#but would never happen without Law's friendship with Luffy first

[l-in-the-light]

Trafalgar Law: fear of closeness and touch part 2, the extended edition

Writing another post about it, because I have a lot of thoughts I need to organize for myself. This time it will be more like my interpretation about Law and his relationships with people than about the touch itself. And also I forgot one of the most crucial scenes about the topic (because ofc I would forget something so important), so I will start with it:

The last touch he remembers from Flevance is hiding under the pile of corpses, cold dehumanized bodies, treated like trash. No one wanted to touch them, just like no one wanted to be touched by Law. How poetic that Law escaped Flevance with a death sentence while hiding among the dead, because he will be treated like he's dead to the world from now on.

This reminds me of a manga I once read, Shigeshoushi (The Embalmer). It's about a guy whose job is embalming the dead, and he is ostracized, feared and refused by people as a result. Contact with death and dead bodies is taboo in Shinto and folk culture of Japan in general. If you think it's a thing of the past, I reccommend to watch Okuribito (Departures), it's really good and this topic is at the heart of the movie.

Anyway, back to the manga, warning for spoilers. Situation escalates to the point when the only human touch the guy can get is that of him handling the corpses for his job and that really messes up with his mental health. His despair leads him to engage himself in risky situations just to get by, casual sexual encounters with strangers become the only form of intimacy he can get and he soon gets addicted to it, but it still lacks the emotional warmth and love he desperately craves, so it's never enough for him. Of course to even get those encounters he has to lie about his job and whenever his lie gets exposed and he is confronted about it, forced to listen to all those women blaming him, feeling disgusted by what he forced on them (it was never forced, but suddenly it's unwanted after they learn he embalms dead bodies every day), and it just triggers and deepens his trauma.

I wonder if you can tell where I'm going with this comparison. Law is definitely as starved for touch and love as the main protagonist is. Still, I don't believe Law would become hypersexual (tho that's just my personal impression, especially after he so blatantly refused Monett), but most importantly unlike the main character Law would definitely not desperately beg for the touch. It's just not how Law is, he doesn't like to impose himself on others if he absolutely doesn't have to. Not to mention he can't bear asking openly for help or for anything really, not after the Vergo incident. It was the last time he ever begged for something.

Law seems to be the type to neglect his own needs to the point that he makes stupid and reckless decisions based on his fear of losing people (callback to Wano and imprisoned Hearts). When people dear to him are in danger, his first instinct is to rush and help them unless he's completely immobilized. That's the level of "prioritizing other people's safety and needs" he believes in, he would do it every time, but he hates when people do it for him. Mostly because he deeply believes Corazon got hurt because of him, and Corazon gave him all that love Law was starving for. And Law believes Cora-san finally died for it.

Add his trauma of expecting people to not want to be touched by him into the equation. That's why he has problems expressing his own need for love (and touch) from that point onward. He acts so tough, doesn't allow himself to show weakness and will definitely never ask for love, he learned his lesson on that.

But what about Heart Pirates? They love him! He clearly protects and deeply cares for them, but in each scene he is with them, not counting Bepo, he keeps them at a distance. I do believe Law treats his crew more or less on equal terms, he favours freedom after all, but their relationship is restricted by his fear and makes it significantly more asymmetrical than the one Luffy has with his crew. I do think Penguin and Shachi are more important to Law than the rest of his crew, they're best friends, they've formed the Heart Pirates together, but he doesn't allow them to be on touchy feely basis with him. That's reserved for Bepo. Bepo is basically the last safe haven Law allowed himself to have up until Strawhats happened.

Law at Sabaody creates three new bonds with people: with two supernovas and Jean Bart. The latter he takes into his crew and I believe it's because Jean Bart has no other place to go, especially with Marines and Pacifistas running around the island. It's possible Law does it all the time and his crew (beyond the original four) got expanded because of that.

Law's bond with Kid started on a wrong foot, not only Kid judges Law based on prejudice and "bad rep" flying around about him, he also accussed him of lack of manners (triggering a flashback to Vergo), all in Law's hearing range. It's not really surprising later on Law doesn't want to owe Kid a favour by letting Kid take care of the Marines. Law clearly doesn't want to be indebted to someone who feels disgust towards him (I don't think Kid is disgusted by him, but that's what Law thinks at this point). And even after Wano it seems Law made sure that they're even, none is indebted to the other. For Law it was just a temporary alliance, he kept his distance, they didn't end up becoming friends.

Last new bond Law created was with Luffy. It started indirectly at first, Luffy was defending his fishman friend. Things said about Hatchan triggered a trauma response in Law ("Don't come closer! Disgusting! He will spread diseases!"), in my headcanon freezing him in the spot. But Luffy defended his friend and indirectly also Law by punching the Celestial Dragon, in similar fashion to Corazon defending Law by punching the doctors spouting similar prejudice about amber lead syndrome.

Law thanked Luffy for that and he felt safe doing so, after all what Luffy did was never directed at Law himself, but the gratitude must have confused Luffy to no end (Why is that guy thanking me? I didn't do anything for him!). Law didn't mind this bond at this moment exactly because it was so indirect, as a result he allowed himself to interact with Luffy and even took the first step, probably thinking it will lead to nothing. But he would never do it if not for Luffy's indirect impact on Law. If that's the expected level for casual bonds Law has set up, I doubt many occassions appeared for that before. It just shows he avoids people as a general rule, period.

But things changed after they left the auction house. Law is displeased with Kid, only telling him not to order him around and refusing to even talk with him, but his dynamic with Luffy is completely different, he doesn't feel bad about it despite being treated like accomplice in the whole Celestial Dragon incident.

He even allows himself to tease him a bit. There's no bad air between them. It almost feels like Law feels more emotionally available despite them being strangers, or rather exactly because they're strangers here and Law thinks they will also leave as strangers, which gives him the freedom to be more open.

They fought together, mostly by accident, but for Luffy that's enough to already feel a bit attached to Kid and Law. He declares he's after One Piece, implying from now on they will be rivals.

That doesn't earn him any response from Law. In fact, he just smirks and retreats without a word.

There are multiple possible reasons for his reaction here, but one of them is important right now: if Law said anything, he would acknowledge that bond, that of being a rival to Luffy. He didn't want it, in fact he wanted them to remain strangers, with no lingering attachments. That's why, when he got offered Luffy's friendship (disguised as rivalship, mind you), he turns back and retreats.

That's his answer. Later in Amazon Lily he also ends up retreating without even waiting for Luffy to say his thanks.

And how ironic that the next time they see each other it's Law who ends up extending his hand, not once, but twice: first by saving Luffy's life by risking his own, and second time by proposing alliance. I can only imagine Luffy's surprise: he got rejected before, but now it's Law himself proposing it! And what a funny guy he is, he doesn't need to offer friendship, because for Luffy they're already friends, after all didn't Law save his life? Law though just needed help, but wouldn't ask for it directly, because we know he never does that anymore, so instead he offered a bait. Frankly he didn't need to, Luffy would do anything he wanted him to anyway. Luffy ofc thought the alliance is a fun idea, but in the end he accepted it because it's Law who needed it to be an alliance, he wouldn't accept help otherwise. Also alliance felt impersonal and safe, without the need to be emotionally open.

There's so many seperate frames of Law just staring and thinking upon their reunion. He's conflicted. Also at this point their relationship changed, whether Law wanted it or not. He was there when Luffy lost Ace, saw him breaking down, definitely thought they now share something in common: they both lost people who were the dearest to them. I'm also sure he could see through Luffy's smile, he knew there's no way he would be already "okay" after just two years.

Unusual whimsical frame of Luffy. He closed his eyes, not listening to the words spoken, but instead listening to his own heart. He knows he needs to kidnap Caesar, that's what Law asked him to do, but Luffy doesn't just want to do what he's told, he wants to make sure the person he is doing it for is happy. It's a callback to Luffy's deepest regret: leaving Sabo with his family, assuming things would be better this way, without making sure first if that's something that would make Sabo actually happy.

Ever since Luffy does this double-check-for-no-regrets for all of his friends and crewmates. He follows Nami to Arlong Park and waits patiently in case she actually needs help. She questions Kyros' choice and goes to all the way to Rebecca to the castle just to ask her if she's really fine with staying seperated from her dad. And he does it here as well. Would kidnapping Caesar make Law actually happy, Luffy wonders. And probably thinks back to their previous encounter, in Sabaody, and Law's mysterious line after Luffy punched the Celestial Dragon: "Thanks Strawhat, you showed me something interesting". And Luffy found his answer and it's this:

Punching Caesar. Apparently Luffy did something right in Sabaody and he thinks it was about the punching, so he does it again now as well. Ofc he wants to punch Caesar anyway, but he does pause before doing that, he actually doesn't jump for it straightaway, it's AFTER he thinks about it. Luffy decided this is what would make Law actually happy, despite going against the plan. Luffy didn't believe following Law's plan will actually make Law happy, but punching his enemies will.

And yet Law doesn't look happy, but let's look more closely to his body languague. He turns around, doesn't declare his unhappiness directly to Luffy's face, he's making an emotional retreat again despite shouting. He's giving mixed signals. So was Luffy wrong?

Law is trying to hide his smile. Making sure no one notices. He's trying to maintain the distance and remain cold, but seems it's working less and less efficiently.

I will let you decide it for yourselves whether Luffy was right or wrong in the end.

There is more nuance about this I didn't even touch yet, for example the drastic gap between Marines fearing Law and calling him a monster, and Stawhats (minus Luffy), at first fearful and suspicious of Law, but it took them like 5 minutes to change their mind and trust him just like Luffy did.

In Dressrosa Law declares that, deep in his heart, he actually also wants to kick Doflamingo's butt. Luffy doesn't even act surprised upon hearing that. Of course, he knew already, Law didn't even have to say it.

While in Dressrosa Law attempts to break the alliance, send off half the Strawhats to safety and despite barely being able to move himself he takes care of Luffy in the final countdown. Almost like he already treats them like his own crew, keeping them safe. If you ask me, someone got attached. And the pinnacle of it is when Law shares with us that he aims to either live or die with Luffy (not die for him, unlike Luffy's own crew declaring in this arc). That's the best he could offer and he knows how much it's painful when someone dies *for you*, he wouldn't inflict that pain on Luffy again, not when he knows Luffy thinks of him as a friend.

And finally in Wano Law finally opens up more and lashes out at Strawhats, just like he did at Corazon. He no longer feels the need to emotionally distance himself all the time, or keeping it all bottled up behind a stoic cold facade and impersonal "alliance". That's how he shows his worry and affection, he considers them his responsibility in Wano.

He also admits for the very first time his fear of losing people. "The plan isn't worth anyone dying" (in this case - Zoro dying). He allows himself to trust and to be vulnerable.

If you think Law is torn about his growing connection with Strawhats, then you're thinking the same as me. He allowed himself to get attached and he didn't want to initially.

Is it really alright if I touch you too…? (ready to retreat his hand at any moment he senses it's unwanted after all)

His words are often rough and cold, but his actions speak for themselves. He trusts the Strawhats by this point, they're his second crew, and he would do the same for them he would do for his Hearts.

And now he has a problem, he gained more people he is afraid of losing. New friends.

[fireflykaizoku]

Bartolomeo x Reader | Wishing upon a star

love me some bartolomeo fluff

You met Bartolomeo even before started to sail, even before he met Luffy and the other Strawhats. You two were friends since your teenage years, causing trouble and chaos all over the island, laughing together and having fun. You were there when he saw Luffy for the first time during his “execution”, you were there when he decided to have his own pirate crew. When he asked you to join him and explore the world together, you accepted right away.

You were there all the time for so long, you can’t even tell the day you fell in love with him. Everyday, you had to deal with this feeling quietly, seeing him fawn over Nico Robin and Nami, that you assumed you didn’t even have a chance.

And the day you two went to Dressrosa so he could get the Mera Mera no Mi, he finally met his idols.

Again, you were there with him. And although you were so happy for Bartolomeo, you couldn’t help feeling a bit jealous, wishing he could look at you the same way he looked at the Strawhats. You felt bad for thinking like this sometimes, but you couldn’t help it.

The day you dropped the Strawhats and Law in Zou, Bartolomeo got so sad, and as always, you went to cheer him up.

Both of you were sitting on the deck while your hands caressed his shoulder. Everything was quiet until you broke the silence.

— Look! — you pointed to the sky, excited. — It’s a shooting star! Let’s make a wish, Barto!

Although you didn’t quite believe that shooting stars could make wishes come true, it was still fun and worth giving it a try. Maybe this time, just this time, it’d work. Bartolomeo was also skeptical about it, but seeing your excitement, he smiled and decided to make a wish too.

You two closed your eyes at the same time, trying to concentrate and think of what to wish for. After a minute, you two looked at each other.

— What did you wish for? — he asked innocently.

You bit your lip, thinking about lying at first. But maybe this was the perfect opportunity, and maybe the only chance you’d have to confess. Maybe you’d never feel this brave again, and if anything happened, you could just say it was a joke.

— I… — you thought for a while, trying not to feel embarrassed. — I asked for my crush to like me back.

His eyes widened in surprise. How come you never told him about a crush? Who was this person and how did you even meet them? You and Bartolomeo were always together, and knowing you so well, he’d know if you liked someone.

Not only that, but at that moment, the green haired man could feel his heart break and the regret of never being brave enough to confess took him. He was so afraid of ruining the friendship, of not having you by his side at all, that now another person had your heart. Another person would make you happy instead of him. But who was this person? Could it be someone from your island? Perhaps from Dressrosa? Was it… Cavendish? What if it was Zoro-senpai? The swordsman was very cool after all.

— Oh? — he asked, looking away. — A crush? Who is it? You never told me about it before, I think. Do I know him?

— In fact, you do… — taking a deep breath, you decided not to say his name right away. You could just drop hints and pray he’d understand. — He’s very… Passionate about the things he likes, people might find him intimidating, but I know he’s not. He’s very kind and protective towards the people he likes.

— Sounds like a pretty cool guy. — he crossed his arms, trying to hide his jealousy. He did not think your crush was a cool guy.

— He is. — you smiled without even noticing when you started thinking about your memories with Bartolomeo. — But I guess he doesn’t like me that way. It’s alright, as long as he’s happy, though.

— Then he’s stupid. — your eyes widened at his statement, and you couldn’t help giggling. — I’m serious, (Y/N). You’re beautiful, you’re amazing, kind and loyal. If this guy can’t see this, then he’s stupid.

Your cheeks got so warm and your jaw dropped. Did he really see you like this? You gulped, thinking of what to do next. Maybe there was a hope of him feeling the same, then.

— He… Is a captain. — Bartolomeo looked at you. Was it Luffy-senpai? He got mixed feelings. If you liked Luffy, it’d be cool because he’d be able to spend time with his idol, but… The person he loved would be with someone else. — He also has green hair and fangs.

The man tilted his head.

— Like me? — he asked before he widened his eyes, understanding what you meant. It was him. — Oh!

Bartolomeo had to hold himself not to scream and cry right there. His crush liked him back! The person he wanted for so long, the person who was always by his side supporting him no matter what! The person he wanted to be with liked him too!

Noticing the long silence, you closed your eyes, already preparing yourself for the heartbreak.

— Then I guess my wish came true very quick, huh? — he said, trying to sound calm and collected.

You opened your eyes.

— What? — you asked.

— I asked for my crush to like me back too. — his cheeks blushed. Honestly, you thought his wish was something else, like joining the Strawhats, being best friends with Luffy… — Turns out, they just confessed.

You were screaming and dancing inside, but you needed a few seconds to understand the information.

— But I’m not like them… — was the only thing you were able to say before looking down.

— No… You’re better than them. Better than anyone else. — he whispered, holding your chin with his index finger and gently making you look at him in the eyes. — And it’s a relief to know that you feel the same for me. I got jealous for a moment, thinking someone stole your heart.

— Don’t worry, you had it in your hands for quite some time now. — you smiled, extremely shy and still not believing what just happened.

Maybe it was a coincidence, or maybe not. But from that moment on, you couldn’t help closing your eyes and making a wish whenever you saw a shooting star. And your wish was always the same: for Barto to love you forever.

[stardustryewriting]

Original Plans

Law’s original plan - to die on Dressrosa - didn’t work out. Luffy’s original plan - to make Law accept his friendship - did work better than expected. There are just some bumps along the road.

Also on AO3:  here

When Torao first proposed an alliance to him, Luffy was elated. An alliance was basically a friendship and you could never have enough of those. Also Torao was a good guy, no matter what his other crew members said about him. They don’t call him the surgeon of death for nothing, Usopp had argued rather urgently and Luffy had brushed him aside. The Marines had called Luffy chaotic, completely nuts and even dead before, and none of that was true either. (Maybe he was a bit chaotic, but the other things were lies.)

Pirate alliances are marked by betrayal, Nico Robin had said, always the wise one of them, and so Luffy had asked Torao if he planned to betray them. He denied and really, that was enough for Luffy. If Torao had wanted him dead, he just didn’t have to show at Marineford. While Luffy wasn’t sure why he did show up at Marineford - Torao never gave simple answers to his questions, and thinking about what Torao gave as answers for too long made Luffy’s head hurt - he was sure that Torao wouldn’t have been there if he wanted Luffy to die. He did risk his own life and his entire crew on top of it. You don’t just do that out of a simple mood.

So an alliance it was. While Kaido was arguably the Emperor he knew the least of, he was still a better target than Shanks was. Maybe taking on Big Mom first would have been smarter, since he already started an argument with her on Fishmen Island, but Big Mom could wait. He would take her down eventually anyway and if Torao thought it would be smart to go after Kaido first, than Luffy would trust his judgement. Torso was smart after all. Also this seemed oddly personal to Torao. At least the part of the plan that involved Doflamingo did.

*

It turned out, Torao didn’t betray them at Dressrosa. At least not in the way his crew thought he would. He did try to end the alliance and by extent their friendship, which counted as betrayal in Luffy’s book. But he was unsuccessful, because Luffy would have never ended their alliance at this point anyway. There was a time and place, when they would have to part ways again, eventually. But it wasn’t on Dressrosa, not when Torao looked like he was ready to die and not when he tried to protect Luffy. (There was someone, in a somewhat distant past, who lost an arm to protect Luffy and someone, in a not so distant past, who did give his life to protect Luffy. He wouldn’t let it happen again.)

So no, Torao was not allowed to end the alliance. Which annoyed him, of course, but Luffy didn’t care. He could defeat Doflamingo without the elaborate plan Torao had made. He didn’t even remember most of it anyways, and he was somewhat sure, that the plan had failed the moment Luffy entered the coliseum in an effort to get Ace’s devil fruit back. Plans never worked out for him anyway, not in the way they worked out for Torao. He had a general idea of what he had to do and he would get it done. Somehow.

Maybe the Marines weren’t so far off, when they had called him chaotic.

But Luffy wasn’t upset now, because Torao betrayed their friendship. They would have to talk about that eventually, but it wasn’t the main issue. Torao was prepared to die in Dressrosa. He expected it, he probably even had his death integrated in his plan somewhere. (Maybe Luffy should pay more attention the next time a plan was presented to him.) And that was the most upsetting thing that happened to him since they entered the New World. Because Torao didn’t lack trust in Luffy or any of the Strawhats. He pretended he thought their were idiots and he looked like he lost hope in humanity when Luffy, Usopp and Chopper had fun on deck, but he really believed in and trusted them. He was confident they would still follow his plan after his death after all.He just didn’t think Luffy could defeat Doflamingo.

I would have been insulting, if Torao was any less scared about Mingo.

He never told Luffy why he was scared, he never even seemed scared. (Not like Usopp and Nami and most times even Chopper did.) But he was. He was scared and he went up against him anyways, fully prepared to die and Luffy hated everything about this.

„Why are you brooding here?“, a voice snapped him out of his thoughts and surprisingly, it was Torao. He would have thought if anyone came looking for him it would have Usopp. Zoro would have also been a likely candidate, if there were any less alcohol. But the drinks were flowing, so Zoro wouldn’t miss him for a while. Luffy wasn’t exactly a drinking buddy, he rarely drank alcohol as it was and that made him an uninteresting companion for Zoro at parties. Not that he minded, there were plenty of other people he could do plenty of other things with. Just Torao wasn’t really on the list.

„I’m not ‚brooding‘“, Luffy used his fingers to make air quotes, „I’m not you after all. I was just thinking.“

„That’s new“, Torao answered, sounding way more surprised than he had any right to, in Luffy’s opinion.

„I can think“, he protested, crossing his arms in front of his chest, while turning away from the other. And then, for good measure he slightly lifted his chin and added: „And my thinking doesn’t end in me dying either.“Which was probably something he shouldn’t have said out loud. Not like that. But it was also true and something he wanted to discuss with Torao anyways, so Luffy couldn’t find it him to regret saying it. (He did regret the way he said it, later, when he’d calmed down.)

„My survival wasn’t essential for the plan“, Torao informed him professionally. The same way he told Luffy not to exercise too much after he’d woken up on the submarine. The way he told Jinbei to keep an eye on Luffy, if he didn’t want the Strawhats to die. The very same way he told Rayleigh, that Luffy’s training would have to be postponed for a few weeks or else his stitches would tear. It made Luffy sick.

„Your survival was important for me“, he argued and Torao looked like wanted to say something to that too.Except that he didn’t. His mouth opened but no words came out and then Torao closed it again. Luffy waited a few more seconds, in case there was something to say after all. Makino might not have succeeded installing manners within him perfectly, but he knew the basics. He always let people say their piece. (Unless he was distracted by something.) When it didn’t seem like Torao found something he needed to say, Luffy talked instead.

„We’re friends and I like you. Usopp says you’re scary, but you’re really not. You saved my life at Marineford - “

„There’s no need to thank me for that“

„You saved my life at Marineford and I liked you ever since. You have awesome tattoos and a really cool bear in your crew and you’re really nice.“

„I’m really not“, Torao denied, but he sounded like he’s already given up that argument. At least he was learning. Slowly, but he learned. Luffy knew that that argument was just for show anyway. A reputation to uphold, or however Zoro phrased it. Not that Luffy had ever cared about reputations, his or those of other people. But if it was important enough for Torao to put in the effort, Luffy could respect that. So, no need to remind him that he did help all those children in Punk Hazard. Law still remembered it anyway.

„You’re my friend.“, Luffy said instead, because really Torao was very slow on the uptake on that. It didn’t matter that he didn’t want to call them ‚friends‘, they were friends anyway. Because Luffy said so and because he really liked Torao and because Torao seemed like he needed a friend. „Even though no one can say your last name“, he added as an afterthought, because a great as Torao was, he had the worst last name.

„Literally everyone but you can. And I’ve told you to just call me Law“, Torao shot back, tho it lacked any real fire. Like he was tired of arguing and was just accepting his fate. Good, he was Luffy’s friend no matter how often Luffy needed to remind him of that.

„I really like you“, Luffy told him, once again for good measure. He didn’t get a real answer from Law on that, but his cheeks got a light color, like Sanji’s cheeks did, when Nami or Robin complimented his food. Sanji was always really happy then, so Torao had to be really happy now. And Luffy just called him his friend. Which apparently Torao needed to hear that they were friends way more, if it made him this happy from just hearing it once.

„I really like you, too, Strawhat-ya“, Torao mumbled and he couldn’t even look him in the eye, but that was alright with Luffy. If Luffy brought it up in front of his crew, Torao would probably deny ever having said that, like Zoro denied being worried about Sanji, too. But that didn’t matter, because Torao had said it and that made Luffy happier than almost anything in recent memory. (Sabo still being alive was a big thing, that made him happier than he ever remembered being, but that was the only other thing. Even Sanji’s cooking didn’t come before this and Sanji’s cooking was perfect.)

„Okay, so no more plans that would have you die. You’re too important for me to just let you die. Okay?“, Luffy insisted and Toraos eyes glazed over like he remembered something very important and very far away. Luffy knew that feeling so he allowed Torao the few seconds he very obviously needed, before he inquired again: „Okay?“

Torso seemed like he was abruptly thrown out of something rather intense, but he didn’t seem mad. One side of his lips quirked upwards, as if he wanted to smile, but it didn’t become a real smile. Which was another problem that Luffy would tackle eventually. (He’s seen Torao smirk plenty of times but he couldn’t remember one genuine smile.) For now, Torao’s insurance that, yes, he wouldn’t bet his life this easily again would have to be enough. He didn’t want Torao to promise to survive. Not like Ace did, not again. But he wanted Torao to do his best, to see him become the pirate king. Torso smirked again, at that, and mocked Luffy for being too sure of himself.

„What if I find the One Piece before you do?“, Torao asked, clearly not as serious as he pretended to be. But he was lighthearted again, the tension in the air completely dissolved, so Luffy could humor him. Torao had asked an important question, after all.

„You won’t. But I will still really like you, even when I’m King of the Pirates.“

And somehow, Law seemed really happy about this. Maybe, liking Torao more than originally planned would work out for Luffy, after all.

[tsvestidiabolus]

♥ SHIP QUESTIONARE // Robin x Yamato and/or Robin x Law

Drop a ship in my inbox and I’ll fill everything out below ! It’s a mix from fluff to nsfw .

Ah, the crack ship that has turned into one of my OTPs.  When Yamato joins the Straw Hats, then you will all see the potential too.  Also, slight mentions of 1021 spoilers.

18+ content below

How did they first meet? Depends entirely on the verse.  In canon, they’d meet during or a bit after the raid on Onigashima, presumably during the battle or during the celebrations.  Yamato would beg Robin to teach him how to read the Poneglyphs, and she would quite frankly be stunned but happily surprised that someone shows interest in the ancient history like her.  Then Yamato joins the crew and-

In Beasts!Robin verse, Yamato sneaks in and finds Robin while she’s being held in a cage under King’s care.  They get to know each other, telling each other stories, and Yamato lets Robin know that he’s there for her.  Mostly, he met her out of curiosity for the devil his father had caught.

For this questionnaire, I’ll be using Beasts verse, as that’s the main verse I write this ship in.

Who felt romantic feelings first? Robin.  Yamato thought those feelings were just friendship, except they were stronger than his feelings for Jack, which were friendship.  Robin was the first to acknowledge that she was in love with Yamato.

Did either of them try to resist their feelings? Holy Fuck Robin.  This girl does not know HOW to handle their feelings, especially romantic ones.  A lot of the early stages of their relationship was spent dancing around the fact that they had a relationship, as they feared what the Beasts would do if they found out.  It was Yamato that said “fuck it” and kissed Robin in front of Kaido.

Who initiated their feelings first? Yamato.

Who said “I love you” first? Yamato.  Robin has a hard time saying it.

Who gets jealous easily? Robin

Who is more protective? Yamato

Who remembers the little things? Robin

Who talks about their feelings more? Imagine Robin talking about their feelings :crine:

Who uses the cheesier pickup lines? Robin, actually.  You’d expect it to be Yamato, but Robin’s cheese comes in form of long-winded poetry and skirting so hard around the words “I love you” that it becomes this Achilles/Patroclus dynamic between the two of them where no one can tell if they’re in love or not because they never say it but then Robin says shit like “I would like our ashes to be buried together when we die so that we’ll always be together” and I don’t understand how people cannot think they are not gay.

What does a first date look like for them? Awful.  Either Robin’s in a cage, Yamato’s trying to sneak past King to visit her, or Robin has joined the Beasts and they decide to eat together one night in Onigashima.  Yamato would try so damn hard to be a good date, and Robin would be so fucking nervous because what if her being with Yamato was a bad idea.  What if Yamato got punished for being with her.  What if.  And then Robin would be freaking out while holding Yamato’s hand and Yamato would be smiling but freaking out too.  Eventually, though, they’d find somewhere private and decide not to call it a date - then everything goes back to normal.

What do they like to do together? Study!  Study study study!  They also enjoy creating something with their own hands, be it a garden or a painting or something else.  They also take turns reading books aloud.

Which one gets angry the most, leaving the other to calm them down? Yamato’s rage is hot-headed, while Robin’s is a cold, seething demon.  Also Robin happens to be an enabler, unless Yamato is putting himself in danger.  Yamato calms down Robin more, because he’s more prone to pick up when Robin is angry.

Do they like PDA? They’re literally afraid of being tortured if they were found out.

What are their big spoon / little spoon arrangements? It goes Robin small spoon, Yamato big spoon, and then [1021 spoilers] giant demon Robin as the biggest spoon of them all.

Does one like the cuddle more than the other? Robin has ~trauma~ so it takes her a lot to be able to feel comfortable enough to hug someone, even if that person is Yamato.

Who hogs the blankets? Yamato IS the blanket, as far as Robin is concerned.  Especially in his zoan form.  

Who’s more likely to initiate sex? Robin.

Who’s the kinkiest? HAVE YOU SEEN ROBIN?

Who is the top and bottom in their sex life? Are they interchangeable? Robin is afraid to relinquish control in the bedroom, the one place in her life where she feels she can have power, have a say in her life.  Yamato likes getting pegged by her.  It’s interchangeable, of course, but top!Robin and bottom!Yamato is how it usually goes.

Who likes giving and who likes receiving oral? Unfortunately, Robin’s tongue is way too small to give any stimulation to Yamato.  I mean, unless she used her powers creatively...

Can they last more than one round? Yes.  I refuse to elaborate.

Which one is a morning person? Robin.  She doesn’t sleep.

Do either of them like to cook? Robin is afraid of fire now so it WOULD be up to Yamato to cook, except they just eat the food that the Beasts have.

If they get married, who proposes first? “Hey Robin?” “Hm?” “Wanna cosplay as Kozuki Toki for me?” “...No, but I will marry you.” “YES!”

What kind of wedding do they have? They get married in secret once they join Luffy’s crew :) 

Does anyone object to their relationship? Initially, the Beasts - particularly Kaido and King - are against it.  But then they realised the benefits of having Robin, the one person who can read the poneglyphs, be infatuated with Kaido’s son.  

They came to regret it when Straw Hat’s crew landed on Onigashima.

Do they have any kids? No.  Do not trust these two around kids.  Yamato would walk without watching where he was going and kick a child into orbit.  Robin has enough trauma as it is.

Do they have any pets? Yamato is the pet - I mean.  Yes.  

[purplehairedwonder]

Inside a Broken Dream Chapter 4

Fandom: One Piece Rating: PG-13 Pairings: Gen, brief hint of Lawlu that you can ignore Words: 3445 Characters: Trafalgar Law, Penguin, Donquixote Doflamingo, Smoker, Tashigi, Nami, Chopper Note: Story title comes from the Vertical Horizon song “Shackled.” Character and relationship tags reflect the current chapter. Obviously this is canon-divergent ;)

Summary: Two years after Wano, peace on the Grand Line is fragile. Trafalgar Law and the Heart Pirates are doing their best to help maintain the peace, but the return of a figure from Law’s past might shatter the balance of power entirely.

Previous chapters: 1 | 2 | 3

Read also at AO3 / FF.N

The walk back to the brig was quiet as Law turned over what had just happened; Doflamingo had the uncanny ability to keep Law off-balance, even after all these years. As he chewed on the unexpected conversation, he could feel the swordswoman’s eyes on him. He looked back at her and raised an eyebrow.

“Well?” he demanded. “Spit it out.”

She started, pink rising in her cheeks. “W-what?”

“You’re staring. You obviously have something you want to say.”

Tashigi pursed her lips in annoyance but replied, “You said on Punk Hazard that you once worked for Doflamingo. But there was more to it than that, wasn’t there?”

Law shrugged his unwounded shoulder but didn’t elaborate. Let her make of that conversation what she would. It didn’t matter.

Tashigi huffed irritably. “There’s obviously a long history there. After getting out of Impel Down, he went after you rather than simply escape, even though he could have. That tells me the hard feelings go both ways.”

Law smirked, unable to resist prodding, “Getting caught up in the affairs of pirates, Captain?”

“I’m as much a captive as you are, Trafalgar. I’d at least like to know what I’ve gotten myself into,” she snapped. “And if knowing whatever is going on between you and Doflamingo can help us escape, then yes, I’ll get involved in the affairs of damn pirates!”

Surprised, Law stopped and studied the woman. She was glaring at him, cheeks still tinged pink. She’d had that same fire back on Punk Hazard, though she hadn’t been strong enough to back up her words back then. That was two years ago, though. Maybe he could make use of her—especially if Doflamingo was keeping her close.

They eyed each other for a moment before Tashigi jerked awkwardly, the strings pressing her into motion again. She pushed at Law to get him to start walking again, and Law hissed as her hand knocked into his shoulder.

After several steps, Law said, “You’re right. It’s a long and ugly story, and it’s personal on both sides.” He looked back at her. “If you want to get out of this, we need to work together.”

“What do you want?”

“Information.”

“What kind of information?”

“Where we’re going, for starters,” Law listed. “Whether he has more allies we’ll need to account for. Anything about what he wants.”

“Revenge?” Tashigi suggested as if Law were an idiot to have not considered it. Law barely suppressed an eye roll.

“Having a chat over breakfast rather than him beating the shit out of me would indicate something… else. More. I don’t know.” Law couldn’t help but feel like the meeting had been an assessment. Of what, Law had no idea. And that made him uneasy.

“So, what? You want me to spy on him for you?”

“Consider it to be for yourself. And your men,” Law countered. Then he went for it: “And your boss.”

Tashigi inhaled sharply, and Law knew he had her. She’d been the one to push Smoker to work with Law and Luffy on Punk Hazard, after all. She was the practical one of that pair.

“Fine,” she agreed coldly, coming to a stop outside the brig door. “I’ll find out whatever I can.”

Law nodded and she opened the door. She shoved him inside and into his cell. Once Law’s cell door was locked, Tashigi turned to Smoker.

“Smoker-san…”

“Stay alive, Tashigi,” the Vice Admiral replied brusquely, cutting her off. “Whatever it takes. You hear me?”

Tashigi glanced back at Law briefly before nodding at Smoker. “You too,” she replied before being forced to retreat from the brig. The door shut with a clang behind her.

“Captain!” Penguin exclaimed, scurrying toward their shared cell bars. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Law replied, sitting down against the wall once more. He ran his hands tiredly over his face. “He just wanted to talk.”

“What?” Penguin sounded skeptical, and Law didn’t blame him. It wasn’t what he’d been expecting when he’d been taken from his cell either.

“I don’t know what he wants, but it doesn’t seem like it’s just revenge.” Law didn’t doubt revenge was part of whatever Doflamingo was up to, but there was something else. Something he wasn’t seeing yet.

“Now what?”

Law’s lips twisted up as he shifted to dig around in his pocket. “How do you feel about a bit of field surgery, Peng?”

-----

“You think he’s okay?”

Nami looked up from the map she’d been studying to see Chopper on the other side of the table. She smiled wanly at the reindeer, who was frowning worriedly. “Who, Torao?”

Over the years, Chopper and Law had developed an unexpected friendship as doctors; Nami thought it would never stop looking odd to see the two of them together, poring over journals or debating animatedly about something medical no one else could understand. But it made a certain kind of sense. Chopper pushed Law to remember the humanity behind medicine while Law pushed Chopper to challenge himself in ways he’d never thought he could manage. (And, Nami supposed, Law’s best friend was a polar bear mink, so who was to say what was odd?)

Nami looked at the vivre card on the table; after the initial scorching they’d discovered on the paper the day the Heart Pirates had called them for help, it had remained undamaged. That had been a good sign as they’d used it to track down their ally—no, friend.

Their alliance had technically run its course after Kaido’s defeat two years earlier, but Luffy had refused to let Law dissolve it, and Law hadn’t put up much more than token resistance. Though their situations had changed, especially with Law’s rise to Emperor and his decision to take over protecting territory Doflamingo and Kaido had left behind, the two crews had remained allies because of the friendships that had developed between them—and especially their captains. While Law had chosen, like most of the previous Emperors, to establish a territory with a home base, Luffy would not be tied down in his search for One Piece, so any islands he took under his protection ended up, by proxy, protected by Law as well, since Law was usually in a better position to send aid.

The Straw Hats had been in constant contact with the Heart Pirates after that first call; between Bepo’s and Nami’s calculations, they’d figured they’d been about two days apart at the time of Law’s capture so decided they’d make the best time if they both followed their portions of Law’s vivre card until they met up—or found Law.

“No. Well, yes,” Chopper replied, correcting himself. “I am worried about Torao, but we know he’s still alive from his vivre card, right?” Nami nodded. Chopper glanced out the window toward the deck. “I’m worried about Luffy.”

Nami turned and followed the little doctor’s gaze toward Luffy, who was sitting on the figurehead. She knew what Chopper meant; Luffy’s typical frenetic, playful energy had been subdued since the call from the Hearts. He hadn’t said much, other than to check with Nami on their progress and get food from Sanji, and spent most of his time on the figurehead, staring out toward the horizon. Nami knew from years of experience with her captain that he became serious when his loved ones were in danger, but she couldn’t help but feel there was more going on here.

According to her crewmates who had been in Dressrosa, something had happened between Law and Luffy on the castle rooftop when they were fighting Doflamingo that had brought the two men close. Robin seemed to have the best idea, but even she didn’t know the full story. In Wano and in the years after, Nami seen that connection in the way Luffy had glued himself to Law whenever they were together and in the way Law didn’t stop him, in shared smiles and hidden laughs, in shared food and lingering touches. She’d commented on it to Bepo once, and he’d nodded knowingly; the Hearts had noticed it too.

And now, Law was in danger from Doflamingo once more, and whatever had happened on the roof seemed to be coming back to Luffy. For all his openness, Luffy tended to keep personal worries to himself, and this seemed to be another case of that.

“I think he’s worried about Torao, too,” Nami said finally. She turned back to Chopper and forced herself to smile. “But it’ll fine be!”

“You think so?”

“Between those two idiot captains? And their highly competent crews? Doflamingo doesn’t stand a chance.”

Chopper huffed a laugh, and Nami spared one final glance for her idiot captain before returning to her map. She had another idiot captain to find.

-----

Law slumped wearily against the brig wall, sweat drenched and woozy with pain but free of the bullet in his shoulder. He’d awkwardly pressed himself as close to the Seastone bars separating his cell from Penguin’s as he could without touching them, biting down on his shirt to keep from crying out as Penguin used the tools in the surgical kit to dig out the Seastone bullet in Law’s shoulder (sans anesthesia). Penguin’s movements were awkward with the strange angle he’d been forced to work at and his own restraints limiting his movements, but he’d pushed through at Law’s encouragement.

Once Penguin had removed the bullet—and thankfully it was still whole—Law had nearly collapsed from the return of feeling, as though color had come back into his vision, after the Seastone had dulled his senses so acutely. Penguin had then stitched up the wound as best he could, refusing to let Law further risk infection the longer they sat in the dank, dirty brig. It was ugly and would scar, but Law had just nodded his thanks to his friend. Penguin, meanwhile, muttered darkly under his breath about having his captain’s blood on his hands.

The shackles on Law’s wrists still suppressed his powers, but the brain fog had lifted. Law could think again. And they would have an element of surprise on Doflamingo, as long as he thought Law bound twice over by Seastone.

Still, the pain from the makeshift surgery was intense, so Law spent the day drifting in and out of consciousness as his body forced him to rest to start healing as best it could in the face of the draining effects of the Seastone. Penguin woke him up every few hours to check in on him but otherwise let him be.

A heaviness sat on the air among the four prisoners as they waited to see when they’d garner their captor’s attention once more.

-----

The next evening, the brig door opened and Tashigi entered, flanked by two Marines. The soldiers unlocked Law’s cell and pulled him to his feet. Though the bullet in his shoulder was now gone, Law didn’t have to fake the grunt of pain as the healing wound was jostled.

“He wants to see you,” Tashigi said as Law exited his cell.

“I figured,” he replied dryly.

“Captain,” Penguin said. Law looked back at him. “Be careful.” There was an edge to his voice, and Law could understand his worry.

Law nodded and allowed himself to be led out of the brig. He glanced at Tashigi, wondering if she’d picked up any useful information since their conversation the day before, but her eyes flicked at the other two Marines before shaking her head minutely.

Interesting. She didn’t trust these men enough to share anything in front of them. Either they were being forced to report on one another or they were voluntarily helping Doflamingo.

Law frowned as they passed the door that had taken him to the deck the day before and instead up another set of stairs and down a hallway. Tashigi brushed past Law to knock on the door at the end of the hall.

“Herrenlos,” she whispered by his ear as she moved by him.

Law stiffened in surprise. The swordswoman had apparently picked up some information after all. But what was Herrenlos? Something niggled in the back of his mind, but he couldn’t quite place it.

“Enter,” Doflamingo called at the knock, and Law’s hands clenched into fists and unclenched in front of him.

Tashigi opened the door, and Law’s guards nudged him inside. He’d been taken to the captain’s quarters. There was a neatly-made bed, a dresser, a desk covered with scattered papers and maps, and a table with two chairs. Law’s eyes widened and a growl rose in his throat when he saw his hat on the dresser and Kikoku propped against the wall next to the bed. Doflamingo reclined in one of the chairs with one arm thrown casually over the back, the other holding some papers that the former Warlord watched Law over with a knowing smirk; he’d gotten the exact reaction he’d hoped for.

Law was going to make the bastard regret displaying Law’s belongings like trophies. But for now, he had to make sure the man believed he was completely helpless.

“I love what you’ve done with the place,” he drawled.

Doflamingo’s lips twitched before he dismissed Law’s guards. “Wait outside the door,” he told Tashigi. She nodded jerkily, not that she had a choice as she exited the room with one final look at Law. The word she’d whispered to him was obviously important, but what was it? Why did it sound so familiar?

“Sit,” Doflamingo directed in an uncomfortable echo of the previous morning. “Dinner will be here soon.”

Law contemplated resisting for only a moment before sitting of his own volition rather than let Doflamingo force his compliance. No, he needed to use this as an information-gathering operation, and getting into a spat over something so small wouldn’t help with that.

“And here I thought you’d forgotten about me,” Law said, doing his best to lounge in the chair casually despite his restraints.

Doflamingo’s smirk widened. “Never.”

Law felt an uncomfortable chill run down his spine, the implication clear; Doflamingo had never forgotten about Law, not after Minion Island, not after Dressrosa, and not now. They were forever linked. Law schooled his features.

Doflamingo eyed Law for another moment, as if making sure his message had been received, before returning his attention to the papers in his hand. If that was the way he was going to play this… Law looked around the room. He clenched his jaw as his eyes went to Kikoku, but he forced himself to keep looking. The papers and maps on the desk were obviously of the most interest, but he couldn’t make out what was on them from his current position.

After several silent minutes, there was a knock at the door. Doflamingo looked up. “That’ll be dinner,” he told Law before calling, “Enter.” Doflamingo rose and discarded the paper he’d been reading on the desk as two Marines entered with several trays of food. Law pushed himself up from his seat while Doflamingo’s back was turned to try to get a look at the desk but was unable to see more than the unfamiliar outlines of a few islands on a map that Doflamingo’s paper soon covered. Law sat back down, and the Marines quickly set the table with plates and silverware and placed several dishes in the middle before departing. Doflamingo returned to his chair and gestured at the food.

“Eat.”                                                                

Law still didn’t know what the other man was up to, but there was no point in weakening himself further by refusing food. He served himself a fish entree and vegetable side and set to awkwardly eating with the shackles still around his wrists. The food might not be Sanji’s, but it was significantly better than the scraps they’d been given in the brig. The two men ate in silence, Law unwilling to give the other man the satisfaction of speaking first.

“You know, Law,” Doflamingo said once both of their plates were empty. “I wasn’t lying when I said I’ve been following your rise over the last two years.”

Law raised an eyebrow. “They let you have the paper in Impel Down?”

“Fufufu, of course. One of my few luxuries as a prisoner. But the paper hasn’t been my only source.”

Law frowned, considering the soldiers Tashigi hadn’t wanted to speak in front of. “Some of the men on this ship are working for you.”

Doflamingo’s smirk simply widened. Law had his own sources within the Marines, so he wasn’t surprised Doflamingo did too, even after Vergo’s fall. He was starting to understand how Doflamingo’s takeover of the ship had happened after Smoker’s version of the story.

“How’s your alliance with Straw Hat?” Doflamingo asked after a moment.

Law’s eyes narrowed at the change in subject, but he didn’t say anything.

“Pirate alliances rarely last as long as yours has,” Doflamingo added. “I must congratulate you. But you did tell me once that Straw Hat can perform miracles.”

And Law had been right. Luffy was the reason Law was still alive today, not having died on Dressrosa as he’d expected to.

“What of it?” Law didn’t like the direction the conversation was taking.

“I only wonder if they’ll be able to perform yet another one.”

Law frowned. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“My source has their ship about a day out, moving very quickly in our direction.” Law’s eyes widened. His crew had called the Straw Hats?

Of course they had. It was the smart thing to do.

Doflamingo had been defeated by Luffy on Dressrosa, and Luffy had only grown stronger in the intervening years. Yet Doflamingo didn’t seem concerned at all.

In fact, he seemed pleased.

“You wanted them to come.”

“Very good,” Doflamingo replied. “I have a debt to settle with Straw Hat. But don’t worry, Law. I won’t kill them. Or your men.”

Law started. “What?”

“I have use for your men when they come for you, Law. They’re not far out either, by the way.” His smirk was practically feral. “But the Straw Hats? Well, how many Family members do you think Akainu will exchange for them?”

“Not a single member of your Family is worth one toenail of any of the Straw Hats,” Law hissed.

Doflamingo growled angrily, strings flying from his hand, binding Law to the chair. The inertia from the strings threw Law backwards, knocking the chair over and sending Law onto his back with a surprised oof as he was suddenly staring up at the ceiling and unable to move. The larger man rose from his chair, posture predatory as he rounded the table to tower over Law.

Doflamingo stepped one leg over Law’s chest and knelt, straddling him. Law recoiled from the invasion of his space, and Doflamingo reached down to grasp Law’s shoulder. He pressed hard as his thumb found the bullet wound. Law gasped, vision darkening around the edges, as the pressure increased and Doflamingo dug into the stitches and broke the wound open again.

“What?” Doflamingo frowned, and Law realized with a jolt that of course the string Fruit user would notice the messy stitches in his shoulder. Shit.

Doflamingo grabbed Law’s shirt and pulled the collar down to the side, revealing Law’s bare shoulder and the freshly bleeding wound. His thumb jabbed into the blood and rubbed around the wound, Law struggling not to writhe under the pressure, until he found the broken stitches. His eyes narrowed behind his glasses.

“You removed the bullet,” Doflamingo noted. “I should have known not to leave you on your own for too long. You’ve always been too clever for your own good, Law.” He rose and stepped back from his captive, pulling that familiar pistol from his waistband. He twirled it in his fingers a few times before aiming it at Law. Law went cold. “I should put another bullet in you, somewhere it won’t be so easily removed. Make sure you won’t cause any more trouble.”

“Why don’t you just kill me?” Law was getting sick of playing by the other man’s rules when he didn’t even know what game they were playing.

Doflamingo tilted his head, as if surprised by the question. “I need you alive, Law.”

“Why?”

“There’s something only you can do for me.”

Of course. Law huffed a laugh, remembering a similar moment on the castle roof in Dressrosa, putting as much disdain into it as he could manage. “How many times do I need to tell you? I’m not going to perform the Eternal Youth Surgery on you, you son of a bitch.”

“That’s not what I need you for.”

Law blinked. “Then wha—”

Doflamingo cut him off. “I’m dying. And you’re going to fix it.”

[lunnamars]

prompt: cold

Quick note: it's supposed to be for the Cold prompt from our ZoTash discord, but mine has a cold-ish theme, so forgive me anyhow. Your gal here is having a writer’s block, but I wanted to inspire myself on the LuNa fic from HerPrettySmile. If you're into LuNa, you should definitely check it out. It's one of my favorites fics!

The first time Sanji noticed them was back in Loguetown. When they were fleeing, Zoro was having a fight with a pretty lady and the cook had been outraged. The mosshead had never shown any interest in any woman whatsoever, so seeing him having a fight with one was absurd.

She was a swordsman, the blonde noticed. A perfect match, he thought. He never knew if the first-mate even had any interest in relationships, but if he does one day, the cook thought someone like that pretty lady would fit. 

Sanji had never known what was the result of the fight though. He wanted to stay at the time, but it was raining and so fucking cold, his clothes soaked, and he couldn’t even light his cigarette. So he trusted the Mosshead wouldn’t do anything stupid and went on his way. Zoro didn’t say anything when he came back to the ship and the cook never asked. 

However, he didn’t seem happy about something, and Sanji wondered what happened to the pretty lady.

Well, it’s not like we’ll meet again.

—

The first time Nami noticed that there was something odd with the relationship between Zoro and the Navy Lady was way back in Alabasta. She had never seen the green-haired man so agitated and flustered (and it wasn’t because of the fucking heat from that freaking country), not even when he was dealing with Sanji. That woman was definitely weird and also dangerous with her unceasing wish of chasing them. 

He had run away from the woman with glasses and Nami was stunned. She remembers him saying “She’s the only one I can’t fight” and the surprise hit her hard as a punch from Luffy. The only one he can’t fight? There’s no such a thing in Roronoa Zoro’s vocabulary — he’d never back down from a fight. Ever! Especially against a marine, even if she’s was a woman. 

She tried to drag the truth out of him, but to no avail. Zoro simply ignored her at the time and all the other times she had questioned him. Sometimes, he’d even give her a cold shoulder for poking her nose in too much.

Well, whatever. She doesn’t seem like she can pose a threat to him anyway.

—

Robin was almost sure there was something between the two swordsmen and she figured it out on Punk Hazard. She had seen how it was a really complicated and strained relationship and probably Zoro had his reasons. It was not like him to lose his temper over simple words and with strangers. 

She noticed how Zoro tried to act cold as that God-forsaken island towards the marine lady, but his efforts proved to be fruitless. He did lose his mind with her during the battle, but wasn’t able to leave her behind to die from Caeser’s gas. He had even bandaged her almost frostbitten shoulder! 

But there were two reasons she had been led to believe they were not strangers to each other: while running with the kids and the G-5 sailors, she heard them gossiping how the “Swirly Brow bro” had said the “Sword bro” was a softie inside and they didn’t need to worry about “Captain-chan”. Robin agreed, it was very well put. That was the first.

The second was when they were at the victory celebration, pirates and sailors together, she saw Tashigi fetching a glove for Zoro because his hands were cold. They argued in the end, yes, but she didn’t miss the looks they gave each other when they thought the other wasn’t looking. 

Both seemed curious, but Tashigi had a longing in her eyes and he had recognition in his good eye.

Oh my, something did change.

—

Usopp had never paid attention to that Navy Lady that Sanji and Robin would talk about sometimes. He just knew she was Smoker’s subordinate, she was not that strong and had a weird rivalry with Zoro. He didn’t know why she even bothered considering their gap in strength was huge. 

Until he saw her fight in Wano. She was not strong as Zoro and Law yet, but she stood her ground pretty fucking beautifully in order to protect the Strawhat’s swordsman. Which was odd, taking into account her past behavior and the way she acted towards him when she first landed on the Samurai’s country. 

Tashigi had been straight up cold towards Zoro, full of icy remarks, and indifferent looks. But that was before their swordsman almost got himself killed. Zoro was on the floor and Tashigi protected him, fighting tooth and nail. She had won and it had been a pretty impressive battle, but, in the end, she ended up badly hurt. 

Chopper took care of her, of course, but the other strange thing was that Zoro did not leave her side. He even stood up to Smoker when the older man demanded him to get the fuck out of her bedroom. 

Zoro did not obey. And Usopp was flabbergasted.

She was just a marine and initially, the sniper thought Zoro was just doing that out of obligation. The woman had saved his life, after all. But then, he seemed pretty fucking happy when she woke up (even if they got back to yelling at each other) in his own peculiar way and for some reason, started to follow her around.

Her frigid demeanor was no more and she would even send a smile his way sometimes. They’d go back to arguing in the end though.

Those two are really troublesome.

—

Brook was old enough to spot correctly the moment when the pretty Navy Lady stopped being Zoro’s enemy and became his friend. He also knew they were a step away from being lovers, but not yet. Their established friendship was recent, but they weren’t able to hide the looks they gave each other all the time. 

Only when the other wasn’t looking, of course. He had a strong longing in his good eye and she had recognition in hers. In Brook’s opinion, they were two kids dancing around each other, without the courage to stop. 

It wasn’t just the looks. It was the small gestures — the way he would wrap a scarf around her neck when she was shivering because “you’ll catch a cold and fuck everything up, so take care of yourself, woman”, the way they’d always stay or fight together or how he would sulk in the corner when she was giving Law more attention than necessary.

Or, especially, how he gave one of his earings to her before the girl left to end the revolution she, Smoker and Aokiji started in the Navy. She had looked at him with surprise and he was asking for a promise in complete silence. Tashigi smiled and nodded, and maybe that was the step they needed. 

Yohohoho, young love. Always an adventure.

—

Smoker had always known how that brat was special to that silly little girl. He knew since she had let the Strawhats go in Alabasta, when she had blushed when that fucking boy carried her in Punk Hazard, when she had stood between death and the Pirate Hunter in Wano, risking her life for the sake of that punk.

The Vice-Admiral also knew that, from the brat’s part, Tashigi has always been equally special. He knew when he saw him saving her in Punk Hazard and when he stood up to him in Wano. He noticed when his cold demeanor turned into a friendly one and their bickering stopped being full of hate and poisonous only to become something amicable. Or even when he had cuddled with her in a freaking frozen night.

When all was said and done, he saw her run to the pirate and hug him, face full of relief and happiness for seeing him alive. The brat had been fucking hurt while protecting her with all his might. Smoker had to admit that the boy would hunt anyone who would hurt her. 

They had mended their wounds, one never leaving the other’s side. Smoker was okay with it, what could he do? The heart wants what it fucking wants. He just didn’t need to catch them in a lip-lock in the middle of the party, kissing like there was no tomorrow and fucking oblivious to the people cheering around them. 

The G-5 men, the Strawhats, and the Revolutionary Army all screaming. Smoker didn’t know why they were so surprised, he has always known to be honest. And it was the same reason why he was not stupefied when she handed her resign letter followed by a wedding invitation. 

Her smile had been radiant as she was on the day of her marriage. It was extremely simple, it had quite some people and they were dressed in traditional Wano clothes. It almost didn’t have any ceremony, they both didn’t believe in any religion after all. It was supposed to be just a party, considering that parties are the Strawhat’s specialty. 

Everyone was drinking and dancing when he approached the fucking brat (now a full-grown man, to be fair, but Smoker would still consider him a punk), nodding and glaring at him. The pirate returned the glare and the now-Admiral just smirked. He didn’t want to play the father figure there, but someone had too. 

“I’ll kill you if you hurt her. I don’t fucking care if you’re the greatest swordsman in the world or any of that shit. I will kick your sorry ass, pirate,” Smoker used his most menacing tone to get his point across.

Zoro nodded and seriously, replied, “I won’t. You have my word.”

Smoker eyed him, taking all his features, from his stern and determined look to his strong posture. The brat-turned-man seemed to be speaking the truth.

“But aren’t you too old to be threatening people, Admiral?”, Zoro tilted his head and showed his usual cocky smile.

Smoker only rolled his eyes and turned his back to the current greatest swordsman in the world. What the hell that silly girl was thinking when she decided to marry that pirate?

Nevertheless, he had to admit the boy had some balls and in the end, Smoker admitted she’d be okay. They’d be okay. He’d miss her, but people always say that letting kids go is hard as fuck, right?

He snorted and lighted a single cigar. 

Fucking brat.

[goodwordguru]

One Piece MasterList [2016-2019]

Soul Jars [09-15-2016] With trembling hands, he unscrewed the top and lifted the glass until the soul was within its waxy confines. The jar was almost too small to contain it, but it did, and Marco closed it before clutching it to his chest.

Those Damn Brats! [10-18-2016]

Eye Contact [10-20-2016] Ace must've made some kind of noise because the boy looked up. They both froze as their eyes met and the world exploded in color.

Filling The Void [10-28-2016] Sometime after the events of Dressrosa, after parting with his precious little brother, Sabo has a dream where he's faced with Ace – not the Ace who he'd known as a child, but the Ace who had died without knowing that he still had two brothers.

Closed Doors [10-31-2016] Closed Doors: What's behind the door? Why is it closed?

Harrowing Inferno [11-28-2016] He turned, apprehension and excitement boiling together in his mind and bringing a large grin to his face. "Ace!"

Freedom [12-14-2016] (MarcoAce Week 2016)

Hobbies [12-15-2016] "Your wings are your arms, right? Do they still feel like arms, or do they register as wings in your brain when you're like this?” Cue exasperated eye closing and sigh. (MarcoAce Week 2016)

Laugh [12-16-2016] Marco laughed then; it was soft, unlike the delighted laugh he'd shared with the others, but it held an affection for Ace that he hadn't received since he left Luffy. (MarcoAce Week 2016)

Heroic/Cowardly [12-17-2016] After breakfast and chores were done and over with, Usopp gathered the crew to tell a tale of the brave Captain Usopp's grand dream. (Usopp Week 2016)

First Impressions/Beginnings [03-21-2017] Ace was all alone out there on Mount Corvo, and seemed to have been alone for a long time, and Sabo was all alone, despite being surrounded by people back in Grey Terminal. Ace had to be feeling just as lonely as him, even if he refused to show it. So he wouldn't give up. He would be the best soulmate ever! Ace would never have to feel alone again. "Hey! Ace!" he shouted, charging up the mountain in the direction the brunet had gone. "Wait up!" (SaboAce Week 2017)

Idiot/Genius [03-22-2017] “Are you a complete idiot?” (SaboAce Week 2017)

Sailing/Adventure [03-23-2017] Sabo was recovered by the Revolutionaries, like in canon, but he was not permitted to join the Revolutionaries because Dragon did not want to drag a child into such a war against the world/World Government (Koala hasn't joined at this point; she joined after Sabo did in canon). However, Dragon agreed to drop Sabo off at Loguetown so he was as far from Dawn Island as possible without going into the Grandline. At the age of 18, Sabo decided to set sail for the Grandline to have an adventure. (SaboAce Week 2017)

Scars/Tattoos [03-23-2017] Life was going pretty good, considering the hassle it took for Ace to pass High School in the final stretch.  But in Ace's experience, when things began going too well, something bad was bound to happen. (SaboAce Week 2017)

Blush/Innocent [03-25-2017] “Hey, Ace? Where do babies come from?” (SaboAce Week 2017)

Regret/Hallucination [03-26-2017] "Happy birthday, Sabo. I hope you're freer in the stars than you were down on earth." (SaboAce Week 2017)

Only Sparks Remain [03-27-2017] “But I still can't believe that crybaby became so strong... Can you, Ace?” (SaboAce Week 2017)

Say Cheese [05-10-2017] Art was Usopp's passion.

Burning Memories [05-17-2017] "Sabo-kun? Are you alright?" "Huh? Oh, yeah. Just a weird dream..."

Silence [05-29-2017] Peace, Law discovered, was not easy to come upon while on-board the Thousand Sunny. (10 Days of LawLu 2k17)

Terminal [05-29-2017] He felt like maybe he would be alright with being in a relationship with Luffy as opposed to just a friendship. (10 Days of LawLu 2k17)

Recherché [05-30-2019] “I love you, Torao,” he mumbled into Law's dark hair. “Mm... I love you, too, Luffy-ya.” (10 Days of LawLu 2k17)

Achromatic [05-31-2017] He didn't know what he was looking for, though, until he saw him. (10 Days of LawLu 2k17)

Wish [06-01-2017] Whether it was fighting against a Yonko or dealing with the demons of Law's past that tried to drag him down, down, down, Luffy was there with a smile to make everything better, make everything okay. So why wasn't everything okay right now? (10 Days of LawLu 2k17)

The Dreamer [07-14-2017] A lucid dream is a dream during which the dreamer is aware of dreaming. During lucid dreaming, the dreamer may be able to exert some degree of control over the dream characters, narrative, and environment. (ZoLu Week 2017)

Sunshine [07-15-2017] The world was infested by cruel and corrupt souls. As far as Zoro knew, it had always been that way. (ZoLu Week 2017)

Eternity [08-12-2017] I’m sorry, Torao... (10 Days of LawLu 2k17)

Family & Relation(ships) [01-11-2018] Family, friends, nakama and more, a lot of people love Usopp and he loves them, too. (Usopp Week 2016)

Dreams / Ambitions [01-11-2018] "You are going to bounce back from any fight we get into, whether we win or we lose, and I'm not going to doubt myself, right?" (SanLu Week 2016)

Die Traumdeutung [02-06-2018] He found that staying up for most of the night usually left him falling asleep in time to witness more pleasant dreams. His favorite, which showed up the rarest out of all the dreams, was when he found himself submerged in the ocean, surrounded by fish he used to catch in his own village and fish he was skeptical about the existence of but couldn't deny looked amazing (and appetizing).

Dragonheart [02-14-2018] Dark blue scales, tinted maroon from his blood, had pushed their way out of his skin like thorns from a rose stem. Taking a bath in the middle of the night to rid himself of the blood and throwing away the ruined shirt, Sabo spent the rest of the night pursuing answers on his laptop, finding that the appearance of scales was just stage one of a fledgling dragon's shift to adulthood. Sabo felt ill to his stomach.

Rekindled [02-14-2018] WIP He had died saving Luffy, and now he was alive.

5 Times Trafalgar Law Found Himself Involved In Sentimental Situations (And 1 Time When Words Weren't Involved) [03-04-2018] Law wasn't a sentimental person. In fact, he was best known for his cold and almost sadistically cruel personality. While most information about the North Blue captain were just rumors, he never did anything to prove the public wrong. Not where they could see, anyway.

Hugs/Cuddles [03-21-2018] “Okay, I think I'm finished,” the blond finally said. “You think?” Ace repeated, looking vaguely unimpressed as he took a long drag of his cigarette. Sabo ignored him as he dropped the empty spray-paint can into his bag, where seven more equally empty cans rested. The graffiti took him about an hour to create, and it was a pain to hold an illusion over the alley the whole time, but now that he was done, he could trigger the spell and they could finally sleep. (SaboAce Week 2018)

Then/Now [03-22-2018] Sabo never lost his memories and he didn't go with the Revolutionaries. Instead, he returned to his brothers. (SaboAce Week 2018)

Love At First Sight [03-28-2018] “I see you made it,” he said with a small laugh. He extended a hand and Ace shook it, made speechless by how soft it was. (Kidd was smirking at him out of the corner of his eye.) “I'm Outlook Sabo.” “Portgas D. Ace.” (SaboAce Week 2018)

Laughter [05-29-2018] He could hear Luffy snoring behind him, the lanky man's arm and leg thrown lazily over Law's waist. The doctor basked in the warmth of the quasi-embrace before tossing away the stray limbs and sitting up. (10 Days of LawLu 2k18)

Back to Back + Healing/Injured [05-31-2018] “Ow. Ow! Oooooow!” Law really wanted to punch Luffy, but unfortunately, he was wrist-deep in the other's chest cavity. (10 Days of LawLu 2k18)

Love [02-17-2019] “Bonney, it is ass crack o'clock,” Ace all but growled when he answered his phone at five-something in the morning. “What-” “Who even says that?” Bonney interrupted with an ugly snort, sounding much too awake. That didn't bode well for Ace.

Looking For Yourself [06-06-2019] Trafalgar D. Water Law disliked kids, whether they were his age – twelve – or not. He'd just lost his taste for being around anyone after his little sister and parents died and he was placed into the foster system. So when, to his irritation, a little brat who couldn't have been older than six climbed up next to him on a park bench he'd been reading on, he was less than thrilled. Additionally, the pest wouldn't stop running his mouth once he began to speak.

Plans Made (and Ruined?) [06-06-2019] “That's why I'm here,” he said. “What?” Luffy gave him a look as if he was missing something that should've been obvious. “I don't want you to be alone.” “I love being alone,” Law deadpanned, “so you can go now.” Luffy grinned broadly. “Nah. Because then you'd be lonely, and you hate that.” (10 Days of LawLu 2k19)

Clockwork [11-29-2019] Sanji rose with the sun like clockwork.

[vannahfanfics]

Hello! I stumbled onto your Luffy x Nami fic "Natural" last night and absolutely adored it! I was wondering, if you take fanfic requests, could you write a cute friendship one shot for Law and Chopper? Their interaction in your fic was just so adorable that I'd love to see you do more. Thank you for your hard work!

Thank you so much for requesting this; I had a lot of fun writing it! Chopper is the best boi, don’t try to change my mind~

EDIT: My dumb ass forgot Chopper was in Zou during the Dressrosa arc. We’re gonna pretend he wasn’t. :D 

Just Another Day in Crazy Land

Law squinted slightly as he stepped out into the morning, raising a hand to his eyes to shield against the persistent and bright rays of the sun shining in the clear sky above; it was quite a difference compared to the dank, gloomy shack he had just exited. Really, it was only so dark because the windows were shielded with thick, dark curtains, staving off any prying eyes that may discover the crew of pirates recovering within its unordinary wooden walls, a tangle of limbs and blankets and bandages. In the distance, Law could see the also-recovering capital of Dressrosa Kingdom; the jagged rubble of collapsed buildings made ugly peaks against the blue sky, like some sort of twisted mountain range. It had only been a night since Law had accomplished his goal of putting a bitter end to Donquixote Doflamingo, with Straw Hat Luffy’s help, and he really ought to stay inside and continue recuperating; however, if he spent another minute amongst their snores and snorts and mumbled lunacies, he was liable to go insane. Additionally, Law had never been one to laze around and sleep all day, even when he had sustained injuries such as those he bore now. Thus, bored and wide awake, he had been lured outside by the rising sun. With a small sigh, he leaned against the wall of the building with his sword propped up beside him, watching the sun paint the sky of dawn.

“Um… Mr., um, Law, sir?” The Heart Pirate captain glanced down with raised eyebrows as he was addressed by the unmistakable, high-pitched, shaky voice of Tony Tony Chopper the reindeer; the little pirate doctor was standing in the threshold of the ajar cabin door, looking like he was trying to peer out from behind the building but was oddly in the complete opposite direction, his entire body sticking out with half his face hidden by the wooden structure. He stiffened as Law turned his gaze on him. Law had discovered he was a skittish thing, and Law in particular intimidated him. He didn’t fault him, really; Law hardly ever smiled and knew he had an intense demeanor about him.

“What is it, Chopper-ya? Do you need something?” Sweat began to bead down his furry face as he debated continuing the conversation and his gaze flickered about before settling on his hooved feet.

“I was, um, wondering if you would take me into town to get more medicine… My stores are pretty low…” That was no shock; Luffy and Zoro were more bandage and salve than person at this point, and the rest of them hadn’t escaped unscathed, either. Chopper stared at him hesitantly, likely expecting a blatant refusal. It’s not like Law wanted to do it, but in the state of disrepair that the city was, with some of Doflamingo’s minor goons still running about and the entire place a construction zone, it likely wasn’t a safe place for the little reindeer to wander by himself, either. No doubt, the rest of the Straw Hats were still passed out on the floor, otherwise Chopper wouldn’t have come within ten yards of him and asked him a favor. Besides, he was awake anyway, so he might as well give himself something to do and hang around one of the loons he actually had something in common with. With a resigned sigh, he pushed himself up off the building and grabbed his sword, swinging it up to prop it on his shoulder, and then looked intently at Chopper.

“All right, then, let’s get going.”

“Wah! Okay!” he squealed, darting inside to scramble around and gather up his money and take inventory of what he needed. With all the banging and bumbling happening inside, Law was amazed that none of the slumbering pirates awoke, but as the reindeer scampered out breathing heavily and shut the door behind him, Law heard no signs of life from within. He turned on his heel to set off across the rocky landscape towards the shell of the capital, and heard Chopper’s hooves striking the rocks as he scurried to keep up with him. Law didn’t pay much attention at first, his dark eyes sweeping across the uninteresting rocky steppe of bleak, muted tones and scrubby grasses and shrubs, but eventually he became aware of Chopper’s labored breathing and unsteady gait and he glanced over his shoulder to see him lagging behind, so he took more care to match his stride to the little reindeer’s. Zoro-ya would kill me if I lost him. Law wasn’t afraid of him, but he also didn’t care to have to go up against him, either.

“Wow. Look at it; the Birdcage did so much damage,” Chopper breathed as they came upon the outskirts of the city, the first to be sliced to ribbons by Doflamingo’s power. Since Law had slowed down a little, he had lost the touch of exhaustion to him, and flitted about Law’s feet as he drank in the mass destruction with a mixture of awe and horror. The road was not so much a road, as the dirt path had been eclipsed by the corpses of residential buildings. Law carefully picked his way across the labyrinth of carved stone and shattered glass with Chopper hopping along behind. At first it was easily navigable, but as they headed deeper into the capital, the destroyed shells of the building became more densely packed, spilling over the road in mountainous heaps. Several times Law had to clamber over collapsed sections and pause to grab Chopper by the back of his shirt to haul him over, and every time to little reindeer went limp in his grasp, freezing like a cat held by its scruff, until Law set him down again and he would hop up blushing and rubbing the back of his neck while he sputtered gratuitous remarks.  

After about half an hour of picking their way through the ruins, they entered the area where the pirates and the citizens had made their stand against the birdcage; aside from the deep scores in the ground and a few clipped-off sections of a few buildings, the area was relatively unharmed. It was here that the two pirates finally stumbled upon signs of life- clotheslines strung between adjacent buildings with drying fabrics fluttering in the breeze, houseplants and barrels and decorative items bringing color into the otherwise colorless roads and buildings of stone and wood, a few people strolling about or chatting idly across the way to each other. Chopper got all flustered again when he had to ask a young woman where their marketplace was currently set up, and then he shyly related it to Law, pointing down the street before trotting ahead of him, face scrunched up as he set himself into mission mode. Law strolled along behind the reindeer, his dark eyes creeping into every alleyway and dark corner; it was common knowledge now that he had been instrumental in Doflamingo’s downfall, and the lower-ranking brutes that were still skulking about would no doubt like to get their revenge against him for ruining their paychecks.

They must have been going the right way, because it wasn’t long before the air was filled with the hum of countless voices; shouts and calls and chatter bounced off the buildings as they approached, and through the gaps in the structures Law could see colored fabrics of tents and banners flapping about in the wind. Lights were strung between lampposts, indicating that the market still had a very active nightlife, and the simple stone beneath his feet gave way to elegant cobblestone arranged in a concentric circular pattern throughout the marketplace. He came up on the entrance, where Chopper was perched up on a barrel with one hoof held to his eyes as he scanned the throng for a suitable stall. Law hovered on the edge of the crowd, having no desire to venture within; the place was packed with people. Apparently neighboring islands had heard of the struggle within Dressrosa, and vendors had thought it quite the money-making venture, to bring their wares to the recovering city. Law heard them shouting above the cacophony, offering food and clothing and other things for cheap, good-luck charms and talismans and other scams, “buy-one-get-one” and “half off for five minutes!” The corner of his mouth twitched at the thought of diving into the chaos, but there was no way he could let Chopper go in there by himself, because he would be trampled for sure.

When Law looked at the barrel, there was just empty air where Chopper had been sitting a few seconds ago, and his heart stopped as he realized he was dead meat.

“Shit! Chopper-ya, where did you go?” he shouted and shoved his way into the throng of people without another moment’s consideration. He used the scabbard of his sword to make himself a wider berth in the crowd, and though he got cold looks and affronted gasps from the people there, he righteously didn’t care because he was too busy looking for the doctor. He stumbled out of the writhing crowd on the right side of the market, dashing from vendor to vendor gasping “Haveyouseenatalkingreindeer?” and before the person had even finished refusing and tried offering his wares he would be scrambling off to the next. Law had made a half-circuit of the marketplace and was descending further into a panic as he realized he would be on the receiving end of Zoro’s katanas until he heard distinctive wailing amongst the crowd.

“Wahhhhh! Lawwwww, where arrrrrrrrrre you?”

“Hold on, Chopper-ya, I’m coming!” Law called out before climbing up onto a barrel beside a stall, snapping at the vendor, “Shut your damn mouth, can’t you see I’m busy?!” when he sidled over to the edge of the stall to try to sell him some girly-ass necklaces. He straightened up with his hand held to his eyes to block that annoyingly bright damn sun while he surveyed the gaps in the crowd, looking for any sign of the crying reindeer. His shoulders sagged as he searched for a minute or so to no avail, until finally he caught a glimpse of brown fur and curved horns; his eyes locked onto a sniffling Chopper, who was miserably talking to a brawny man who definitely did not look like he was concerned for Chopper’s well-being. Oh, fuck, he’s gonna bribe him with candy or something and make off with him! he thought in fear, and practically swan-dived off the barrel into crowd. He shoved his way through the men and women frantically, ignoring the cries and curses, and just as the man was reaching down to grab Chopper, Law threw himself out, slid on his belly across the cobblestone, and wrapped Chopper up on his arms while he glared savagely up at the very confused man. “Fuck off. My reindeer.”

“Um, look, I don’t think-“

“I said fuck off! My reindeer! Mine!” Law hissed, practically rabid from his period of heightened emotions, and the man knit his eyebrows as he leaned back and looked at Chopper hesitantly.

“It’s okay! This is who I was looking for! Thank you very much, mister!” the reindeer laughed as he repeatedly squished down the top of Law’s fluffy hat, and which each movement his fur brushed against Law’s cheek; that’s how closely he was holding him. The man looked a bit disgruntled, eyeing Law suspiciously, but the Heart Pirate just continued to glare savagely at him until he shrugged his shoulders and disappeared back into the crowd. Heaving a sigh, Law slowly sat up and brushed the dirt of his black clothes before his intense glare flickered to Chopper. The reindeer instantly stiffened and tears up again, quivering. Law debated yelling at him for a moment, but decided that it wasn’t worth the effort and just settled for flicking him hard in the forehead. “Ow!” he yelped while tenderly rubbing the spot.

“Don’t do that again.”

“Okay… Sorry…” Chopper mumbled obediently as he continued to rub his forehead despondently. “You looked like you didn’t want to go in the crowd, so I thought that maybe I could just be quick, but there’s so many people here that I got swept away…” Law exhaled sharply out of his nose as he looked away awkwardly; he made a mental note to not let his emotions and thoughts show so easily to the little reindeer, lest they end up in more near-disasters like such. He pulled himself to his feet, using his sword as leverage, before propping it on his shoulder again and looking at him pointedly.

“Look, I said I would take you to the market, and I meant it. Now, from this point on, hold onto my cloak so you don’t get lost,” he ordered.

“But-“

“Hoof. Cloak. Now.” As the harshness descended into Law’s voice, Chopper squeaked and hurriedly clutched onto Law’s cloak with his little hooves, nervously gulping. Once the reindeer had securely latched on, Law groaned slightly and let the tension melt from his body; when he opened his eyes, he noticed that he had gathered quite a crowd of concerned-looking people. “What the fuck are you all looking at? Mind your own goddamn business. I’ve got shopping to do!” he snapped with bristling shoulders, and they hurriedly dispersed, not hasty to incite more of his rage. He heard Chopper giggling and he looked down with grinding teeth. “What?”

“Sorry, it’s just kinda funny. You remind me of Zoro.”

“Is that supposed to be a compliment? He’s an idiot.” Law pinched the bridge of his nose, hoping that the circus of clowns he had been traveling with was not rubbing off on him too much. He glanced down at Chopper out of the corners of his eyes to see him still grinning, and Law allowed his lips to curl into a faint smile. At the very least, he wasn’t bored anymore. “All right, Chopper-ya, let’s get back to what we were doing, yeah?”

“Mhmm! Y’know, you’re not as mean as I thought you were.” As Law lead him out of the middle of the crowd toward the outskirts, he laughed bitterly as he hung his head, admittedly a little sad that the reindeer had been so scared of him.

“Thanks, Chopper-ya…”

“Will you teach me some stuff about medicine sometime? Pretty please? I still have so much to learn!” the reindeer asked with sparkling eyes, and Law could not help but smile in bemusement.

“Sure. Medicine first, though,” he smirked as he led him over to the proper stall, and when they were close enough the reindeer let go of his cloak to scamper over to the stall, a small skip in his step as he beamed in glee. As Law watched him, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly at the mental image of being the apparent caretaker of the excitable little creature, no matter how hard he tried he could not wipe the small smile off his face. Just another day in Crazy Land with the Straw Hats.

They’re a headache sometimes, but they’re not that bad.

Enjoy this oneshot? Feel free to perusemy Tableof Contents!

[neverwatchedonepiece]

652-654: "The Last - and Bloodiest - Block! Block D Battle Begins!", "A Decisive Battle! Giolla vs the Straw Hats!" and "Beautiful Sword! Cavendish of the White Horse!"

“Complication?” 

YOU ARE A CELESTIAL DRAGON!!

Or is he...?

Shins of Steel

Usually leave the huge reveals to the end but I can’t wait to talk about this major plot point, since it’s knocked a dent into my immovable “All Celestial Dragons Are Wet Lettuces” viewpoint. It’s like I smugly posted a “Change My Mind” meme and Doflamingo cracked his knuckles and proved me wrong.

Or did he?

After opening with Rebecca and Cavendish in the Colosseum (more on that later), the story veered back to Law, Doflamingo and Fujitora. I thought, “This is nice. Haven’t seen Law in a while. Let’s see what the rascal is up to.”

He was pretty much where Oda had left him: running like hell from a chuckling Doflamingo. And he was still reeling from Doflamingo’s deception.

“I have no interest in your past!” Law proclaimed. Which was totally unfair because I was definitely interested.  “The only people who can use the World Government to deceive us are Celestial Dragons!”

“So what?” Doflamingo answered.

At this point I figured Doflamingo somehow had them in his pocket. That Doflamingo was so wealthy and well-connected he could even manipulate them.

There was a flurry of attacks. Doflamingo pulled a Sasuke vs Orochimaru in the chuunin exams: wired up Law and pinned him to a tree. He was like, “You can’t buy any more time, Law.”

“You said it’s complicated before,” Law said, (buying time). What do you mean?”

But Doflamingo is not so easily led into talking.

“If you wanna chat, hand over Caesar and his heart first.”

“Caesar... no, those SMILEs are that important to you? I guess they are,” Law laughed. “Without the SMILEs, Kaidou’s gonna kill you and it’s all over for you.”

A different sort of attempt at buying time, as Law’s shit-talking made Doflamingo lose his temper and attack. Law shambled his way out of the literal bind but Doflamingo was too quick. It was lucky Fujitora was there because Doflamingo was ready to kill and loot for Caesar’s heart.

Boom went the gravity. Law was pinned to the ground beneath crushing force. (I think I’ve said this before but Fujitora’s power is... it’s just great.)

Doflamingo was like, “Wtf, Fujitora? I almost had him, you party pooper!”

Fujitora, who has played this entire situation suspiciously by-the-book, just said, “Gotta stop you right there, Heavenly Yaksha. I am here to arrest, not execute. Soz.”

Doflamingo had a quiet seethe to himself, then said, “FINE! But I need Caesar’s heart back.” Once Doflamingo stringed the heart into his hands, he cheered up a bit. The odds seemingly in his favour, he was more willing to talk. “By the way, you seem quite curious about that complication I mentioned. You wanna hear about it?”

At this point, I was thinking, “Law, if you do not say yes, I will start flipping tables.”

Luckily, Doflamingo was now in a talkative mood.

“A long time ago - it goes back eight-hundred years, Law - twenty kings from twenty countries came together at the centre of the world and formed one giant organisation. The World Government. The kings who created it decided to move to Mariejois and live there with their families. The Nefertari family of Alabasta refused, so there were nineteen, to be exact. The descendants of those creators who still live there and reign over the world are known as the Celestial Dragons. It means, however, that those nineteen countries lost their royal families eight-hundred years ago. In those countries, they elected new kings out of necessity and new royal families arose. In the case of my country, Dressrosa, the new royalty was the Riku Family. And the old family who moved to Mariejois as the creators of the world was the Donquixote family.”

THE DONQUIXOTE FAMILY.

“But, but, but....” I thought. “Weren’t all Celestial Dragons useless, dangerous spoiled brats like St Charloss and What’s-His-Face who washed up on Fishman Island?” Doflamingo is hyper-competent. How could this be?? Muh prejudices!

I guess that explained the Heavenly Yaksha nickname. Heavenly is similar to celestial, right? I suppose Vergo’s warning to Law, re. lack of knowledge on Doflamingo’s past also makes sense now. Law was technically pitting himself against a Celestial Dragon who can pull World Government-level strings. 

Not only that, but it seems the situation really is complicated.

Because Doflamingo had a bit more to say.

“So you’re called a Celestial Dragon, Doflamingo!” Law raged.

“I was. But not anymore. What is bloodline? What is destiny? I don’t think there are many people who have lived such a chequered life as mine. I wish I could tell the story of my life before I met you, over drinks. But I don’t have time for that. I’ve got to do something about the Strawhats in Dressrosa. I know there are quite a few people who underestimated them and got hurt.”

THANK YOU, ODA!

The plot gods have answered my plea. But these answers have raised only more questions.

1. Doflamingo used to be a Celestial Dragon. Not anymore. What happened? Did he abandon the rank willingly or was it taken from him? The whole “What is bloodline? What is destiny?” stuff is highly suspicious. Makes me think Doflamingo is not a fan of the Celestial Dragons.

2. The Riku Family. They were the ones who took over. They were elected fair and square. Everything seemed to be fine. Until Doflamingo came back to claim the territory his family abandoned eight-hundred years ago. Why return to Dressrosa? The answer to this question is probably tied up with point one.

3. The Nefertari were Originals. Even back then, the future Celestials must have been total moonfruits because the Nefertaris were like, “Ehhhh, nah, you guys go and have a good time on your island.” Imagine being stuck with those losers for eight-hundred years? No thanks.

4. Not underestimating the Strawhats. Doflamingo is smart. He has seen these new whippersnapper pirates topple too many Big Names and institutions to ignore the threat they pose to his territory. I actually cheered when he said this. A villain who can lay aside ego for the sake of the task at hand. I suppose Doflamingo does have the benefit of hindsight. Crocodile never had that luxury.

After that, there was a funny scene with Caesar and a heart-swap (Law still has his heart! Those heat-seeking Karma missiles are locked on Caesar. (LOCK ONNNNN!)) Fujitora also heard a KABOOM of thunder from the direction of the sea, even though the weather was perfectly calm. Law knew that would be Nami. The Strawhats were heading his way.

This was not a good thing.

Amid the chaos, Law made a desperate bid for freedom. Doflamingo pursued. He tried to lure him away but unfortunately, Doflamingo is smart.

Which leads us nicely to...

Debatable, But Okay...

(Side note: I loved how Toei segued seamlessly from Doflamingo’s sinister villain reveal laughter to Brook’s cheerful deceit laughter in 653. Did me a big lol there.)

And at first it seemed like Brook had found a new pal on Sunny. Not only that... he had betrayed the Strawhats? Surely not?

Had Soul King placed his art above his solid gold friendships with Nami and Chopper? Why was he hanging with Giolla? This was an outrage!

Giolla wanted to surprise Law (and gain Donquixote points) by picking up Caesar in Sunny instead of the Strawhats. Oh, what an excellent day it had turned out to be. Her latest art transformation depicted the tragedy of Dressrosa so perfectly! And it would only take ten more minutes for Nami, Chopper and Momonosuke to become part of her art and suffocate.

Like a total rookie, she babbled her plan to Brook, who smiled (if he could smile) and nodded and played the perfect gentleman. In the background, the others wailed and lamented Brook deserting them for art.

“May I play a song to celebrate?” he asked.

“Of course!”

“Then could you turn my violin and bow back to normal, please?”

Oh, Brook, you absolute legend. As soon as Giolla made that fatal error, Brook said, “You see this violin? There’s a cane sword inside. I already cut you.”

Suddenly, Brook was the hero! (Brook is always the hero.) Imagine doubting him, Nami and Chopper, you silly sausages!

There was a bit I didn’t like much that followed when they bickered over who would cuff Giolla. Nami demanded that Brook or Chopper did it, which was ridiculous because they are Devil Fruit eaters. If they touched those cuffs, their strength would sap and Giolla could overpower them. Nami, you should have done it. Doesn’t matter if you think you’re a coward or you view yourself as weak, you should have taken one for the team there. Not cool.

They spent so much time bickering, Giolla woke up and they missed the opportunity to restrain her. They were forced into fighting. Which was actually kind of good, in the end. Nami, Chopper and Brook used their heads to outsmart Giolla’s Giant Picasso Form and fire a Gaon Cannon bolt. Then Momonosuke shanked her from behind when she was down. Nami finished her off with a thunderbolt.

Teamwork, amirite?

Unfortunately, Fujitora heard the thunderbolt and told Doflamingo. So when they sailed round to Green Bit to collect Law and Caesar, Chopper saw the horrendous sight of Doflamingo approaching at speed through his binoculars.

I hope he recovers soon.

Who Says Zoro Can’t Compromise?

Once again, the Strawhats have split up. Usopp and Robin have reunited with Franky at the King Riku Army HQ beneath Flower Field. Zoro originally left with Wicka to check in on Sunny and rescue the others from Giolla, but met Sanji and Foxfire on the way.

Wick was like, “Who dat?”

In keeping with the Legendary Heroes names, Zoro introduced Sanji and Foxfire as Spiral-Brows-land and Topknot-Land (lmao)

Zoro updated Sanji on the dire situation on Sunny. Of course, Sanji was intent on rescuing Nami and the others, so Zoro stayed behind with Foxfire to find Luffy.

Then Violet appeared like a ninja from the shadows to tell him Giolla had hijacked Sunny. How did she know this?

Turns out she has a Very Useful Power.

Clairvoyance. It usually means seeing into the future, but it can also mean gaining information about a person, including their location, through extra-sensory perception. Nice. For Violet, this means she can see things within a 4000km radius, top-down, as a bird would. She is a walking surveillance satellite and can see everything going on in Dressrosa. She guided Sanji to Sunny and updated him on what was going on in Sunny. 

Like I said, a Very Useful Power.

But, since it is a Very Useful Power, the Donquixote Crew are not pleased that she’s betrayed them. Back at the palace, a new character called Gladius is Very Upset. Since he despises and wishes death upon people who cannot follow plans and are not punctual, I’m guessing Violet has used up her two strikes already and is dead to this hilarious weirdo. 

(Why does his hair explode?)

Violet eventually picked up Sunny and informed Sanji the dreadfully bad news that Sunny had been struck by lightning. She was puzzled when Sanji did not react as expected. Instead, he boosted with fury to the ship, where, I expect, he was surprised to find Doflamingo doing the exact same thing.

“Watch this, Law!” Doflamingo laughed. “I will viciously slay your allies right before your eyes!”

Doflamingo sure knows how to turn the thumb screws and punish people, doesn’t he?

But Sanji was like, “NOT TODAY, SATAN!”

He smashed shins with Doflamingo.

And I cheered.

Sanji, you have just gained all your cool points back. I forgive you for being distracted by Violet.

(Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that Bartolomeo recognised Zoro and totally splooshed on sight.)

Rebecca and Cavendish: You Beautiful Legends!

Now Doflamingo has spilled some of the beans on his past, his treatment of Rebecca is odd. If he wanted to get rid of the Riku Family, he could have easily killed her years ago. It’s almost like he wants to drag their memory and reputation thoroughly through the mud. If it’s a propaganda campaign, it makes sense. Keep the people blind to what’s been going on by dangling the scapegoat in front of them. But this is a cruel and unusual punishment. It’s almost like he actually *hates* the Riku family. Or am I reading way too much into this?

In the first scene of 652, Rebecca walked out into the ring. The way Oda had the crowd behave - reduced to shadows, red-eyed, shrieking, inhumane shapes - might be a dig at the sorts of people who love blood sports. Animals and humans risking their lives to entertain uncaring humans and prop up gambling industries.

The insults they hurled at Rebecca were harsh. “Drop dead, Rebecca!” “Foul blooded!” “Today’s your execution day!” “The shame of Dressrosa!” And the worst one, for some reason, “Set her on fire! That’ll make her pyro grandfather happy.”

Ooft. 

Well, it was pretty disgusting, and I wasn’t the only one who thought so.

Enter Cavendish on his Farul, his white horse.

Ohhhhhh, he was not happy. Not happy at all. He heaped abuse on the crowd and called out their rank hypocrisy.

“ENOUGH! I don’t care why you hate her so much but she’s a young woman who stands in the ring putting her life on the line. You guys are not risking yoru lives so you have no right to jeer at her. If you really want to kill her, take a weapon and come down to the ring yourself! The voices of people who have no guts are nothing but irritating noise! I have my reasons for entering this competition, but even so, I cannot stomach it. The lives and deaths of warriors are not a show!”

Well, Cabbage just earned himself some major cool points there. I was like, “YOU TELL ‘EM, CABBAGE! NO MERCY!”

Even Luffy agreed. “Oh, Cabbage spoke up and said the right thing. I’m impressed!”

Well.. sort of. 

“Still don’t like him, though.” (Lmao, Luffy.)

Cavendish’s impromptu speech had an interesting effect on the crowd. They still hate Rebecca but instead of focusing their abuse on her, they decided they would use all that energy to support Cavendish, instead. 

It’s a win-win situation. Rebecca can kick-ass in peace and Cavendish, well, since the crowd started chanting his name, he had a tear-filled, “YOU LOVE ME! YOU REALLY LOVE ME!” moment. 

He’s already contemplating his media strategy.

Classic Cavendish.

When Doflamingo’s here, and you feel the end is near. 

Diarrhea. Diarrhea.

[waterchestnut123]

CHAPTER 1 / The Peculiar Perils of Straw Hat Parties

Common commentary throughout the 5 seas held that Straw Hat parties were notoriously wild. This is something that Trafalgar Law, as well as the rest of his crew, are also learning first hand. Not that Law particularly feels like partying; after Dressrosa, the Heart Pirates Captain has a little soul-searching he’d like to attend to. But one tends to become… drawn in, to certain things around Luffy—regardless of one’s plans or intentions. This is how Law finds himself developing an unlikely and unexpected friendship with his ally’s navigator—and how that friendship, much like Luffy’s parties, grows far beyond his intentions.

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Chapter 1: More Than Meets The Eye

Chapter Rating: T Warnings: Mentions of canonical character death, sexually suggestive content

Thinking back on her first impressions of him atop that bleak, snowy hillside on Punk Hazard, she would have laughed at anyone suggesting the captain of the heart pirates was anything more than a cunning sadist with hidden malicious intent; after all, one manipulator knows another. She had him pegged the moment she met him: sharp eyes belying a calculating brilliance beneath his cool exterior, who knew the power of few words and subtle suggestion. He was a shichibukai—and she never had met one she liked, with a sizable bounty to match her estimation of his dangerousness. Yes, she had him pegged; or at least, she thought she did.

Had anyone dared to inform her then of how she herself would come to view him in but a few months time—as not merely a valued ally and friend, but a lover, she would have choked on her own spit.

But a lot can happen in a few months time; this, Nami would come to learn with startling clarity. And perhaps she shouldn’t have been so surprised. After all, during Straw Hat parties, anything was possible.

—:—:—:—

“I think I see it! I think I see it!” Luffy hollered eagerly from the crow’s nest, arms already stretching to swing from the mast before he’d even finished speaking. Nami smiled, glancing down at the jittering vivre card in her palm before murmuring to Franky who stood beside her at the helm.

“Seven degrees starboard should bring us alongside them.”

“Aye aye!” he responded with a grin, turning the wheel with slight, precise movements.

Glancing out at calm water, she could see in the distance the telltale swell amidst the usual ocean waves as the Polar Tang began to near the surface. Glancing briefly up at the sun—it looked to be around 4:30 in the afternoon, she estimated it would be about ten minutes before they reached their ally’s ship. Though he tried to hide it, she could tell he was eager to be reunited with his crew—especially after the unanticipated events on Dressrosa.

With clear skies and smooth waters, their allies located and no enemies in sight, it seemed they would finally have a bit of a respite—and about damn time.

She walked to the railing, quickly scanning the deck for her crew mates. Usopp sat fishing off the starboard side, animatedly telling one of his tall tales to an enraptured Chopper, and Zoro hollered insults at Sanji from beneath one of the deck trees—just the men she needed.

“Oi, Usopp! Zoro!” As both men turned to her, she gestured above her. “Start raising the sails!”

Before they could voice protestations she turned her attention to Law who sat quietly against the fore-mast, his Nodachi resting against his shoulder—a comparatively calm presence in an otherwise chaotic array of personalities staggered about the deck.

“Ten minutes ‘till we reach your crew, Torao.”

He tilted his head back to look up at her, golden eyes bright beneath the shadowed brim of his hat as he smiled—or, well, his version of a smile.

“Thank you, Nami-ya.”

She had to admit, It was nice to have someone with some semblance of manners on board. She nodded with a small smile, returning her attention to the vivre card and the rolling ocean waves.

—:—:—:—

“Incoming!”

Franky’s shouted warning was followed by a loud thunk as the gangplank fell onto the deck of the Polar Tang, connecting the two ships.

“Oi, oi, easy on the paint Robo-ya!”

However Law’s protestation was quickly drowned out by the stampeding footsteps of his crew, Bepo well in the lead as he ran full-pelt across the gang plank towards him.

“Captaaaaain! I’m going to hug you!”

With little ceremony the bear launched himself at a wide-eyed Law, who staggered back at the unexpected force. Wrapping around his captain’s upper half, the heart pirates navigator gleefully indulged in what couldn’t be more appropriately termed a bear hug.

It was, if she had to put a word to it, cute to see the way Law reacted to the show of affection. It was subtle—likely by intention if she knew him at all, which she liked to think she’d come to at least a little; but Nami was well-versed in subtlety even if most of the rest of the crew seemed incapable of comprehending the meaning of the word. His head tilted down just a bit to hide the glimmer in his eyes, and a small smile tugged insistently at the corners of his lips, his posture relaxing easily into the bear’s fuzzy embrace. She leaned forward on the railing, smiling.

“Shishishi!” Luffy’s laughter echoed from the forecastle deck as he launched himself towards Law and his congregating crew.

“We should celebrate! Oi! Sanji! Make everyone some meat!”

Luffy’s sudden declaration startled her out of her amusement over Law’s covert huggle session with Bepo. She straightened, her eyes darting to Sanji—usually a voice of reason, who was instead walking towards the kitchen. Anxiously, she returned her attention to her own captain.

“Wait, Luffy! Don’t you think we should maybe dock at an island or something first?! We’re out in the middle of the sea and this is the new world—the conditions could turn on us at any moment.”

He turned to smile up at her without a trace of concern, draping his arms easily over a smiling Bepo and a frowning Law who stared at the offending hand but made no move to remove it.

“It’ll be fine, Nami! Who knows how long it would take to find an island; and besides, you’ll know if the weather changes before we need to do anything about it—you always do!”

She felt her ire flare at his statement. He was absolutely right, of course—but his shameless flattery did little to minimize the fact that he had openly admitted he was relying on her to keep an eye out for danger while the rest of the two crews partied. She couldn’t kick Zoro’s ass at a drinking contest (and fleece him for all he was worth while she was at it) if she had to be the responsible one! Responsible people were sober!

“Baka!” she shouted from the railing, leaning over it further in her anger, “You don’t get to have fun while I’m stuck keeping your sorry asses safe!”

Luffy simply laughed, releasing both Bepo and Law. “It’ll be fine, Nami! This is a celebration so you should have fun, too!” He then turned towards the kitchen, stretching his arms for the railing as he shouted again. “Oi! Sanji! Meat!”

“I’m already on it, you rubber idiot! Be patient!”

“Yohohoho!” Brook laughed from the swing, standing and pulling out his violin. “Shall I play something for the occasion?”

“Suuuuperrr!”

Nami sighed, leaning against the railing with a hand to her temple. As she glanced out at the deck with a resigned huff—she well knew when she was beaten with her crew, she felt eyes on her. Following the sensation, she found Law gazing up at her display of exasperation with a hint of amusement. He readjusted his nodachi on his shoulder, one golden eye twinkling beneath the brim of his hat as he smirked and gave the smallest of shrugs, before turning to follow an excited Bepo into the kitchen. She couldn’t help but feel a little heartened. At least someone else recognized the inconvenience, even if it wasn’t anyone on her nutty crew.

—:—:—:—

The sun was just beginning to set, amber light turning the blue water seafoam green as it hovered above the horizon. The party had just begun to get underway, and Law was on his third mug of ale. Limbs loose and a rare smile on his face, he gazed out at the water from the solitude of the upper aft deck. The sweet smell of citrus blossoms danced in the air with the mouthwatering tang of Sanji’s shish-kabobs, piped up to the deck from the kitchen chimney not far from where he leaned against the mast.

He felt… peaceful; free. It wasn’t a feeling he was familiar with, nor one that he yet trusted, but it was nonetheless welcome. So much of his life had been dedicated to seeking vengeance against Doflamingo—building his crew, honing his skills, training and preparing and planning; until that vengeance had been achieved, he hadn’t realized how much he had pushed aside, the simple pleasures he had ignored or left unnoticed—the desires and whims he refused to allow himself.

Like watching the sunset and enjoying the smell of citrus blossoms.

Though there was a small, instinctually protective part of himself that refused to believe Doflamingo was really, truly dealt with, with the Shichibukai’s imprisonment a tremendous weight the likes of which he hadn’t fully comprehended had lifted from his shoulders—and for the first time in over a decade he felt able breathe deeply. His world, once black and white and grey—life and death and suffering, had been suffused with color. Everything was just a little bit brighter; sounds were sharper, smells were stronger…

From the lawn deck, he heard the lilting laugh of the Straw hat navigator rise above the chatter of their two crews. Frowning down at the tightness forming in his pants, he shifted uncomfortably.

Other things seemed to be… stronger, as well.

He’d never given his sex drive much consideration over the course of his life. Sure he’d had the occasional liaison, but his physical desires had never been much of a preoccupation. It was yet another thing he’d come to notice these past few weeks—something that his fixation on vengeance had repressed over the course of years; now that his decades-long plan had finally come to fruition, his mind suddenly found itself wholly unoccupied, and quite open to new stimulus.

It was in the wake of this realization that he, for the first time really, noticed how little the Straw hats’ navigator actually wore.

While the archeologist also tended to prefer less fabric to more, she was nowhere near as daring as Nami. Sure, he had been aware of this fact for quite some time—in concept. On Punk Hazard she’d been wearing nothing more than a bikini top and jeans, and in Dressrosa she’d reduced those jeans to very short shorts. But it hadn’t quite… registered, in some higher part of his brain, all he skin left exposed.

And good God what she left exposed…

Objectively he recognized that she was attractive; she was all long legs and full breasts, with a narrow waist and bright eyes… Her wanted poster was a favorite among pirates and marines alike, something he’d noted with some amusement when he’d crossed the Navy’s path as a Shichibukai. But like with her attire (or lack thereof), he hadn’t quite… registered, how striking she really was, until a few weeks ago.

It had made life aboard the Sunny a bit more trying in a way he hadn’t been expecting. He’d grown accustomed to Luffy’s… exuberance, grown familiar with Sanji and Zoro’s constant bickering, the small explosions originating from Usopp’s factory. All things considered, he rather felt he’d adjusted quite well to the overall lunacy of Mugiwara’s crew. His gratitude for their (albeit unexpected) loyalty on Dressrosa certainly aided his patience.

But he had not anticipated, nor had he been prepared for the wholehearted return of his sex drive after recovering from his injuries aboard Bartolomeo’s ship.

He quietly sighed, leaning against the main mast as he watched the sun slowly sink towards the water. In the larger scheme of things, it was a relatively small price to pay. He had some catching up to do, perhaps, once they reached a habited island; find some woman to charm into his bed for the night (or several) and relieve the tension his own efforts failed to. Until then he’d just have to suffer through Nami’s undersized wardrobe. Subconciously he rubbed his right arm; he’d been through far worse, after all.

The sun was beginning to ripple and waver as Law breathed in the crisp ocean air, savoring the silence of the deck. The party would get into full swing soon enough, he was sure, and he aimed to get a little peace before the ruckus was inescapable. He lifted his mug to his lips, swallowing back the remaining ale in his mug. As he closed his eyes, basking in the warm amber light, the squeak of the observation room door caused him to creak an eye open and glance towards the source of the noise.

“Oh! Hey Torao, I didn’t think anyone was up here,” Nami said with a smile, shutting the door behind her with one foot. She had a basket on one arm and shears in the other and, he couldn’t help but gratefully notice, wore a thigh-length sweater—far more than she’d been wearing earlier in the afternoon.

“Nami-ya,” he acknowledged before returning his gaze to the sea, debating the pro’s and cons of descending into the commotion of the lower decks to refill his mug.

She walked towards him—or rather, towards her trees which occupied the space against the other side of the mast.

“Here.”

Without preamble she thrust her basket at him, beckoning him to her trees as she knelt before them. “Since you’re just standing there, help me with this real quick—I want to finish before the sun goes down and I’ll work faster with two hands.”

Perhaps it was the foreign feeling of calm aboard the Sunny making him unusually compliant—refusal only briefly crossed his mind, but he did as instructed. Standing next to her with the basket in hand, he watched as she thoughtfully pruned the first tree, inspecting each mikan carefully and gently placing the ripe ones in the basket.

“You know there are easier ways to fend off scurvy. You don’t have to keep live citrus trees on your ship.”

“That’s not why I keep them,” she answered smoothly without turning from her task, gently squeezing a mikan between her fingers before deeming it ready and giving it a gentle tug. She then turned thoughtful, pausing in her task before adding, “Well, not the primary reason anyway.”

He eyed her a moment as she moved to the next tree, placing her clippings in a bin beside the small grove.

“Then why do you keep them?”

She smiled softly as she reached for the next fruit, rubbing a smudge of dirt from it tenderly before answering.

“Because they’re from my mother’s grove. A little souvenir of home.”

“You’re from east blue, right?” he asked, though he felt he already knew the answer. Mikans were a common export from that ocean.

She hummed in response. “Bellemére—my mother, ran an orchard, where she raised my sister and I until I was ten. Best Mikans in all of the Conomi islands,” she boasted proudly.

Law eyed her as she carefully parted the tree’s branches to reach a more hidden fruit.

“Why did you leave then?”

He didn’t know why he was asking, but curiosity and boredom encouraged his curiosity.

She stilled, fingertips gently brushing a particularly broad leaf as she gazed at it, eyes faraway. It was several moments before she answered.

“She was killed; and I was kidnapped and forced into a pirate crew.” She was quiet a moment before adding with a small laugh, “It’s kind of how I met Luffy, actually.”

Law’s brow furrowed and he eyed her closely as she resumed her task, but did not respond. As he was learning from his time aboard the Sunny, all of the Straw Hats had more to them than met the eye—Nami was no exception. A pirate at ten years old… he could certainly relate.

She finished her pruning in silence, though it was a peaceful silence. Law’s eyes once more navigated out to the sunset, where the bright orange orb was meeting with the water, mind briefly returning to his earlier thoughts—tumbling and drifting much like the waves.

Doflamingo was gone…

When finally she stood, he extended the basket wordlessly and she took it with a smile, her eyes on him uncomfortably analytical. She placed her shears carefully beside the ripe fruit before returning her gaze to him, then following his eyes out to sea.

“It’s strange, isn’t it? Like there’s a little part of you that refuses to believe you’re really free.”

Her voice was soft, her eyes kind, yet despite that Law felt himself bristle at how easily she had seen through him.

“And what makes you say that, Nami-ya?” he inquired guardedly.

She hummed quietly, tilting her head at him with a small knowing smile as she answered.

“Because I felt the same way when Luffy saved me.”

She didn’t wait for a response, merely turned and walked towards the door with her hand raised behind her.

“Thanks for the help.”

Then, she disappeared into the library.

Law stared at the door for several minutes, not quite sure what to make of her words—or her, for that matter. She was the one member of the crew he’d had little time to get to know personally, and had perhaps dismissed the most readily. But there was quite a bit more to Nami than met the eye. She was far more perceptive than he gave her credit, for one; and he was seeing more and more how foolish that dismissal was.

He returned his gaze to the sea. The sun was now half hidden by the horizon, and he watched the rest slowly sink beneath the waves as he let his thoughts turn. She wasn’t wrong; Doflamingo had haunted him his entire adult life. Now he was gone, wrapped in twice his weight in seastone chains at the bottom of Impel Down. It was hard to believe that someone who had been such an omnipresent and looming specter could truly be gone, though It was a change he was happy to try and adjust to.

It did, however, make him wonder about her own life, and what her careful words had only hinted at. He’d had no idea she’d been a pirate before joining Luffy—for it had been on his crew that she’d gained notoriety, and it made him wonder: who was Cat Thief Nami before she was the navigator on a Supernova’s crew?

He heard her reappear on the lower decks a few minutes later, the assaulting shouts of Luffy pulling him from his thoughts.

“Oi, Nami! Have you seen Torao?!”

Law frowned. He had sought refuge on the furthest deck from the festivities specifically because he wanted some distance before the party became inescapable, hoping that the rest of his crew would be enough of a distraction for the other captain. Apparently not. He let out a sigh, pulling away from the mast as he made for the door—and another hiding spot—but stopped when he heard her response.

“Haven’t seen him,” she responded casually. “Have you checked the sub?”

He stilled, a smile growing before he let himself relax against the mast again. He uttered a silent ‘thank you’ before turning his gaze up to the darkening sky. Yes, Cat Thief Nami was full of surprises.

Stars were just starting to emerge, and he decided he’d enjoy what extra time she had bought him. Straw hat would find him soon enough, and besides, he would need to head down there eventually if he wanted to refill his mug. By the sounds of the growing laughter and the noodling of a guitar—Brook, no doubt—the party was just getting started; and he knew, soon enough, he’d be swept up into the pace of the straw hats—whether he wanted to or not.

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[swans-anime-ramblings]

“Luffy had no reaction to Boa...doesn’t that mean he won’t have romance?”

I’ve been debating about posting this blog because I was hesitant about the kind of reaction it would receive. But I think this topic is worth discussing logically.

Alright, so let’s dig into this thing.

If we’re going to understand Luffy and his actions (or not actions) towards Boa, then we have to first understand him as being a character that fits the Battle Shonen archetype. The genre, despite people’s complaints about it, is the most popular type of manga/anime genre there is. And One Piece, for all its glorious writing, world building and character development, is perfectly happy to sit in its genre, with Luffy fitting right into the hero archetype.

Where did this archetype even come from? It may surprise you to learn that Dragon Ball is in fact the grandfather of modern Shonen. You know what kind of stories were running in WSJ as DB’s contemporaries? Big burley manly men who never changed or progressed like Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star.

 And the antithesis of this is Goku, little innocent Goku who takes this character type and flip it on its head.  (Kid Goku is so cute guys! *cries*)

Toriyama’s writing absolutely can’t be understated here. Nobody had ever seen anything like Dragon Ball. It became a cultural phenomenon. It became a blueprint for success. 

The classic Shonen Hero archetype has evolved into the following:

innocent

clueless when it comes to love

loves to fight/ get stronger

has a catch phrase

wants to protect their “Nakama”

thinks before they act

often stupid or a simpleton

gains power ups through training and other means

cute

Within the archetype you’ve got big hitters such as:

Goku— the OG who was so clueless, he couldn’t tell someone’s gender without slapping them in the crotch. Also obsessed with getting stronger to the detriment of, well, everything

Luffy— the uber innocent muffin who will do anything for his crew, and will go out of his way for people if it concerns their dreams. Aware of his weaknesses more than the others, Also really dumb at first

Naruto--- the misfit who starts out peeping at girls but then ends up taking on the burden of the entire world, because he’s THAT concerned about everyone and everything. Definitely the most selfless, has dumb moments, but smarter than the others

Ichigo--- the lovable grump who literally doesn’t give a shit. Coolest one of the bunch

Natsu--- loves his friends so much he gains power ups in the middle of the battle to win through the power of friendship. Probably the funniest one, takes life one job request at a time

Asta— the new kid on the block. Constantly yells to the point of irritation, believes working hard will solve all problems, doesn’t understand how relationships work and that nuns don’t get married

Deku— I know people will ask. Yes, he is a Shonen Hero, But doesn’t fit into the archetype so be will be left out of the discussion (the kid actually suffers from overthinking...complete opposite than these lovable idiots)

So, for fun, let’s throw all these Shonen Heroes into the same situation Luffy found himself in

All of these heroes fall through the ceiling and into Boa Hancock’s bath where they come face to face with the most beautiful woman on the planet who is naked.

Goku: completely unphased by Boa’s beauty. Asks who Boa is, and when she gets pissed, stands there with a “huh?” Look on his face when she shoots the love beam at him. After it has no effect, Goku puts his hand up with a smile and then says, “see ya!” Before flying off. Probably more concerned with where Vegeta went and if he managed to find a new level of Super Saiyan

Naruto: definitely phased by Boa. Would probably turn to stone ahahahaha

Ichigo: after being annoyed because he fell through the roof, would take one look at Boa, and get flustered out of embarrassment. By the time Boa tries to question him, he’s already left and found the exit.

Natsu: upon falling into the bath, he’d also be completely unphased by Boa. Would most likely take note of her earrings and ask about them. He’d probably also end up saying something Boa would find unbelievably rude, but something I would laugh hysterically at. “Woah?! Is that your guild mark?! Cool!!!” 

Asta: I imagine Asta would most likely cover his eyes out of courtesy, and ask for the way out. When Boa gets mad and asks why he’s not head over heals for her, nor why he’s looking at her body, he’d say something like, “sister Lilly is waiting for me” and then leave. *sigh*

So here’s my point. Three of our boys would have the same exact reaction as Luffy. When it comes to the archetype, lusting after girls simply isn’t in their nature. Natsu’s reaction to a naked Lucy was to cover her boobs with his hands “fine I’ll cover them” he sighs in the dub. No lustful reaction whatsoever. I’m pretty sure any normal guy would, um, not react that way. He looks so bored.

Asta refused to peep at a girls bath (way to shut that down buddy), and Goku’s seen plenty of naked people and he doesn’t care. He even has the same reaction in Dragon Ball Super, after he’s married, when he accidentally sees another woman naked (who is very beautiful).

(Harsh reaction there Goku, lmao)

Luffy’s reaction to Boa is completely in line with the archetype. The innocent nature of the main character is extremely important. Oda even says in the SBS that it would just be plain weird for Luffy to get a nose bleed. I agree.

So, do our boys reactions to Boa mean romance isn’t possible for them? Of course not. Goku got married and had 2 kids. Naruto, who is the most interested in women, got married. Ichigo ended up with someone and had a kid. Natsu’s relationship with Lucy isn’t “canon” yet, buuuttt with this sequel coming and all the art Mashima’s been posting, I think we can all just call it and it’ll be happening. As for Asta, the manga is still young so it’s hard to say, but judging how Tabata is treating romance in his manga, I’d say It’s a distinct possibility. Asta does have a low-key herem going on 🤷‍♀️

When Goku was a kid, he came across a foe who could turn evil (ie bad thoughts) into a weapon and kill you. Goku was the only person to ever survive because he has no impure thoughts. It basically works the same way as Boa’s love-love beam.

This innocence is why Goku can ride his magical flying cloud the Kinto-Un, aka the Flying Nimbus. That innocence in Goku stays with him forever, too. Goku can ride the cloud after he’s gotten married and created spawns. The idea is, sex isn’t dirty. It’s just how you treat it may or may not make it dirty (ie unwarranted advances). Master Roshi, Goku’s perverted teacher, can’t ride the Kinto-Un. Using Goku as an example, our innocent muffins can still have romance/make babies. Their highly innocent nature doesn’t stop them, but normally with these types, they will only have romance/make babies if it’s with one very special person.

This is important to remember; for this genre, romance is a part of maturing and growing up. Most of these shonen heroes end up with someone once they’ve passed a certain point. 

In One Piece Specifically 

When it comes to Oda’s writing specifically, romance between characters doesn’t really play a huge role in One Piece like the way it does in Naruto and Fairy Tail. Everyone who reads OP should recognize this. Whatever ends up happening at the end of One Piece, there aren’t going to be a zillion pairings and those pairings staring off into the sunset. 

There’s that famous line from Oda where he answered a question in the SBS (from chapter 317)

D: Doesn't anyone on Luffy's crew fall in love? Will there never be a tale of on-board romance? (Sanji is an exception in this case) I'm just wondering.

O: OF COURSE THEY'RE IN LOVE... WITH ADVENTURE! (← good one)

The SBS is a place where Oda jokes around with his readers. I think his answer is a good answer because it’s true, and when it comes down to it, a deflective answer.  And whatever else Oda has said or hasn’t said in magazines or interviews, Oda can change his mind about what he wants to include or not include in his manga.

The reason I think this is worth bringing up is because I can see a storytelling shift which has changed in his manga. Romance in any capacity used to play almost no role in the early story. Just think about the type of characters he was creating. You’ve got Nolan’s descendant who hangs out with guys that look like monkeys. You’ve got the giants of Elbaf, you’ve got the Galley-Law company guys. There’s hardly any blood families in the first half either. Vivi and her Dad are a notable example, but they are the minority, not the majority. The first half of the story was mostly focused on people who were not blood related and were making their own families, like the Franky family. Like the Strawhats. 

Post time-skip and New World, we’ve got a very different story being told. With Kyros and his wife Scarlet, Oda actually gave us the backstory to their romance! Dressrosa was set up a bit for that type of story, but I still find it notable. It wasn’t necessary for character motivations for Kyros. It felt like Oda wrote it because he wanted to.

You’ve got romance playing a big role in Whole Cake Island, even with Chiffon and Bege. This is a married couple with a young son, and not the type of characters we’d see in the early story. Sanji and Pudding were more of a serious type of relationship, even with Sanji “choosing to feel love” for Pudding. Guys, that’s...mature. We’ve seen a lot more blood ties in the New World, even to the point of the Big Mom pirates, dysfunctional as they are. 

In the end, you write what you know. When One Piece started, Oda was a single guy, now he’s in his early 40′s with a daughter. The types of stories he’s telling now are based on more mature aspects of his own life. 

Does this mean Luffy will most definitely end up with someone? Of course not. There’s a distinct possibility OP will end with Luffy as he is and there be no pairings of any sort.

But to dismiss the possibility of parings based on Luffy’s reaction to women or something Oda said back in some interview, is also too dismissive of a stance to take. Like his Shonen counterparts, romance for Luffy is a possibility. Remember what I said about the genre; romance is sign of growing up and maturing. Luffy is still growing and maturing, so it isn’t out of the cards.

In the end, Only Oda knows. Until One Piece has concluded, we’ll have to wait and see. 

[plume8now]

Subscription to Death

Fandom: One Piece

Ship: Possibly seen as LawLu

Summary: Death met Luffy for the first time when he was a little boy. He looked confused, lost. That was normal. Law was used to that. People usually didn't realise it when they were dead. It could be so sudden. He leaned in, offered his hand to the kid and asked, trying to be gentle: “How did you die?” The kid looked up and said: “I'm not dead."In which the One Piece universe remains the same, except that Luffy is Immortal and Law is Death.

Warning: immortal!luffy, death!law, In Universe/AU, Death clearing being bored but is he bored enough to stand Luffy, Luffy or the boy who kept dying, that guy is way too reckless, honestly this fic is a revelation cause he should have died long time ago, Humor, Friendship, slow burn maybe, can be seen as ship or not, Nakamaship, philosophical ideas, Underworld, Character Death, obviously, Angst, just because i can

A/N: Things I should specify for this AU: - Death only takes care of souls, once the body dies, to guide them. Therefore, never went to the living world. - Death's dimension includes Law not being able to see the humans' world and vice-versa. - Luffy's immortality is a mystery. - Time isn't real in Death's world. - Death cannot heal a human's soul or body.Thanking my dear beta @blueflamebird who took time to correct this twice because I couldn't stop writing. This was supposed to be an OS but I decided to cut it here and write the following later. A Tumblr post inspired me somehow for this fic this is why it is part of my LawLu prompt works. I'd also like to thank the LawLu Discord Chat for encouraging me and motivating me A LOT. You're all amazing <3 Please enjoy~

[Find it on AO3]

Death met Luffy for the first time when he was a little boy.

He looked confused, lost. That was normal. Law was used to that. People usually didn't realise it when they were dead. It could be so sudden.

He leaned in, offered his hand to the kid and asked, trying to be gentle:

“How did you die?”

That was not the first thing you should say when you were welcoming someone. He knew that. But he couldn't help it – it was his introduction.

The kid looked up and said:

“I'm not dead. I still have to beat my brothers! They left me behind but I gotta catch up on them!”

“Your brothers?” Law repeated.

“Yeah, just because I'm younger doesn't mean I'm not strong!”

Law stood up again. Another weirdo. Awesome. He had a schedule, dammit. Well, that wasn't exactly true, since time didn't exist here, but still. He wasn't good with kids, nothing new.

“I'm sorry,” he lied, “but you'll have to wait for them to come for next round.”

“To come where?” he said, before realizing the place was clearly not what he left. Everything was dark. “Where- what's this?!”

He put his straw hat back on the top of his head, and Law noticed all the little wounds on his body, and that deep scar under his left eye. Was he a street boy? Well- at least he didn't die starving according to his health- no, he might have died from drowning or something like that- he looked wet.

“Do you remember drowning maybe?”

He had to make him understand he was dead before bringing him to the Underworld, and unfortunately, it felt like it'd take forever. But again, time wasn't real, so there was no problem, right?

“I didn't die,” the kid stated.

“Did you fall, maybe?”

“I was on a wooden bridge, it wasn't very stable.”

“I guess so,” Law sighed.

“I didn't die. I'll prove you wrong, Dark-Dress-Guy.”

Law almost choked. That one, that was new.

“Dark-What?”

The boy pointed at his costume. He was wearing that scarf in dark feathers and a long cape that covered his suit under.

“That's not a dress,” he stretched his arms. “I have a normal suit under. No dress.”

The kid frowned.

“A dress'd be better.”

“You know what; my clothes aren't important. Please just take my hand okay? I'll show you your past and you'll understand.”

“My past? What's to understand?”

Law almost replied 'That you died' but stopped right in time – this kid's answers were bothering him. He showed his hand to him again, suggesting what should come next, and asked:

“What's your name?”

“Luffy.”

Law faked a smile but Luffy was busy staring at his hand.

“Your... tattoos are so cool...!”

“I-”

Luffy made a move to take his hand and check the meaning of the letters written on his fingers – but didn't seize anything. Both of them peered at what just happened in disbelief.

“WHAT JUST HAPPENED?” Luffy yelled, half-excited half-shocked.

“It's- I-”

What? That never happened before? How come this kid's hand went through his? He was supposed to be able to grab the deceased by the hand to lead them to the Underworld!

Was there something wrong with the kid? Was there something wrong with him?

“D-E-A-T-H,” Luffy read, “wow that's so damn awesome! Where did you get that? Can I get tattoos too?”

Now that brat was really pissing him off, running around, bragging about God-knew-what.

“Just- Shut up would you? It's-”

And before he could add anything else, the boy disappeared just like that.

There was nothing wrong with him. The next dead people were just fine. He'd take their hands, and show them the way to the Underworld, and everything was fine.

At first, he couldn't stop thinking about that boy – that Luffy. What the fuck had happened? To that question, it took him three human years to get the answer.

Three human years where the boy would keep coming. Over and over again.

He only confirmed that idea after a while. After spending so much time with actual dead people.

Luffy was immortal. As in, Immortal.

The little guy couldn't die. Not definitely, that is.

At his second death, seeing him again made him gasp. Law never gasped. This time, he'd been eaten by a giant tiger, apparently. And this time again, he couldn't touch him, and neither could Luffy. It was as if they were made to oppose each other. And, to Law's great displeasure, that didn't seem to bother Luffy. That brat would take advantage of that to run around and go through his body just because he could. For fun. It was unbearable.

And it wasn't like he had to undergo that just once in a while, no. That kid died so quickly. It was as if his brothers were really trying to kill him. Or whoever he was with. Well, actually they weren't trying, since they actually succeeded in doing it. But the boy just wouldn't obey Life's laws. He was supposed to end his journey here. But every time, Luffy would say no.

He had stuff to do.

As if he hadn't heard that already before.

And so he saw him grow up. Law knew, for having watched every single dead person's past life, that this situation looked more and more like a tea time party. Well of course, the first human years sounded more like baby-sitting – something he learned he despised deeply – but after a while, Luffy started to be a little bit more mature. Except they didn't have tea, and not even the ambiance that a tea party asked for – but getting exchanges like this led to this feeling. Law never had the occasion to talk with anyone so repeatedly after all. Because that wasn't supposed to happen, he repeated to himself.

Losing his brother could have 'helped' Luffy's change. When they started talking more than he, running after him, in case he'd do something wrong – who knew what he could do? Immortal kids, he didn't have a guide to say what could be consequences of such a human being.

Seeing every single dead person's memories, he'd have remembered it if he'd seen the Immortal kid in someone's head. But he hadn't. So he told him.

At first Luffy didn't get it – but when he put it into a simple sentence, something like “I never met any kid who had you as a brother in his memories” summed up by “Sabo didn't die”...

It stopped his cries.

Law didn't like crying people. Not because it made him feel bad – no, for God's sake, he was Death – but because it was damn annoying. He was tired of crying people. But Luffy's cries triggered something more than tiredness, something different. He really didn't like it.

Later on, the boy told him he'd told Ace – that other brother. That he believed Sabo didn't die. And, for that, Ace punched him. Because, “'Death wasn't something you could joke about around'”, Luffy quoted. Anybody grieving would have been hurt by such statements, Law guessed. And adding something like “No you're wrong, he's actually a nice guy” as he talked about Death – about him – obviously didn't help.

Law twitched a smile. 'Nice guy', huh?

Luffy looked so proud of himself, and Law wondered what stupidity he'd done again to be here and look so happy about it.

“What brings you here today, Luffy-ya?” he asked slowly.

“I fell into the sea,” he put his hand on the top of his hat. “My boat sank.”

“Your boat sank?” Law repeated, unsure.

“This is my turn now; I've left for adventure!”

“And you died on your first day?” he faked applauds “Congratulations.”

“Actually, no, I've out there for like a week.”

“So you survived a week on the sea without dying. That's a great beginning as a pirate!”

“That's not funny,” Luffy pouted, “And it's been a while since we saw each other!”

“Barely a human month, I'm sure,” Law objected.

“Well, I'm dead again, we can't do anything about it can we? And also-” he looked around and shook his head “you definitely gotta change the decoration of your world. We should have done that way sooner, but now is the moment! There's change in my life, so we should celebrate!”

“By changing stuff in my world?” Law asked, sceptical.

“Yeah!”

“Why, you're going to visit me more often than you already do now?”

Luffy tilted his head. “It's all dark. And you're dressed in dark. You know, you should be more open-minded to new things.”

“New things? What if I don't want to change a thing? What if I already changed 'the deco' several times before?”

“Not since I'm here. And it's boring.”

“Now that's rude.”

“C'mon! I already die a lot so let’s at least  do some fun stuff! Let's redecorate!”

“You know there's a simple way to resolve that, you could think about taking care of your own life more for starters?”

“Are you gonna visit me in my world?”

“I doubt it.”

“Then nah.”

Law rolled his eyes.

“What do you want to do?”

“We need the sea,” Luffy declared. “Because it's freedom. You know what it's like, right? You've seen it in people's head.”

Law rose his right hand, and hesitated. It's been a long time since he'd changed anything here. A very, very long time. And he never would have thought about changing things again. Darkness and void suited him so well, after a while. He was used to it. People always said it was scary, but it was comforting to him.

Who knew? Maybe it was just how Death's tastes were.

“We can't do something too nice though,” he felt the urge to say. “I don't want souls to like it too much.”

“Why,” Luffy laughed, “you're scared they might come back?”

Law glanced at him. That little fucker.

“So the sea it is,” he said, choosing to ignore him, as he shove his hand in front of him.

And the sea appeared. Luffy's eyes widened, and even Law felt a bit impressed by his own doing. It had multiple shades of blue, and the waves – it felt like they could almost smell and hear like on an actual beach.

“Can we swim into this?!” Luffy yelled as he took off his shirt and jumped into it. Law wanted to hit his head against a wall several times – he'd seen a lot of humans do that in memories. Why bother asking if he didn't even wait for an answer?!

“Luffy-ya,” Law started. “This is an illusion. You can try to swim in it, but you're actually not doing that and-” he stopped, noticing the boy going deeper and deeper into the sea, and not looking like going up anymore. He crossed his arms and walked towards him.

“And,” he started again as he dissolved the sea around Luffy once in front of him, “therefore, you can't drown.”

Luffy stopped coughing, looked around, and frowned.

“But I was drowning!”

“No. It's only in your head. You're persuaded you can't swim so you drowned. But this is not real to start with. And, second, we're literally in the Dead World. You can't die, because you're already dead.”

“I was drowning!” Luffy objected.

“No wonder why you die so often,” Law mumbled. “You must take better care of yourself.”

The Straw Hat let out his usual 'shishishi'.

“Right now,” Luffy said more seriously, “what do you want?”

Law immediately searched for an answer – he was completely getting into his own mind when a hand waved in front – even through him, breaking his concentration.

“I asked you for what you wanted,” Luffy took a fed up look which honestly coming from him offended Law, “not to overthink. You gotta stop thinking and act.”

“Luffy-ya, I've spent eternity here.”

“You say as if it was an excuse,” Luffy said in an accusatory tone. “Just do whatever you freaking want. You're Death remember? There's no limits!”

And he disappeared. He left. Just like that. Luffy's coming backs to life were so random – Law had gotten used to them now – but he couldn't help it, it was so ridiculous.

He laughed.

A shame Luffy was already gone to see that.

A lot of souls came by before Luffy's. Law wondered if he had actually listened to him and been careful, or if it was only a period of contamination – or genocide, maybe? – which would explain all those dead people.

When Luffy finally died again, Law couldn't help but enjoy it. Not that he was encouraging Luffy to sacrifice himself for whatever reason it was, but he's been meaning to show him the changes he'd made around. Something that the souls appreciated, for some, and even gave him ideas for his new decoration. Giving Death advice for a new landscape in his world could seem odd, true. But no one ever said it was forbidden.

And so, Luffy loved it.

He'd left the beach and the sea, since it had been Luffy's idea. He'd also made a few ships based on a few souls' memories, and tried to design his own. Because he remembered Luffy's first words about the way he dressed, he changed his clothes into something more common – actually, he could almost look like a normal human being.

Except that he wasn't.

For a moment, Luffy stared at Law. Law didn't bother staring back at him. It was something he'd gotten used to, now. And if he ever did – which happened once, Luffy would take it as a staring challenge or some dumb game of this kind. Now, it was only a matter of time before he'd start talking.

“Torao,” he said. “Do you ever leave?”

Law turned to him,  genuinely interested by his question.

“Leave? Where?”

“I don't know, elsewhere. Isn't it just- the same thing? Boring?”

Law blinked.

“I've never thought about that. I'm always taking care of a human's soul.”

“You've never thought about that?” Luffy mocked. “And yet I believed you were the one thinking a lot here.”

He sighed.

“Because I'm always busy, and because I have nowhere else to go. I'm here, taking people like you,” he pointed at Luffy's chest and his finger went through his body – where a deep wound was situated, cause of his last death – “to the Underworld, and that's it.”

“What's the Underworld like?”

Law sighed again. Honestly, he was surprised Luffy asked him that only now. How old was he, seventeen? When had he started dying? Never before had he asked about Death. Instead, he'd tell him about his adventures, about Shanks, Garp, Daddan, his brother, his new friends – he'd almost met that Zoro by the way – but never once he asked about his world. And it wasn't something bad – it wasn't something bad at all. It made him almost feel like he wasn't Death. Death, feared by everyone, over-represented everywhere, in art, songs, literature, and especially people's mind. With Luffy, he wasn't such a big deal.

However...

“I can't tell you that,” he stated. “No one is actually supposed to know what's going on once dead. I'm lucky no one believes – or at least not a lot of people – you on your stories about me, I'm not giving you extra-information.”

“Hey that's mean! My crew believes me!”

“It's-”

“Ok, maybe not all of them, but Chopper and Usopp do believe me!”

If there's something Law had learnt about Luffy was that he knew the boy couldn't lie. And certainly so did his crew. Maybe, he thought, they just believed him to have hallucinations during his Near Death Experiences.

“You'll have to die to know,” Law joked.

Law's jokes were always dark. Luffy pouted.

“You know I can't die.”

And this time, he grinned.

“I know.”

“But,” Luffy tried again, “technically, I'm dead? So I could take a look?”

“No.”

That was strict. Categorical. There were no argumentations whatsoever. No was no.

But Luffy was too stubborn to take no for an answer.

“You do know I can do whatever I want, right? You can't catch me.”

And before Law got enough time to react, the Straw Hat started to run towards the Underworld. Or at least, where he thought the Underworld was. Because there was nothing. He could run as fast and as much as he wanted, it seemed he couldn't get to the Underworld. It was as if he remained at the very same place.

Death – Law appeared next to him and said, looking away, as if talking to himself:

“That's a theory answered at least now.”

“What the fuck?! Bring it there, Torao!” Luffy screamed in frustration.

“It's not up to me, I don't control everything. It's not my job. And you're not dead enough to go apparently. I have to bring you there.”

“Well then, bring me there!”

“You know I can't. And if I did, that'd mean you'd be dead. You don't want to die, do you?”

“I'm not gonna die,” Luffy repeated as usual like a spell.

“I know.”

“Could I die if I do go there?”

“Why bother asking if you can't do that, anyway?”

“Could I?”

“If you're going there, there's no way back. So yes, I guess.”

“But you're coming back.”

Law looked at him as if he was stupid. Well, he was stupid sometimes. Just like now.

“I'm Death.”

“And I'm Immortal.”

“You're basically perpetual life. That makes sense you can't go there.”

“That's discrimination.”

“That's the way it is.”

“Wait- that means you never went in my world?”

“Nope.”

“Never ever?”

“Never.”

“That sucks.”

“Not really?”

Luffy scratched the back of his head.

“You're missing tons of things. And, that'd be fun to have you as nakama. Even in my crew!”

“Are you trying to recruit me, Monkey D. Luffy-ya?”

“Shishi, maybe?”

Law shook his head. That boy was unbelievable.

“So,” he said as a sofa appeared as he sat. “How did you die this time?”

“A poisoned hook went through my body.”

“Damn.”

“I actually didn't feel the pain- well, not right away- and then I was buried by the sand, so-”

“Wait, you died suffocating?”

“I don't really know? You're Death, you tell me.”

“I can only say how you died by watching your past. And I can only watch your past if I touch you. It's been years Luffy-ya, you should know that.”

The moment he finished his sentence, the boy slowly disappeared. Law rolled his eyes. It was often happening when Law reproached something to Luffy – not to listen, usually. To be honest, he was suspecting the young pirate to actually master a bit his disappearances. Or at least push it away until he didn't want to anymore – and so disappear.

He sighed.

He sighed a lot around Luffy.

“So?”

“They took my nakama.”

Luffy's look was severe, and angry. Very, very angry. The guys who did that didn't know how much they were going to regret it, obviously. His soul revealed a body covered by blood and wounds. He must have suffered a lot. He must have gone through a lot of pain, before passing out – well, actually dying, but what was the difference for Luffy now?

Law had a poor smile.

“Then get your ass back there. What are you doing here?”

“... Hi there?”

Law stretched his back – he didn't have to since he didn't actually feel tired – but this is something he'd seen so many times in humans' memories he'd started doing it without realising it. He was never against trying human things anyway, since he had all eternity why not try from time to time?

Anyways. He greeted the new guy as usual:

“How did you die?”

And the common usual answer came immediately.

“I didn't die what the fuck?”

'What the fuck' was not always in it though. Maybe implied. But yeah. Common.

Law met the guy's eyes and froze right away. That man had taken so much pain, it was barely understandable how much he'd taken before he died. He was worse than Luffy's state back in that Enies Lobby thing, when he wanted to save this Robin. He was swimming in it. He couldn't even try to guess his hair or skin colour.

And then, the soul suddenly flickered, and Law's shoulders relaxed. So he was one of those. He took a little inspiration to prepare his little explanation, but before he could even start, he heard something familiar with a voice not familiar at all.

“Torao?”

That was pretty odd to hear that from someone else than Luffy. He frowned.

“And you are?”

“Zoro.”

“Oh.”

The first nakama? What was he doing here now?

“So you got into a big fight, huh?”

“Worth it,” he replied without hesitating.

“You do know you could have died? You do know you can die?”

This time, Zoro frowned.

“You're Death aren't you? Not gonna try to kill me?”

“Try?” Law noted.

“Yeah, as if I'd let you. I'm not the greatest swordsman of the world yet.”

Obviously. Obviously Luffy's friend had to be as crazy as Luffy. Obviously. What was he even thinking about.

“Well, if that can reassure you, you're not dead. Your soul isn't rightly materialised. It's still holding onto your body. You're actually half here.”

“Great. How do I come back down there?”

“You don't. This is your body's job. I hope you have a very good doctor around, because that's not gonna be easy.”

The swordsman smirked.

“Alright, see you next time then.”

“Don't be in a hurry.”

“Wait, so Luffy's really immortal?”

Law smiled.

“Yeah.”

“Fuck. They'll have to believe him now when I'll tell them.”

“They could,” Law said. “But you're half here. You won't remember a thing about our conversation. And the pain's too great for you anyway – I know enough about you, humans, to tell when you've reached your limits.”

“That freaking sucks,” Zoro spat.

“Regretting life's choices?”

Zoro's smirk broadened.

“Absolutely not. I'll take his pain again without hesitation, mortal or not.”

Law didn't reply. He didn't expect this answer.

“Don't tell him I was here though,” Zoro said. “For the best. Don't.”

Law didn't like that. He never lied. But it wasn't like he had to lie, was it? Only an omission.

“If he doesn't ask, I won't.”

“Thanks.”

When he left, Law sighed. He could try, but there was always things he wouldn't be able to get. Humans were idiots. Especially those around Luffy.

He'd seen him happy. Angry. Pissed. Tired. Bored. He'd seen Luffy in many emotions. But never before had he seen him so... sad.

He wished he could do something for him. He didn't know what had happened, but it was bad. Very bad. In years of- of what, acquaintances? F-friendship? (Luffy did say they were nakama), he was discovering a whole new Luffy.

A Luffy who didn't talk. A Luffy who was holding all the sadness in the world in his eyes. So Law didn't talk, either. He sat next to him, on that submarine sofa he'd created on his last visit, facing the sea. He made a move to touch his back, but remembered at the last minute it was useless. And the feeling of going through someone's body wasn't something he was comfortable with.

They remained here in silence for some time. Eventually, Luffy disappeared again.

Later on, he learnt about Saboady, the loss of his nakama... he saw it through new souls who'd died around first, and the on Luffy's next death. When he asked why he didn't ask about his nakama's lives – he was surprised he didn't want to know whether they were alive or not?, Luffy simply replied:

“I know, deep down, they are still somewhere around!”

That time, after Sabaody, also worried him. He'd almost lost his body and brain control on this one, against a guy controlling poison. It was important, and he had to go back quickly for his brother, apparently. He got a lot of information about that as Luffy and the other prisoners got busy sending him new souls all over again.

But still, Law didn't like it. Immortality didn't mean everlastingness of health and brain. He could easily never die and lose his mind.

“Holy fuck.”

Law stared at the guy facing him, frowning.

“What?”

“You're him.”

“I'm-?”

“You look way more serious than I thought.”

What the fuck was this guy saying? And what on Earth was that huge hole in his chest?

“I'm Ace.”

'Ace'. Oh, Law had heard about Ace enough times not to forget it. So that must be Luffy's brother, since he seemed to know who he was talking to and- holy shit.

He was dead.

Luffy'd lost his brother.

“I guess you know who I am judging your expression. Isn't Death supposed to look creepier? I mean sure, you look like you haven't slept in centuries, but I've met hundreds of guys like you. You're much more expressive than I thought. I can't believe that idiot was right. I can't believe I didn't listen to him- this dumbass can't lie and- I can't believe he was right- fuck.”

Not knowing what to say, Law naturally opted for his usual welcome.

“How did you die?” he said, stretching his hand to him.

Ace stared at his hand, but didn't take it.

“I protected my little brother.”

If Law had a heart, he could have said it dropped.

Idiot, he wanted to say. Your brother is Immortal. Which, obviously, wasn't his case... Wait, it wasn't? He hadn't touched him yet, after all.

If Law was human, he'd start sweating. One Immortal, alright, but he wasn't ready for a hundred of them. At the same time, it wasn't like he wanted Luffy's brother to die, he'd seen how dear he was to him. And he'd seen how Luffy reacted for Sabo's desperation.

“I should have known you didn't look like Luffy's drawings, but still, I'm surprised.”

'Luffy's drawings...?'

For the first time since Luffy, Law didn't feel in control of the situation. His brother was leading the conversation, doing observations and wasn't even trying to listen to him at all.

Ace got closer to him without blinking, not hiding he was observing him very closely now.

“Nice tattoos,” he said after a while. “You look rather young, actually. Is it like, a shape you choose or are you just like this?”

“Does it really matter?” Law replied.

“I'm just asking questions. Why is Luffy calling you Torao?”

“Can't pronounce 'Law'.”

“Your name is... 'Law'? Not Death?”

“I have multiple names. Law's my own name. Are you only designed after your job?”

“I'm-... I was a pirate.”

“See,” Law confirmed, ignoring the change of tense. “People can call you Pirate, but you still have another, more private name.”

“... If you say so.”

Silence fell on them, but not for long, broken by Ace's voice:

“That makes sense though, since death is a law you can't avoid.”

Law opened his mouth, closed it.  He smirked.

“That's rich coming from a pirate.”

“Touché.”

Another silence. Law never felt awkward during those – because he didn't even know what awkwardness was. But with Luffy, he'd learned a lot of new... way of feeling things. And that definitely felt awkward. He didn't like that. He didn't like that one bit.

Of course he'd have to take people close to Luffy away one day. People Luffy cared about. Actually, since the guy was Immortal, that would happen a lot. But he never thought about it, not really. And not so soon.

“So what now?”

“You're supposed to come with me to the Underworld,” Law honestly replied.

“That shit exists?”

“I guess it does if I'm taking you there.”

“So there's no way back at all, huh?”

Law stared at his hole.

“That'd be complicated to fix.”

“I know,” Ace sighed. “I was stupid.”

“A lot of people died in a stupid way I can tell you yours is rather alright.”

“No,” the man firmly said. “I was stupid.”

Law shrugged. He wasn't here to argue whether his death was stupid or not. He didn't even know how this wound happened, to be honest.

“Shall we go?”

“Wait-” he grasped Law's hand, and unconsciously, Death immediately sighed in relief. “I'd like to know something first-”

“I can't tell you what's going to happen to you there,” Law warned.

“What about Sabo?”

He froze, and looked down at him. As their eyes met, Ace's lips turned into a smile. A huge one. It actually looked like one of Luffy's so genuine grins.

“He's alive! Fuck, I can't believe it-!” his face suddenly saddened and Law wanted to be anywhere but here right now, which is something he'd never experienced before. He'd never been anywhere. “I punched him in the face.”

It was a simple statement, but Law knew very well what he was referring to. Feeling guilty much?

“I think he got over it,” Law tried to joke.

Had he ever specified how bad he was with jokes?

“At least he's not alone,” Ace twitched a smile, “they still have each other.”

So many things were wrong with those words. Sabo hadn't reappeared since his 'death' so why should they have each other? Sure Luffy wasn't alone he had his crew but what about Sabo? None of them knew anything about him. Maybe he didn't care about them anymore and that's why he never came back. Maybe he didn't even remember them.

But Law put aside all those interjections. It was none of his business, and he wasn't prepared for an argument with someone related to Luffy. No, thank you. So he just naturally tilted his head, looking away, and scratched the back of his neck.

Ace noticed it and took a deep breath. He had no choice now, had he?

He'd seen so, so many people linked to Luffy and Ace. It was a war, after all. People died, in wars. And, knowing Luffy– He'd expect it. He expected Luffy's arrival. It was as if the guy had an subscription to death or something anyway, so he had to expect him.

Usually, when people died and he'd see Luffy in their memories, it'd make him smile. He knew he could expect his visit soon. But that time, it was different.

His brother was a human. A mortal human.

He died.

Unlike Luffy, he would not be coming back. And, knowing Luffy, he knew he'd ask for him. Just like he did for Sabo. And, just like Sabo, he wouldn't lie.

That didn't mean he was prepared for that.

“Torao?”

His eyes widened. Already?

He turned and saw him – he noticed the absence of his straw hat right away.

That wasn't good. Souls always wore important material to them with them. No matter where the object was. Luffy's materialisation without his hat, he deducted, was the materialisation of an incomplete soul. But, again, Luffy was not like the others. There was nothing he could do about that.

“Is he dead?”

Then, he saw his wound. On his chest. For a second, he saw Ace standing right where Luffy was now. Fuck, did he really have to do that? He had no idea how things worked. He had no idea how to deal with feelings.

“Tell me- TELL ME! IS HE DEAD?”

His voice kept breaking. He'd never looked so- so human to Law than now.

If he'd been able to grab him by his clothes to threaten him for an answer, Luffy would have. But he didn't, as his arms went through Law's body, as expected.

“He is,” Death whispered.

Luffy lost it. He fell on his knees.

“You brought him there? To... to the Underworld?”

“I did.”

He found himself unable to do complete sentences. Just quick answers. What was he supposed to do, anyway?

He was Death.

He wasn't human.

He wasn't from Luffy's world.

They weren't supposed to know each other. Not like that at least. They shouldn't even have developed this sort of friendship or whatever this was. He had to do it.

He was Death.

Luffy was shaking. He looked like he could kill someone – which, really, was freaking irony here.

He looked down at his hands. He looked up, at Law. Law, who was emotionless. Or seemed so. Deep down, he wished he could touch and embrace him. It was an impulse he never had had before.

“Why did you take him?”

He was Death.

“I am Death.”

“Why,” Luffy took a deep breath, “did you take him?”

His words were all articulated, slowly, one by one. The Straw Hat seemed broken. Falling into pieces. Law remembered Ace's past, what he whispered to his little brother, and he closed his eyes. Luffy stood up again.

“LOOK AT ME!” he yelled.

He looked at him. So much desperation into those dark eyes. So much sadness.

So much rage.

“You killed him, Law.”

The coldness of his tone froze Law.

“You killed Ace!”

He shouldn't be alarmed by such a statement. That was his freaking job. But, technically, yes. Yes, he did. He killed Ace.

“How COULD you?! How DARE you?! You're Death! You're literally the best person to stop that! You're the best person to decide whether you take someone away or let it go! You had a choice!”

“I didn't! You don't think I tried before? How long do you think I've been here? Nothing else than death happens! This IS death! This is the place! You're like, the only exception! You're the only exception!”

Luffy glanced at him.

“That's on you! You change things! You are the one in charge! You make your own rules! You-”

And before he could finish what he started, he disappeared.

I assume everything I just made you go through. Feel free to scream in the comments, and/or send me a message! You can also ask me any questions you wish, assuming this isn't anything implying spoilers for next chapter. Also, uni starts again soon, and I don't have a computer for now, but I will try my best to keep writing as soon as possible. Thank you for reading!

[sunshinepunks-secretsanta]

Secret Santa for PotatoTrace

Hey Guys!~ Happy Holidays, first off. Christmas is here and I do hope that everyone gets at least one thing that was on their Christmas list.~

This little song fic is for a fun little event the wonderful Snek in the MAS Discord chat was so amazing in organizing! My giftee is @doodlepotatoalien and I do hope you enjoy this. 

Song / Movie: All I want for Christmas is you - Mariah Carey

Pairing: MAS - SabAce

Summary: Sabo had thought what he wanted was friendship, but was what he was searching for something deeper than that?

Disclaimer, I own nothing in regards to One Piece or any other referenced media. Enjoy!~

I don’t want a lot for Christmas

There is just one thing I need

I don’t care about the presents

Underneath the Christmas tree

Sabo sat by the fireplace, with his back to the warm fire and his large green eyes on mountain of presents that sat underneath the large 15 foot tall christmas tree. There were at least fifty wrapped boxes of differing sizes piled underneath the tree, and Sabo knew without a doubt that the majority of them were his, who else could they belong to when he was the only child?

Normally one would assume that Sabo was living the dream. Sabo was the single child to a wealthy family, he had anything he could ever want in terms of what money could buy. But what about what money couldn’t buy?

Sabo had parents sure, but he never once had their attention. From the minute he was born, Sabo was handed over to a nanny who raised him until his father decided she was not being a good influence because she filled his imagination with far away adventures. After his nanny was fired, he got a governess who was more to his parent’s likings, one who schooled him in not only the basic subjects but also focused alot on business material. Sabo was five, there was only so much his brain could grasp.

Pretty soon Sabo was enrolled into private school and learned that just like his parents, those kids didn’t really care about making any connections other than business ones. If Sabo wasn’t in the market for trading information about companies and setting up partnership deals, then the children cared not to get to know him.

Sabo was beginning to think that friends were a myth until one fateful day that he was walking alongside a sidewalk on his way home. Sabo had been able to talk his father into letting him walk to and from school, so that he could assess the advertisements and see what the general public liked, it was a blatant lie that apparently worked and got him another few minutes of freedom from the stifling walls that were his home.

Sabo was walking slowly, trying to make the walk last as much as possible when all of a sudden, a freezing slushy mass slapped him across the face. Sabo’s feet stopped moving and he stood in the middle of the street stunned and wide eyed as the melting snow slid off of his warm cheek and onto his shoulder as laughter reached his ear.

Sabo’s large eyes looked over to the boy who was laughing at him, eyes closed and laughter creating small puffs of air around his mouth while other kids around him looked on unsure of how to react, some smiling tentatively, and a few looking worried. By all rights Sabo should be mad, seething even. He was just attacked by this kid with a ball of snow.

I just want you for my own

More than you could ever know

Make my wish come true oh

All I want for Christmas is you

“Whats'a matter kid? Ain’t ever been hit with a snowball before?” the freckled boy asked after he stopped laughing and dusted off Sabo’s sodden shoulder.

Sabo had two choices in that moment, to be an utter embarrassment and tell the other kid that no he had never engaged in one of these fabled snowball fights, or lie through his teeth and give some half assed excuse of why he had been caught off guard. Sabo didn’t know why, but he didn’t like the idea of coming off as a fool to the boy and his friends, so he puffed out his chest and lied his ass off.

“I just wasn’t expecting to get ambushed is all… got room for one more?” Sabo asked the boy and looked past him to the group that was waiting for him to return.

The boy immediately brightened, “Hell yeah we do, what’s your name anyway kid? Mine’s Ace and that’s Marco, Thatch, Izo, Luffy, Nami, Law, Zoro, Sanji, and Koala.”

Sabo was not in the least overwhelmed with the names as he let a smile come to his lips easily enough, and waved only slightly awkwardly in their direction, “Hello, my name is Sabo, it’s a pleasure to meet you all.”

The kid with the large hair laughed, “Look at that Marco he talks just like you!”

The aforementioned child, Marco, looked over to the laughing redhead and sighed, “No he does not, yoi.”

“Well I guess not exactly with that tic of yours bird brain, but close enough.”

Next to Sabo Ace laughed again, “Don’t worry they do this all the time, c'mon you’re on my team.”

I don’t want a lot for Christmas

There is just one thing I need, and I

Don’t care about the presents

Underneath the Christmas tree

Sabo had stayed out that day until the sun set and when he returned home, he was scolded and consequently punished, there would be no sleigh ride for him that year. Sabo was disappointed and yet at the same time, he was not. Sabo had learned that even someone like him, who had never had friends, could have them. And that someone like Ace, was capable of wanting Sabo as a friend.

All Sabo wanted that Christmas was to have friends, primarily the one that made it happen, Ace.

I don’t need to hang my stocking

There upon the fireplace

Santa Claus won’t make me happy

With a toy on Christmas day

Sabo didn’t see those kids again the next day, or even when winter break released him from his classes. Sabo walked home and retraced his steps in order to possibly bump into one or two of the children from the group. But nothing of the sort happened and he had to trudge home in disappointment.

Christmas came and went and Saint Nick didn’t give him what he had wished for.

Sabo didn’t see Ace and his friends again the following week either, nor on new years; and pretty soon the year began to pass without a single sighting of them.

And yet, each year Sabo passed by the same street with that same hope, that Ace and his friends would be there throwing snowballs again. Sabo even refused going along with his parents to their island resort in order to wait by that street.

It was the first Christmas Sabo spent without them, it wasn’t like they were always present during it, but at least they were home.

And again Santa let Sabo down, there were no children waiting for him to play with. No friends to be given to him.

I just want you for my own

More than you could ever know

Make my wish come true

All I want for Christmas is you

This became a cycle pretty soon, Sabo knew that he should let it go and move on. But… he couldn’t.

That year soon evolved into a second, and then a third, and Sabo began to forget the many faces that he had committed to memory when he was ten. And by the time he was seventeen, he had all but forgotten how they looked like. He had also forgotten their names.

Sabo had more or less convinced himself that it was a dream his younger self had had and moved on into the corporate world that his father had wanted for him.

Sabo graduated at the top of his class and with a year to spare, he was out a few months after his seventeenth birthday and on his way to his interview to his very first internship.

The meeting went spectacular, and Sabo was sure he had locked in the position without really needing to try. His parents would be pleased to know that, but Sabo… he didn’t really feel as if he had accomplished anything. Sure he was educated and knew the ins and outs of the business world and trade, but was he really happy?

Sabo had stayed up countless nights wondering this very thing, just as he did now as he sat on a park bench, watching small children run along the grass, large smiles on their faces.

“Hey watch out!”

Sabo heard the cry right before something very solid and fast hit the back of his head. Sabo’s head whipped forward and he clutched at the sore spot just in time to tune back in to the repeated apologies of the person above him.

“–rry, I didn't–fuck, the ball–are you okay? Fuck that’s a stupid question, how many fingers am I holding up?”

Sabo’s glare became stunned shock as he looked up to the guy above him, his wide green eyes meeting the other’s concerned gray ones.

“Whats'a matter, are you not able to count?” A panic rose within the other and he looked over Sabo and called out for help, “Marco, he can’t count!”

I won’t ask for much this Christmas

I won’t even wish for snow, and I

I just wanna keep on waiting

Underneath the mistletoe

Pretty soon Sabo found himself surrounded by a group of teens, one of them pressing a cold pack against his head and shining a beam into his eyes until his surprise wore off and he was able to push away the overbearing hands.

“I’m fine, please.” Sabo began and sighed, “Thanks for the cold pack, and yes I can count.” he said shooting a glance over to the guilty looking one with a frown, “I was just… taken off guard.”

The guy at the very least had the decency to look sheepish and bowed low, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hit you, the ball slipped and it flew over here and–”

“And, if you need to see a doctor, we can take care of all the medical fees, yoi.” the one who had given Sabo the cold pack interrupted and Sabo shook his head, only wincing slightly with the action.

“Na I’ll be okay, tender for a day or so, but fine… thank you for the offer though. Now if you’ll excuse me.” Sabo made to stand and was surprised when someone blocked his path.

“Hey, before you go at least let me make up for this by treating you to lunch or something?” and there was that smile again, so bright Sabo didn’t doubt it could eclipse the sun.

“Uh–sure?” despite his words, Sabo didn’t feel too sure about accepting this strangers invitation, but that combination of his, the smile, eyes, and freckles; there was something there that Sabo was supposed to recognize.

“Awesome! Let’s go now, I’ll see you at home Marc, tell Lu I’ll be help him with his homework later.” and with that he turned to Sabo and turned his world upside down. “My name’s Ace, and yours?”

I won’t make a list and send it

To the North Pole for Saint Nick

I won’t even stay awake

To hear those magic reindeer click

Sabo hadn’t jumped down Ace’s throat the moment he realized that this Ace was the same Ace of his childhood and demanded to ask why Ace hadn’t searched for him as Sabo had, because that would have been childish. Sabo had remained silent about the coincidence and wondered if Ace remembered their previous meeting.

Just as their meal was ending, Ace confirmed Sabo’s ponderings on that though. “I… I’m sorry if I’m just assuming here, but are you the same Sabo who once had a snowball fight with a bunch of kids?”

Sabo nodded, eyebrows knitting as he wondered where exactly Ace would take that conversation.

The freckled boy smiled, “I thought so, I remembered your eyes. We were starting to think you weren’t real because we never saw you again, we tried to go back, but some of the cops kept running us away, something about ’stinkin’ slum kids’.” Ace chuckled, “Anyway, we’re sorry we never got to hang out again, it was fun that day and you guys really did have some great snowball throwing snow.”

“I’d like that too.” Sabo blurted and then reddened as he reeled back his enthusiasm. “I mean, I would like that… to hang out with you more if you want?”

Ace’s bright smile came back and Sabo’s redness deepened. “Of course I would, here I’ll give you my number.”

And just like that, they fell into friendship and somewhere along the way, it became more than that and deeper feelings were shared.

‘Cause I just want you here tonight

Holding on to me so tight

What more can I do

Oh, Baby all I want for Christmas is you

And it was in that year that they shared their first Christmas together. Sabo for once didn’t spend it at home and alone, but surrounded by Ace’s abundant family as they laughed and enjoyed their evening. Some of them already getting so drunk they couldn’t walk properly.

It was a nice change as opposed to what he was used to, but Sabo welcomed it.

The liveliness of the household was so overwhelming that Sabo couldn’t help but let himself be carried along with it. Sabo joined in on the singing and merriment. And in that moment Sabo could truly appreciate what it meant to be in a family.

It turned out that Ace was part of a group of fostered and then adopted kids, along with his many brothers and sisters. Sabo hadn’t even known such a thing was real, but was happy for all of his new friends that it indeed was true for them and they had found their home, no their family right then and there.

All the lights are shining

So brightly everywhere

And the sound of children’s

Laughter fills the air

Over time the situation at home began to get more and more complicated, Sabo hadn’t necessarily told his parents about Ace and the activities that he was involved in because he knew that his father would never approve. They questioned where he was spending his time, and Sabo made up excuses about the internship demanding more work of him than it actually did.

It wasn’t until the next christmas eve was just around the corner when his father confronted Sabo about it and told him that he had had a talk with Sabo’s employer who denied that Sabo was running extra errands for him as Sabo had stated.

And everyone is singing

I hear those sleigh bells ringing

Santa won’t you bring me

The one I really need

Won’t you please bring my baby to me quickly

So Sabo came clean about what he was doing, and the new world that he had stumbled into, and he was loving.

His father was furious. Even went as far as to forbid Sabo from engaging in his newfound “activities” telling him that he had a legacy to uphold, an obligation. And that such people would not be permitted into his son’s life.

Sabo had been furious and defended his position.

To which his father gave him an ultimatum. His house, his rules; if Sabo could not abide by his father’s wishes, then he was not allowed in his father’s house.

Sabo was numb after that, the choice was clear. But it still weighed on him.

I don’t want a lot for Christmas

This is all I’m asking for

I just wanna see my baby

Standing right outside my door

Sabo was disowned that Christmas eve and standing in the cold at the gate of Whitebeards house, his numb hands holding onto the one bag he was able to pack, or was he?

“Sabo?” the voice asked softly and Sabo turned to look at Ace who was looking on in curiosity and then in concern as he reached over to Sabo’s pale cheeks, wiping away at the wetness he hadn’t even known he had.

“What’s wrong? And what’s with the bag?” Ace asked as he scooped it up. “Not running away on Christmas are you?” Ace asked and Sabo appreciated his attempt to lighten up the mood but his smile fell before it could fully form.

“Can’t really run away when you don’t have a home to run from, you know?”

Ace’s concern only deepened as he put two and two together, “Fuck, oh shit. I’m sorry Bo… I didn’t mean to, but why are you standing out here in the snow, do you want to catch a cold? C'mon let’s get you into something warm and I heard Thatch was making his famous hot chocolate, I’ll get you extra marshmallows if you want.”

I just want you for my own

More than you could ever know

Make my wish come true

Baby all I want for Christmas is you

Sabo didn’t protest to being moved from his spot, nor being shoved into a bathroom to catch a warm bath and the clothes that were given to him were a little too large, but they were warm and comfortable and they smelled like Ace.

Ace then lead Sabo down to his room and sat him on the bed where he enveloped Sabo in a hug. They didn’t speak for hours it seemed until Sabo glanced at the clock and noticed that it was no longer the same day, but Christmas day.

“Merry Christmas, Acey. I hope you get what you wanted this year.”

Ace hummed in thought and a soft kiss was pressed to Sabo’s cheek. “All I want for Christmas is you, Sabo*.”

And I hope you like it ^^;I’m sorry I couldn’t MAS T^T the trio eluded this particular song and setting, but now that Sabo lived with the Whitebeards it could happen right? ;3c

The only Lyric here changed was Baby to Sabo for Ace’s last spoken line ^^

I hope you have a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone! Till next time!~

[ngfics]

Natural Instinct - overview

...

Posts . 1 . 2 . 3 . 4 . 5 . 6 . 7 . 8 . 9 . 10 . 11 . 12 .

...

Jana Sable (SIOC) and the premise of her story.

Realizes pretty soon what kind of world she’s in (when she's three and Roger is Executed). Wants to stay far away from plot, pirates and marines. Jana knows too much about future events and is terrified of anybody finding out.

It doesn't matter to her if it’s pirates or marines, her new family and entire world may be in danger depending on who gets their hands on her memories.

Mostly she fears a mind reader - in the world of one piece that is a possibility so to prevent any such from discovering her origins she reads and learns a lot so that any mind reader would find justifications for things she knows in her head and not immediately connect it to her knowing the future and being from another world.

SIOC has only read up until the end of Dressrosa, has not read Luffy winning and so does not know of Pudding’s powers, but suspects such things exist.

Most of the time, due to her being of mental age she feels as if she can judge situations and people fairly easily. She is only right half the time.

She draws from what she knows of the world, which tells her to be wary of everybody, but as this is tiring her vigilance wanes, or rather, she doesn't want to be so paranoid and distrustful of people.

She decides to give people benefit of doubt.

This is a mistake as she starts to lose security in her own insight after her estimations of people's characters are proven wrong at either her expense, or expense of people close to her.

Leading her to being even more paranoid and even more reclusive than she was before.

Marines hold a grudge against her family because her grandmother had a pirates child and refused to be ashamed of that.

So they keep an eye on them and harass them to ‘prevent them form becoming criminals’.

.

Her family worries about her continued paranoia and isolation, this changes when she gets a dog named Luca who can discern people's intentions.

It is with him that she starts to go out again.

Luca is rather perceptive for a dog, perceptive of people's nature. Jana notices and takes her cues from him. While Jana did know how to fight a little from what her father's builder co-workers taught her (so that she can navigate the larger city and stay safe) she mostly concentrates on speed and evasion.

This didn't help her when Marines actually caught her and broke her arm, but it did make her father give her some more self-defense training.

When Jana is 13, her sister Sara gets into a serious relationship with a Marine Van Gillian who is both a good man, and good Marine. Disappointed in his fellow Marines and dismayed at not being able to do much; he teaches Jana Marine martial arts, submission holds and pressure points that he himself learned.

In his mind this was for her defense and he was the one to bring Sara (then his wife) news of Jana missing and then later becoming a pirate. His marriage with Sara protects the remaining Sable family, who no longer hold the name.

Jana's mother dies when she's 16, in an accident while visiting their architect father. It is a building accident in which a part of the building collapses, a building that her father built.

It is a little before this tragedy that Jana nudged Van into teaching her Rokushiki, her desire to learn is amplified with the incident and she manages to gain some capability in both Soru and Geppou by the time she's 18  

Her mother’s death sends her father into depression which results in him merely going with the motions until in two years (when Jana is 18) he dies from an illness and wasting away.

Her older sisters are 22 at the time and already working as a jewelry maker and a cook, living in the city, her younger sisters are 16 and still living with them (one studying mechanics, apprenticed to a mechanic in the city; another apprenticed under a seamstress)

All of them spend as much of time as they can away from the inn, it brings bad memories. Jana stays to take care of their grandmother and the inn, with their grandmother taking over the business.

Sisters mostly talk over DenDen mushi, their relationship much easier on Jana now that they're all a bit older.

During the next 7 years Jana stays and works with her grandmother and endures Marine patrols that come by every three days or so.

Her grandmother and her routinely house pirates, even if just to spite the Marines who can never prove it.

These pirates are not all that famous; and while some are worse and some are better Jana can usually tell. This is in fact how she trains up her Observation Haki and intuition; with Luca as standby to check her hunches and a myriad of pirates and marines visiting.

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When Jana is 20, there is a pirate attack in the larger city while she is there.

Jana uses her hard acquired skills to defend herself and civilians. Marines come in the aftermath where she's killed a couple of pirates, and protected a few kids and merchants, this makes them let up on her.

Marine harassment lessens and their patrols become more laid back.

They are even more lax if they're Van's friends; those marines are usually nice and only do these checks because they're supposed to. They also try to do something about those marines who like to harass them (these are usually ultimate justice types or marines who don't like Van).

Jana gets to know a handful of Marines this way, but nobody plot-important

Van and Sara married during this time, after 7 years of dating and living together (married when Jana was 20 and Sara 24)

They have a son a year after Jana joins Heart Pirates (when Jana is 26 and Sara 30)

Selena married when she was 25 (Sara 25 and Jana 21) to a fellow cook in a shotgun wedding in an after-party haze; but the two had been in love for years having a bit of a rivalry through their respective mentor cooks, though it leaned more and more towards love as years went by.

When Jana is 23 and Vana and Julie 21, the two have a double marriage. Its a marriage of twins marrying twins. Julie, a mechanic, marrying a florist (Johan Devitt) and Vana, a seamstress, marrying his twin a painter (Eugene Devitt).

Jana in the meantime forms a friendship with a local butcher's daughter who is her listening ear and a gentle friend. Her name is Marie.

Luca the dog dies when Jana is 24, at 20 years of age. Passes away painlessly in his sleep. Jana had been expecting it for years so she manages to stave off depression.

Jana had been amassing animal friends from all over the island.Little birds, cats, stray dogs all tend to stop by the inn for a quick meal, tail wag, petting, but none stay for long.

It is this that makes her spend even more time with her grandmother because she feels that once the woman passes away that she will have no direction.

Her connection to Marie is the only thing grounding her in some sort of a routine and purpose. She is slightly unsettled, but still very protective of her sisters who now have their own lives and don't call as much as they used to.

She doesn't want to risk anybody finding anything out from her and threatening her family and considers moving away to a remote house/apartment/hut once her grandmother passes away-thinks of selling the inn and just leaving for somewhere she won't be bothered.

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It is not long afterwards, when she's 25, that Heart Pirates show up.

Jana isn't quite sure what to think of them, uncertain if her information and impressions are useful at all. So when they reach the inn she looks to nearby cats and dogs first. And relaxes.

These animals are well attuned to human intent, that is enough for a first impression.

Her paranoia and age make her a master of observation of gestures, subtle movements, tics, voice intonation. All of this is done mostly unconsciously and she is always uncertain if she is correct. She needs her beta check, her dog.

Heart Pirates have to stay for a week, so the Log Pose can set and in that time each of them gains a place in her heart.Jana finds that she fits well in with them. They seem to like her, consider her somewhat of a friend.

Heart Pirates are pretty unhappy with the way Marines treat her and her grandmother, but can do nothing lest they cause more trouble for the two. Jana and her grandmother brush their concerns off, this Marine behavior is not unusual.

Jana doesn't expect to like the Heart Pirates as much as she does. She liked them as characters, they were interesting, funny and somewhat mysterious.

Now, meeting them as people, both sides are surprised at how well they just click.

Some Heart Pirates are not okay with the thought of  just leaving her in her situation with the Marines and are planning to ask the captain to extend an invitation to her.

Then the incident Happens (on the last day of Heart Pirates stay)

Somehow Marines learn that pirates were there while Jana is out actually helping the pirates find shops they were looking for. She hears from a neighbor that ran to find her that the inn was actually being burnt down.

Jana runs back immediately. After a brief contemplation Heart Pirates follow. By the time they arrive Jana is already in a life or death battle with a Marine; some of the stray dogs are attacking other Marines with viciousness they haven’t displayed before.

Marines end up being incapacitated or dead and Jana is quietly devastated at her grandmother's death and the burned down inn.

She doesn't cry, she hasn't cried in a long time.

She is just tired.

Jana asks the pirates if they mind helping her dig a grave, they agree without any prompting from Law. After all is done and she's trying to see if something can be salvaged from the fire, he asks her about her plans.

His crew is immediately all ears, they have a feeling as to where this is going.

Law was given a good look into Jana's intuitive abilities, seen her get a measure of people with nary a glance; he has a feeling there is something there and feels like betting on it.

Jana says she'll probably go to one of her sisters and live with them; she has no idea what she'll do as she always planned to continue holding the inn.

And, as an even older woman than she appears, she feels guilty mooching off even if the situation cannot be helped. She's feeling a bit hopeless about her future. (Her sisters all married to lose the family name)

Then Law says that she could come with them if she liked.

Jana is actually surprised, tries to dissuade him, because really is she honestly pirate material?

Law counters that by saying he doesn't know, (which startles her because she thought him prideful, but realizes that she hasn't seen it and that that was a preconception) asks her if she wants to find out.

And because she can see something there, some opportunity for something, maybe discovering herself, her own motivations.

Wanting not to be tired or scared of living anymore, she agrees.

Unfortunately she has to leave her dogs. While the pirates are getting  supplies as quick as they can, she goes to the woman who warned her about the marines and leaves her the four dogs after saying goodbye to them.

The woman is kind and had known her since she was a child, the woman quickly packs her some clothes and necessities realizing that the young woman was leaving.

They part with a hug and goodbye, the older woman later following Jana's career as a pirate, always reading out-loud to the four dogs

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Through her time with the Heart Pirates they teach her how to trust herself more and how to speak up when she has a possible solution. How to get involved with people and with the world again.

Some get angry in the beginning at how she amends with 'but I might be wrong about that' at all times, finding it annoying, but her near hysteria when she is wrong stops them from saying anything about it again.

Law tells her later to have more faith in others if she cannot have faith in herself. Telling her that they always know things might go wrong and that if she's wrong the responsibility isn't hers alone.

They will pull through together, that is the point of having and being a part of the crew. He actually knows just what to say.

She is shortest in the crew at 168cm

Her violin, the one given to her grandmother by her grandfather was burned along with the house so once Heart Pirates learn she's a violinist and a musician they buy her a violin for her birthday (it's white and black with the bow being yellow)

In one case there is a point where she has to protect an injured crew-member who tells her to just go and leave him - which she refuses - and manages to get them both out.

Possibly loosing her sight, and wearing a face mask from then onward concentrating her Haki to tell people and places apart, using echolocation as well or something like that.

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Iris Sable (Grandmother)

Deceased Grandfather (was a pirate of the Rumbar Pirates, did not marry grandmother) - Jana looks a lot like him

Antonia Sable (Deceased Mother)

Mikael Sable (Deceased Father - suicide).

Vana Devitt (nee Sable) - sister, seamstress - Johan Devitt - Brother in Law

Julie Devitt (nee Sable) - sister, mechanic - Eugenia Devitt - Sister in Law

Sara Gillian (nee Sable) - sister, jewelry maker

Van Gillian (Marine, brother in Law) - Janus GIllian (nephew)

Selena Cane (nee Sable) - sister, cook

Hector Cane (brother in law) - Hilda & Hattie Cane (nieces, twins)

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Jana’s Skills:

eye for detail

speed (due to running away from kids and Marines) and parkour as well as body submission holds (which have been lifted from Marine martial arts), flexibility, but not great power, relies mostly on avoiding hits, hitting pressure points and submission holds

Intuition (can distinguish if a person is lying) (with increasing effectiveness, regardless of how good of a liar they are) (can distinguish if a person means harm to her or those close to her - killing intent), can read body language and facial expressions expertly,  good with animals due to intuition.

Observation Haki (intent, direction) - if she loses her sight she can force her Haki into the floor to get an outline of her surroundings and people (a la Toph)

good with makeup and clothes as well as impersonation (this makes a great spy)

has a singing voice (her grandmother liked it when she sang, reminding her of grandfather), play a violin (only thing left of grandfather and another piece grandmpther shared with her)

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Jana’s Flaws: insecurity in her own capabilities, paranoia, prone to sarcastic and snide remarks, intentionally miscommunicates

Likes: Books about everything and anything, writing songs from past life, rewriting them to suit this world.

Tropes:

Genre Savwy (knows she's in a 'fictional' world), Jack-of-all-trades (can apply most of her various bits and pieces of knowledge), Weak, but Skilled, Fragile Speedster(all speed, evasion and some self defense tricks), Sneaky Guy (scouts ahead, info gathering), Communications Officer/Mission Control (provides field info and intel), Hit-and-Run Tactics (pressure points and submission holds if necessary, but mostly tripping enemies), Damsel out of Distress (rescues herself in occasions she's captured), Combat Clairvoyance (Observation Haki), Specs of Awesome, Tranquil Fury (when actually pissed off), has a Canine Companion(Luca), True Companions (with Heart Pirates), Platonic Life Partners (with Law), Deadpan Snarker (sometimes when things are 'illogical'), Living Lie Detector (due to combination of Haki, good instincts and desperation), Good is not Soft (does not shy away from outright murder as she has a great division of us vs. them), Humble Goal (at first to just stay in that little village forever, peacefully, then to be unremarkable and forgettable while staying safe and keeping everybody else safe due to knowledge, after meeting Heart Pirates it becomes just staying by their side as long as she lives)

Quote: "Apparently I've been too kind." (to go with Good is not Soft)

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Heart Pirates notes:

Everybody knows basic mechanics (just enough to know if something isn't working as it should, if more knowledgeable then also what to do until they can get a mechanic)

Everybody knows basic medicine (at least to patch up minor wounds in a pinch, what to do in case of this or that and some symptom causes)

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Heart Pirates members:

(this is likely to change with canon, but I’ll just add these guys on, cause why not?)

Trafalgar D. Water Law(cannon) - captain, doctor

Bepo(cannon) - navigator, martial arts - Shachi(cannon) - martial arts, mechanic - Penguin(cannon) - martial arts, mechanic - Jean bart (cannon) - strength, navigation - Bandana guy (sorta cannon/fanon) - called Bandana in Fanon - Wakame(fannon I think/ and maga in auction house) - Sven(OC) - navigator, tailor - Matthew(OC) - mechanic - Daniel(OC) - mechanic - Peter(OC) - medic - Marcus(OC) - cook, fighting with knives - Arthur(OC) - medic,chemist - Fran(OC) - cook

Jana(SIOC) - speed, observation haki (enhanced with emphaty), evasion, espionage, communications monitoring, musician - wears a Bucket Hat (white and black striped  at first - black 2YL)

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Posts . 1 . 2 . 3 . 4 . 5 . 6 . 7 . 8 . 9 . 10 . 11 . 12 .

Fic Masterlist

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[monkeydluffy19920]

Chapter 858

Tick tock, clock running and only 3 hours and 30 minutes to the ‘Tea Party’ !

First we see how they are baking the wedding cake and I assume this will be important part of the wedding since BM has dreamed about the cake for a while. Also I doubt Oda would spend the valuable panels for nothing so yes, a importan cake. Then we have Pekoms who is accompanied by Sun Pirates and they tell him to rest but he doesn’t want and mentions seeing shadows (wonder if he meant the same shadows that we saw shooting Bobbin)

So Luffy and others are on their way to see Capone and they are sent to the bath by Vito who explains that the “mafia boss” doesn’t want any dirty guests around. Now that Vito and others is back on game we MIGHT get to finally know what he whispered to Sanji back in chapter. Luffy is taking things surprisingly serious, almost scolding Chopper being so relaxed in times like this and so on but that might be also a gag, who knows : D   (By the way, Chopper is way too adorable without the hat :> )

Then the scenery switches from the outside of castle to the inside and in women’s bath  Nami finally gets the shower shes been craving since they were thrown into the jail. More importanly they’ll meet Lola’s twin sister Chiffone who opens up more about the past of Charlotte family and especially about Lola’s case and explains why she isn’t welcomed to Whole Cake Island anymore. 

Whoever wrote the theory about Lola’s proposer to be a giant and has something to do with Elbaf nailed it ! So BM tried to arrange another political marriage in order to get involved with a famed army of Elbaf and this could’ve offered her the keys to get closer to One Piece. So I assume  that now her plan with Vinsmokes and this marriage of Pudding and Sanji was to get get the gadgets to make her own clone army of Giants , sort of as a “revenge”. 

(hmmm Nami seems to be interested in princes *whistles and smirks*)

It’s actually really sad to see how similar Judge and BM actually are. Both have crazy ambitions and questionable methods to achieve them and on top of that they are horrible parents. I mean they favor some of the children meanwhile despising the others and there is no wonder why Sanji and Lola both ran away.  Back in Thriller Bark Nami and Lola became close friends and seeing how badly Big Mom treats her own children is enough to give Nami  another reason to kick some Charlotte butt, in my opinion. I doubt her kind and emphatic nature will let her just “forget” this all, especially now that BM has not only caused trouble for her crew mate but also to her sworn sister. I really do hope Oda has prepared Nami some badass fight or other badass moment because she is a badass whose skills deserve to be seen ! 

Well Brulee and the other guy whose name I already forgot are still kept tied (probably so they won’t be able to squeal) and they seem to question Capone’s and Chiffon’s desicion but as said, I think there are way too many reasons why BM should be on her toes. I just hope Brulee doesn’t ruin it all by telling Mama before the big moment although it would bring more drama and tension :d

Also elsewhere Luffy and others are finishing their baths as well and for the comical part of the chapter they are some silly dummies. Well all I can say now is that DAMN YOU ODA, MASTER OF TROLLS XD also, never underestimate the power of milk, it can heal anything ! and to be honest I was already getting used to Luffy’s missing tooth but can’t deny that I’m glad it’s back, although he looks adorable with or without the tooth so doesn’t really matter :> yeah that missing tooth could have offered lots of dramatic sceneries in their future reunion in Wano because well it would’ve been interesting to see how the rest of the crew reacts seeing him with a gap in his mouth but I bet there might be tension anyways if they hear what has happened in WCI but at least now Luffy can smile with the whole row of white and shiny teeth and great to see Brook healed as well :D 

Then to the big meeting ! Straw hats meet the Capone’s gang and damn I already love the outfits of this arc so much :> (and it’s so hilariously cute that Luffy won’t give up on his treasure at any cost so he puts 2 hats on xD).  

I know this is a bit overthinking but if we think a little about the shipping perspective you can see that Sanji and Nami are sitting in different couches, maybe this could indicate that they  don’t feel yet comfy to sit next to each other and therefore there is a chance for bigger reconciliation. I know Nami practically already forgive him  but it was via Den den mushi, so maybe there will be something shippy awaiting :> at least I hope Oda would make them have a proper time to talk with each other but let’s see. 

My mate @eleamaya​ dropped some really promising shippish-notes in her post here.  Not only that prince comment few shippers have already pointed out but also this really interesting detail:

Yup as you can see Nami is now having very similar haircut/hairstyle   than in that panel where Pudding is portayed as bride and where she explains how she shoots Sanji after the veil is lifted. Coincidence or not but this arc is full of surprises and I wish we could already see what the plan is and how they fullfill it.

Also on the other hand we shall keep our feet on the ground and not raise our hopes too high since OP is mainly focusig on chasing dreams and valuing friendships rather than romance even though it feels like there is more romantical aspects in general compared for the early arcs(hehheh, I need to remind myself about this often since I tend to carry away with shipping goggles xD).

(maybe the color spread of chapter 464 was kinda foreshadowing to this arc. Anyways they look great there :p)

Then we also find out tht Ceasar has been with Capone... as Gangster Gastino xD he looks badass by the way ! Luffy almost gets fooled by the “disguise”. Capone seems not to be interested in their links to each others, he just wants a confirmation to the alliance. Like always negotiations don’t go with the easiest route since Luffy starts to use his gomu gomu powers because he is mad at Capone shooting Pekoms and like Jinbe’s face says it all, he was expecting this to go this way so he stops their fight telling that if they all hate Big Mom then she’ll be the target and they can call it as a alliance.  From now on it seems like Pudding is not having any alliance with Capone’s gang but nothing is for sure. However Capone seems to have a plan and I wonder what that’ll be. Here are some that crossed my mind instantly:  

1) “bride swap” Based on this post and few fan arts but I don’t see this as a impossibility, even though Lola is out of game (which means Nami isn’t going to bargain like we originally speculated with my mate @ecassandrae.) I know I’ve been talking about her nickname thousands of times but I still claim this would be a perfect opportunity for her to  be “the husband stealer”, literally. Also like my mate @pernanegra​ reminds us, Chiffon has already took part in brideswap earlier so arranging another “scheme” sounds even more plausible don’t it?  Practically this would mean they need to capture Pudding and make Nami as the bride who steps to the altar. Like said this isn’t impossible but there are indeed pros and cons in this plan  + Sanji would love this plan and he wouldn’t have to be afraid of getting shot + This would give them time to react and ambush + We know Pudding has 2 wedding dresses which could partly support this idea  - could they capture Pudding without problems ?  -+ is Nami willing to do this? (well of course she’d be in the end because it’s for the sake of her nakama but I can already imagine how blushed she’d become if she heard this for real :D) 

2) full chaos  Well this doesn’t require much explanation, the fire is opened before the tea ceremony even starts  + unpredictable since BM seems to trust her son in law -  chaos 

There is probably much much more choices but I’m so stubbornly looking forward on the number one since there are so many nice hints around but but, master Oda will show us the right path !