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It wasn't often that Law would reminisce about his childhood. Not the rage filled days under Doflamingo or the sick filled weeks with Corazon, but the happy, peaceful time with his parents and his little sister.
The memories with them seemed more like a pleasant dream than an actual piece of his life. He often wondered how they would react to how his life turned out. He often pondered how his life would have gone if his town hadn't been wiped out.
But that was one of the many reasons he didn't like to think of them, they led his mind down a circle of thoughts of 'what if' that had no place in the hard life of a pirate. Thoughts like that could get him killed. Thoughts like that only made the wound in his heart ache, even if it no longer beat in his own chest.
Law takes a sip of his cold beer, his eyes flickering across the table where Luffy is devouring every bit of food across the table and laughing as he talks to his brother, the revolutionary. The beat of the rubber man's heart in his chest is steady and he can't help but flick his eyes down to Luffy's open vest where the square patch of his tattooed skin is on full display.
Under Law's white button up a similar square is carved into his own chest, the tanned skin around a patch of scar tissue breaking the black lines across his pale skin.
He can see Luffy's brother also glancing at it and back down the table where he's sitting, Law holds his gaze and doesn't feel an ounce of surprise when the man gets up and makes his way over to him.
"So, you and my brother?" Sabo says in greeting, taking the vacant seat right next to him, the smile on his face deadly.
Law tilts his head in a small nod, pulling his shirt to let a small glimpse of the patch of skin be shown, "You sound surprised, don't you and Lu-ya talk by snail nearly everyday?"
"We do, but he hasn't mentioned you. At least… not in this way," Sabo says slowly, his eyes flickering to the scar tissue and back across the table when Luffy yells at Sanji for more food.
"That honestly doesn't surprise me," Law mutters, summoning a quick Room to bring a plate of rice balls over to him, the only thing untouched across the table. "Lu-ya doesn't volunteer information, you'd have to ask him and then he has no filter."
Sabo gives a weak chuckle, glancing down at his brother, his jaw flexing as he looks back at him, "You know, it's strange to be so protective of him. Not because he's strong but because my memories of him are so faint. I didn't know Luffy as long as I knew Ace, some of the memories that have come to my mind… I can't tell if they're real or not."
Law hums in sympathy, swallowing his bite of rice and grilled tuna, "Even if you hadn't taken such a dramatic blow to the head, you know that memories are fickle things, Sabo-ya. They fade with time. We twist them to view our past in a better light."
Sabo furrows his brows, "You sound like you have experience."
"I do," Law murmurs before throwing back the last of his tankard and jerking his head for Sabo to follow as he stands to his feet. He pauses in the doorway, Luffy's heart giving a quick thud in his chest, he looks over and gives the rubber captain a quick smile, a sunny one blasts across the room before he steps out into the cold night air.
The deck of the Sunny is bathed in moonlight, Brook's violin sings across the gentle waves from where he stands at the helm. The ocean gently shaking the ship side to side from where they are anchored in the middle of the Straw Hat's declared territory in the New World, the Blue Tang bobbing next to her. Law was still getting used to the sight of her, the midnight blue metal hull where once a yellow one sat in the water. Franky had out done himself with her, she was twice as big, deadly fast above water and a killer under it, she could dive to depths beyond Law's dreams, and he was able to convince the cyborg not to have her run on cola.
Law leans back against the railing, the light of the kitchen portholes illuminating the side of Sabo's face, "Amnesia is not an easy thing to get over, Sabo-ya, your memories may never fully come back."
Sabo nods, his wavy blonde hair swaying across his face, "I know, I don't expect them to, but it would be nice to remember him a bit more. I know he was a cute kid though and he really hasn't changed all that much."
Law chuckles, the sound of Luffy's laughter echoing the steady beat of his heart, "I can believe that, it's good to hear that once he's made up his mind on things, it sticks with him."
"You weren't worried, were you?" Sabo teases, crossing his arms over his chest, a simple smile on his face.
Law lets out a snort of laughter, shaking his head before tilting his face up to catch the salty breeze, "The only thing I worry about with Lu-ya is whether its worth sharing my plans with him or not. He begs me every time but never sticks to them."
Sabo blinks in shock, "He asks what your plans are? He never stops to ask what the plan is."
"I think he just likes listening to me talk," Law dismisses, rubbing the back of his neck, heat slowly creeping up to his cheeks when Sabo gives him a disbelieving look. "You should hear the number of things he asks me whenever we meet up, I think I've explained every coin in my collection at least twice to him."
"That's how he knew," Sabo mutters, a bright smile coming to his face when Law looks at him in confusion. "Koala and I found a chest of foreign coins in the last cave we explored, Luffy caught up with us as we were going through them. He knew the names of all of them and grabbed the ones he didn't."
The memory of Luffy leaping out of the cave entrance like a ground hog with a handful of coins that he thrusted into Law's face comes right to the forefront of his mind. Law had just started to go through them when Nami spotted the gold like a bloodhound but Luffy had scooped him up and slingshotted them to the Tang before she could take a single one. Nami had given them a scolding of their lives when they had come back to the Sunny, but Law was just fine with taking it now that the coins were safely locked in his safe.
Law shakes his head, meeting Sabo's curious gaze, he clears his throat self-consciously, "I didn't… I didn't realize that he paid that much attention."
Sabo laughs softly, shaking his head, "I don't think I have a single thing to worry about, Law, but can you answer me this?"
Law nods, bracing himself for the question.
"How do you know so much about amnesia? Have you…" Sabo stops when Law shakes his head before he can finish.
"No, I've never experienced amnesia before, nor have any of my crew. I speak more from… life experience than medical." Law explains slowly, chewing on the inside of his cheek as he considers his next words. "I'm the last survivor of my family, they were all killed along with the rest of my city because of a poisoning that was twisted into the belief that it was a disease. My memories of them are very faint and the harder I try to hold onto them, the faster they leave my mind."
"What do you do then? To keep the memories." Sabo asks quietly, the air filled with silence as the ocean goes still and the Brook's violin goes quiet.
Law looks up at the glowing moon, "I hold onto what I have and I don't hunt for what I don't. Their deaths were a long time ago and I was young when I lost them, this is not the life they would have wanted for me, so I try not to bring them into it when I can. Your memories are yours to do what you wish, Sabo-ya, but I would advice against chasing after them, they are faster."
Sabo opens his mouth but before he can get a single word out, the galley door slams open and Luffy's sandal flops are all the warning they get before Law is almost thrown overboard by the force of him crashing into his chest.
"Lu-ya!" Law shouts, wrapping his arms around the rubber man's shaking shoulders as he catches them before they tumble down into the dark ocean. "What have I told you about knocking into me when I'm near the railing!?"
Luffy just continues to laugh, his arms wrapped twice around Law's waist, "Sabo would get us, Torao!"
"Catch us he might but he's a devil fruit user too! He'd drown with us!" Law barks, relaxing back against the railing as he feels his balance return to him. He sees a flicker of a smile on Sabo's face before he turns and heads back into the commotion of the kitchen.
Luffy twists his head around at the sound if the door closing, he looks back at Law's disgruntled face as Brook's violin starts up again in a gentle waltz, "What were you two talking about, Torao?"
Law considers his cheerful face, the smile across it crinkling the scar below his warm brown eyes chases away the gloom of the previous conversation. He feels himself smiling back as he moves one of his inked hands to cup the scarred cheek "Memories, Lu-ya, they are fickle things aren't they?"
Luffy's face softens as he leans into his palm, "You just need to change the jar they're in, Torao, pickles don't keep for very long."
Law bursts out laughing, falling onto Luffy's neck as he shakes with laughter, all melancholy thoughts leaving him at once as Luffy laughs with him and tightens his grip around him. He forgets all the thoughts that had been consuming him since the beginning of the evening as Luffy begins to babble in his ear about the next great island they should go to next. He sways softly to the music as he listens and tightens his grip around Luffy's shoulders, hiding his face away from the moonlight in his neck.
One thing is for sure, this will be a memory he won't forget in a hurry.