Archive of Our Own

‘Sabaody Medical Discharge Form’

The paper seemed to mock him and his ever growing anger every time he had to fill in the same name, visit after visit.

Law took in a slow breath, eyes closing, and let it out. There wasn’t anything he could do right now. He was documenting everything and making copies, and he knew that Sabo was working to break down the power of those World Noble politicians alongside Koala and many other revolutionaries—as they called themselves. The only thing he could do for the kid was continue to document and make sure to be there for every visit.

Opening his eyes, he set down the form—deciding to fill in his part later—and headed for one of the patient rooms. Quietly opening the door, he saw that the little one was awake and staring blankly out the large windows, the view overlooking the bustling city of Sabaody.

At the sound of the door opening, the kid turned. Law smiled as his patient subtly lit up at the sight of him, the little one’s mouth twitching in a tiny smile.

“How are you feeling, Loki?” He signed. After the first few times the kid had been admitted at the hospital, Law had learned that the child was selectively mute. He had thought he was fully mute at first, until one day when Loki had very quietly asked for his name. The only other time he had heard the little one speak had been when asking Luffy for his name.

He supposed it made sense. He and Luffy were the adults he saw the most every time he was at the hospital. Law, as his doctor, and Luffy…well, the firefighter was always the one to find the kid when he’d run away from home after some ‘discipline’ and bring him to Law for treatment. He’d visit everyday till Loki was discharged from the hospital and then like clockwork would somehow find the child the next time it happened. Law had no idea how he always did it, but he was grateful nonetheless.

The man was actually the one to introduce Law to his brother Sabo after he’d nearly broken down in a defeated rage after Loki had been discharged and returned to his guardians once again. Being the ward of a World Noble politician didn’t exactly give them much wiggle room to try and rescue the poor kid.

“I’m fine.” Law grimaced. It was the same line every time Loki was set to be discharged. Trying for an encouraging smile, Law sat in the chair next to the bed and offered his hand. Loki immediately grabbed onto one of his fingers, and Law’s heart hurt at the slight wobble of the little one’s bottom lip.

“Be brave little one, we’re going to get you out of there.” He whispered, giving in and pulling Loki into a tight hug. He could feel the tiny hand gripping his coat tightly. He shouldn’t be promising anything, but he’d decided a long time ago that if the revolutionaries didn’t pull through quickly enough he was going to get Loki out of that horrible home even if he had to go on the run for kidnapping. If it could work for Cora-san then it could work for him—nevermind that he had been an undercover cop with connections to help.

He pulled back and smiled a bit at Loki’s now ruffled hair. Law carefully swiped the feathery bangs to the side before cupping Loki’s cheek and was rewarded with a miniscule smile. Loki looked as though he was going to try and sign something, but then he paused, hand hovering in the air as he stared at something outside the window.

Curious, Law turned and glanced outside. His eyes widened as dozens of fiery balls of light flew across the sky.

“Meteors?” He muttered under his breath. The two silently watched as the fire balls traveled across the sky. It wasn’t until they started getting lower that Law realized they weren’t going to burn out in the atmosphere. They were going to hit the ground.

He flinched as the distant impact of one of the meteors flashed on the horizon, briefly blinding him. They sat frozen for a moment, before the aftershock finally hit the hospital and the building shook slightly. Dozens of impacts followed, thankfully all of them far away, and Law jumped up.

He turned to Loki apologetically, and pulled him into another hug—though a more brief one than before.

“I’m sorry Loki, I’m going to be needed for the upcoming patients.” He gestured to the window where the meteors had landed. “I’ll be back to get you when you’re being released.” He promised.

Loki gave a weak smile with a nod and laid back down in his bed. Despite his reluctance, Law swiftly marched from the room and made his way down to the nurse’s station. There was a radio there where they could listen for paramedic announcements and chatter.

“Kaya-ya!” He called out as he spotted the nurse. “What’s the news coming through?”

She turned with a slightly strained smile, her long shift visibly tiring her. “Trafalgar-san, how’d you know there was some chatter to be heard? I’m not even sure what’s happening just yet myself.”

“I was just up in one of the patient rooms,” He ignored the sympathetic look she sent him; it wasn’t exactly a secret that he was close with their little repeat patient. “And I witnessed the meteor shower that just hit what might be downtown. We’re about to be very busy.”

Kaya and the other nurses monitoring the radios looked concerned, “A meteor shower? Oh dear. What a time for your team to be on vacation.”

He sighed, nodding in agreement. The other ‘Hearts’—as they liked to jokingly call themselves—had finally gotten the chance to take a few days off for a trip to the New World Fair that had arrived on Wano Island. Originally Law was set to go with them, but the day before they were to leave, Loki had been admitted to the hospital and there was no way Law was going to leave him for a vacation.

He stepped up to one of the radios and grabbed one of the headphones from their hook, Kaya grabbing her own pair. Slipping them over his ears, he could immediately hear a cacophony of voices as he switched through the channels. He paused to listen to a few seconds of each channel to get an idea of how many people would be heading their way. Reports of collapsed buildings, fires, crashes and the like filtered through and he noted down the need to pull the trauma kits before patients arrived.

As he was about to pull the headphones off, the panic started. He jerked as screams started to come through the radio, all the other nurses startling next to him. He listened as paramedics screamed about…a creature? Multiple creatures? Something attacking them. One by one the channels filled with static or just went dead until nothing from the immediate downtown area came through.

The other nurses stared, horrified at the abruptness of it all. Law immediately turned to Kaya, who was nervously switching through the channels, trying to find one that still worked in that area.

“Try to get in contact with one of our paramedics further from the downtown area! I’m going to try and call the hospital down there.” As soon as she nodded, he dropped his headphones and rushed to the welcome desk down the hall.

Snatching up the phone, he flipped through their contact book for the number to the downtown Grove Hospital. He tapped his foot impatiently as the line rang. He almost thought the call wouldn’t connect, but then a click went through the line and he could hear a shaky inhale on the other end.

“Hello? Is this Grove Hospital? This Dr. Trafalgar Law at the Sabaody—”

He was cut off as the person on the other end started speaking in a rushed and quiet voice.

“Doctor, you need to call the police! The military! Those meteors– they brought something with them! Demons. Monsters! Please, we need help!”

‘What the hell?’ He stared at the phone for a moment, baffled.

“Monsters? What on earth are you talking about? Are you–?” He was cut off once more by the hysterical voice.

“Please! You need to—!” The voice rose in volume and just as it did Law yanked the phone away from his ear as an inhuman shriek rang through the line. A scream and then silence. A moment later the line disconnected.

Law gripped the phone before slowly trying to call the hospital again. The call failed immediately and Law was surprised to see his hands shaking a little. He put the phone down and made his way back to the nurses station.

“Were you able to reach anyone?” He said, trying to maintain a calm tone. All the nurses at the station were frantically speaking into the radios, some of them switching lines every once in a while, rapidly jotting down notes. Some looked disbelieving and others just looked scared.

Kaya approached, an unsure look on her face. “Some of them…we keep losing contact with people the closer they are to the impact zone. And they’re all saying…” She hesitated.

“They keep talking about some sort of..creature that is attacking.”

Law chewed on his bottom lip for a moment. In normal circumstances it would seem ridiculous, but to have the nurses—professionals that he had worked with himself and weren’t rattled easily—in such a tizzy about this, and after that call…

“Trafalgar-san…” He glanced over at Kaya.

She looked nervous as she spoke, “Whatever’s happening…it’s getting closer to our hospital.” 

“What makes you say that?” He turned to face her fully.

She bit her lip, “All the calls that keep dropping? They’re coming from paramedics close to the area…and we haven’t had any drop from further away. It’s only those closest and spreading outwards from the epicenter…”

Law sucked in a breath, “Contact the authorities. If possible try and reach someone close to the incident as well and see what’s going on. I will do the same.”

She nodded determinedly. Law turned to make his way towards the upper floors, but paused. He turned back to her a bit hesitantly.

“Have you heard from any of the firefighters on scene?” Luffy didn’t work directly downtown, but his station was pretty close, down by the harbor, and he knew her fiance worked with them a lot. 

Kaya gave him a knowing look—which he resented, wasn’t it logical to contact all types of rescue teams?—but answered anyway. “We’ve not been in contact directly, but we heard many of the stations rushing to the fires.”

He pressed his tongue against the back of his teeth, but nodded to her in thanks and continued to the upper floors. He informed each nurse and doctor he came across to prepare trauma kits and for an influx of patients as he went. What else was he supposed to do? He wasn’t even sure if he believed these reports of ‘monsters’ and ‘demons’.

He paused as he nearly passed Loki’s room. Pursing his lips, he turned back and entered the room. He’d just step in and check on the little guy.

Entering the room he was mildly surprised to see that Loki had changed into the clothes Law had gotten him for when he was discharged. The little one wasn’t in bed, in fact he was pressed against the large window.

“Loki? What are you doing out of…” He trailed off as he glanced out the window.

Fire and chaos. He was shocked to see that the damage from the meteor shower had somehow spread much closer to the hospital. He could see fires spreading rapidly and jumped a bit as what looked like gas lines burst throughout the city. Some helicopters flew around in the distance.

He squinted as a shadow? Some sort of shape rushed up the side of one of the taller Mangrove Towers and then launched at the helicopter. They both gasped as the helicopter spun out of control and crashed in a blaze of fire in the street. He could now see people in the streets around the hospital, running from the fires.

He wasn’t quite sure what happened, but it was like a switch went off in his brain. This was real. This was happening. He could see the…creatures crawling and jumping over buildings. Their screeches distant, but now in audible range.

Without much more thought, Law rushed forward and pulled the little one into his arms. Loki squeaked a bit, but gripped tight as Law ran out of the room. He could hear the panic now as people tumbled into the hospital on the lower floors, nurses running around and patients peeking out of their rooms in confusion.

Law quickly made his way to his office and set Loki onto his office chair. He rushed around the room, throwing supplies into his duffle—the one that had been meant for his trip with the others. Trauma kits, snacks, some bottled drinks, his portable surgeon kit that Shachi had jokingly made for him. He paused as he opened one of his drawers and saw the little go-bag that he had made for Loki. He always had one ready, just in case he went through with his plan to just take the kid and run.

Snatching it up he made his way back to Loki, who watched him with nervous yet trusting eyes.

“Come on kiddo, lets get out of here.” Loki lifted his arms to be picked up and Law gladly scooped him up, grateful that the kid wasn’t arguing.

Law quickly navigated his way through the hospital and out the back. The sounds of shouting, panic and fire almost overwhelmed him when he stepped out, but he pushed through and ran for his car. Tossing the bags into the back, he swiftly buckled Loki in—briefly annoyed at the lack of car seat—and jumped into the driver’s seat.

With a last glance at the hospital, Law pulled out. He allowed himself to feel some regret that he was leaving people to fend for themselves, but he didn’t allow it to linger.

He sent out a prayer that Luffy and the others would be alright as he drove off.

— — — — — ｡ ₊°༺❤︎༻°₊ ｡ — — — — —

3 months.

It had been 3 months, nearly 4, since Law had taken Loki and fled from the hospital.

Law had driven them out into the forest where Cora-san had left him a cabin in his will. It was a cozy place, but Law had never been able to go after the man’s death, so it was a little run down.

It was located near a campground and wasn’t too far from the city itself, but just far enough to feel safe. As soon as they’d arrived, Law locked them in and turned on the tv for any news. The network had stayed on air just long enough for them to know what they were dealing with, before all channels shut down.

Aliens. Monsters. Demons. Whatever people were calling them, they were real and they were deadly. Attracted to the most miniscule noise and impossible to kill.

He’d debated joining up with the people grouping up in the campgrounds, but it only took witnessing the utter annihilation of said group to change his mind.

A wrapper. Someone had made the mistake of opening some sort of snack bar wrapper a little too loudly and that had been the end of it.

Thankfully, Law and Loki had already been leaving through the entrance of the camp—only there for an information exchange—when the attack occurred. They ran as quickly and quietly as they could as soon as the attack had started.

They’d only gone back once, afterwards. Law, too afraid to leave Loki on his own, reluctantly brought him along and they collected as much supplies from the destroyed camp as they could before retreating.

They survived. 

At night, when their cheap motion sensors—spread throughout the forest around the cabin—indicated no movement, Law would take Loki out to the patio and stargaze. The stars were much brighter without the light pollution blocking much of it out and Law always enjoyed watching Loki sign out half remembered stories of the constellations.

As horrible as this apocalypse was, Law was more than glad that he could now raise Loki as his own. It was a wish of his since probably the second time the little one had been admitted into his care.

(And if that wish had included having a certain fireman as part of the family…well it didn’t matter anymore. Not when Law had been sure the man wasn’t interested before this. And certainly not when he might not be alive any longer. His heart always squeezed painfully at the thought.)

They were currently in the basement of the cabin, blankets and bedding from the camp pressed to the walls, carpets and rugs strewn on the floor in an effort to dampen any noise within. Law slowly chopped some of the vegetables that they just harvested from their garden—Loki’s idea, turns out he loved gardening when he had the chance—and quietly slipped them into the boiling pot above the fire.

A simple vegetable soup, but it was one of the few things that they could make with minimal noise. With a bit of fish from their most recent catch, they had a somewhat decent meal.

He glanced up as Loki slowly switched channels on the old radio they had found in the cabin when they first arrived. Law was quite certain it was an old police radio that Cora-san had taken when he left the force.

Once a day they would quietly switch through the channels at low volume on the off chance that they would be able to reach someone or hear any kind of news. It almost felt like a habit now rather than a task with hope.

With a wave of his arm, Law beckoned him over so they could eat. Loki carefully dropped out of the chair and made his way over, accepting the bowl Law handed him. They ate mostly in silence, the only sound was the slight static coming through the radio that Loki had left on.

“We need to go into the city soon, Papa.” Loki signed, mouth pulled into a frown.

Law pursed his lips. He wasn’t wrong. Supplies as of late had been low in the surrounding area, but that was no surprise. They were in the forest and there was only so much you could get here. Loki had gotten sick and had only just recently recovered, but they had used up the last of their antibiotics for it.

“We will go in the morning.” He finally signed back and Loki nodded, focusing back on his food.

If he were able to, he would leave Loki at home and go out by himself, but as smart as Loki was he was just a child and Law didn’t feel it was safe to leave him on his own. It hadn’t happened to them yet, but he had heard from some of the neighbors about raiders. Aggressive survivors who break in and steal everything you have at gun or knife point. No, it wasn’t safe to leave Loki on his own (if only he had someone with him that he could trust to care for him…).

Finishing off his dinner, Law takes their dishes to the sink and covers the top to prevent flies from coming. He gestures for Loki to start getting ready for bed and wanders over to turn off the radio. He absently turns the knob for a last check, when suddenly the radio crackles. They freeze as the crackle starts to twist into words. Quickly, Law sits down and adjusts the knobs to more easily catch the frequency. Loki scrambles over to him and grips onto the arm of the chair as they listen intently.

“...ake your way to the harbor. We’ll be loading boats and regrouping at Wano Island. The creatures cannot swim. I repeat, the creatures cannot swim. If you’re receiving this message…”

It was clearly a prerecorded message as it continued to repeat the same message over and over again, but that didn’t matter.

Wano Island.

A potential safe space for him and his child, a place with other people and no monsters. ‘Were the others still there when the meteors struck? Were they okay? Would Luffy be there?’

He hadn’t really let himself think of the others if he could help it since the start of this. He missed them terribly and worried about them constantly. He’d had a nightmare or two of what could have happened to them, and he was thankful that Loki was there to keep him calm and focused. He wasn’t sure how well he would have fared on his own, stuck in his own head.

“Is it real? Do you think it’s safe?” Loki signed, eyes wide with hope.

Law listened to the recording again, before finally turning it off. “I think it is…but should we risk it? It’s probably been a long time since the recording was put up, who’s to say that there are still boats or even people there?”

He desperately wanted there to be someone there, but taking care of Loki had taught him that caution and a back up plan was a must.

Loki frowned, but persisted. “But what if there is someone there? And if not, couldn’t we find a boat of our own and make our way there? You know how to sail!”

That…was true. One of the things Cora-san had done when raising him was take him out on the sea every summer. He took great delight in teasing him for wanting to be a pirate when he was supposed to be a cop. He’d told Loki about some of their trips after the little one had woken from a nightmare in an effort to sooth and distract him.

After some thought, Law finally nodded. There wasn’t much of a future hidden out here in the woods, and if there was ever a chance to get Loki somewhere safe, then he would have to take it.

“Fine, go pack your essentials. We’ll leave early, and hopefully we’ll reach the city before it gets dark.” Loki lit up and scurried off to go pack. With a silent sigh, Law stood up and went back to the makeshift kitchen. If they were going to leave, they should cook all their perishables and save the nonperishables for the trip. Thankfully they didn’t have too much in the way of perishable food, it was mostly leftover rice and some fish.

Deciding to turn the leftover food into onigiri, Law set to work, keeping an eye on Loki as he piled up all their essentials in the center of the room. He was going to have to sort out what was truly essential and what was not.

After the food was packed for the morning and their bags filled, Law pulled Loki onto their bed and settled in to sleep. It was going to be a long trip tomorrow, of that he was certain.

— — — — — ｡ ₊°༺❤︎༻°₊ ｡ — — — — —

They made it to the city in the late afternoon, much earlier than Law had predicted. The trip had been nerve-racking the whole way out of the forest as they stepped around branches, leaves and fucking bear traps of all things! There had been a moment when a flock of birds were startled from the trees, where Law had feared that they would be found, but they managed to skirt around the monster as it investigated the noise.

They slowly crept from the edge of the woods towards the nearest store front; it looked like it had once been a garishly pink bakery store, but was now scorched black with ash. Law slipped inside, pulling Loki behind him, and scanned the shop. No sign of occupancy, which was a relief.

They hadn’t taken a proper break since the start of it all, so Law had them sit and eat the onigiri he had made last night. He glanced over and saw Loki peering up at the sky.

“What’s up? See anything interesting?” He signed, lips quirking up as Loki smiles at him.

“It’s day time, but I can still see some stars!” Loki signed enthusiastically. He was right though, in the slowly dimming sky Law could see the brighter stars shining through.

“I see them.” Law carefully ruffled his hair. Loki grinned before biting into his onigiri.

Once they finished, Law cautiously led them through the alleys. All the stores looked picked clean of any useful supplies near the edges of the city, but as they got further in he could see some stores that were practically untouched by scavengers.

It was starting to get darker and Law started to worry that they wouldn’t find a proper shelter before night fell. They turned down another street and that's when he saw it. Just a bit down the road was the Ohara. It was an old bookshop that was run by one of Luffy’s friends, Robin, that he started to frequent after being introduced to the owner. A bookstore wasn’t likely to have been ransacked by the masses and Law also knew, from his many visits, that the shop was practically sound proofed. Both by her husband's soundproofing and from the walls and stacks of books that muffled the sounds outside. It was the perfect place to hold up for the night.

Quickly peering around, Law approached the shop cautiously, and peeked through the glass at the top of the door. Before, when the store was open, there was a simple bell attached to the doorway to announce visitors, but it looked as though someone had removed it since then. It made Law a bit cautious that the place was potentially occupied, but he had to risk it. Night was falling and the cold breeze was already causing Loki to shiver against his legs.

Pulling out a scalpel, Law slowly pulled open the door. It opened easily and completely silent, causing Law to bite his lip. That could be a sign that someone was maintaining the door hinges to avoid making noise. He slipped inside, running a soothing hand through Loki’s hair as he scurried in behind him. With a sigh, he slowly shut the door and surveyed the room.

Already the inside was much warmer and Law was surprised to see that there wasn’t too much damage to the main floor room. In fact…it looked as though someone had cleaned up a bit. Law turned to Loki, crouching to be as level with him as he could.

“Stay here by the door. I’m going to look around, I think someone might be here.” Loki looked worried, but nodded and shuffled into a hidden nook created by the many stacks of books. With a relieved sigh, Law stood and started to slowly make his way through the store, scalpel held at the ready.

He cleared most of the store and was cautiously approaching the entrance to the break rooms when he was grabbed. A large hand covered his mouth, gripping his face, and before the other hand could grab his arm, he twisted away to try and stab the scalpel at his attacker. Unfortunately, his attacker still had a grip on his face and used it to shove him against the wall as their other hand snatched his wrist, trying to disarm him. He struggled to keep his grip only to freeze as he finally looked at the person. They too froze as they made eye contact. 

Law dropped the scalpel, shock numbing his fingers. He took in a large gulp of air as the other let him go only to quietly wheeze as he was pulled into a crushing hug.

“Torao!” Luffy breathed, squeezing even tighter. Despite the crushing quality of the hug, Law did not fight to be released. Instead he gripped back just as tightly, the relief and adrenaline crash making his legs wobble. Thankfully, Luffy was strong enough to keep him upright despite being the shorter of the two.

“Luffy-ya.” Law dropped his head onto the other’s shoulder in exhaustion. The stress from the past few months finally hitting him, and having to go through it while caring for a child…

He stiffened as he remembered. Luffy pulled back in confusion, a hint of caution causing his eyes to dart around for a moment in search of danger.

“What’s wrong?” He whispered, letting Law go but keeping a grip on his hand.

“I have…follow me.” He used Luffy’s grip to pull him towards the front, where they slowed their approach as they reached the less insulated part of the store.

Law approached the little nook and smiled as Loki looked up at him from the space. He motioned for Loki to come out, signing that he had found someone. His little one almost pulled back in caution, before slowly creeping from his hiding place.

His smile grew wider as Luffy and Loki made eye contact, shock turning into delight and Luffy let go of his hand so he could scoop Loki into his arms. He allowed them a moment to just be, before he gestured towards the break room. They slowly made their way into the room and Law was impressed to see that even with all the soundproofing that the store already had, the break room had been further dampened of sound with books, mattresses, rugs and blankets.

“It’s okay to speak in here, we tested it.” Luffy spoke up, voice louder than a whisper but not loud enough to even be considered an inside voice. Law and Loki still flinched on instinct, hearts racing briefly before they calmed and sunk down onto one of the mattresses laying on the floor.

“We?” Law questioned, eyes flitting over the firefighter, still slightly shocked to see him here. Alive.

“We.” Luffy grinned, he sat down on the floor in front of them, hands reaching out to grip onto their ankles. Law didn’t mind, it kept him grounded and helped it to really sink in that Luffy was alive and here right in front of him. “When the meteors hit…” He frowned, eyes dark. “After we figured that there was nothing we could really do to stop them, we focused on evacuating.”

Law shivered a bit as Luffy absently rubbed his thumb over the side of his ankle.

“I went looking for you both.” Luffy admitted and Law’s eyes widened. “At the hospital. We all did. But you guys weren’t there. We searched the entire building and even the blocks around it, but you weren’t there, dead or alive.”

Law let out a shaky breath and Loki crawled from the mattress into Luffy’s lap. The firefighter smiled, curling his now free arm around the kid, other hand still gripping Law’s ankle.

“When this all started…” Law began. “As soon as I knew it was real, I just…grabbed Loki and ran. I have a cabin, out in the forest. It was the safest place to ride this out as long as we could. I…” He paused, watching Loki absently play with the string of Luffy’s straw hat. “I wanted to find you, or anyone really, but with Loki…”

Luffy smiled, total understanding, not a hint of resentment, and it made Law want to cry.

“Yeah, if it was me, I would do everything I could to keep him safe too.” They glanced down at the kid, and Law nearly cooed as he saw that Loki had fallen asleep in Luffy’s arms, fingers barely gripping onto his shirt.

“We should get him to bed.” Law whispered, struggling to shift off of the bed, the exhaustion of the day slowing him down.

“I got it!” Luffy grinned. “Just lay down and rest.”

Law was reluctant to fall asleep when he had just found Luffy. The other man’s demeanor softened and he reached over and gently pushed Law to lay on the mattress. He went down with a disgruntled huff and Luffy snickered.

Law watched, eyes never leaving Luffy as the man settled Loki against Law’s side before reaching over and pulling a blanket from somewhere, draping it over them. Law instinctively turned on his side and pulled Loki closer, so used to sharing his bed with the little one.

Luffy sat back for a moment, just watching them, before turning towards the door leading out of the break room. “Sleep. I’ll be here in the morning.”

Law frowned before reaching over and yanking on Luffy’s shirt, nearly toppling him onto his side from the unexpected action. Luffy turned to him in surprise, head tilted questioningly.

“Join us.” Law demanded, ignoring his burning cheeks. He never would have been so demanding and blunt—nevermind asking this particular question—before, but the thought of Luffy leaving his sight frightened him. Perhaps he’d been a lot lonelier than he thought out in the cabin, but for whatever reason, he refused to let Luffy leave the room.

To his credit, Luffy didn’t tease him or really hesitate before he nodded, setting his straw hat on the chair by the desk, and climbed under the blanket on Loki’s other side. They lay there, just looking at each other, taking in the changes and listening to each other, and Loki, breath.

Luffy shifted suddenly, and Law watched as the man reached over and slowly placed his hand on Law’s hip. When he didn’t react, Luffy smiled and dragged him and Loki closer till they were practically cradled in his arms. Law let out a shaky sigh and lightly knocked his forehead against Luffy’s, causing the other’s smile to widen.

“I was so worried when I couldn’t find either of you.” Luffy said quietly, staring into Law’s eyes. “When we couldn’t find you…I promised to continue searching till I found you, dead or alive. I just…I needed to know.”

Law swallowed. He knew Luffy could be intense about his friends, but this almost felt…more. If he hadn’t personally seen Luffy punch a certain feather-loving politician in the face for upsetting a girl who had shared her lunch with him, Law would have thought it was some sort of love confession. But there was no way…Luffy had never shown any romantic interest in anyone.

“None of the others were really happy when I told them to leave without me.” The other continued sheepishly and Law glared. Of all the stupid ideas! Luffy snickered, pressing his forehead more firmly against his.

“Yeah, that was Nami’s reaction! They called me stupid and scolded me sooooo much!” Luffy pouted, and Law huffed. “So they decided to stay and search with me.”

Law’s eyes widened. Luffy he could understand, he was crazy and did crazy things for his friends, but the others? He hadn’t pegged them as being as crazy as Luffy. They should have evacuated when they had the chance! But they stayed?

“That was stupid of them. Stupid of you.” Law bit out. What if Luffy or any of the others had been killed by sticking around to search for them? They should have just left, avoided the danger like any rational person.

“As if I would abandon you Torao.” Luffy scoffed uncharacteristically. “And there was no way I was gonna leave Loki either.”

Law sighed, closing his eyes. “Luffy-ya, I know you’d move the sun and moon themselves if a friend asked, but this is…you could have died! We were barely even friends before all this, why would you–?”

“Because I care about you.” Luffy cut him off. Law blinked his eyes open, frozen as Luffy looked at him with an intensity he wasn’t used to.

“You and Loki, you’re some of my most important people.” Law couldn’t breathe as Luffy cupped his face, pulling him a little bit closer.

“I love you, the both of you.”

“What?” Law gaped.

Luffy’s smile slowly widened and he repeated himself, laughter in his tone. “I love you Torao. Ever since I first met you, that day that I found Loki for the first time.”

‘There’s no way.’ He thought, subconsciously clutching at the other man’s shirt. ‘There’s no way that this perfect, goofy idiot loves me back.’

“I…” He was at a loss for words. Here he was, being confessed to by the man he’d been pining after for months as they lay in bed together, his new son fast asleep between them.

“Can I kiss you?” Luffy interrupted, earnest eyes gazing into his own.

His face heated up and he tried to stutter out an answer, before he cut himself off. He sucked in a breath and nodded slightly. Luffy grinned, using the hand on his cheek to bring him closer. He closed his eyes as he felt the first tentative touch to his lips. Warm. It was the first thing that came to mind. The kiss was chaste and yet it made Law’s heart thump wildly in his chest.

Luffy pulled away, face slightly flushed as he grinned at Law’s cherry red face. He leaned in again and planted a kiss on Law’s cheek, forehead and once again on his lips before he lay back down, pulled them into his arms and dropped off to sleep.

Needless to say, Law didn’t fall asleep anytime soon.

— — — — — ｡ ₊°༺❤︎༻°₊ ｡ — — — — —

“Does this mean I can call Luffy-san, Dad?” Loki signed the next morning after he spotted Luffy dropping a kiss onto Law’s flustered face.

“Shishishi! As long as Torao doesn’t mind!” Luffy grinned at Law.

“Whatever you want, kiddo.” Law replied, shooting Luffy a glare to cover his embarrassment.

Loki nodded pleased, and dug into his breakfast. The trio were planning their next move, which was to meet up with Luffy’s friends and brothers before they would plan for their escape to Wano Island.

“Yeah, we took over the fire station down on the harbor as our base. It’s got a couple of boats and the sprinkler system is great for masking sound if someone accidentally makes some noise.” Luffy explained between bites of his own food. “I was just out here looking for more supplies. We made a few rest stops at different places in case we had to travel further for more stuff.”

Law nodded thoughtfully, looking around at the soundproofing with a new eye.

“No time like the present! Lets get going!” Luffy quietly cheered. “Everyone is going to be so excited to see you guys!”

Law smiled and helped Loki pack up the few things they had taken out of their packs. As soon as they were ready they turned to face Luffy, who was standing by the door.

“Come on! To the sea!” Luffy snickered, pointing to the door dramatically.

Law rolled his eyes and Loki giggled, but they followed the firefighter out and into the sunlight, more ready than ever to face the dangers now that they were together.