#lawluweek2022

“I’m not going to die,” Luffy said quietly after a moment, meeting Law’s eyes and trying to convey how serious he was. “And I’m not letting you die either.”

“It’s the most reckless, idiotic idea you’ve had in your entire life, Straw Hat-ya,” Law hissed, but he didn’t pull away.

Luffy snickered. “You’re underestimating me! I can come up with something even more reckless by morning if you want!”

“No, thanks,” Law sighed as he closed his eyes.

Luffy was sure he was praying for patience right then.

They were both silent for a long while after that. Luffy sat there quietly, watching Torao’s chest rise and fall, studying the way his brow furrowed as he refused to look at Luffy. Fighting with Luffy’s words and stubbornness, fighting with himself in his mind.

A small smile pulled on Luffy’s lips when he felt Law squeeze his hand lightly. It still took Law a while to open his eyes again; when he looked at Luffy his gaze was still annoyed but resigned nonetheless. “Even if I refuse, you’re not going to back down, are you?”

“Nope!” Luffy announced proudly, a wide grin on his lips.

And when Law heaved a deep, long-suffering sigh… Luffy knew he had won.

“You’re so damn selfish, you know that?” Law growled, closing his eyes momentarily once more before he gave Luffy the dirtiest glare he possibly could. “If I die because of you, I’m hunting your ass down in the afterworld just to kill you again myself.”

A laugh bubbled out of Luffy’s chest at his words; quiet and subdued… but so very light and happy. “Noted.”

“You don’t even feel bad about it. I don’t know what I expected,” Law groaned before continuing, voice more serious this time. “I’m not doing it here.”

With a smile still on his lips, Luffy nodded before he slowly stood up, not letting go of Law’s hand as he tugged on his hand impatiently.

Law still took a moment to move but then he reluctantly let Luffy pull him up—and then he didn’t let go. Luffy felt something swell in his chest when Law simply started walking out of the room packed with people—most of them either asleep or too busy drinking and chatting to pay them any attention—while keeping their fingers laced together tightly.

Luffy giggled to himself, quickly following his boyfriend's lead to wherever he was comfortable.

They walked in silence, making their way through the castle. Luffy wasn't sure how Law knew exactly where he was going when the halls all looked the same but somehow, they quickly found themselves in the garden. It was the middle of the night but the pathways were illuminated with stone lamps, making the garden look beautiful even in the darkness.

However, Law didn't stop at the entrance; instead, he led Luffy deeper into the garden until they reached the pond towards the back. Luffy couldn't help but think how incredibly romantic the place seemed—although to Law the whole point probably was the privacy the distance from the castle and the surrounding trees gave them. Luffy still chose to think it was on purpose though; if only because the idea of Torao of all people going out of his way to pick the cheesiest, most romantic place available for this was actually pretty funny.

"What are you laughing at?" Law asked with annoyance once he finally sat down on one of the large stones by the water.

Luffy grinned and opened his mouth to reply—

"Never mind, I don't want to know," Law interrupted him, rubbing at his forehead.

And Luffy only laughed. He plopped on the stone next to Torao, sitting cross-legged on top of it to face his boyfriend, an eager look on his face.

After a moment, Law finally looked at him, his eyes and voice completely serious. "Let me say this one more time. This idea is absolutely crazy. Reckless and dangerous doesn't even cover it."

"Yeah!" Luffy agreed with a grin, which immediately turned into a laugh at the face Torao made at his excitement.

“You’re impossible. Why am I even fucking considering this?” Law muttered, throwing his head back as if asking the stars above. Or maybe praying for patience once again. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

Luffy stuck his tongue out at him even though Torao couldn’t see him. “Because you love me.”

Law froze at his words. He slowly turned to look at him then; his eyes were wide like the Sunny’s, expression so shocked that Luffy couldn’t help but snicker at the sight.

“What the hell are you saying?” Torao asked then, voice carefully measured.

“Well, am I wrong?” Luffy said with a small pout. After all, he knew he was right. Law didn’t have to be so—

Embarrassed?

Okay that was actually cute.

“Torao~” Luffy sang, leaning forward to peer into Law’s eyes.

“Shut up,” Law muttered after a while. He didn’t acknowledge Luffy at all besides that but Luffy didn’t mind. He would get him to say it eventually.

Oh.

He hadn’t said it either, had he?

Ah, well.

“Let’s just get it over with,” Law sighed, looking away from Luffy’s intent gaze. “Room.”

Luffy let out an ‘ohh’ as the thin see through film enveloped them; it was always really fun seeing Law use his power but this time, it was going to be something. He couldn’t wait. He was just so excited for this!

“Can you stop fidgeting for a damn minute?” Law growled, shooting Luffy a dirty look.

“Sorry,” Luffy said quietly, taking a deep breath as he willed his body to calm down—although it took effort to keep his knees from bouncing up and down even so.

Shaking his head, Law flexed his right hand, looking at it for a few seconds before he slowly turned his eyes to Luffy again. “You are probably going to pass out, by the way.”

“What?!” Luffy yelped. “No way! I wanna be awake!”

There was an undeniable smirk on Law’s lips. “Well, good fucking luck then. Scalpel.”

And then, Law’s hand shot out, straight at the centre of Luffy’s chest. It felt like all the air was stolen out of Luffy’s lungs as his heart flew out of his chest; his vision went black momentarily and he grasped blindly in front of himself, trying to get a hold of Law—of himself—until his hand closed around soft fabric and he focused all his attention to that single point of contact.

He felt so lightheaded. It was no wonder Law had thought he would pass out; honestly, Luffy might have—maybe even did for a second—but he simply refused to lose consciousness. Clutching at Law’s arm, Luffy closed his eyes briefly; he took a deep breath, then another, and another, until he could feel the wildly spinning world slowly come to a stop.

“Impressive,” Law said with a small chuckle. “Shouldn’t have expected any less.”

Luffy grinned tiredly as he looked up at Law. “Thanks.”

Torao huffed before he moved his fingers, a cube appearing in his palm a split second later. He gestured for Luffy to take it and Luffy… did.

He stared in awe at his heart, beating at a steady rhythm in his hands as if being out in the open was perfectly normal. It looked… “So cool,” he breathed as he turned the cube every which way, studying the organ from every angle, watching intently as it moved by itself.

Slowly, he brought it to his ear. He could hear the sound of the quiet beats so clearly.

Suddenly, a hand closed around his wrist as an alarmed voice asked, “What are you doing?”  

Luffy blinked, looking at Law questioningly, “Trying to listen to my heart?”

“You were trying to shake it like it’s fucking piggy bank,” Law said, something beyong disbelief in his voice.

“Oh, come on,” Luffy drew out. “Don’t tell me you didn’t try it at least once!”

“No, I really fucking didn’t,” Torao deadpanned and Luffy stuck his tongue out at him. Law only shook his head before he let go of Luffy’s hand to take his own heart out.

It wasn’t fair, Luffy thought, how easily Law had handled the loss compared to himself. He supposed it made sense considering it was Law’s own ability but it still wasn’t fair. Jerk.

“There. Happy?” Law asked with a sigh when he pulled the organ out.

Luffy grinned, holding his own little cube up to Law’s. They looked really similar. It would be really easy to mix them up. Hopefully Law was able to tell which was which. Especially if he ever took a bunch out and threw them all in a pile—how would anyone be able to tell which was theirs? Although Luffy wasn’t sure what would be the point of even doing that in the first place.

But what did he know, Torao could get a little weird with these things sometimes.

Kind of like Robin.

It took a long while for either of them to speak after that. They both simply watched their two hearts beat in tandem, quietly, at the same rhythm, pulsing, throbbing, alive. It looked a little like they were dancing and Luffy could almost hear the music.

“So,” Luffy finally broke the silence, his voice barely above whisper. “Do I just put it in?”

“Yeah.” Law nodded as he spoke up, equally softly.

Luffy nodded back, grabbing Law's heart and replacing it with his own on Law’s palm. He gave the cube in his hand one last look before he brought it up to his chest, positioning it at the hole right at the centre… and pushed it in.

It felt weird. He didn’t even know how to describe the feeling of an entirely new organ being inserted into his body but… he didn’t hate the feeling. After all, this was Torao’s heart.

He could feel it moving in his chest. Thrumming quietly, yet so loudly at the same time.

“It’s beating so fast,” Luffy mumbled, a happy smile pulling on his lips.

Law clicked his tongue. “Shut up,” he hissed before mirroring Luffy’s movements with practised ease.

Ugh. How many times had he done this before? And to think he was so unhappy about it when Luffy brought it up…

But—

Luffy still couldn’t stop smiling. Slowly, he raised his hand, placing it gently over Law’s chest. He could feel it—he could feel his own heartbeat in Law’s chest and he knew Law could feel it too, exactly the same way Luffy felt Law’s wildly pulsing heart.

It was… a warm feeling, knowing they were now connected like this. A bond that couldn’t be easily broken; a piece of each other that they would carry with them, always.

This whole time, Torao had been looking at Luffy as if he was waiting for him to back down, to change his mind, to tell him to stop, but really, Luffy had never felt more sure about this than he did right now.

“I love you,” Luffy said in a voice that was quiet, yet firm. Luffy wasn’t planning on saying it, didn’t realise he was doing it until the words had left his mouth, but he was still completely certain about every syllable.

He felt Law’s heart skipping a beat in his chest and he giggled, slowly raising his eyes to look at Law. He was staring back at his eyes blown wide once more, but he didn’t look scared or embarrassed this time. No, he looked—

Before Luffy could finish the thought, warm fingers stroked his cheek, sliding over his skin until they buried in his hair, pulling him forward the tiniest bit.

Luffy didn’t fight it.

Easily following the guiding touch, Luffy leaned forward, meeting Torao half-way.

The kiss they shared then was soft, their lips moving together slowly and easily, as if they had been doing it for years and years. They might have as well had; it certainly felt like they’d been together longer than a mere few months.

But it didn’t matter. The past didn’t matter, as far as Luffy was concerned. He was looking to the future; forward, always forward, and the only future he wanted was the one with Torao next to him.

A year, two years, five, ten.

Always.

He smiled into the kiss, his arms going up to wrap around Torao’s shoulders to pull him closer. He didn’t want to let go; he wanted to feel his warmth, Torao’s breath tickling his skin and his heart beating against Luffy’s chest as if trying to jump right out of his rib cage.

He was sure his own heart was doing the same in Law’s chest.

The knowledge made him feel warm, his skin tingling wherever he was touching Law. His stomach felt like it was going to explode from the amount of butterflies trying to burst through.

Good thing it was made of rubber.

When Law tried to pull away a moment later, Luffy followed him, unwilling to let him go but Law grabbed his chin, forcing him to wait. A pout on his lips, Luffy slowly opened his eyes to glare at Torao but he wasn’t looking at him.

His eyes were still closed, refusing to look at Luffy as he pressed their foreheads together. It looked like he was thinking hard about something; or maybe just trying to gather himself. He was breathing deeply, rubbing circles into the skin of Luffy’s cheek with his thumb and Luffy… couldn’t say anything.

He grabbed at Law’s wrist to let him know he was there, waiting patiently until Law relaxed. Finally, Law sighed and, eyes still closed, pressed a short, firm, kiss to Luffy’s lips—

“I love you,” Law mumbled then, the words a whisper against Luffy’s mouth.

For a second, Luffly sat there completely frozen, taken completely by surprise, but then a wide grin appeared on his face and he snickered, pulling Law into a hug.

“I love you, too!” Luffy announced, his voice light with laughter.

“Idiot. You said that already,” Law grumbled into Luffy’s neck.

“And I’ll say it again! As much as I want!”

“Please don’t,” Law begged now, suddenly sounding so tired and Luffy wasn’t sure if it was because of their conversation or because Law just imagined how the rest of their crews would react to Luffy telling Law he loved him every two minutes.

Probably both.

But Luffy didn’t mind; they had all the time in the world to get Law and everyone else to get used to it. They were now connected by more than a pirate alliance and a promise, after all, and Luffy would be damned if he just let Law leave.

He was staying, whether he liked it or not. This alliance was far from over.

It was going to continue past Kaido, past them leaving Wano. For another year, two years, five, ten. As long as it took.

Their alliance, they were going to stay until Luffy became the Pirate King and even after that because really, what was the point of reaching the goal if everyone wasn’t there to see it? He wanted all his friends, all his loved ones…

He wanted them to see it. He wanted Law to see it.