#usopponepiece

You sighed deeply and slowly, eyes still closed in partial slumber. You were waking up, groggy as all hell but still conscious. Your brows furrowed before you pried open your eyes into slits, before opening them further once you realized you were in a dimly lit room.

“There ya are” a voice said. You recognized it, and knew it was safe, but the man’s name escaped your grasp. You heard various beeping in the background, and you felt like you were dreaming. 

“Wha…?” you slurred, smacking your lips as you noticed your mouth was dry. You blinked slowly again. 

“You’re going to be groggy for a bit, but everything was successful and went smoothly” the voice said. It was soothing, hearing him talk. You finally focused on him, sitting in the corner of the room on a chair. He stood, and your eyes lagged to follow his movements. 

“Law” you whispered in recognition as the light hit his face. You could feel yourself smiling dopily.

“You’re so pretty, Law” you slurred. You wanted to touch his face, feel his beard and sideburns, to feel the heat from his tanned skin as he blushed at your compliment. Your arm twitched, but didn’t move completely off the bed. You scowled at it before it crashed into you. 

Your arm. 

You had arms. 

The surgery. The arms. It worked! 

You looked up at Law, tears filling your eyes as you looked at him with true, unfiltered gratitude. He paused at your tears. 

“Does it hurt? Are you in pain?” he quickly bent over to check your shoulders but you shakily raised one hand to touch his face. You could feel the echoes of his skin and the coarseness of his sideburns and beard. 

“I can touch you,” you said softly. A wide smile puffed your cheeks and you laughed a little in disbelief. Law smiled a little, just a small quirk of his lips, and put his hand on the back of yours. 

“Yeah. But are you in pain?” he asked again. You stared at his hand, resting on top of yours. You could feel the heat of it, and how warm he was. More tears flowed with your happiness. You sniffed, finally taking stock of your body. The sites of the attachments were stinging and throbbing, but it was tolerable. 

“Yeah but it’s not bad” you finally said. Law sighed in relief, put your hand back on the bed, and stood upright. 

“Good. It should be painful, but not so bad it's unbearable and you shouldn’t be numb. I’ll go get your crew,” he said. You nodded, still unable to wipe the smile off your face. He walked quickly to the door and opened it. His soft voice floated back to you as you bent both arms at the elbow to look at your hands. 

They were incredible, intricate pieces that were made of metal. The silver gleam was dulled in the light that was only provided by a lamp on the small table across the room, but it was the best thing you’ve ever laid eyes on. You tried clenching and unclenching your fist, checking out the movement. It was choppy, and it hurt like a bitch at the attachment sites, but they worked. Your dazed study of your arms was interrupted by Law yelling at your captain. 

“Oi! Mugiwara-ya! Be fucking gentle! I won’t have you screwing up my work!” 

You heard Luffy and the crew running towards your room way before you saw any faces. Luffy’s slap of his sandals, Franky’s metal arms pumping, Usopp screeching as he got run over by Nami, who was wearing heels. You heard the two different taps of dress shoes from both Sanji and Brook. Luffy’s rubber hands gripped the doorframe and he shot himself past your room before letting his body pull him back so he could jump off the adjacent wall and fly into your room. He skidded to a halt at the side of your bed, eyes twinkling and a huge, toothy smile on his face. You noticed Chopper was hanging onto his shoulder for dear life, but popped up to see how you were doing. 

“Shihihihihi~ You’re awake! You have suuuuuper cool robot arms! Man, I have the coolest crew. Are you hungry? Should Sanji to cook you something? Can he make you meat?” Luffy fired questions at you one after the other. In your groggy state of mind, the words jumbled together, but you were saved by Chopper, who hopped onto your bed gently. 

“Shut up, Luffy! Patient’s are usually confused and groggy when they first wake up. And no, no meat right now- that’s just an excuse for you to eat more meat!” Chopper chided Luffy. You couldn’t help but smile at the reindeer. He’s just too cute. 

“Cute” you mumbled. You wanted to squish his face. Your arms were still bent at the elbow, and you let Chopper gently crawl up your body to sit on your stomach. 

“Squish squish” you slurred, pinching his cheeks. He cried out in pain a little but there was still a smile fighting to stay on his face. He pulled his cheeks free from your grip and giggled while rubbing the sore spots. 

“Well it looks like we need to train fine motor skills, but that’s to be expected,” he said. His words washed over you, the meaning clicking in your mind somewhere, but not coming to the forefront. You were distracted by movement by the doorway. Sanji and Franky were trying to shove each other out of the way to get into the door first, but Nami’s well-planted foot on Franky’s butt caused him to stumble into the room first, but he caught himself and seemed to materialize by your bedside. Nami entered second, as Sanji let her go first, before cutting in front of Usopp. You blinked slowly, and suddenly your bed was surrounded by your crew. Well, all except one. You looked at Luffy, who started asking about what kind of cool robot things you could do now, and Chopper tried desperately to answer for you. You looked at Franky next, and he got closer to you with a smile. 

“Heya, kiddo. Ya got’cha suuuuperrrrr arms. Everything went well! Law is a super surgeon, and with a little bit of physical therapy and training, you should get used to the arms in no time,” he said. You looked at him, blinking slowly as the words sunk in and the meaning clicked. You smiled up at him. 

“I love you like a brother. My big brother. I’ll protect you, cuz we’re twin-sies,” you murmured, raising your hand. He clasped it, tears starting to form in his eyes at your drugged words. Your grip tightened in mechanical increments around his, and you flinched a little as the attachment sites stung. He let go of your hand, and brought it down to rest on your stomach. 

“You need to let the sites heal a little more before you really start using it,” he said around tears streaming down his face. You hummed a little in response, letting your gaze wander. It landed on Sanji, who was hovering uncertainly on your other side. 

“Hey, cook” you greeted softly. Sanji’s lip quivered a little but he broke out in a smile. 

“Hey, my little fighter, do you need anything? Water? Food?” he asked, reaching out gently to stroke your hair. You let yourself nuzzle into his hand. 

“So kind, Sanji. So nice, and strong, and kind. Did I say that already?” You slurred your words slightly. His hand froze on your head, and you whined a little when he stopped stroking your hair. You looked at him with a small pout. His cheeks were a bright red, and he was looking at you, lips parted with shock. You let your head fall more into his hand. 

“More” you mumbled. He immediately started back up again, and you closed your eyes briefly with a hum. Sounds of indignation from Brook brought your gaze to him, and he reached out with a tentative hand. 

“May I please… see your panties?” he asked solemnly. Nami whacked his skull as you giggled a little. 

“I haven’t heard that in a while. Did I change that much?” you asked him, a small smile on your face. The crew quieted at your question, before Nami spoke up. 

“No sweetie. You haven’t changed much at all, it’s just that we got scared. You were so hurt, that we didn’t know how to act around you,” she said quietly. You hummed. Sanji’s hand kept stroking your hair. 

“Like Zoro. He was scared, and guilty, and only got that out in anger” you said, brow furrowing. The words you were trying to say weren’t coming out as clearly as you wanted. The crew was silent for a moment. 

“Yes, he was, and is, feeling scared and guilty” Robin answered. You nodded once in confirmation, smiling at the fact that they still understood what you were trying to say. You looked up at Sanji, smiling proudly. 

“Just like you said,” you whispered loudly. He smiled sadly down at you, tears brimming his eyes. 

“Yeah. Just like I said” he murmured. A snorting sniff attracted your attention, and you looked at Usopp, who was obviously fighting back tears. 

“Hey Usopp, did it hurt your mother when she gave birth to a baby with such a big nose?” you asked seriously. Franky snorted a laugh, shocked by your question. Brook started laughing so hard he ended up on his knees and elbows, crashing a fist into the floor as he repeated your question breathlessly. Luffy started laughing wildly, Chopper right beside him, and you smiled at the sound. Nami sank into a chair, clutching her stomach as she laughed. Robin giggled behind her hand, and Usopp stared at you with a shocked expression. 

“I uh… I don’t know” he said finally, before erupting into giggles. You hummed, looking at Sanji, who was laughing loudly. You smiled at him. He was gorgeous like this. Laughter suited him well. 

You didn’t realize you said it out loud until he was looking down at you in surprise, a grin on his face as his cheeks turned pink. The rest of the crew was still ganging up on Usopp, teasing about his long nose. 

“Thank you, but you are much more gorgeous than I could ever be,” he answered. You giggled, a dumb joke coming to mind. 

“I think I’ll shine brighter now that I’m part metal” you said, grinning up at him. He fought back tears at your drugged giddiness. A wave of exhaustion swept through your body, and you relaxed completely against your pillow. 

“Okay that’s it. Everyone out,” Law chided from the doorway. Robin, Nami, Brook and Usopp filed out with various well wishes. Sanji soothed a hand over your hair one more time before dropping a light kiss against your forehead. You hardly registered it through your exhaustion, eyes drooping and a hum of contentment was pulled unconsciously from your chest. 

“Bonne nuit, fais de beaux rêves, mon Ange” (goodnight, sweet dreams, my angel) Sanji whispered. You didn’t have a clue what he said, but you knew it was something sweet. Luffy sat down on the chair that Law had previously sat in, obviously not going anywhere. You faded off to sleep as you heard Franky, Chopper, and Law murmuring at the foot of your bed. 

As you drifted in and out of consciousness, you felt strange, pain echoing in your shoulders and attachment sites, spreading to an odd sensation in your arms. You could feel things, and they didn’t exactly hurt, but it was really uncomfortable. You were interrupted through the night by Law’s crew, taking turns to check your vitals and healing through the night. Luffy sprawled out on the chairs, snoring loudly, and you found the comfort of familiarity in the sound. 

The next few days passed in a blur, your memory and time perception altered by the pain drugs Law was administering through your neck IV. In your bouts of consciousness, you managed to eat broth and light meals prepared by Sanji that were packed with nutrition. He fed you the broth, your arm still movements too jerky to keep the liquid balanced on the spoon, but watched you carefully as you fed yourself bite-sized pieces of fruit that he stabbed with a fork and handed to you. You accidentally bent a few forks at first when you grabbed it, but Franky walked you through practicing your fine motor skills. At least now you weren’t bending forks every time you tried to eat a piece of apple. Law actually had a difficult time keeping your crew from overwhelming you, and muttered under his breath when he was checking your surgery sites about how it was like herding animals. You remember bits of Law keeping you company when you were unable to sleep during the dead of night from your naps during the day. He sat with his textbooks in his lap beside your bed and told you intriguing facts and topics from his studies. He sometimes fell asleep in the chair, and you remembered inviting him to sleep with you instead of in the chair. His cheeks turned bright red as he swiftly excused himself saying that he heard his crew calling him. 

The rest of the Straw Hat Pirates kept you company through the day, much like they did when you were recovering on the Sunny. Franky and Usopp teamed up to design ‘sleeves’ to go over your metal arms when you wanted ‘skin’ over them. Usopp designed various color, black, and even metallic tattoos to go on some, and others had freckles or smooth skin. Some even had long, painted and fancy nails that you could even use like needle-like knives. Anything you could ever want your arms and hands to look like could happen. They blended seamlessly with your natural skin tone, and covered the attachment sites to protect them. Usopp and Franky finished the first one while you were still recovering, bursting into the room excitedly as you were sitting and chatting with a mixture of your crew and Law’s crew. Everyone startled for a second at the sound, but calmed once Franky’s bright smile shone and Usopp’s voice began to exaggerate the effort that went into the project. You eyed the sleeve with curiosity. It was basically like a glove made of synthetic skin, made out of the same material Franky used on himself. 

“What design is this one?” you asked excitedly. Franky snatched the sleeve from Usopp and held it up, but you still couldn’t quite make out what the tattoos were. 

“Hold out your left arm and close your eyes,” he instructed. You grinned and did as you were told. The cyborg gently slid the glove on your metal arm, making sure not to force it when something got caught. The pressure was still uncomfortable on your attachment sites, but it wasn’t exactly painful. You felt his fingers brush over the highly sensitive skin of the sites, and you jerked away from the sudden sensation. 

“Sorry,” he muttered. 

“It’s okay. They’re just really sensitive,” you answered. Franky hummed a little, carefully pulling the sleeve away from the metal and skin as he pulled it the rest of the way up. 

“They’ll likely be for a little while longer, unfortunately. But this will help protect them, and won’t rub against it,” he answered. He finally stopped fidgeting with the sleeve and pulled back. 

“Alright. Open your eyes,” he said proudly. Your eyes opened, gaze going directly to your arm. It was… stunning. A sleeve of your dream tattoos swirled on your skin, looking freshly healed and vibrant. You moved your arm, elbow bending and circled your wrist. The material moved exactly like skin, and your eyes traveled to where the attachment site should be. It was covered and the top of the sleeve thinned into featherlight nothingness as it blended into your shoulder. 

“Wow” you whispered under your breath. You knew the material was synthesized to be stronger than normal skin, resistant to blades, bullets, and heat. Your brows scrunched upwards, and you fought back tears as a smile curved your mouth. Words of gratitude bubbled in your throat, too many to express coherently. Tears spilled down your cheeks as a laugh forced its way out. You simply held your hands out for a hug, one metal and one seemingly flesh. Both men grinned as tears welled up in their own eyes, and they hugged you at the same time. 

“Thank you” you whispered. It didn’t feel enough, but there weren’t words deep enough to express your gratitude. 

“Of course!”

“Always,” they answered in tandem. More laughter rose from your chest as you pulled back to inspect the sleeve some more. You noticed the texture of it, and the wrinkles indicating your knuckles. There were even ‘calluses’ on your fingers, and lines on your palm. The only thing different from real skin was that the sleeve was devoid of hair. Franky had explained earlier that putting fibers like that on would pierce through the material, and weaken it somehow, but it was a small detail you were willing to give up.

“It’s incredible work” you said in a hushed tone. You finally noticed the rest of the visitors were crowded around on the other side of the bed, getting a closer look at your sleeve. You held out your arm, and various fingers reached out to touch it and trace over the lines of your tattoos. You could feel it all. It was distant, but you were assured that you would be able to feel everything as much as possible in the next few months.

 You couldn’t stop smiling and staring at your arm until it was time to take it off so Law could check your attachment sites. 

“You’re healing really well,” he said quietly. You smiled up at him, but looked away when your heart flipped as he returned your smile with a tiny one of his own. 

“Is that a compliment?” you asked teasingly. Law scoffed and rolled his eyes playfully. 

“You wish. A compliment to Chopper-ya and Franky-ya, and to myself,” he muttered. You giggled. Your ribs were still sore with the movement, but apparently Law did something while you were in surgery to speed up the healing of your ribs and sternum. You watched him as he leaned over you, his eyes focused on your attachment sites as he moved your arm about.

“Law?” 

“Hmm?” 

“I’ve been in this bed for days. When can I start moving and gods above, when can I bathe?” you pleaded. Law sighed. 

“Yeah, you're right. You do smell,” he said as he pulled back to walk around the bed to check your other arm. You rolled your eyes. 

“I know. If you’d let me, I’d be on my knees begging you to have mercy but you won’t let me out of bed,” you huffed. Law’s face flushed and he cleared his throat loudly. The double meaning of your words slammed into you and your cheeks heated with embarrassment. Your thoughts had drifted to thoughts of him in terms of… bedroom activities, but that was because you were so bored! It had been a week, and during that time, you were only allowed out of bed to go to the bathroom under strict supervision. 

“I didn’t mean it like that… I mean I wouldn’t be opposed but- I mean I just think you’re ho- um. Attractive? But of course I’m sure you know that and get told that a lot, even though you’re a sadistic dork, which is quite an impressive contradiction… right? And I’ll just shut up now,” you stumbled through your attempt at correcting yourself desperately, looking anywhere but the man standing at your side. The words kept flowing out of your mouth, digging yourself into a deeper hole with each syllable. Your cheeks were burning, and you felt heat all over your face from your embarrassment. Silence seeped into the air thick with your humiliating words. You felt like it lasted for much longer than you know it did, and it was only interrupted by Law letting out a small chuckle. You sighed and hid your face behind your hands. The cool metal pressed against your heated face, and you groaned both in relief and embarrassment. 

“A hot, sadistic dork, huh?” he teased in a low voice. You made a noise in your throat- somewhere between a squeak and a groan. You distantly felt him touch the back of your hands, trying to pull them away from your face. You resisted, and hissed a little in pain when the attachment sites burned with the effort. He pulled back immediately, his cool hands tracing your skin and checking the sites to make sure nothing was injured. Your hands had fallen from your face and the burning eased quickly, and you could only focus on his golden eyes tracing over your skin and his cool hands maneuvering your arm. His piercing gaze found your admiring one and you yanked your gaze to your arm. The attachment site was completely fine. 

“You like that I’m a hot sadistic dork, don’t you?” he murmured. You could hear the amused smirk in his voice, and you looked resolutely up at the ceiling, not looking at him. 

“You changed my life with these. I think you’re an amazing surgeon and our ally and friend” you said carefully, raising your hands briefly to demonstrate your point. Your cheeks still felt hot. 

“That didn’t answer my question,” he answered teasingly. You huffed a sigh, closing your eyes as you let your head fall onto your pillow. You felt him place his hands on the mattress near your shoulder and lean over you to check the other attachment site. Your heart flipped.

“Fine. Yes. I like that you’re a stupidly hot, smart, nerdy, sadistic dork” you answered with faux annoyance. You opened your eyes with a scowl, wishing you could control your arms gently enough to cross your arms over your chest. He was peering down at you from above, gold eyes pinning you to the bed with mirth and amusement. A stupidly sexy smirk curved his lips. 

“See? It wasn’t that hard to admit now, was it?” His eyes flicked to your lips before meeting your gaze again. He swallowed hard, and you followed the movement, trailing your eyes from his throat down to his toned, tattooed chest. You ripped your eyes back up to his gaze, now highly amused by your obvious actions. Guilt stabbed through you, and you looked away, turning your head to the side. 

“Kinda was,” you said easily. Law pushed back so he was standing upright, and sat down in a chair. There was a moment of comfortable silence.

“You were with Zoro-ya, weren’t you?” he asked quietly. You sighed heavily. 

“Yeah. I was. For a few years” you answered. Law hummed. 

“So your type is men with big swords?” he asked cheekily. You looked over at him quickly in surprise, before laughing in shock and at his joke. 

“Yeah I guess so” you said around giggles. Law smiled gently at you. It was late, and he had kicked your crewmates off his ship for the night. You didn’t need to be checked on through the night anymore, so his crew was catching up on sleep if they weren’t partying with your crewmates. 

“Can I ask you a personal question?” he asked. You looked at him with a dying smile, and sighed. 

“You want to know why Zoro and I broke up?” you guessed. The surgeon nodded. You sighed and settled on your bed on your side, with your arm tucked under your pillow to reduce the weight resting on the attachment site. It was still a little uncomfortable, but it wasn’t bad. 

“If I’m honest, I’m not completely sure if we officially broke up. I got hurt protecting him after I told him we should run…” memories of the day flicked through your mind, and you shook your head a little before continuing, “I’m sure you know the details of the injuries and can piece together what happened. But he was knocked out for a bit, and I tried to protect him even then. I finally could call for help and only passed out when I knew one of my crew was there taking care of the Marines. Apparently he threw up when he saw my body, thinking I was dead, but then carried me back to the ship with whoever came to save us. I dunno if he was there when I was still asleep and recovering or what. But I do remember that when I was awake for good finally, he had to leave the room. Some night later, either that same one or the one after, I don’t remember, he came into my room and… yelled at me, I guess screamed at me?” The memory of his harsh words floated back to mind, and you closed your eyes in shame before looking at Law and continuing,

“He asked me why I protected him, saying he didn’t need saving. He was gripping my knee, and honestly I was scared he was going to crush it.  He yelled at me, asking if I thought he was so weak that he needed saving, and what the hell I meant when I said I wasn’t thinking. He punched a hole in the wall above my head, and when I screamed, Luffy and Sanji ran in. He kept going though, keeping his fist in the wall he called me a weak pathetic piece of shit, how I could lose my arms to a wall, and that he wished the bomb had hit him so he wouldn’t need to see the person he was dating like… this,” you swallowed and cleared your throat. It was relieving to be able to tell someone what happened, instead of someone already knowing. It was hard to get the words out through your remembered fear, but it was still a relief to talk about it. Your gaze had wandered a little while you recalled the incident, and you looked back at the surgeon. His eyes were shadowed under his hat, but his jaw was clenched and his hands were curled into fists on his knees. You sighed, but continued with your story,

“Luffy dragged him out of the room and they fought. It took Luffy, Sanji, and Robin to restrain him until Luffy could break through his anger. Zoro even tried to attack Nami. He stayed away from me for a few days until he came to apologize. I had Franky right outside the door and had him keep it cracked open so he could intervene. I was probably kind of an asshole, but I was kind of surprised when he said he wanted to apologize. I asked if he really wanted to, and he said that Luffy told him he had to. I sarcastically said ‘oh thanks’ and he got kinda pissed and said ‘I’m trying to apologize, isn’t that enough?’ and I lost my shit. I yelled at him, saying that I wanted him to apologize when he means it, not because he was ordered to. Franky hauled Zoro’s ass out of the room and I haven’t seen him since. I don’t honestly know how to be around him anymore, but I love the crew,” you finished. You almost expected to cry during the story, but at this point, you were numb towards it. It happened, and nothing was going to change how he broke your heart.

You glanced at Law, who hadn’t moved, before shifting to lay on your back to ease the discomfort of your arm. You let the silence hang like the stickiness of humidity. It was a few minutes before Law spoke. 

“Join my crew.” 

You looked at him in shock, sitting up and turning fully towards him. 

“What?” 

“Just for a few months, until you feel comfortable going back to your own crew. Unless you decide you want to stay here. We run into the Straw Pirates often enough, especially if we keep this alliance,” he explained. You looked at him in surprise, but looked to the side as you started thinking.

“Law…” you started. He interrupted you. 

“Don’t decide now. Think about it for a while and talk to your crew. I… I know that you kind of have something going on with that curly-browed cook too, and he will treat you exactly how you deserve. Better than I ever could. So think about it. We can sail near the Straw Hats for a little while too. It’s up to you,” Law stood and walked to the door, shoes tapping loudly in your shocked silence. He tossed a small smile over his shoulder before speaking again. 

“Get some rest, and we’ll have Chopper help give you a bath tomorrow, okay? We’ll see how you feel walking around after that,” Law said. You nodded, and he opened the door to leave. 

“Law” you called. He stopped, looking back at you with a raised brow. 

“Thank you, for the offer. I’m seriously thinking about it,” you said. This time he nodded. 

“Good.” He stepped out of the room and closed the door quietly. You flopped down back on the bed, thinking about his words. 

I know that you kind of have something going on with that curly-browed cook too, and he will treat you exactly how you deserve. Better than I ever could. So think about it. 

What did he mean by ‘better than I ever could’? Did he also feel the connection between the two of you? 

Thoughts swirled around your head. You’d desperately miss your crew, who was family, but you’d be healing and could go back to them. But if you stayed here, you could fall in love with Law, or at least have something with him. You also did, admittedly, have something with Sanji, who cared for you and you knew would treat you right. But if you did get with Sanji, that could cause even more tension with Zoro. But if you went back to the Straw Hats, then you’d have Chopper, Franky, and Usopp to help you get used to your arm and training you, but Luffy was also reckless and you could end up in a situation you weren’t ready for. Law was meticulous and an incredible surgeon, and his crew were well trained in terms of mechanics, so it would be fine to stay with them. But if you stayed with them, then you’d really miss your family, but if you went back to them, you’d have to deal with living with Zoro, but if you stayed with the Heart Pirates, then you wouldn’t know how to live with Zoro and would have to adjust while also adjusting to living with the rest of them again. 

You heaved a sigh, the thoughts swirling and circling back to each other in your head. You settled down in your heap of blankets and pillows, letting your thoughts sway your mind into a fitful sleep.