Chapter Text
Curled up on himself, the child cried, his cheeks flooded with tears, unable to stop. His heart was suffocating with sadness, and the pain was so intense that he felt as if he were dying inside. But unfortunately, he survived. His wounds were not fatal; he would live, if he managed to escape from this burning city. The real question was, “Did he want to leave this city engulfed in flames?” He had just lost everything: his friends, his family, his home, his clan. There was practically nothing left, only a few members of his clan had managed to escape. But was it worth it? They would be hunted down and exterminated one by one. The child did not want to live like this, he did not want to spend his life running away, so he stayed there, patiently waiting for his own death. He didn't know how much time had passed, it slipping through his fingers, his perception completely destroyed, his mind incapable of doing anything but replaying that loud, joyful laughter over and over again, flashes of white burning his retinas again and again.
“Hey kid, what are you doing here?” A man's voice roused him from his stupor.
Startled, not expecting anyone else to be around, the child jumped up quickly, fear knotting his guts. A visceral fear of seeing his living nightmare return to destroy him, even though that was all he wanted: to die. But there was no man with glowing skin, no wispy white hair, no molten eyes. There was only an ordinary man with long blue hair, violet eyes, and a slender build. A stranger, someone who was not part of the clan. Surely he was a curious person who wanted to see the decline of the D's with his own eyes.
“Where is your family?” the man continued to speak to him despite his silence.
The boy did not answer, just clutching a handful of ashes in his hand. That was all it took for the man to understand.
“I'm sorry,“ the man said, showing genuine compassion.
”Who are you?“ the boy dared to ask, his voice hoarse and damaged by the smoke.
”Pedro. I am a servant of Daibutsu. I came to see the extent of the damage so I could report back to him,” the man explained calmly.
“Does Daibutsu approve of this fight?“ asked the child, searching for a reason for the massacre.
”No...“
”Then why? Why did my whole clan have to suffer this? Why do those who managed to escape have to hide? Why has Nika stopped loving us? He's supposed to be a joyful god, a liberator... I don't understand,” cried the child.
“Nika is not a liberator, he is a torturer,“ Pedro contradicted him.
”A torturer?” the child did not understand.
“Nika has his own concept of freedom. He considers humans to be inferior, weak, incapable of making their own decisions. Where other gods want to give you free will, Nika wants to enslave you, believing that this is how he offers you freedom. But are we really free if everything depends on a higher power?“ Pedro asked him.
”No...” whispered the little boy.
“Your clan is the first human clan to have traveled, to have seen the world and wanted to grow with it. You wanted to emancipate yourselves, to be truly free, to stop worshiping and blindly following the gods. Some of them found this bold but charming, others like Nika couldn't stand it,” Pedro explained.
“Is that why he killed us? Because we no longer did what he wanted?” sniffed the little man.
“Yes... Nika is like a child, impulsive, wild, turbulent, selfish. He is certainly the sun, but he is above all a reaper, who considers humans to be nothing more than ants to play with.“ Pedro knelt down, seeing that he was beginning to gain the boy's trust.
”So he's really going to punish all of us, those who remain?” the little one sniffed again.
“Yes... At least, he'll try. A war is brewing up there. Nika is taking too many liberties, playing with you too much. The near-total annihilation of your clan is the last straw. Gods will die,“ Pedro announced.
”But gods can't die,” the child objected, frowning.
“They can... But they always end up being reborn. They hide somewhere, waiting to find a vessel in which to grow quietly, before consuming it from within and returning to their original form.“
”Then it doesn't matter if there's a war...” The child seemed resigned.
“No... Because while it's true that the gods can be reborn, they can also be killed permanently. You just have to find their purest and weakest form.“ Pedro smiled gently at him.
”The fruits?“ asked the child.
Yes... We must find the fruits, the fruits that contain the souls of the dead gods, and destroy them before they find a host. But we must be careful not to confuse them with the fruits offered as gifts to the servants of the gods,” Pedro warned him.
“How will people find them if no one knows they exist anymore?“ wondered the child, suspecting that a war between the gods would surely take years before one clan emerged victorious.
”All it takes is one man to remember this mission for it to succeed,” smiled the man.
“No one lives that long,“ the little boy almost laughed, their discussion making him forget a little of his pain and the horror of the place where he was.
”I am a servant of Daibutsu, I have received a gift. I can entrust this task to someone. What is your name, young D?” Pedro finally asked, with a very specific idea in mind.
“Law... Trafalgar D. Water Law,“ the man said proudly, the D's having always taught him to be proud of his name.
”Then Law... Let me entrust you with this task,“ the man said, standing up.
”What? No! I don't want to. I want to find my mom and dad,” Law shouted in terror.
“You are a survivor of the D massacre, a witness to Nika and his horrors. I know you will recognize him and stop him. I feel the fury of vengeance within you. You are a storm, an anarchist warrior, a true D. I can't waste my time looking for other survivors, other people with even a hint of your dormant anger.” The man declared, showing confidence in himself.
But Law had no use for his hazy theories about revenge or his supposed anger. All he wanted was to be reunited with his parents, to stop feeling this excruciating pain. But Pedro had just made his decision. Daibutsu had entrusted him with a mission: to find a survivor of the D clan and offer them the chance to destroy Nika for good in the future. Pedro had already wasted too much time; he could sense Daibutsu growing impatient, wondering where he was. But the god need not worry; soon he would feel Pedro's soul fall asleep and his blessing be fulfilled. And as the child cried and hit Pedro with his little fists, Pedro did what he had to do.
- Room! Operation Rejuvenation.
***
Years, centuries had passed since that fateful day when Nika had destroyed his home. Since that day, Law had wandered from island to island, watching the world change little by little... Well, more or less. Law saw the war of the Gods, he saw the cataclysm it produced. He saw men rallying to their side, each fighting for the one they believed to be right. Then there were the D's, the few remaining D's who had fought either against all the Gods or alongside Daibutsu, none of them able to worship the Sun God anymore.
In the aftermath of this war, Law saw entire civilizations collapse, technologically advanced cities fall into oblivion. He saw men regress and he saw men do worse than the Gods. Finally... He saw a servant think he was a God, creating a government similar to Nika's: a dictatorship. This always made Law laugh, despite the passing years, and sometimes he wondered if this man dreamed of seeing Nika return, or if he feared him because he thought he was like him.
The rejuvenation operation that Pedro had performed on him, giving him eternal youth, in other words, immortality, had allowed him to witness all this. Law knew why Pedro had given him this gift—or rather, this curse—he had to find Nika and destroy her. But after the war, Law didn't care. Sure, he was boiling with rage and vengeance, as Pedro had predicted, but his grief and the loneliness he felt over time weighed on him much more than his anger.
Time was no longer a constant for him; now he lost himself in it, oscillating between adulthood and childhood. Law could not die, but he could age—in fact, he could control his aging. He could decide to let the years take their toll or choose to remain stuck at a particular age; he could rejuvenate or age almost as much as he wanted in a single day. And he had done this countless times, living lives each more different than the last, loving, then losing. Immortality was not a gift, but a living nightmare, because no matter how much you loved someone, you were always destined to see them disappear. Death had no hold over him, but it did over others. So one day, he decided to stop loving, to stop getting attached, whether in friendship, love, or family. But loneliness eventually drove him mad. Law didn't know how long he had lasted like this, but he knew he had to return to civilization and reconnect with people as soon as he started hearing voices. And while he was at it, maybe he should also look for the reason he was still here. After all, maybe if he found Nika, he could finally die.
Law then set out to find Nika, or at least his fruit. But the bastard seemed untraceable, as if he hadn't been reincarnated yet. Yet 800 years had passed since the great war of the Gods, he should have been reborn, found a carrier. But despite all his searching, Law found no trace of him, the Hito Hito no mi fruit seemed non-existent. Furious, Law refused to give up, his long-buried anger and hatred finally resurfacing. All his pain, all his penance, he owed only to him and his selfishness. So no matter what it cost him, no matter how many lives he had to live, he would find him. He would find Nika and kill him before he returned.
Nevertheless, despite his resolve, Law still sometimes wondered if it was really worth all the suffering. Although he had promised himself not to get attached again, vowing to see others only as pawns in his game of hide-and-seek, he couldn't do it. Law was sure that Pedro would have told him that this was what made the difference between him and the god he was hunting, but Law couldn't take the constant suffering anymore, constantly losing those he loved, especially since this time he was losing them in such a horrible way.
Law had rewound himself back to being a child, he had found a family, loving parents, a little sister to protect, but that idiot government had taken everything away from him. That pale imitation of Nika had taken everything from him. And then he lost his savior, his protector, and all for what? For bullshit! After the death of Lamy and his umpteenth parents, Law had cried, before resuming his treasure hunt, which led him to a certain Doflamingo. A degenerate idiot who thought he was untouchable because he had eaten one of the gifts of the Gods, now known as Devil Fruits. Law didn't know exactly why these gifts had continued to exist after the great celestial war, but he suspected it had something to do with the potential return of the gods. Surely they would be useful if another war were to break out.
During his short stay with the pink-feathered bastard, Law learned nothing. The guy sold himself as an expert on devil fruits, but he was nothing of the sort; he was just obsessed with them, so he was of no help to Law, at least for the moment. However, he also met Corazon, and although Law didn't want to get attached again so quickly after yet another loss, he did. The clumsy blond offered him his heart, and he couldn't refuse. Acting as a father figure, the man fought for him, for his survival, and Law wanted to tell him that it was all pointless. The amber lead disease wouldn't kill him, contrary to what he claimed, but he couldn't tell him the truth.
Law had contracted more than one deadly disease over the centuries of his existence, and each time the same pattern occurred. He would suffer through the illness until he died, only for his heart to start beating again. After all, the Fountain of Youth operation only offered immortality and the ability to control one's age, not freedom from illness. Law really wanted to tell Corazon everything, but he knew he couldn't. Telling the truth was far too dangerous; it could drag people into a potential war against the Gods, and Law refused to burden anyone else with that. Not to mention that the few people he had told in the past had all fled from him, calling him crazy, as almost no one had believed in the ancient Gods for generations. But sometimes Law resented himself for being so obtuse. If only he had told Corazon the whole truth, maybe he would still be here with him. Maybe Doflamingo wouldn't have killed him. Surely he wouldn't have been killed in the line of duty to give him a gift he never wanted, the price being too high to pay in his opinion, a gift that had given him this life.
When he thought about it, what an irony of fate that all these centuries later he had inherited Pedro's gift. Now he was the surgeon of life... Or rather of death, if he believed the pirate title the Navy had given him.
After Corazon's death, Law had fled to an island where he had met his first friends for that decade. Deciding that living and aging normally at that time would be the best thing for him to do, Law had thought of a plan to continue his endless quest and also to make Doflamingo and the government pay for everything they had taken from him. It had been a long time since Law had wanted to attack anyone other than Nika for revenge, probably a century or two. But these two entities fueled his burning hatred, and who was he to ignore it? After all, he was a storm.
And although he had been a solitary storm for a long time, he was always happy to find peers who shared the same spirit of vengeance, the same spirit filled with freedom. The first vengeful spirit he found was a vengeful spirit who remembered. One day, while stocking up on supplies just after their official departure as a pirate crew with his friends Sachi, Penguin, and Bepo, Law came across an old antique dealer. The man who ran the shop must have been in his 70s. With a bald head and drooping blue eyes, the man looked at him as he entered, judging him very clearly, probably thinking he was a young fool. If only the man knew that Law was older than he would ever be. This look made Law smile slyly, his face and eyes displaying a smug look, the look of someone who had seen and known more than his physical age would suggest. And it was while scanning the stalls with his sovereign eyes, his instinct telling him that there was something like him here, that he stumbled upon it: Kikoku.
The nodachi was a cursed blade. One of the ancient blades forged by the D clan—or at least its survivors—to fight the Gods. These were old blades enchanted by ancient knowledge now lost. These blades had their own spirit and always chose their bearers. It was always said that a cursed blade resembled its master, that it served him as long as it was satisfied, that it was sometimes the best ally a man or woman could have. And for some reason, his instinct had led him to it. Finally, Law knew instantly why his soul was screaming at him to take the weapon when he laid his hand on it. As soon as he touched Kikoku, it spoke to him, or rather showed him who it was.
A flash of light flooded his vision, and for a moment Law was no longer in North Blue at an antique dealer's, but in the midst of the War of the Gods. Daibutsu stood facing Nika, both gods in poor condition, golden blood flowing over the Sun God's body. Daibutsu was in no better condition and seemed to be losing the fight, until a man ran towards him. The man could barely stand on his legs, but he shouted the name of the Buddha God with all his might, offering him a shining nodachi. The man told him that it was the last creation of a blacksmith who had created the most deadly blades for the gods, and that this blade would help him defeat the horrible Sun God. And that's what it did. Kikoku pierced Nika. Charged with the divine energy of Daibutsu, it defeated the god who was the source of all his misfortunes. And as soon as he saw the god die with a smile on his lips, a faint “I'll be back” whispered as a sign of misfortune, Law was back in the shop.
Stunned, breathless from the experience he had just had, Law barely noticed that he was crying, his fists clenching around the weapon, all his rage rising to the surface.
“Nika...” Law hissed in a murderous tone.
“You are on a quest,” Kikoku whispered, speaking to him for the first time.
“I am,“ Law replied, completely oblivious to the fact that he must look like a madman talking to a sword.
”How do you know Nika, human? No one knows the gods anymore, no one seeks them anymore,” Kikoku asked.
“I was chosen long ago to exterminate him once and for all,“ Law confessed.
”Do you intend to see it through to the end?“ the weapon asked.
”Yes. He killed my family and made my life hell. He must pay, I won't let him come back,” Law hissed.
“In that case, I am yours. Treat me well and I will help you kill him... once again,” Kikoku concluded, retreating into a silence that would become his default state.
Law left the shop with the weapon, despite the seller's warnings not to buy it, saying that all its previous owners had died, the weapon turning against them. But Law knew that Kikoku would not turn against him; they had a common enemy to defeat. Kikoku had finally found someone to complete his mission: to destroy Nika.
The second vengeful spirit he found was actually multiple. They were the D's, or at least the descendants of the few survivors of his clan. None of them knew the meaning of their letter anymore. Like Carazon, they had heard that they were the sworn enemies of the Gods, but the blond had never imagined how true this legend was. Corazon thought of the Celestial Dragons, those miserable pale copies of the Gods, those humans who thought they were something they were not. But Law and the others were not the enemies of these miserable misfits, they were the enemies of the true Gods, they were the enemies of Nika. But no one knew that anymore, which was why they all proudly displayed their initials, because none of them knew that it was a target on their backs. A flag that said, “Come kill me centuries ago.” Law had kept the habit of hiding his initial, because he knew what everyone else didn't. One day they would return. He would return.
However, even though these D's had nothing to do with the ones he knew from his clan, he felt attached to them in a way. After all, they were proof that his story still existed, that he was real. His memories of that time were almost all gone now. So when he saw two idiots with D's almost die, he couldn't help but intervene.
The first was Portgas D. Ace, the second commander of Whitebeard's fleet, a guy who had inherited a fiery gift and had gotten himself into a complicated situation with another D. A guy nicknamed Blackbeard who, according to Law, richly deserved to die. The second was Monkey D. Luffy, a complete idiot if you asked him, but a damn brave idiot, it had to be said. Or was it his idiocy that robbed him of all common sense? Law had often wondered about this since he had seen the kid appear in the newspapers. Everywhere he went, he wreaked havoc and rallied the strangest people to his cause. Seriously, who had a skeleton in their crew? And if Law already thought the man was crazy just from reading about his adventures, it was even worse when he finally met him in Sabaody. This idiot had punched a Celestial Dragon in the face without even thinking for a second about what would happen, and he had found himself embroiled in a battle with him and another idiot with spiky red hair.
However, even though he didn't know one of them and thought the other was completely crazy, he couldn't let them die. Well, at least he had to save one of them. They were all that was left of their clan. Law knew that his crew didn't understand his decision at the time, that they didn't understand why he was putting so much effort into saving Monkey D. Luffy. But Law also knew that his crew wouldn't ask any questions. Over time, his teammates had learned that Law sometimes did things like this, things that seemed to come out of nowhere but always turned out to make sense later. His men trusted him, and he was grateful to them for that, because like all the others before them, they couldn't say anything to him.
****
Law did not see Monkey D. Luffy again until two years after their silent parting on one of the archipelagos of Amazon Lily. In fact, Law had almost forgotten about the other D until they crossed paths again on Punk Hazard. As usual, Law was seeking revenge, but this time he was close to achieving a more recent revenge than the one lurking deep within his veins. Law was finally going to finish off Doflamingo and maybe even Kaido at the same time. Upon entering the New World, Law discovered that Seiryu had been reincarnated as Kaido, known as the Man of a Hundred Beasts. Like Daibutsu and Phoenix, Seiryu had found a carrier, but like the other gods, this one did not seem to have fully regained consciousness. Law told himself that all this could not be a coincidence. He was now up to three reincarnated gods, which meant that the fruits were somewhere out there, that Nika was there. Perhaps he had already found his bearer and was waiting in the shadows to awaken and subjugate the world. If that was the case, then he had to find him, and fast. In particular, he had to find him before he awoke and found Seiryu, one of his most loyal followers. The dragon shared the same unhealthy ideology as the Sun God.
And even though Law was armed with Kikoku, his most loyal ally in this fight against the Gods, and had finally acquired a very interesting power, he would surely not be strong enough to defeat two Gods alone. Hell, he didn't even know if he would be strong enough to defeat that idiot Doflamingo. Law had learned to master his Devil Fruit as best he could, but he was not yet able to awaken it, as it still required too much energy. So finding another ally in this divine quest would not be unwelcome, even if that ally knew nothing about it.
When Law offered Luffy a partnership, he didn't think the other man would say yes so easily. He thought he would have to use cunning and negotiation, but the idiot seemed to offer him blind trust, the fact that he had saved his life apparently being enough for him. Damn it, despite his grief and sorrow, this kid hadn't changed a bit. He was still as crazy as ever, and no sooner had he formed this alliance than Law wondered what he had gotten himself into. The idiot with black hair and chocolate-colored eyes never listened to anything anyone said and did whatever he wanted. Law regularly felt murderous thoughts during their first actions together, and if he hadn't found the younger man surprisingly endearing in his escapades, he would surely have cut him to pieces by now. Although, that was likely to happen on his own ship if he continued to stick with him like this.
“Be careful, Luffy doesn't have the same concept of alliance as you,” said Ussop. ‘For Luffy, alliance equals friend,’ whispered Sanji. ‘He's endearing, isn't he?’ smiled Robin. The whole crew seemed to be mocking him and his futile attempts to escape their captain. For some reason Law didn't understand, Luffy not only trusted him foolishly, but also liked him very much. His counterpart always wanted to know more about him, to spend more time with him, whether it was talking, laughing, having fun... Law sincerely hoped that this almost childish curiosity was only temporary and that Luffy would soon tire of him. Law wanted nothing more to do with this man than was strictly necessary.
“Believe me, you'll end up getting attached to him,” said Luffy's second-in-command, Zoro, simply, as if it were obvious.
“What makes you think that?“ Law raised a skeptical eyebrow, observing the green-haired man.
”Because he has that effect on everyone, he's a magnet,“ Zoro explained.
”A magnet for trouble, yes,“ Law muttered.
”Ahaha, yes, he's definitely a magnet for trouble,” Zoro laughed in response.
Shaking his head, considering this useless discussion over, Law refocused on cleaning Kikoku. His blade liked to be taken care of after a fight; it wanted to feel appreciated and be kept ready for the big fight to come. The current fights barely amused it. In fact, if Law didn't feel it vibrate with excitement when he used it to cut without hurting his opponents, he could almost believe it was a normal nodachi. But Kikoku was like him, it loved silence. It knew the hardships of suffering and loneliness and was made of few words in return. After all, what could one say when one had lived so much and lost so much? There was nothing left to share but misery.
“Cursed blade?“ asked Zoro, pulling Law out of his thoughts once again.
”Yes,“ admitted Law, seeing no reason to hide it from the other swordsman.
”May I?” asked Zoro.
Law watched the man for a few seconds before handing him his weapon in an almost sacred gesture. Although he knew little about the green-haired man in front of him, Law knew that Zoro had been curious about Kikoku from the start. And at the same time, what could be more normal for a guy who fought with three swords, three cursed swords at that? So he wasn't surprised that Zoro had noticed it despite the silence of his blade.
“It's surprisingly well balanced for such a long nodachi,“ Zoro admired.
”She!“ Law corrected automatically.
”Pardon?“ Zoro exclaimed in surprise.
”Kikoku is a female spirit,“ Law explained.
”Oh, I see... So she talks?” Zoro asked.
“Almost never, but it happens,“ Law smiled slightly, thinking back to their encounter.
”My swords are much louder than her,“ Zoro teased.
”I noticed,” Law replied in the same tone.
“You heard them?“ Zoro asked in surprise, finding it hard to believe that his swords had spoken to anyone other than himself.
”Twice... When we met in Saboady and Punk Hazard,” Law told him, leaving Zoro speechless.
Law understood the green-haired man's astonishment, as the cursed blades were known to speak only to their owner or the person holding them. But Law was not just another ordinary swordsman. He was one of the very first D's, one of those who had had the chance to meet the blacksmiths who had forged his weapons, who had had the misfortune of knowing why they had been created in the first place. So, of course, when the blades saw him, they greeted him, reading him like an open book. His weapons were the only ones that could do that. At least, that's what he believed.
When the crew arrived on Dressrosa and more or less survived the carnage with Doflamingo, Law realized that someone else could read him, at least in part. That idiot Luffy had refused to abandon him, fighting for him, crying out for vengeance for him when he thought he was dead, crying out victory for him. Law didn't know what he had done to deserve so much trust, attention, empathy, and love from this man, this ball of joy and sunshine, but he had done it. Where Law didn't care what happened to him on Dressrosa, because in the worst case scenario, he would wake up alive again in a few days at most. Luffy was ready to kill his own father and mother to protect him, just like his crew.
This attention, which Law thought he no longer deserved after all he had lost, after all these years of failure, warmed him from the inside more than he wanted to admit. Luffy was loving, uncompromising, and it felt strange to be the center of all this attention. Where Law hoped the younger man would let him go, he had the opposite effect. Luffy clung to him even more than before and now gave him those looks, those looks that meant he understood, at least in part, Law's pain. Because yes, Luffy could never grasp the full extent of his suffering, his rage, his underlying anger, because it did not concern anyone he knew at that time. And yet, even if Luffy didn't understand everything, he wanted to understand, he wanted to help him. Right after the great battle on Dressrosa, Luffy often stayed with him after he woke up in the sunflower field. He watched him, comforted him, hugged him, assuring him that everything would be better now and that all they had to do was defeat Kaido.
Kaido... As if he could defeat him. He hadn't even managed to defeat Doflamingo himself; he had had to leave that job to Luffy. So how could he defeat a god? How could he defeat Nika? He had to become stronger, even if it meant dying over and over again, but he couldn't let what was happening continue. But in the meantime, lying there in the sunflower field with Luffy snuggled up against him, Law told himself that it wasn't so bad to relax a little, allowing himself a little tenderness, a little human warmth that had long been put aside and forgotten.
“Is the death on your fingers because you're a doctor?” Luffy asked, breaking the restful silence between them, his hands running over his tattoos.
The captain of the Straw Hats had never hidden his fascination with tattoos, so Law wasn't surprised that he asked him about them. He was more surprised to see how long Luffy had waited to ask him the question. Looking at the black ink marks himself, which he had chosen to put on his skin for the first time in centuries just a few years ago, Law remembered why he had done it. The idea of getting a tattoo had come to him several times over the centuries, but he had never taken the plunge until recently. Because now he could remove them if necessary thanks to the Op Op no mi, and because after all this time spent wandering and suffering, he needed a constant reminder to remember why he was still there. And also to remember the last people he had agreed to love after centuries of loneliness, so as not to forget them like all the others.
“What makes you think that has anything to do with my medical side?“ Law snapped out of his thoughts when he saw Luffy getting impatient.
”Well, you hold your patients' lives in your hands,” the little brunette mused, making Law smile.
“That could be one possible interpretation, but that's not the case.“ Law smiled slowly in return, finding the little brown-haired man's thoughts touching.
”Then why?“ Luffy asked, his curiosity needing to be satisfied.
”It's a promise. A reminder of what I must accomplish, of what these hands must do.” Law explained vaguely.
The captain of the Hearts knew that this would not be enough to satisfy his ally's curiosity, that on the contrary it would only increase it, but he could say nothing. Once again. However, Luffy surprised him by not insisting any further. Plunging his brown gaze into his golden eyes, the younger man seemed to want to probe his soul, searching for an answer, and whatever he saw there, he found it. Lying back down on Law, Luffy let out a sigh of contentment, his fingers now tracing the heart tattoo on his chest.
“I hope one day you'll tell me everything, Torao,“ Luffy whispered.
”Everything?“ Law didn't understand.
”Yes... everything... I know there's more than just Mingo. I can't understand what it is, but I know you're carrying something even heavier than him on your shoulders. I hope I can free you from your hatred one day.” Luffy moved even closer to him.
Luffy's words left Law speechless, and he had to hold back tears right there and then, with his counterpart in his arms. Luffy was surely the first person who saw beyond what he let show, and that made him feel incredibly good. Law felt so relieved at that moment, so understood, even though the little man had no idea how far back his rage went, that he couldn't help but tighten his grip on him, lifting him up enough to bury his nose in his black hair that smelled of the sea and whisper “thank you,” which made Luffy giggle with delight.
****
This moment of peace on a hill covered in sunflowers did not last long, and he had to flee with the others, the navy hot on their heels. Nevertheless, as he too ran alongside the Straw Hats, Kikoku spoke to him.
“He's here!” whispered the weapon, stopping Law in his tracks.
“What? Who's there?“ he asked, knowing full well that if his blade broke his silence, it would be worth it.
”Daibutsu, or at least his vessel. Turn left,” she said, and Law followed her blindly.
He knew he could trust Kikoku without hesitation and hurried away to find Daibutsu, or rather the former commander-in-chief of the Navy: Sengoku. The man wanted to talk to him, to see him to clear something up, to dispel his doubts, to prove to himself that Law was indeed the man, the child for whom Corazon had died. The sadness Law perceived in this retired old man tugged at his heart, all his regrets coming back to haunt him. If only he had spoken, if only he had been able to speak, then Corazon would still be alive. Law had never needed to be saved, not like this. And he was ready to take full responsibility for his death, for all the old man's hatred, but Sengoku did not blame him. And of course, how could he? He knew nothing of the reality. He may have been the vessel of Daibutsu, but he was not him. Despite the passage of time, the god did not seem to have awakened. So Sengoku forgave him, Sengoku begged him to live, to be happy, to be free, reinforcing Law's remorse and self-loathing. And as Law fled, telling himself that there was nothing more to say, he was surprised.
“Wait!“ said Sengoku.
”What? I think everything has been said, hasn't it?“ spat Law.
”You are the child chosen by Pedro. The original survivor,“ asserted Sengoku.
”Daibutsu!” Law turned quickly, his eyes widening in astonishment as he saw the marine's eyes shining gold.
“I don't have much time. My consciousness can't hold out much longer, so listen to me carefully,“ ordered the god.
”What? I thought you weren't awake,” Law couldn't help but ask.
“I am. I just chose not to destroy my vessel so that he could live. Nika won't be so merciful. He'll take everything little by little until only he remains,” explained Daibutsu.
“Wait, if you're telling me that, it means that...“ Law couldn't finish his sentence, too afraid of the consequences.
”Yes, he has a host. A very strong host, but one who unfortunately won't be able to stop him from destroying him from within, no matter how hard he tries.”
“Who is he, who is his carrier? If I kill him before he wakes up, we can stop everything,” Law exclaimed, panic almost taking hold of him, memories of the genocide still fresh in his mind, the only ones he truly had left.
“I don't know... I just know that he found one because I can feel it growing, gaining power along with its carrier. But I don't know who he is, we'll probably have to wait until he awakens,” Daibutsu lamented.
“What? No, wait, we can't wait for Nika to come back. If he comes back, the scum of the World Government will look like children in comparison,” Law snapped.
“We have no choice. But you must be ready to kill him.“
”Why me? I'm just a human,“ Law lamented.
”A powerful human. And the only one who can find his fruit when he perishes,“ Sengoku encouraged him.
”So what? I'll have to wait centuries to find him? I didn't want any of this, I didn't want this life.” I can't stand being alone all the time, losing the few people I care about, forgetting them over time, being the only one who remembers this divine war, wearing a mask every day, pretending not to understand, not to know. I'm tired. Law almost cried in despair, the weight of the years haunting him.
“I know... But if you succeed this time, you can finally be free,“ Daibutsu took pity on him.
”How? I am immortal, remember,“ Law laughed bitterly.
”The Rejuvenation operation can be performed in reverse, it can give immortal life, but it can also take it away,” the God whispered to him in a final murmur.
Law stared at Daibutsu with teary eyes, eyes filled with hope. If he managed to find Nika and destroy him, then he could... He could finally live his last life, he could operate on himself to stop suffering, to stop losing everything. This information gave him some comfort, and Law quickly fled to join the Straw Hats, seeing the sparkle in his golden eyes give way to brown as Sengoku slowly came to, completely unaware of what had just happened.
****
If Nika had really returned as Daibutsu had said, the best way to find him was to stay with the Straw Hats. Indeed, the idiot captain really wanted to fight Kaido to get closer to his coveted title of Pirate King. And who better than Seiryu to learn more about Nika? If the God had awakened his consciousness within Kaido, Law was convinced that he would be able to sense his bearer. Now, all that remained was to defeat Kaido and make that damned Dragon God talk. Fantastic, it didn't look like it would be difficult at all, especially with an ally as volatile as Luffy. Seriously, did this kid take anything seriously?
Law didn't deny that he liked the other captain to a certain extent. After all, Luffy saw more in him than was necessary and supported him enormously without knowing it. But he also wanted to kill him on a regular basis for his stupidity. The idiot captain with the hat brought out the worst in him, as well as the best, and it drove him crazy. And at the same time, when had Law last felt so alive? So free? Of course, he still had his personal mission to accomplish, but with Luffy and his crew, he felt like he was almost back to a normal life. A life he hadn't lived in years. Sure, he had lost a lot in the last decade, but after centuries of loneliness, Law had never felt so alive. And if his traumatized memory was unable to leave him alone with the memories of his clan's genocide—the only memories that remained intact despite the passage of time—he could almost believe that the life he was currently living was his real life. His one and only life, which he hadn't had for centuries.
And he owed all of this to his family in Flevence, to Corazon, to his crew, to Luffy, and it scared him. It scared him because he was becoming attached again on every level, as he hadn't done in ages. On Flevence and with Corazon, he had finally felt the warmth of a loving family again, with his crew he was rediscovering friendship, and with Luffy, love. Over the centuries, Law had loved many times, men or women, it didn't matter to him, but falling in love with Luffy was like falling in love for the first time. And that terrified him. Not because he was afraid of rejection—he had little doubt that Luffy would follow him into this if they went together, as the captain was quite transparent about his affection. No, Law was afraid of losing him and not being able to recover from it. Law had lost so much over time that he didn't know if he could bear to lose any more people he loved. He had to find Nika, and fast.
But finding Nika was proving difficult. For one thing, as long as that damned god remained asleep within his vessel, Law had little chance of finding him. But also, and more importantly, because nothing ever went as planned with Luffy around. Law should have accepted the fact that the other man was incapable of following a plan, but deep down he still hoped that a glimmer of common sense would dawn on him. But it was clear that this was nothing more than a dream. Especially when his ally, who had gone to discreetly retrieve his cook from Big Mom, ended up bringing her back with him. That same ally went to challenge Kaido like an idiot, only to end up locked up in a forced labor camp, eventually emerging with a fucking red porcupine-headed man who was as annoying as hell.
If Luffy hadn't made amends by sleeping with him and hugging him the night before the raid on Onigashima, Law would surely have cut him into pieces and decimated him throughout Wano. Leaving his teammates the joy of finding him and bringing him back together. But Luffy had come with guilty eyes seeking his company, saying that he had missed Law terribly, that he had been worried about him, and that he wanted to spend the evening with him before tomorrow's battle. And Law was a fucking softie, so he gave in, letting the little brunette snuggle up against him. Embraced, Luffy's head nestled in his neck, Law would only have to lower his head to kiss the other man. And he knew that Luffy wanted him more than anything, his feverish gaze being more than enough proof of his desire for him. But Law couldn't give in, he couldn't let himself go there at the risk of becoming even more attached, of suffering even more. If they crossed that line, there would be no turning back, they both knew that. And Law couldn't do that, not yet, not while Nika was still there.
“Torao...“ Luffy murmured, a complaint in his voice.
”I know... I want to too... But...“ Law tried to defend himself.
”I'll wait for you,“ Luffy interrupted, stunning the older man.
”I can't ask that of you... I don't deserve it...” Law refused.
“Yes, you do. And I want you. I'll wait until you've finished what you have to do... Or until you tell me,” Luffy concluded the conversation, clinging to him even more tightly, one leg between his.
Law had never slept so well in his life that night, and the faint glimmer of hope that shone within him to finally end it all shone a little brighter that evening. But unfortunately, Law was an original survivor, a cursed man, not destined for happiness.
Having just managed to defeat Big Mom with Kid's help and hearing Luffy return from the dead to finish off Kaido, he felt a visceral fear pinning him to the spot, a familiar presence resurfacing. Law could feel heat radiating from above, he could hear drums. Drums that people had long believed to be the drums of liberation, but were in fact only those of enslavement. Cries of panic, pain, and sadness echoed in his head once again, flashes of an exterminating god invaded his memory, and suddenly, they were no longer flashes, but reality.
Above them, the ceiling had just collapsed, revealing Kaido battling a giant, white Luffy. His formerly black, straight hair had become beautiful, fluffy white curls, his skin radiated light, and his almost black eyes were now nothing but molten gold. Luffy had just awakened his Devil Fruit, and it was a nightmare.
Everyone around him was jubilant, happy with the turn of events. Once the initial shock of Luffy's new form had passed, everyone, even Kid, seemed delighted to see the young man discover a new power that was tearing Kaido apart. But while almost everyone was already celebrating the coming victory, Law was shrinking into himself. He took his head in his hands, his fingers clenching his hair. Law screamed in grief, crying in distress. No! No, it couldn't be him. Luffy, the man he loved, couldn't be his vessel, he couldn't be Nika, he couldn't be the one he had to kill. Unable to move or think, Law lost sight of the fight. He didn't want to see Luffy like this, he didn't want to see him shine, he didn't want to hear him laugh with that laugh that wasn't his own. That laugh reminded him of how Nika had appeared one day at their home, devastating everything in his path without any explanation, only his joyful laughter echoing across the battlefield.
“Law! Law! It's him, it's Nika!” Kikoku shouted, her determination to win overwhelming him, bringing him back from the brink of a panic attack.
“I know!“ Law shouted back, indirectly ordering him to be quiet.
”I'm sorry,” Kikoku sighed sympathetically. After all, she had felt the love between the two men.
As Law took his weapon in hand, trying to calm down and think, he heard another voice. Kaido's voice, but slightly different. Seiryu. He was calling Nika, he had just taken control of Kaido and was celebrating the return of his friend, his partner in destruction. But Nika did not answer him. To Law's great surprise, it was not Nika who answered, but Luffy. Luffy wondered what Kaido was talking about, yelling at him that his name wasn't Nika. Seeing Luffy remain himself while awake, while taking on the form of the God, Law regained hope. Luffy was a D. That damn karma had made Nika end up with a D as his bearer, a member of the enemy clan. Luffy was strong, he was a storm, he could handle it. He could control it, he could prevent Nika from returning. Law believed it, or at least he wanted to believe it. So when Kaido finally fell, and Luffy lost consciousness and came to, Law rushed over, picking him up and hugging him.
“Kill him, now,” Kikoku shouted.
“No!“ Law protested.
”I know you're suffering, but this is our best chance to get him, while he's not yet completely himself,” the weapon said sympathetically.
“He can contain him. Luffy is a D, he can do it,“ Law insisted, refusing to harm the one who could become his lover.
”Daibutsu told you. Nika will eventually take control, Law,” Kikoku sighed.
“I refuse to kill him without giving him a chance. I believe in him, I'm sure he can do it, Luffy is a miracle worker. Turn against me if you want, I don't care. But I won't kill him, not today.” Law cried, hugging an unconscious Luffy close to him.
“Will you do it if it becomes necessary?“ Kikoku asked, his heart heavy.
”If Luffy disappears because of this monster, I will. But only then,“ Law affirmed.
”In that case, I'll stay. I'm sorry you have to suffer like this again, Law.” The weapon fell silent, leaving its master alone to mourn his discovery.