ones actually being relied upon. Luffy was here because he’d insisted. 

“Long-nose!”

Usopp turned and startled back into Luffy, squishing Law between them. “Who’s that? Long-nose?” He stuck a hand on his forehead, searching around while he covered his nose with the other one. Law, crushed between them, pointedly scratched Luffy’s chest.

Luffy obligingly put him down. The marine jogging up to them seemed vaguely familiar even though Law didn’t recognize her from earlier. “I’m looking for a man involved in a dognapping incident. I was told he had a long nose.” She indicated just how long, at least double the length of Usopp’s. 

“Oi,” started Usopp, irritated. 

“Dognapping?” Luffy popped his head over Usopp’s shoulder, sunglasses slipping down his face. 

“Just some quick questions,” the marine explained. “Standard when dealing with criminals. Name’s Lola. My partner should be with me but he’s taking his sweet time. Will probably be here right as I finish.” She rolled her eyes.

“Er, of course,” said Usopp, sweating bullets. 

Luffy looked confused. “Criminals?” He frowned at Usopp. “Did you have a buncha fun without me?!”

“I was being chased down by a horde of vicious hellhounds! But! I warded them off with a secret technique, sending fear into all their hearts, and those hounds will pass down for generations the tale of—”

Lola’s pen clicked loudly. “So how did the encounter begin?”

Usopp launched into a tale so outrageous that Lola’s notes dwindled to nothing within the first few seconds. 

“He hurt Hat?” Luffy repeated. Usopp had kept in all the humiliating bits and conveniently left out the extremely vicious bite and sliced tendon. “Where is he?” 

“Arrested, Luffy,” Usopp reminded him. “Uh… for dognapping?”

“Running an illegal dogfighting ring,” said Lola.

Luffy lit up. “There’s a dogfighting ring? Hat would totally win that!” 

Usopp smacked him over the head. “We’re not here to participate in illegal doggy fight clubs!” 

“Not anymore,” said Lola. “We just caught the ringleader thanks to your pup here.” She winked at Law. “What a cutie! He looks just like a dog my partner used to have!” 

There was Law’s unintentional good deed for the day. Meanwhile, his ferry was preparing to take off without him while Robin and Sanji failed to scavenge any info from the marine base. Law was, undoubtedly, well and truly fucked. 

“There you are!” called Lola, waving someone over. “You get to ask the last questions!” 

Her partner, presumably. Law glanced over to the approaching marine and choked on air. 

Corin, his illustrious former captor, raised a hand in greeting. “I was helping at the scene! I came straight here as soon as they told me!” He drew up to them and smiled down at Law. “Oh wow, this dog looks just like Grumpy!” Then he stared hard. 

Law tried his very best to not look like Grumpy. Perhaps a sweet and innocent face? He tried to channel Bepo when he ate shaved ice that was being saved for a beach day.

“He is grumpy!” laughed Luffy, heedless of the danger. “It makes him look so cute!” 

Lola flapped a hand at Law. “Doesn’t he, Corin? I was thinking he did! I mean, it’s obviously not since that would be…” She paused, a disconcerted expression forming. 

“…impossible,” finished Corin, “since he got stolen by…” He fell silent. Law could see the calculations running. Slowly, his eyes raised up to an oblivious Luffy. 

“Umm,” said Usopp, sensing danger. 

Corin pointed, arm noticeably shaking. “You… you’re the Pirate King!” It was a loud enough declaration for passing pedestrians to turn head and gawk. “You… you… you stole my dogs!” 

This day was tipping into the realm of a fiasco. 

“Huh?” Luffy cocked his head, quizzical. “Who’re you?” 

Corin boggled at Law. “It definitely is! Grumpy! C’mere, Grumpy!” He slapped his knees like Law had ever done anything to imply some sort of loyalty. Just to drive the point in, Law drew his knife. The blood glistened in the sun and a drop slid off the end, landing with a loud plop. Corin’s mouth dropped open, utterly dumbfounded. 

“His name is Hat!” Luffy corrected, offended. He frowned deeply. “He’s my dog. If you try and steal him, I’ll beat you up.”

“You stole him first! Why does he have a knife?!”

“Well actually, you stole him first,” said Lola, looking faint. 

Corin reddened. “A-actually, that’s right! You stole civilian dogs that were being returned home by the marines! That’s a whole different level of crime! What a despicable thing to do!” He rustled about in his jacket and withdrew a crumpled piece of paper. “See? What kind of horrible person would steal a little girl’s dog?!” He held it up with more blustering confidence than was deserved. 

“What is happening?” muttered Usopp, as Law squinted at what was written. 

Ah. Well. In the end, it wasn’t Law’s crew who put out a Missing Person report. MISSING DOG, read the poster, with an official marine stamp and everything, portraying an embarrassingly adorable hand-drawn ball of fluff. Law could just make out the name of the island where this all started. The devil fruit user. It must be. Finally infected with some amount of guilt over inflicting a man with a mochi-like appearance and a significantly lesser lifespan. Or her father found out. Either way. 

Luffy abruptly stretched his arm, eliciting a violent flinch from Corin as the poster was ripped out of his grip. He stared down at it. 

“S-see, Pirate King?” stuttered Corin. “I-I’m not the one who stole a dog from his home!” 

“Well…” started Lola, cautiously edging away. 

“Shut up!” Corin hissed. “I already feel bad enough!”

“His home?” Luffy repeated. He gave Law an unreadable look. 

Lola whipped a rifle out, pointing it at Luffy’s head. “We need backup!” She roared to a marine that had appeared down the street. “The Pirate King is here!” 

Alarmed cries rang from the crowd. A flurry of activity rippled through the street. Some people took the opportunity to flee while others congregated nearby in a mixture of interest and fear. An old man sat only feet away outside a restaurant, still eating as he watched. 

Corin copied her, aiming his own rifle at Usopp. “You’ll have dognapping added to your crimes,” he added, finding some nerve now that they had the illusion of the upper hand. “You should’ve seen how that little girl cried!” 

Marines began to flood the street. They filed past the spectators to form a ring around the three of them, rifles pointed at the center. It was not very well thought-out for the possibility of friendly fire. Law clenched his teeth around the knife, waiting for what Luffy would do. 

“That’s not really the Pirate King, right?” whispered one of the marines nervously. A low hum emanated from the crowd, some of them craning their necks to watch.

“It’s him!” Corin yelled. “Be careful!” 

There was an awkward moment where they all stood staring at each other. Not one marine seemed willing to be the one to try to arrest the Pirate King, who was ignoring them in favor of frowning down at the Missing Poster while pushing up the floppy straw hat that kept blocking his view. 

“You’re under arrest,” ventured Corin courageously but still didn’t move. “For… a lot of crimes.”

“How many?” asked Usopp. His demeanor was lax and his playacting voice was back, but one hand rested on his weapon. “We’ve never heard the whole list actually.”

“Er,” said Corin. 

A shot rang out. Luffy whipped his arm out and sent the bullet, inches from Usopp’s head, careening back towards where it came. The crowd began to scatter, finally realizing the danger at hand. 

“Captain!” chorused the marines with evident relief. 

Walking up was a marine captain, double revolvers drawn and scowling at Luffy. “You’ve been sticking around these waters a long time, Monkey D. Luffy. What’re you up to?”

Luffy lowered his arm. He carefully folded up the poster, stuck it in his pocket, and knelt down in front of Law. His fingers skittered over Law’s head, featherlight. 

“That’s a civilian dog, ma’am,” said Lola. “We have a missing poster.”

The captain looked briefly puzzled before her face smoothed out. “Are you trawling these waters for pooches, Straw Hat?”

Luffy brushed a finger right below Law’s eye. It sent Law’s heart galloping. He cursed his stupid furry form as Luffy tugged the knife from his mouth, wrapped his arm around his body, and stood, tucking Law firmly against his side. 

Usopp took the cue. He whipped his weapon out with a cry. “Midori Boshi: Dokuro Bakuhatsu—”

The explosion filled the street, rattling Law’s teeth. Luffy slingshotted all three of them through the air. One rubbery arm was around Usopp’s waist as he proudly surveyed the destruction he wrought before landing nose first in someone’s abandoned meal.

“After them!” The marine captain’s shouted order came from the dense smoke, accompanied by a loud series of groans. 

Luffy pulled Usopp upright, released him, and took off running. Usopp followed, spluttering and covered in soup. It was a dizzying race through the streets, past startled civilians and incoming marines. A siren began blaring. Usopp released some sort of gas behind them, cutting off the majority of those still following from the explosion. Around the next corner they ran face-first into a group of marines milling about, looking unclear over what exactly was going on. Only one of them seemed to catch onto their trio being the source of the chaos. He managed to get out, “Hey, wai—” before the entire group was swept aside by Luffy’s leg. 

Word was getting out. Cries about the Pirate King spread like wildfire while civilians darted out of the way and marines threw themselves in their path. Usopp got separated but Luffy didn’t pause and kept heading towards the docks. 

A marine suddenly appeared in front of them, shotgun aimed at Luffy’s chest. Law stared. It was Sadie, exuding pure rage. “You Pirate King bastard! You stole my adorable dog!” More marines filtered in behind her, emboldened by her approach. 

The Sadie he remembered had been uninterested in her marine duties but apparently losing Onigiri had broken something in her. She fired a rapid series of shotgun blasts at Luffy with an avenging force. 

“Hat’s not yours!” Luffy yelled. Law appreciated the sentiment even though it was not him Sadie was so upset over. Luffy blew himself up so the shots rebounded in multiple directions. The army of marines facing them was huge so he deflated and let off a concentrated blast of Conqueror’s haki. The majority of the nearby marines tumbled to the ground. Sadie staggered, dazed but still conscious as Luffy ran past. 

“Luffy!” 

Luffy abruptly turned towards the direction of the call. Jinbei fell into step beside them. “Some trouble?” he asked mildly, kicking down some unfortunate marines that turned the corner right into him. “The alarm is island wide. I’m sure Robin and Sanji are making their way back to the ship.”

Bullets whipped past them. The marine captain had finally caught up. “The full wrath of justice will be rained down upon you!” she yelled, dodging her own bullets when Luffy sent them back. Another officer tried to block their path and Jinbei drew away to deal with him. 

The ocean swam into view. A marine ship was already pulling around to try and cut off their escape. There was a cacophony at the far-end of the docks. Law saw the glint of bright orange sunglasses before anything else. Sanji and Robin were leading their own merry chase. Robin seemed to be taking great pleasure in continuously tripping a whole contingency of marines with arms sprouting from the cobblestones. Sanji spotted them and Law saw the exact moment he took notice of the enraged marine captain following them. 

“This adventure certainly turned out interesting,” Robin exclaimed over Sanji’s outrageous overtures. Mini-Merry bobbed in the water between them. Another explosion rang out from a street just in front of her and falling out of the plume of smoke was Usopp, panting heavily. “Oh, Usopp!” Robin greeted. She turned and clenched her hands. A loud series of cracks echoed as the squad following her collapsed. 

Usopp clambered onto Mini-Merry. Law could hear that Jinbei had moved on to deal with the marine captain. “Ships incoming!” he called. 

“I’ll handle this.” Sanji leapt into the air, moonwalking over to the approaching marine vessels. Luffy stretched out an arm and Law went whizzing through the air alongside him, landing gently against his stomach. By the time he poked his head up, the marines ships were in flames and both Jinbei and Robin were stepping on. He glanced back to see the marine captain incapacitated and back-up arriving too late. Mini-Merry pulled away from shore and all nearby vessels were out of service. Sanji rejoined them, landing with a soft thump. 

The Straw Hats sailed away, smoke billowing overhead and shouts filling the air, leaving the marine base behind in shambles.

—

For a short time, the only sounds were the rhythmic turn of Mini-Merry’s paddle wheels and the rolling of the waves. 

“Whew!” Usopp fanned himself. “I took out fifty marines in one blow!” 

Law splayed out on the ground by his feet, panting heavily. He desperately needed some water before he turned into cooked dog. 

“I saw,” said Robin. She didn’t have a hair out of place. “It was quite impressive!” 

Usopp blushed. “Bah, that was nothing compared to the time—”

“Did you find anything?” 

Law glanced up at Luffy’s abrupt interruption. He was back to staring at the missing poster, expression blank. He didn’t catch the silent exchange between Robin and Sanji but Law did. Sanji frowned and lit up a cigarette, leaving the answer to Robin.

“I’m afraid not. We looked everywhere. I don’t believe we missed anything.” Her eyes fell on the poster. “Ah. I see you found it too.” She pulled out a folded paper and turned it around so everyone could see Law’s doggish face staring out. “I’m sorry, Luffy.”

Luffy’s knuckles turned white, crinkling the paper. “Bear will find something. And if not, we’ll just look somewhere else.”

“Of course we’ll keep looking.” Robin’s arm fell. Mouth tight, she looked over the poster herself. 

The boat fell quiet. Sunny could be seen in the distance, making her way over after Jinbei sent a signal to them. Sanji miraculously conjured up water and dropped a small bowl in front of Law. He lapped at it, eyes on Luffy. There would be no more chance of returning to the devil fruit user on his own. That plan had gone up in flames with the base. 

“Luffy…” Jinbei began.

“They could be lying. It might not be him.” The top of the poster tore in his grip.  “Hat’s crew. He’s mine. I’m not giving him away.”

“He is crew.” Jinbei laid a comforting hand on Luffy’s shoulder. “Hat is and always will be one of us. But we should at least check.”

“It’s been months!” Luffy shook the poster at Jinbei, pointing at the section he’d been squinting hard at. “That’s what this says, right? They didn’t even look for him right away.”

Jinbei obliged, leaning close to confirm the issue date as over a month after the Straw Hats picked Law up. “There could be a reason for that.”

“They shouldn’t have waited if they wanted him so much,” Luffy bit out. Voice rising, “They lost him and didn’t even look for him until it was too late!” 

The words echoed, followed by a ringing silence. 

Law clenched his teeth so tightly his jaw ached. For a few tense moments, no one moved. 

Robin broke the quiet gently. “Maybe they didn’t realize at first how lost he was. Maybe they thought he’d come back. But now, somewhere out there, someone is wondering whether he’s safe and hoping he’ll find his way home.”

“He was pretty upset at the beginning.” Usopp reached down and bravely gave Law a head ruffle. “Remember that day he just sulked in the doghouse? He might’ve been homesick.”

“That’s right,” said Jinbei. “If this little one is lost, someone must be missing him very much.”

Luffy’s expression was furious. His dark eyes swung down. Law held fast against the intense gaze boring into him. Whatever Luffy found caused his face to crumple. He reached for Law, pulling him away from Usopp until he was dangling in the air, face to face. “Is someone missing you?” he asked seriously. “Are you lost?”

How long exactly had Law been trying to communicate exactly that? He wasn’t sure if the feeling bubbling up in his throat would come out as laughter or tears. A small blessing for once to be a dog. Still he was unable to convey everything he wished to say. I am lost, he tried. It feels like it’s been forever. I miss you. I miss my crew. 

“…yeah,” said Luffy, choked up and not hearing a word. “I bet there’s someone out there who loves you a lot. They must be hurting without you. And you must miss them too.” He drew Law to his chest, his arms warm as they engulfed him whole. His sea salt scent overpowered even the ocean breeze. Law closed his eyes and listened to that strong, resounding heartbeat. “Alright,” Luffy whispered. “Alright. I’ll get you home. Promise.”

—

There was upset on Sunny at the double blow of bad news. Law listened from the shade under the stairs. Onigiri lay beside him. His greeting upon Law’s return had been frantic and now he refused to leave his side. 

Chopper drew away from the continued overlapping conversations to sit in front of them. “Onigiri, you said once you were lost. Do you have a home? Family?” 

Onigiri let out a flurry of barks. 

“Ah. Aww.” Chopper crossed his arms, mulling something over. “What about Hat? You said he was sad.” He nodded seriously as Onigiri responded. “Okay. We think we found his family. We’re taking Hat home. Do you—” Alarmed yips interrupted him. “Woah, okay, okay. Don’t worry, we will.” 

“What’s he saying?” Robin knelt beside Chopper. Two arms sprouted from the ground to give both Law and Onigiri soothing pets. 

Chopper sighed. “It sounds like they met on the street. Onigiri said Hat was his home.”

Law’s chest squeezed, tight enough to hurt. 

“He said Hat’s lost. I think Onigiri was just following him. And he wants to go where Hat goes.”

This dog. Law had done nothing to warrant that kind of loyalty and love. He leaned into Onigiri, resting his head against the soft fur of a companion he would never deserve. Onigiri burrowed into his side.

“Of course he does,” said Robin. “They’re family. They’re like their own crew.”

“Yeah.” Chopper drooped. He peeked behind Robin to where the rest of the Straw Hats were gathered. “Luffy really wanted Torao to meet them though.”

“I know.” Robin’s extra arm teased its way up Law’s back, scratching his ears. 

“We’ll still find him though, right?” There was anxiety in Chopper’s voice. 

“We won’t stop looking until we do.” But Robin’s voice held a flicker of doubt.

Law skipped the daily update call between Nami and his crew, already aware they hadn’t found anything. Hopefully he’d see them again soon, without all the worry and stress. Instead he stuck by Luffy as the Sunny circled the waters to head off any persistent marines. They would sail to the island tomorrow morning. 

Luffy was trapped in a sullen haze. After dinner, he sat on Sunny’s head, staring out to sea in silence and ignoring his somber crew hovering behind him. Law lay on deck right beneath him, Onigiri still sticking to him like a barnacle. Zoro sat close by, a silent, comforting presence. 

It was infuriating having to watch this play out. All because Law made a stupid mistake. This was the result, the burden inflicted on both his crew and Luffy’s. Bitterness broiled within him. He wanted to tear his fur off and rip this body to pieces. He wanted to be himself again so fucking bad. He wanted tomorrow to come because he couldn’t stand watching this. 

They went to bed late. He lay in the bunk between Luffy’s legs, watching Onigiri’s body beside him rise and fall with the gentle calm of sleep. 

“I wanna punch something,” Luffy whispered in the darkness. Law raised his head. Luffy was staring at the ceiling, wide awake. For once, he didn’t reach for Law. “It’s not fair. I just want to find whoever it is and punch them.” 

Law detached from Onigiri and crept up his body, settling right over the X on Luffy’s chest. He understood all too well. Most of these past few months had been him actively stopping himself from scratching walls. 

One of Luffy’s hands rested on his back. His fingers caught on Law’s fur. An involuntary shiver went up Law’s spine. The fingers paused, then lightly carded through. “They miss you a lot, right?” Luffy’s touch ended at his neck and withdrew. A small tuft of white fur sat in his palm. It caught on a soft breeze and drifted slowly in the air. They both watched as it rose and sashayed before beginning a swaying descent, disappearing beyond the dark edge of the bunk. “I’ll miss you,” Luffy said. He sounded young all of a sudden. Too young. He wrapped an arm around Law and bodily flopped them both on their sides. Despite the continued heat, he held Law tightly, murmuring into his fur. “You can’t get lost again, ‘kay?” There was a catch in his voice. 

In the dead of night, all was quiet except the creaks of Sunny’s frame and the puffs of Luffy’s breath in his ears. Law nuzzled against him, smelling his ocean ozone, tasting sea salt, and imagining what it would feel like to be human again.

I won’t, he promised. I’ll be home soon.

—

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Hat so excited,” Usopp remarked as they pulled into the docks of the backwater island on a clear, sunny afternoon. They were already earning unimpressed glares from the townsfolk. It was practically nostalgic. “We’re definitely in the right place.”

Law’s tiny frame was actually quivering from the pent-up urgency. They needed to reach the devil fruit user right now before something mysteriously went wrong. He should be embarrassed by the obvious reaction but he also couldn’t give a flying fuck anymore. 

“Remember, if the family sucks, we’ll just steal them,” Franky told Chopper, who was giving Onigiri yet another hug goodbye. “I mean, what would they do about it? Raise our bounties?”

“We’ll just cut them up,” Zoro reassured. 

“He’s a little girl’s dog, mosshead! Is that who you’re beating up now?”

“Ugh.” Nami crossed her arms, ignoring the duel behind her. “I’m charging them for emotional damage and a finder’s fee.”

Luffy was quiet, none of the typical energy that came with a new destination. He surveyed the island, expression unreadable. Law butted his head against his legs, encouraging him to move. Was he going to be forced to herd everyone off the ship? Of course the Straw Hats were moving at a snail’s pace when he wanted otherwise. 

“Don’t forget your basics, Hat!” Zoro called as Usopp and Luffy walked down the gangplank, Law at their heels. “Every day!” 

“Oh my god, Zoro, he’s not going to keep training.” Onigiri raced past Nami as she yelled, paws hitting land only to zoom around in circles, brimming with excessive energy. 

“Why not? Tell his owners to get him a knife!” 

“I’m not telling them that!” 

“Usopp, give Hat your—”

“Usopp’s not giving him the knife, Zoro!” Nami had been the one to confiscate it this morning, somehow managing to charge Usopp for the trouble. Law couldn’t even imagine the sort of debt she’d put on him once she figured out the truth. 

“Bye Onigiri! Bye Hat!” Chopper stood on the railing, waving both arms. “Don’t get lost again!” 

Robin leaned beside him. “Next time you may be gobbled up by a fearsome beast looking for its next meal!” 

Chopper gasped. “Eek, Robin, don’t say that. I mean it, you two! Stay together! With your family!” 

If there was more said, Law didn’t hear it, already leading the charge through town even though he didn’t know where to go. The townsfolk were staring, curious but ultimately unfriendly. The Thousand Sunny was anchored blatantly in their only dock. The Straw Hats weren’t half-heartedly hiding their identity this time.  

Nami took the lead and they headed out of the town center. The buildings abruptly dropped off. They followed a windy dirt road that took them through a thicket of green trees. Past them lay the murky water of the swamp that took up a good portion of the inner island. The humidity weighed them down, making the trek feel like wading through molasses. This would’ve been a difficult journey on his own, Law reflected. They passed houses scattered along the road and amongst the trees until Nami stopped before a crooked signpost with overgrown moss and a family name written in red paint. 

“This is it,” she announced. She stared past the sign to the ramshackle house sat directly on the swamp’s edge.

“No one’s gonna eat us, right?” asked Usopp nervously. “This feels like a place where a nice family of cannibals live. I think I’m coming down with the Avoid Creepy Island Full of—”

“Too late,” Nami interrupted. A pause. Then, sweetly, “Gentlemen first.”

No one moved. Onigiri sat at Luffy’s ankles, panting heavily. The moment stretched. This was ridiculous. Law went first. If he was eaten by a swamp monster, the Straw Hats only had themselves to blame. 

He announced his presence with a, “Woooof!” and pawed at the front door.

“Shhhh!” Usopp whisper-shouted behind him. “Oh my god, this was all a ploy. The demon dog is signaling the cannibals. I don’t taste good at all!”

“He’s home, Usopp,” said Nami, not sounding particularly brave. “Of course he’s loud.”

Law scratched again. There was a rustle of movement behind the door. 

“Aruaruaruff!” yelled Onigiri behind him, sounding annoyed. 

“Shhhhh!” squawked Usopp, but it was too late. The door abruptly swung open. For a brief second, Law caught sight of the devil fruit user, staring out at her unexpected guests. She gasped and slammed the door back shut. 

“Um,” said Usopp. Law glanced back. He and Nami had scooted down the road and were clutching each other, looking slightly sheepish. Onigiri was trapped between them, wriggling furiously. Nami detached herself and let him down. He scurried past Luffy, standing blank-faced, and up to Law, energy still at full-blast. 

“We’re here from the Missing Dog poster!” called Nami. She put a hand against Luffy’s back and marched them both forward.

The door cracked open. The devil fruit user peeked through, staring at Luffy. “Y-you’re…”

“Ha, ha, ha, yes, you are indeed laying eyes on the Brave Warrior of the Sea, Captain Usopp, who includes in his crew the great Pirate King, Monkey D. Luffy, and you are—”

“Oh.” Her gaze fell to Law, ignoring Usopp. “You… you brought the dog back. My dog, I mean.” 

“Yeah.” Luffy’s voice was cold, the accusation biting. “He was lost and I found him.” 

“It wasn’t my fault!” the girl protested, opening the door all the way. Then seemed to remember it was at least half her fault. The other half was Law’s for being enough of an idiot to get himself into this mess and losing to a devil fruit user who probably only recently stopped counting half-birthdays. “I… I didn’t mean to,” she corrected reluctantly. “It was a mistake.” She leaned down, perhaps intending to pet him or pick him up but in the blink of an eye, Law was cradled in familiar rubbery arms. Luffy was glaring with intense dislike. 

“Well, we found him.” Nami had forgotten any fear in favor of a saccharine smile. “I think it’s time to discuss compensation?” 

“Nami, you can’t con a kid,” Usopp whispered through the side of his mouth, cautiously edging closer, not yet thoroughly convinced. 

The girl stared at them. She seemed to be weighing whether she was supposed to be afraid or not. “Dad!” she shrieked suddenly. “Dad, the Pirate King is here!” 

“Ehhh?” someone yelled in response. 

“We gotta pay him for the dog!” 

They stared at each other as the sound of some intense grumbling made its way from behind the house. A man appeared, halting at the sight of his visitors. His face slackened. He squinted hard.

“Humph,” he concluded. “Don’t shout, Maribelle. Invite our guests in.”

Maribelle made a face. “Please come in,” she said, equally dutiful and resentful. 

One by one, they trundled inside. The house was filled with knick-knacks and fishing paraphernalia but the whole interior was homey and comfortable. A massive trout hung at the entrance. Usopp scooted past it, swearing under his breath its eyes were following him. 

“Tea?” The man gestured towards a couch. “I’m Everett, Maribelle’s father. Thanks for returning…” he glanced at Law, then down at Onigiri, sniffing a bucket of bait, “…our dogs?” He gave Maribelle a side-eye.

“It was just one!” she protested. “I swear!” 

“We found them together.” Nami sat down. Screeee went the couch springs. “They shouldn’t be separated.”

Usopp was having an eyeball duel with a fish hung up in the living room. 

“Right.” Everett eyed Law. “Tea.” He left the room. 

Luffy sat down as well, eliciting another wail from the couch. His face was a thundercloud. Law could feel the tension in his arms. 

Maribelle perched on an armchair across from them. “Are you really the Pirate King?” she asked.

“Yes.” Luffy’s voice was dark. 

“Oh.” She crossed her arms to shield herself, bravado slipping. “T-thanks for bringing my dog back. I really didn’t mean to lose him.” She met Law’s gaze ruefully, apology obvious.

“Woof,” said Law, feeling magnanimous now that the end was in sight. He’d done worse things as a child, anyway. Inflicting a fur problem on an enemy would probably have been the least of his adolescent crimes. Best to not mention what was done as an adult. 

Luffy’s grip tightened like he thought Law might try and jump out of his lap. “You have to take care of him.” His voice tore through the room, a regal decree. “You can’t let him leave again and then just wait for him to come back. He might not…” Luffy faltered. 

“I won’t!” she promised. She looked close to saying something else but was too leery of actually confronting the obviously very displeased Pirate King. An uncomfortable silence formed. Usopp shifted, accompanied by another squeeeak! A kettle whistled loudly in the other room. 

Everett finally returned, breaking the tension as he poured a round of tea. “Bellie here’s a bit of a troublemaker. Known all ‘round the island, getting into mischief and making it other people’s problem.” He raised an eyebrow at his daughter, who frowned and looked away. Everett distributed the cups then sat down on the armchair, pulling her into a hug. She struggled valiantly but unsuccessfully. “‘Spite the headaches, she usually does the right thing in the end. Might take her a minute.”

Maribelle turned red. “Shut up, Dad! You’re so embarrassing!” 

Luffy’s voice cut in. “You have to keep Onigiri. They’re friends.”

Everett took in Onigiri now half-sitting in Luffy’s lap so he could pant in Law’s ears. “‘Course. We’ll take good care.” 

“Okay.” Luffy didn’t move to release Law. He ran his fingers through his fur, tracing the well-worn familiar path over his spots. 

“Luffy, maybe you should let her have her dog,” Usopp whispered. 

“Take your time saying goodbye,” Everett said. “Critters have a way of getting you attached real quick. Belle can wait for her reunion.”

Nami leaned forward, eyes gleaming. “So, our finder’s fee is—”

“It’s fine,” said Luffy. “We’re not charging them.”

“Luffy—” Nami started but cut herself off with a sigh. “Oh alright. This one’s on the house. Next dog we’re returning is double the usual rate.”

“So zero,” Maribelle muttered.

Nami arched an eyebrow. “Cute. Alright Onigiri, be good now. Yes, you little cutie! I’m gonna miss you so much!” She reached over to gush her goodbyes. She was straight-faced now but this morning she’d been teary. Usopp gave Onigiri a very serious lecture, from one Brave Warrior of the Sea to another. 

Luffy stood up, coach groaning in protest. Law memorized how he felt, how terribly warm he was, with hands strong and steady around Law’s body, protective and gentle all at once. He squeezed Law once more and then lifted him so they were face to face. “I’m glad you’re home now, Hat. We’re still friends though, ‘kay? No matter where we go. Just don’t get lost again.”

“Aruff,” said Law, which wasn’t goodbye at all. I won’t and I’ll find you and Everything’s going to be okay.

Luffy set him down before Law could do anything else. It was an underwhelming conclusion, a flurry of thank yous and goodbyes as the Straw Hats exited through the front door. Right at the threshold, Luffy paused and looked back, intense, unreadable brown eyes fixed to Law. Then the door swung shut and they were gone. 

“Righty-o,” said Everett, into the sudden vacuum of emptiness that always existed whenever Luffy left. “Now, we’ll let them get down the way so there’s no interruptions. Just gonna assume you won’t go attacking the hand that’s feedin’ you, yeah?”

“Woof,” said Law emphatically. 

Everett stroked his beard. “Alright Bellie, give it a few then go on ahead.”

It was without any fanfare that Maribelle walked up to him, placed her hand on his back, and the world turned upside down. 

—

Everett gave him tea. It was very good tea, a sweet, iced blend, possibly black. Law held the cup with dexterous, bendable fingers, and drank liquid without having to use his tongue, enormously grateful for the little things in life. 

Onigiri sat on the couch sniffing him. After nosing up and down, he looked amazed and started wagging his tail uncontrollably so Law gave him pets, sending his whole body quivering in excitement. When Law took another sip, the cycle began again. 

“Sorry,” said Maribelle. “It really was a mistake.”

“It’s okay.” The last painful aftershocks of the transformation were nearly gone. 

“You’re not gonna like… kill me or something, are you? You’re a pirate, right? I told Dad you were and he said maybe some pirates deserve being animals forever but we couldn’t be sure you did so it was best to turn you back. He has a shotgun though, just in case.”

Law glanced at Everett, busy sipping tea. There was no shotgun in sight. He smiled pleasantly at Law. 

“I’m not going to kill you.” Law, now reevaluating the man, searched around for shotgun hiding places. “Though you probably should’ve left me. Most pirates wouldn’t be forgiving.”

Maribelle shrugged. “You were helping the dog. I realized that after.”

“Yeah. I realized the same.” Law gave Onigiri some ear scritches. He wriggled his little round body, astonished but thrilled. “Is Onigiri from this island?”

“I dunno.” Maribelle kicked her feet as she talked. “Never seen him before. I heard him barking and went to see what it was about and, y’know…”

Onigiri climbed onto Law’s lap, giving his fingers eager licks. Law set his cup down and ran his free hand over him thoughtfully. Did you get lost too? Is that why you were alone, stuck in a back alley, not sure if anyone would help? 

“Belle took a bit of time to confess but we got the missing poster up as soon as possible.” Everett gave his daughter a hair ruffle. “Didn’t know how much luck we’d have. There are gators ‘round these parts!” 

Law stared, dead-eyed. A consideration that had not crossed his mind. Perhaps, in the end, he should be grateful for his stint with the marine rookies. 

“Some pirates stopped by the island looking kinda worried so I told Dad.” Maribelle grumpily ran her fingers through her hair. “Then the marine ship that patrols here helped distribute them. Couple of ‘em saw the poster last month and felt guilty about stealing my dog.” 

“We knew you at least made it off the island alive,” Everett added. 

Maribelle straightened proudly. “I made sure to look real cute and cry real nice when I was talking to them and it made them feel worse.”

Thank god Nami already left. They’d probably get along extraordinarily well. “Guess they left out I was stolen by the Pirate King.”

Everett chuckled. “Yeah, they didn’t mention that tidbit. Worked out though. And dontcha worry, she had her penance.”

“He made me go fishing,” said Maribelle, disgusted. “More than once! I had to wake up before the sun!”

“You’ll love it one day, Bellie.”

Maribelle seemed dubious.

“Well, thanks.” Law stood up, catching Onigiri as he almost face planted off the couch in his hurry to follow. “It was… an experience. But I’m considered missing and possibly dead so—”

“Wait!” Maribelle shot up. “Last thing!” She darted out of sight.

Law stood awkwardly in the middle of the room as Everett finished his tea. He felt near fully recovered but was clearly not or he would have sensed her right away. But he did just before Maribelle reentered. The familiar presence was as much a return to normalcy as his body was.

“I think your sword’s mad.” Maribelle tottered under Kikoku’s height. “I kept it nice and safe though! And promised I’d get you back! Guess it believed me ‘cause it seemed to hate me a little less. Only a little though.”

“She’s not always reasonable when it comes to what she cares about.” Law carefully took Kikoku into his free hand. Onigiri squirmed in his other, trying to sniff her. 

Whispers rushed through him. Kikoku was indeed pissed. Far angrier at him than she’d ever been. He could tell she’d been fiercely sulking these past few months. “Sorry,” he told her. “Won’t happen again.” For the love of all that was holy and unholy let it never happen again. 

“You talk to your sword?” asked Maribelle. “Does she talk back? I want a sword I can talk to!”

Everett sighed tiredly. “When you’re older. And I stop getting visits from the townsfolk needing their regular bodies back just ‘cause you got caught doing something you shouldn’t.”

Maribelle scowled. 

“Your daughter could be even more of a troublemaker when she’s older,” Law warned Everett. He could sense the potential she held. 

“Keeping a close eye on her already.” Everett tugged her into his side. “She’s on track to take over this island.”

“I’m gonna amass a dog army one day,” Maribelle declared. “Just wait and see. I’ll become the Pirate Queen once everyone who makes me mad is a dog!” 

Everett raised his hand in farewell. “Glad you weren’t a goner! Sorry for the trouble.”

“Right,” said Law. “Good luck.”

He reached the front door, paused to stare down at his tattooed fingers as they curled around the handle, then pulled it open all on his own.

—

The sun was just beginning to set, bright fiery colors bleeding into the sky. It was muggy still, but a cool breeze whispered against his bare skin, promising an evening chill. For a moment he simply stood there and breathed, feeling utterly human. 

Onigiri began squirming. Law raised him so their faces were level. “Didn’t you hear there are alligators? Are you trying to get eaten?” He earned an enthused kiss to the cheek. A smile tugged at him. He adjusted Kikoku so he could flex his other wrist, feeling the buzz of his devil fruit. Definitely weakened, but it wouldn’t take long to train it up again. He warped to the outskirts of town and set Onigiri down. 

Sunny was still docked, he confirmed after stretching his Observation Haki out, but wouldn’t be for long. The Pirate King never stayed for long. 

A surge of anxiety swept through him. It was all well and good to hear Luffy’s words when there was nothing to do about it but now… now Law had to face him. Law didn’t know what to say, hadn’t come up with anything in all this time. Moreover, what would Luffy say, unpredictable as he was? Worst case scenarios galloped through Law’s mind at the speed of light. He’d always excelled at those. 

A small weight pressed against his leg. Onigiri panted supportively up at him. 

Law sighed. “Yeah. I guess I am being dumb.”

He chose to walk through the town rather than teleport, trying to come up with something to say and ignoring the stone of trepidation sat low in his gut. A man nearly ran into him with his cart and spat a curse at him. Onigiri growled, poised protectively at Law’s ankles. He passed by the café, spotting the owner inside, before pausing at the entrance to the alley where this had all began what felt like a lifetime ago. Onigiri barked at it, not pleased with being here. 

“I know,” said Law. “C’mon, let’s…” 

His voice died, eyes widening. 

The familiar twang of rubber snapped back into place. 

Everything faded, the chatter of the townsfolk, the activity on the streets, the wind in the air and the sounds of the sea, everything gone, leaving just the two of them standing across the way. Their eyes met. Law was frozen, heart in his throat, indescribably terrified of what was going to happen next. 

“Torao,” Luffy said. It was quietly surprised, like an unexpected run-in with an old friend. “I felt you but…” He stopped, not finishing his sentence.

Law clenched his hand tight enough Kikoku dug into his palm. “Hi, Luffy-ya.”

Silence in return. Law’s heart was beating so loud it must surely be impossible for Luffy to not hear. This was a mistake, he thought, and he should have taken his chance to run aw—

Luffy’s face screwed up. “Torao, it is you.” His voice started wobbling. “Torao! TORAO!” and in the blink of an eye he’d crossed the space between them and drawn Law into a crushing hug. 

Relief crashed through Law like a tsunami, sweeping up every single worry and doubt until they were smashed to smithereens. He sunk into Luffy’s arms, immediately overwhelmed. 

“It’s really you,” Luffy bawled. “Law, it’s—”

“Yeah,” said Law, dazed by Luffy’s presence, by the force holding him. “It’s me.” He couldn’t even move his arms to return the embrace, was stuck pressed into Luffy’s chest with Kikoku digging into them both but he couldn’t care less. His eyes slid shut, just able to twist the fingers of his free hand into Luffy’s coat. 

“It’s really you,” Luffy blubbered into his neck. “I thought—really you…” his words turned unintelligible, arms tighter still. 

“Sorry,” said Law again. His voice hitched. “I’m here.”

Luffy drew back. Tears and snot ran down his face. “Torao. Law, I—”

Law didn’t wait. He slipped a hand into Luffy’s messy hair, curled the other around his neck, and pulled him down. The moment their lips met, Luffy surged into him, arms slithering around Law’s back to squeeze him against his chest. Electricity coursed through Law, nerves alight where their bodies met. It was everything he could ever ask for, everything he’d ever dreamed of. Luffy’s lips moved against his, chased every movement he made, firm hands sliding across his body like a searing brand. Law felt light, able to float away in the breeze but tethered by the strong arms around him, the hot breath against his skin, the coil of easy power vibrating beneath his fingers. 

“You still love me,” said Luffy when they pulled back for air.

Law tightened his grip on tangled hair roughly. “That’s what you have to say?” 

Luffy’s peels of laughter were bright and clear and rang across the waters. “Sorry, Torao. I love you. I love you, I love you.” He pressed his chapped lips into Law again, once, twice, thrice, peppering them across Law’s cheek. 

“Why’re you so fucking tall?” Law asked between each breath he could get. “This is ridiculous.” 

“I like it,” Luffy declared. He raised one hand over his head and measured it against Law with a delighted expression.

“Y—mmh, you did it on purpose, right?”

Luffy’s lips trailed down to his neck where he buried his face, clutching Law so tightly his lungs protested. “I’ve been looking for you. I’ve been chasing you all over the world.” His voice cracked. 

There was a sting in Law’s eyes he chose to ignore. He rested his cheek against Luffy’s hair, breathed in his scent, muted now without canine senses but achingly familiar. “I’m here.”

“I was worried I’d lost it, that I was too late, then you were gone and I didn’t—”

“You didn’t—I…” Law shook his head, remembering all too well the ice-cold reality check that slid through his veins the last time he uttered these words near half a decade ago. “I love you too, you idiot. It’s impossible not to. And you better be serious because—”

“You love me!” Luffy crowed, drawing back with a stupidly proud expression. “Good, ‘cause I love you too! I love you, Torao!” He flung his head back to shout it, up to the birds flying overhead, to the clouds, to the heavens, to anything and everything he could reach. Then Luffy looked down at the ground. “Torao. Why do you have Onigiri?”

“Don’t fucking ask that right now,” said Law. “You have no idea.”

Luffy smiled with the force of the sun. And Law, long ensnared by this infuriating, impossible man, did the only thing he could, the one thing he’d wanted for so long that now lay eager and inviting, right in his hands: he reached out and captured Luffy in another kiss.

—

“So do you wanna learn?”

Law took a swig of beer. “As delightful and unique as the experience was, I’ll pass. Kikoku gets jealous, anyway.”

Zoro grunted, looking a little disappointed. “You think Onigiri will learn?”

“You’re not teaching my dog how to sword fight, Zoro-ya.”

Onigiri perked up at the sound of his name. He panted excitedly in Law’s direction but didn’t move from one of his new favorite spots in the world: Bepo’s lap. A moment later, his attention was caught again by Ikkaku, trying her best to teach him tricks. 

Since he was being thoroughly ignored in favor of a dog, Sanji managed to pull himself away from the ladies long enough to drop off a plate of snacks. “You owe me a new suit, shitty mutt.”

“I don’t owe you shit,” said Law, even though he really owed the Straw Hats quite a bit—especially Sanji, who fed him the entire time. But he was holding onto his grudge over the walk in the market and everything else that fed their ongoing war. 

“That was one of my best suits, asshole!” 

“You were basically beating Cook already though,” Zoro pressed. “I bet if—”

“What the fuck did you just say, marimo? I was not being beaten by a dog!” A leg swung past Law’s temple, clashing with a sword hilt. “You think I was going full-out? He was a fucking marshmallow!” 

“Sounds like an excuse to me,” said Zoro. 

Robin delicately sidestepped the ensuing brawl, giving Law a little scratch behind the ear as she took Zoro’s newly unoccupied seat. He glowered at her. “I’m glad things have worked out so well in the end,” she said cheerfully. “Though I must admit, I already quite miss Hat.” She poked his hat. “It was hard to see him off and now he’s gone forever.”

“It was a nightmare,” Law snapped, leaning away and not admitting he would have a whole slew of complicated emotions if Onigiri suddenly showed up as a whole entire human one day. 

“I imagine it was quite difficult. Looking back, the connection is obvious. What an interesting devil fruit!” She smiled, watching Ikkaku fail to teach shake. Shachi, Penguin, and Usopp were drunkenly shouting out pointers and pissing her off. “It really is good to see you again, Torao. It’s been a long time.” 

“I’ve seen quite enough of your crew these past few weeks,” grumbled Law. He caught Bepo turning to look at him, making sure he was still there. “…thank you, though. For helping my crew. For searching and…” He couldn’t quite get looking out for me out.

But Robin seemed to understand. “Of course. You’re our friend.” Her eyes glinted in the bonfire’s light. “I imagine we’ll be seeing each other quite often from now on.”

Law took another gulp of beer to hide his reddening cheeks. 

“He missed you dearly, even before he found the right words for it.” Robin propped her chin on her hand. “We hoped to run into you over the years. But, as it turns out, you’re a difficult man to find.” She raised an eyebrow. 

It reminded Law that Robin was told all about his failed confession. He groped around for something to say that wasn’t completely self-exposing but thankfully an excuse to not respond arrived via a heavy weight draping over his back. 

“Hiya, Torao,” Luffy said, slightly muffled by Law’s hat. 

“Luffy-ya,” replied Law steadily, warmth coursing through him. He valiantly ignored Robin’s smug expression. “That was quick.”

“Your crew is so cool. Mask guy dove all the way down to the bottom of the lake and caught a giant fish by himself! Franky was cooler though. He has this giant fish rod installed in—”

Luffy chattered away, gushing about his crew and going off about who knows what. Law sank back, letting the sound of his voice wash over him as he observed the ongoing party. Franky and Hakugan were showing off their catches to Clione. Ikkaku had plucked Onigiri off Bepo’s lap and pointed him towards Shachi, coaching him how to attack. Per Uni’s request, Brook started up a merry song. Splayed on top of his head as he was, Law could feel Luffy’s attention caught as some of their crewmates started dancing. His tactile nature was at full force ever since Law had returned hale, whole, and human. 

If he was lying to himself, Law would say he allowed the public affection because he’d grown forcibly accustomed to it during his time as Hat, the intrepid Straw Hat mutt. But he was greedy for every single one of Luffy’s touches, warm and grounding and everything he’d wanted for so long. 

A finger traced over the spots in his hat, before Luffy pulled it off and buried his nose in Law’s hair. “You smell good.”

“I smell like Shachi’s drink,” said Law wryly. 

“It’s an excellent brand,” Robin chimed in. “Another round is awfully tempting.” She got up, winked at Law, and went over to where Jean Bart and Jinbei were chatting over the good stuff.

Then it was just them, alone amidst the lively crowd of celebrating, jubilant friends. Luffy’s arms tightened around Law’s neck. “You’re not having any fun.”

“This is how I have fun at parties.”

“Shishishi, you’re so lame.” Luffy slid into Robin’s vacated seat, one arm still draped around Law’s shoulders as he leaned against him. “Wanna dance?”

“I’m not dancing.”

“You hate dancing,” said Luffy solemnly. “You hate a lot of things.”

Law drained the rest of his beer. “Not everything.” Luffy didn’t reply. Law glanced over and caught his dopy smile. He flushed. “What?” 

“I missed you. Who hates dancing?” 

“Lots of people!” 

Luffy pursed his lips, disbelieving. “You should dance with me. You owe me.”

“For what?”

“You stole my dog.”

“Onigiri’s my dog,” Law snapped. 

“I meant Hat.”

“Wha—I was Hat. How did I steal him away?”

“I miss him,” Luffy mumbled into his neck. 

“Tch!” Law tried to pull away but Luffy didn’t let him. “Let go of me! I’m not gonna let you sit here and mourn that… that…” Law searched for the right word. 

“He was so cute. Guess ‘cause you’re always cute. You’d be a cute beetle too.”

“If I was a beetle, I would’ve been stepped on or eaten my first day.” 

“Some beetles fart evil gas if something tries to eat them,” offered Luffy. 

Law closed his eyes, well-aware his time as a sentient cotton ball could have actually been much worse. 

A ripple of laughter raced through the crews as Shachi yelped, Onigiri having been successfully convinced to bite his ankle. Ikkaku and Nami high-fived while Zoro leaned in, ignoring Law’s refusal of mentorship to show Onigiri the tendon he and Law had practiced over and over again, perfectly at tiny dog height. The crews had fallen right back into step with each other following their reunion. The amount of relief Law had felt when Bepo barreled into him, wrapping him in the ultimate bear hug, was nearly unparalleled. He’d hugged back just as tight, burrowing his face into his fur and pretending for Bepo’s sake to not feel how much he trembled.

There were too many tears and hugs for the bafflement at the true culprit of Law’s disappearance to sink in. The teasing would come later, Law knew. Instead, they’d sailed back around to the smallest island of the archipelago, a tiny, uninhabited wilderness with a forest and a beach and no alligators whatsoever. The weather was near-perfect, just how Law liked it, balmy with a hint of chill, only the last lingering hints of humidity. He tilted his head back against Luffy’s arm so he could look up. The moon was a bright crescent and even with the dancing warmth of firelight, Law could see how the stars glittered like diamonds in the cool blanket of night. 

“You know you have to marry me.”

Law didn’t pull his gaze away from the sky. His lips quirked. “That’s your segue, Straw Hat-ya? It’s a frankly awful one.”

“I dunno know what a sexway is but you gotta!”

“Do I? Is this a proposal or a demand?”

“A demand.” Luffy pressed close enough his warm breath breezed over Law’s skin. “You ran away last time and you never came back. If you marry me, then even when we’re on opposite sides of the seas, we’re each others. So we have to, since you’re not crew.”

Law rolled his head on Luffy’s arm to face him. “You don’t have to marry me for that. I’m not going anywhere. I’ve…” He laughed helplessly. “I’m here. Trust me, you have me forever.”

“Well, I want to,” said Luffy stubbornly. He pressed his forehead against Law’s. “And you’re not allowed to get lost again. You promised you wouldn’t.”

A wolf whistle rang out. Law ignored the peanut gallery. “I was a dog. I didn’t promise anything.”

“Yes you did! Anyway, if we’re married, you always have to come back. It’s uh, uh,” he flapped a hand. 

“Inescapable,” Law said. 

Luffy smiled. “Yeah, that.”

“You’re a bastard, you know that?” Law shook his head. Marriage, honestly. Like he hadn’t been unable to escape this idiot in the first place even when he’d sailed across the world to get away. 

“Marry me,” said Luffy. 

A little furry body began trying to climb Law’s legs. Law drew away and reached down to grab Onigiri. “What do you think?” he asked him. 

Onigiri wagged his entire butt, straining to give Law kisses. Law raised him higher to allow some on his cheek (not the mouth, he’d already had to lecture Shachi and Uni, who should really know better).

“Hey,” Luffy complained. “Stop kissing Torao. He’s mine.”

Law flipped Luffy off. “Show him some respect.”

Luffy pouted. Then bowed seriously. “Sorry, Onigiri. Can I marry Torao?”

“Oi, what are we, chopped liver?” yelled Penguin. “You should be asking us that!”

Law flipped him off too.

Onigiri stretched his short neck out and gave Luffy an enthusiastic lick to the cheek. 

Luffy’s grin was enormous. “That’s a yes!” he crowed. “Everyone, Torao and I are getting married!” 

A raucous cheer broke out. Another round of drinks started up as Brook began playing a lively jig. 

“Let’s do it now!” Luffy demanded. 

“I’m not getting married on these godforsaken islands. Find a better location and we’ll do it then.”

“Deal.” Luffy looked gleeful. “I’ll find the best place ever. You can’t back out!”

Shachi waved at them. “Can we use this picture for the wedding announcement?”

Law squinted. He was holding his Missing Dog poster.

“You are soooo cute, Captain,” squealed Ikkaku. Jean Bart leaned over her, humming in agreement.

“He was smaller than Onigiri, too,” Nami informed everyone. “I’ve got pictures!” 

Bepo looked overwhelmed. “You were that tiny? Sorry…”

Usopp mock-whispered, “Including some of that time Sanji dressed them up!” 

There was a burst of uproarious laughter.

Law plopped Onigiri in Luffy’s lap, reached for Kikoku, and stood up. “You know,” he drawled, “people really say the most interesting things around animals.” 

Usopp immediately ducked behind Franky. “Luffy! Your scary fiancé is going to kill me!”

“Wait, it’s not my fault. Brook was the one distributing posters!” Shachi shoved the poster back at Brook who handed it over to Uni who passed it onto Chopper who looked down, horrified, and hid it behind his back. 

Luffy cracked up. Even though he was laughing hard, he looked at Law with the stupidest expression on his face. Besotted, one could call it. Law definitely did not preen and after opening a Room, only showed off a little. 

While both crews partook in a morbid jigsaw puzzle utilizing the limbs of their more unfortunate members (Robin kept sprouting extra limbs to confuse people while Hakugan purposefully stuck incorrect body parts together), Luffy followed Law away from the merriment. Onigiri trotted after them, eagerly sniffing out all the interesting smells this small island had to offer. They ended up on the opposite end at a secluded section of the beach. 

Law stretched out on the sand, watching as Onigiri got into an argument with the ocean, barking at each wave that rolled in. Luffy thought that was hysterical and joined him before the ocean had enough and a particularly strong wave knocked Luffy off his feet. Law was forced to carefully grab him. Onigiri latched onto Luffy’s shirt to help drag him out. 

He dropped Luffy to the ground. “What is wrong with you?”

“Stupid ocean,” Luffy wheezed. He raised his head to glare at the water. 

Law rolled his eyes. “Only you would be dumb enough to fight the whole entire sea.” When he lay back down, Onigiri scurried up, delivering some eager kisses to his accessible face. Law allowed a few and gave him some pets to distract from any more without hurting his feelings. He could feel eyes probing into the side of his face. “What?”

Rather than reply, Luffy leaned over him, balancing on an elbow while he planted an arm on the opposite side of Law’s head. “I really missed you.”

Law stared up at him. His face was shadowed, dark eyes huge and solemn. Luffy was silhouetted against the night sky, something out of a dream. To make sure this was real, and just because he could, Law curled a hand around his neck and tugged him down. Their lips brushed against each other, sharing a breath. 

“Sorry I didn’t get it,” Luffy murmured against his mouth. The air was heated between them, his hair soft beneath Law’s fingers. 

“You’re an idiot. I should’ve expected it.” 

Luffy pulled back. “You’re not mad at all?” 

Law huffed. “I was. But it felt pointless in the end.” Maybe being a dog gave him a different perspective. If Luffy had popped up after months of chasing him and feeding into his paranoia only to drop that sort of bomb out of nowhere, Law didn’t think he’d have received it that well. “At least you didn’t take ten or twenty years.” 

“You’d have waited?”

Luffy sounded surprised or maybe unsure, something in his voice Law couldn’t quite parse. Of course Luffy didn’t know. Law’s simple confession all those years before had been just that: straightforward and entirely missing the terrifying depths of what Law really felt. Law wasn’t sure he could ever say that he wasn’t waiting for Luffy. The truth was Luffy could have come for him in ten years or fifty, a hundred or another lifetime, or he could have never come at all, and Law would still feel the same. Infinitely more peeved at a belated realization, perhaps, but the outcome would be inevitable. 

“It was always you, Luffy,” Law said instead and reeled him in for a real kiss. Luffy met him halfway, his hand sliding on Law’s jaw to tilt his head back for a better angle. It was only them in the entire world, the entire universe, them and the ocean lapping at their feet. 

A gritty tongue licked across his cheek. Law paused, gripping the sides of Luffy’s head to stop him when he tried to chase his lips. Onigiri panted at him, confused but wanting to join Law in anything. Affection surged through him and he chuckled, falling back against the sand, reaching out to give Onigiri a firm head pat.

Luffy leaned against his chest, propping his chin on his hands. “You sound nice. Laugh again.”

Law stretched his arms behind his head, raising an eyebrow. “Make me.”

Luffy narrowed his eyes at the challenge. His head cocked, thinking hard. Onigiri wriggled between their bodies so he could sit on Law’s chest too. He looked up at Luffy and delivered a slurping kiss right to his lips. 

“Hey!” Luffy spluttered, rubbing his arm against his mouth. “Only Torao can do that!” 

Law laughed, full and drawn-out, as Onigiri took Luffy’s reaction as an invitation for a full-blown launch of kiss attacks. It was good to be himself again, he thought. Good to be human, to be able to talk, to reach out to those most important to him. Good to have his crew at his back and be side-by-side with Luffy once more. They would sail together and then separate and have adventures all their own and then get married in the craziest place Luffy could find. And no matter where they were, where Law went, Luffy would be waiting for him just as much as Law had always done the same, now confident they would always return to one another. 

A cool ocean breeze brushed against him, sweeping away the last remnants of the summer heat. 

Law smiled. It was good to be home.