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Luffy absolutely loves parties.
Why wouldn’t he? After all, he gets to eat lots of meat without even trying to steal it from Sanji’s fridge. He gets to see a lot of people passing out for trying to outdrink Nami and Zoro. He gets to hear even more wonderful stories from Usopp as soon as their sniper starts getting drunk. He gets to watch Franky professing his love for Robin like it’s still the first time that he’s doing so, and Robin just chuckling at all of Franky’s antics. He gets to sing and dance with Chopper around the campfire while Brook plays the most wonderful songs that he has ever heard.
And most of all, he gets to see the smile of all of his crewmates like there’s nothing else more important in the world than right at this moment.
Luffy absolutely loves parties, and that includes this party that they’re throwing at Zou for reasons that Luffy has long since forgotten. The minks are fun to be with and it’s so much more fun listening to their stories about how his crewmates helped them out. Luffy feels his chest swell in pride as he listens to them recount the events of the past two weeks. A part of him badly wishes that he was there with his crew when it all happened, but he also knows that Mingo needed some ass kicking and he couldn’t just leave Torao to handle him all alone.
Which reminds him—where is Torao?
“Looking for Torao?” Luffy turns to see Robin and beams at their archeologist. The captain nods in affirmation as he fills his mouth with another set of meat before he grabs a clean plate on the side. “Have you seen him?” Luffy asks as he starts to fill the plate with grilled fishes, a ton of meat because he can eat it if Torao doesn’t want it, a little bit of vegetables here and there (eew, but Torao likes it so he’ll put it there), and more variations of Onigiri than he can count.
“I saw him walking towards their designated house earlier,” Robin mentions with a small smile and that’s all the cue that Luffy needs to head out of the party with a shout, “Thanks, Robin!”
Luffy is slowly getting used to searching for Torao in the middle of a party. He knows that Torao isn’t fond of the crowd, thus the usual disappearance which happens when Luffy has been too preoccupied eating to his heart’s content or doing stupid things with his crew. It’s fine, though. Because even if Torao stays away from parties, Luffy will just bring the party to him.
After all, they already have all the requirements for a party to start—food, drinks, two or more people to celebrate, and a song to sing and dance with. Luffy knows that Torao doesn’t like to dance—something which he learned the hard way after their party at Punk Hazard. Getting cut into pieces was fun, but Luffy would rather be able to eat his food on time instead of waiting for his crewmates to finally piece him back together before he could eat.
But it’s fine, Luffy can do all the dancing and Torao can do all the singing. The Surgeon might never admit it, but Luffy knows that he likes to sing. Luffy knows because he’s heard it a lot of times—the first of which he still isn’t sure about considering that he was pretty high on medicines after the war. But Luffy will stand by his claim that Torao likes to sing whenever he’s in a good mood, or whenever he’s trying to clear his mind in order to think about all these little devious plans.
Yet, Luffy’s favorite is whenever Torao sings for him before he sleeps. Rather, the older one only sings whenever he thinks that Luffy has already fallen asleep. It’s always that one same song, sang in a language that he’s never heard of before. Luffy doesn’t understand a single lyric in the whole song, but there’s always an unfathomable ache on his chest whenever he starts getting lost into the rhythm.
No, it isn’t the kind of pain which bothers him, not the kind of pain that he felt before when he lost his family in a series of tragic events that he would forever engrave into his heart. It’s the kind of pain which fills him with an enigmatic bliss. The kind of pain which makes him smile and even crave for more. The kind of pain that’s similar to the pain that he feels whenever his stomach is too filled with meat.
Ah. That’s right.
His chest aches whenever Torao sings for him because he feels so full. Like there’s some form of passion and fervor which fills his heart to the brim that it’s starting to ache in more ways unimaginable.
“How long do you plan on standing outside?”
Luffy snaps out of his thoughts as he hears Law’s voice. The younger captain shifts his gaze upwards, meeting those golden eyes as the older one looks at Luffy from the balcony of the small house where he’s staying. Luffy doesn’t lose time stretching his arms to join the Surgeon on the balcony, immediately handing the plate full of food lest he spills it all on the floor before Torao can even have a taste of all the Onigiris.
“Shishishi! I brought you food!”
Law grabs the plate, carefully placing it on top of the small table before sitting down on the chair beside it. Luffy really wants to sit close to Torao, but the chair can only fit one person and he isn’t sure if he will get away with sitting on Law’s lap instead without getting cut into pieces.
The younger captain then opts to sit on the railing while facing Torao—and this, by far, is probably the greatest decision that he has made the entire night.
Torao has always looked so pretty to Luffy, but the moonlight starting to slip through the gaps of the trees surrounding them highlights that beauty even more. In the dark of the night, Luffy basks in the glow of those golden orbs, so luminous and attractive that Luffy finds himself too riveted to even look away. In the dark of the night, the lines of those tattoos are starting to look more cerulean than black, a color which Luffy thinks is so much more fitting for those enchanting eyes.
In the dark of the night, Luffy feels enticed to just drown in the comfortable silence instead of singing all the songs in his mind like how he wanted to, because parties are supposed to be more fun when you’re surrounded by the noise and voices of all the people you’re celebrating with.
Yet, Luffy is starting to appreciate the fun in silence so long as it’s Torao whom he is spending his time with.
Ah. There’s that feeling again.
There’s that ache on his chest which is starting to become apparent once again. There’s this overwhelming emotion coursing through every nerve of his body which makes him feel like he’s drowning—except it’s not the suffocating kind of drowning that he feels whenever he’s out in the ocean. It’s not the kind of drowning which makes him feel like he’s strangling, trying to search for reprieve on the surface only to be pulled much deeper into its terrifying depths.
It’s the kind of drowning which makes him feel like he’s surrounded by clouds instead of the sea, of gentle rocking instead of turbulent waves, of sweet lullabies instead of roaring sea monsters. It’s the kind of drowning which makes him feel like there’s nowhere else he’d rather be than right here, right at this moment, savoring the feeling of this man’s presence alongside him.
“Is everything alright?” Luffy furrows his brows at the sudden question, blinking repeatedly as he realizes that Torao is now standing in front of him with a mild concern reflected on his features. Luffy tilts his head a little to the side before he asks, “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Well, you’ve been clutching on your chest for a few moments now. Are you in any pain? Do you want me to do a scan on you?” Torao is starting to ramble about Luffy’s health like how he always does every after battle, and it’s only then that he realizes that his hand is on his chest once again, something that he finds himself doing more often for the past month.
Torao is starting to do his scan on Luffy’s body before the younger captain can even say anything else. Luffy chuckles a little and just lets the Surgeon do his thing, because if this is what makes Torao feel more comfortable and at ease, then why should Luffy even try to stop him? Even if Luffy already knows the reason why his chest has been aching ever since they started travelling towards Dressrosa.
After all, Luffy likes Torao.
No, not the kind of like that he feels towards his crewmates. Not the kind of like that he feels towards robots and ninjas, even if he thinks that Torao is probably just as cool or even cooler than the two of them combined. Not the kind of like that he feels towards meat, but Luffy will still argue that his fondness for meat is probably a little too close to what he feels towards Torao.
No, it’s not the kind of like that he feels for any of his family and friends.
It’s the kind of like that he remembers Makino explaining to him—the one which makes his chest ache the same way that he’s been feeling every time Torao is around him.
It’s the kind of like which makes him appreciate all the things that he didn’t have any qualms in trying to perceive before; like books, or coffee, or the functions of the heart, or which Onigiri flavor is the best, or which coin is the most valuable, or the silence which surprisingly makes him comfortable. It’s the kind of like which makes him long for this certain touch and makes him wish that it’s only him who gets to receive all of these silly little displays of affection.
It’s the kind of like which makes him want to listen to songs sang in a language he doesn’t even understand. The kind of like which makes him want to keep his silence because he wants to listen to that voice so rough yet so oddly soothing to his soul. The kind of like which makes him want to share his meat if it means that he will get to eat more than just coffee. The kind of like which makes him crave for a slow dance instead of a silly dance around the campfire if it means that he will feel more comfortable.
It’s the kind of like that makes him want to drown—drown in the look of those golden eyes, drown in the touch of those slender fingers, drown in the sound of that coarse voice, drown in one Trafalgar Law.
Ah.
This is what falling in love feels like, right?
“Luffy-ya, you’re not listening to me again, are you?” The Surgeon says with an exasperated sigh and Luffy can’t help but smile a little as he sees that expression on Torao’s face. The younger captain chuckles instead as he shrugs at the other captain.
“Sorry, Torao! I was thinking,” Luffy says with a big smile, puffing his chest out a little knowing that Torao is fond of thinking. Luffy has never liked the prospect of exercising his brain for this kind of activity, because to him it sounds like a whole pain in the ass, really.
Yet, thinking about Law has always been a pretty exciting and fun activity for him.
The younger captain can’t help but chuckle at the surprised look on Torao’s face. It takes him one, two, maybe three or more seconds before the Surgeon finally lets out a soft laughter. Torao moves to stand beside Luffy, leaning his arms on the railing as he clasps his fingers together before he speaks up, “A beri for your thoughts?”
Luffy can’t help but chuckle at those words and the way Torao carries himself, because the Surgeon likes using all these fancy phrases like how Sabo does. A part of him wants to ask Torao if he was a noble like Sabo was, and then probably ask him if running away with Luffy seems like a better plan than marrying into a beautiful princess of another country.
Yet, a bigger part of him also knows that pushing Torao to open up even more will only result to the opposite. So, Luffy will wait. He can wait until Torao is more comfortable talking not only about his Cora-san, but also about the tale of a city so white and so beautiful that the whole world can only be so envious of it.
But for now, Luffy has a question to ask.
“Ne, Torao? Back in your own country, what do people do if they wanna get married?”
The Surgeon suddenly starts coughing, like he just choked on something even if Luffy is pretty sure that he isn’t even drinking anything ever since Luffy arrived. The younger captain watches in fascination as Law tries to pull himself together, tapping his chest repeatedly as if doing so will get out whatever is stuck on his chest at the moment.
“W-What? Where did this question even come from?” Torao speaks up again once he manages to finally compose himself. Luffy finds it really amusing how Torao keeps on looking at anywhere else but him, and anyone else who says that Torao is a boring companion are missing out on a whole lot of things.
Not that Luffy minds. That way, he gets to be the only one who sees this side of Torao, right?
Luffy then shrugs at the question before he leans back a little, looking up at the moon above them as he answers, “I just remembered that Sabo used to tell us all the complicated stuff about getting married when he’s all grown up. I don’t remember much of it, though. I didn’t see why that was important before.”
When Luffy looks back at Torao, the Surgeon is finally looking at him with a hint of confusion, curiosity, and a little bit of fear. The younger captain is about to speak up, about to try to put all of these feelings into words lest Torao misunderstand his sentiments once again. Yet, before he can even do so, Torao’s gaze turn just a little bit softer—his eyes revealing all the stories and desires and prayers more than any words could ever hope to express.
Luffy meets that gaze and sees the fondness that he has only ever seen when there’s no one else in the room but them both. Luffy meets that gaze and sees all these little confessions that Torao has never had the courage to say before. Luffy meets that gaze and sees this one little wish that Torao probably thinks he doesn’t deserve to ever hope for.
Luffy meets that gaze and sees himself.
“And you see it as an important thing now?” Torao asks, almost whispers it right into the air and Luffy could have easily missed it. Yet, Luffy hears it loud and clear. He hears the question, and all the underlying meaning behind it. Because if there’s one thing that Luffy has learned in the time that he’s been with the Surgeon—it’s to listen not to Torao’s words but to all the questions and revelations hidden behind those words.
“Yeah,” Luffy answers honestly, genuinely, because he’s always sucked at lying and Torao deserves all these veritable answers after years of drowning in all the lies. It takes one, two, maybe three or more seconds of silence before Torao finally lets out a sigh and mutters, “You are ridiculous, Luffy-ya.”
And in the dark of the night, Luffy almost misses that small smile playing on the Surgeon’s lips. The one which is only reserved for silent moments like this one. The one which Luffy thinks is privy only to the people whom Torao trusts with all of his heart. The one which Luffy has only ever had the privilege to see after all the events that transpired in Dressrosa—and Luffy knows a treasure when he sees one.
After all, he is a pirate, isn’t he?
“Well, it’s actually pretty simple in our country, but it might be a little too traditional,” Torao finally starts, and Luffy bites his inner lip to keep himself from exclaiming these overwhelming emotions filling up his chest at the moment—of excitement, giddiness, or just plain bliss, Luffy still isn’t sure about. So, Luffy just keeps on staring at the Surgeon and waiting for him to continue, something that he has grown fond of doing no matter how impatient he may seem to be.
“If you want to marry someone, you first ask the permission of their family,” Torao mutters and Luffy opens his mouth to retort about how that sounds pretty stupid, but Torao only raises his hand to stop Luffy, chuckling a little before he continues, “I know it sounds pretty stupid. After all, you’re not marrying their family, right?” Luffy nods in agreement, furrowing his brows a little at the thought.
“But I guess, it’s more like telling them what your intentions are. Showing them that their son or daughter will be in a good hands so long as you’re with them. I don’t really understand it myself, but I guess parents just want some form of reassurance that their kids will be in safe hands even when they part from them.”
Luffy purses his lips in thought, thinking about how Sabo and Ace will probably react once word reaches them that Luffy wants to get married. The younger captain can’t help but chuckle at the realization that his big brothers will most probably want to talk to Torao, even if Luffy knows that he will be in safe hands whenever Torao is around him. Somehow, thinking about it like that, Luffy understands why this is some form of tradition if you ever want to get married.
“Shishishi! I just had a great idea!” Luffy says with a beam, but Torao only heaves another sigh like how he always does whenever he feels annoyed of Luffy (or even when he pretends to feel annoyed, Luffy has learned how to tell the difference).
“Excuse me for being a little skeptical, but your concept of a great idea has always been vastly different from mine, and entirely trouble inducing most of the time.” The words only seem to make Luffy laugh even more, almost getting himself fall from the balcony if not for Torao immediately pulling him closer, like he somehow knew that Luffy would have fallen over right after he uttered those words.
“Nah! I promise it’s a great one! I better go now or else I won’t be able to finish it,” Luffy says before he leans in and places a peck on Torao’s forehead, taking the exemplary opportunity of being close to Torao’s height. He loves their height difference most of the time, because being able to hear Torao’s heart beating against his chest has always been a melodic comfort to Luffy. Yet, there are times when Luffy really wants to just give a soft peck on Torao’s forehead—like how Torao always does in the morning when he thinks Luffy is still too sleepy to remember such display of intimacy.
Before Torao can even make a response, Luffy finally jumps from the balcony and waves to the Surgeon.
“See you tomorrow morning, Torao! Rest well, okay?”
Now, off to prepare that letter to Cora-san.
—
“There you guys are!” Luffy exclaims as he finds Robin and Franky sitting on a huge boulder, with Robin leaning slightly against Franky as the two of them watches the party still going. Their archeologist just flashes a smile while Franky waves at him using the small hands within his big cyborg hand.
“Ne, Franky! D’ya know how to do that den-den thingy? I need one which records my voice, though. Or maybe a video of myself is better? D’ya think it’s better? Ne, Robin? What do you think?” Luffy lets out in one go as he jumps from side to side, trying to contain the excitement of talking to Cora-san in place.
“It depends on the purpose, Luffy. Do you mind if I ask what you are going to do with it?” Robin asks calmly, sipping on the cup of what Luffy can only assume as coffee. Luffy rubs the back of his nape as he chuckles, feeling a slight heat creeping up on his cheeks as he answers, “I’m gonna send a message to Torao’s dad.”
Luffy is already prepared for the bunch of questions that his crewmates are probably about to ask him. After all, he knows that his crew cares for him just as much as he cares for them, if not even more. They might be a close second to Sabo and Ace when it comes to being overprotective, but it’s fine. Luffy knows that they’ve already grown fond of Torao in the short time that they’ve all been together. Besides, there’s no one in this world who will be able to change his mind when it comes to choosing Law.
Yet, instead of a bunch of questions and probably a little bit of reluctance about Luffy’s decision, Robin only smiles fondly at him while Franky grabs his small handkerchief as he wipes the tears starting to fall from his eyes—like this is something that they had already seen coming.
“That’s super manly, Luffy!” Franky says before handing Luffy the den-den mushi that he requested. He doesn’t really understand how Franky can make these things in what seems to be the blink of an eye, but his shipwright really is just the best, isn’t he?
“I’m happy for you, Luffy. In that case, I think this den-den mushi that records video is just right for you,” Robin says before he sets the cup of coffee aside and places all her attention back to Luffy. “Where are you going to send it? Perhaps we can help a little?”
The captain just beams at them, appreciative of the help that they’re willing to extend to Luffy. “I was just about to ask you, Robin! Can you help me send this afterwards to Buddha-ossan?” Luffy asks which causes the couple to look at each other, surprise and contemplation evident on their faces. Luffy doesn’t bother explaining it to them. After all, Robin is always bound to know the answer.
When Robin finally seems to have found the conclusion, she turns her gaze towards the younger lad and tries to confirm her suspicion, “You want us to help you send a letter to the former Fleet Admiral, Sengoku the Buddha?”
Luffy nods as an answer before his usual chuckle bubbles out of his chest. After all, Cora-san is already in heaven, but Law mentioned before that heaven doesn’t accept letters from pirates like them. So, a marine should be able to do it, right?
“Yeah! Besides, I need to talk to Torao’s granddad too if I wanna marry him, right?”
Robin just chuckles as she covers her lips with the back of her hand, while Franky does his usual super pose while nodding in agreement, certainly not surprised about Luffy’s decision. “Sure, Luffy. We’ll send the letters as soon as you are done.”
With that, Luffy finally heads towards the house which the minks set aside for his crew to take a rest on. He immediately heads to one of the three rooms in the house—the one which the minks associated as the Captain’s quarters despite Luffy adamantly telling them that he doesn’t need a room of his own. Right now, the younger lad can only thank the minks in his mind as he uses the privacy of the room to record the message that he wants to send to Cora-san.
It takes him a few more minutes to finally find out how to make the den-den mushi working. He has always been dependent on his crewmates for little things like this, but this time around, he wants to do it all on his own. After all, it’s a special message for Torao’s family alone.
When Luffy is finally sure that the den-den mushi is recording him in a video, the lad flashes a smile and waves enthusiastically at the camera with a small greeting.
“Hi, Cora-san!” Luffy starts before he chuckles, flinching a little as he remembers Makino’s reminders about manners and all those silly little things that she taught Ace. Luffy immediately bows his head like how he remembers Ace doing. However, when the lad tries to remember what else he should say after the bow, all he remembers is trying to convince Ace to catch the anaconda eggs instead of studying how to speak with manners.
“Uhh,” Luffy purses his lips as he straightens up and pinches his chin with his forefinger and thumb, thinking about how he will be able to express his feelings properly. “Makino said something about a thank you in advance? Huh? That’s weird. Why should I thank a person if he hasn’t even done anything yet? Is it different? Hmm, why can’t I remember it?” Luffy mumbles to himself, crunching his face as he tries to remember the little lessons that Ace has gotten from Makino.
When Luffy feels his brain overheating from trying to remember, the lad just bumps his fist against his palm, chuckling as he says, “Whatever! I’m a pirate anyway! It’s fine if I just speak normally, right, Cora-san? Shishishi!” Feeling more comfortable, Luffy finally jumps to sit on the bed with his legs crossed against each other.
“Ah! I haven’t introduced myself yet. I’m Luffy! And I will be the King of the Pirates!” Luffy exclaims with as much gusto as he always does whenever he mentions his goal to anyone and everyone. “I don’t know if Torao has ever mentioned me to you. He can be so secretive like that. I didn’t even know about you until after Dressrosa!
“Oh, oh! Did you know already that we kicked Mingo’s ass? Torao was really cool back then! I didn’t like that he got hurt that badly, though. But it’s fine now. Mingo’s in prison and Torao is right here with me! Ah, not actually right here. He’s on the other house. Besides, I don’t want him to know yet what I’ll tell you. Shishishi! It’s gonna be a surprise!”
Luffy finds it a little surprising about how easy it is—talking to Cora-san like he has already met the person. Torao has described Cora-san as someone who smiles like an idiot, and that’s everything that Luffy needs to know to feel the warmth that this person has brought to Torao’s life.
“Torao is one of the coolest people that I’ve ever met! He’s so smart like Robin and Nami. He’s also good with swords and he even has such a cool devil fruit! You helped him have it, right? Shishishi. Thanks for that, Cora-san!” Luffy chuckles again before he continues, “He also really likes spending his time thinking about all of these plans, and when he does this weird smirking thing, I just know that someone’s ass is about to get kicked!” Luffy says as he puffs out his chest, feeling extremely proud of his ally.
“Ah! Did Torao ever tell you how we met?” Luffy asks once again, as if there’s anyone else in the room who will be able to provide him with an answer. He chuckles a little before he starts recounting the story of their first meeting back in Sabaody, making sure to tell Cora-san about how awesome Torao was even back then.
Luffy proceeds to tell his stories about all his encounters with Torao—about how Torao has saved him after the war even when he has nothing to gain from it. About the time when Torao visited him back in Ruskaina just to ensure that Luffy’s wounds were healing just fine. About the night when Torao gave him a tone dial as a way to record his message to Ace.
“You don’t peg me as the type to actually write something in a paper. So, this is the next best option.”
Luffy remembers Torao saying when he handed him the tone dial. Now that he thinks about it, the Surgeon has mentioned back then how composing a letter to Ace will probably help Luffy in processing his emotions. A pang of pain suddenly hits him, only realizing at the moment that Torao has probably written tons of letters to Cora-san after the man gave his life up for the sickly kid to live.
“Ah. Before I even forget,” Luffy mutters softly before he stands up once again, only to bow properly in front of the den-den mushi.
“Thank you for saving Torao’s life back then, Cora-san.”
Luffy straightens up after a few more seconds, flashing a small smile at the den-den mushi before he continues, “This is probably a bit selfish for me to say. Oh well, my crewmates always told me that I’m really selfish anyway.” Luffy manages to chuckle, rubbing his nape in the process.
“But if you didn’t save him, then I probably wouldn’t have met him in Sabaody. I probably wouldn’t even survive the war. I wouldn’t be able to see my crew once again. I wouldn’t be able to continue my journey in the sea. I wouldn’t be able to meet my other older brother. I wouldn’t have the chance to see my crew reach all of their goals, and I wouldn’t have the chance to fulfill my own dream.”
Luffy stares at the den-den mushi for a second, taking a deep breath before he smiles a little once again as he continues on his litany of gratitude towards the man whose smile he can only picture out through Torao’s stories.
“Thank you for giving him a chance to have this adventure, even if he spent most of his time trying to go after Mingo and his goonies. Torao probably blamed himself for whatever happened to you. Maybe he’s still blaming himself until now, even when we’ve already kicked Mingo’s ass to make sure that he will never be able to enslave anyone again with his devil fruit powers.”
“He’s also probably still hurting until now,” Luffy mutters, gulping an imaginary lump on his throat as he remembers all the nights shared after a nightmare has woken the two of them up. “Even if I try to tell him over and over again that it isn’t his fault, or even if I try to remind him that you chose what you did because you loved him—Torao will probably still think that it’s all his fault, and he’ll probably carry this sin with him all his life.”
Luffy knows. Luffy, of all people, understands the burden of blame kept by the person who was saved, by the person who managed to live. After all, Luffy will always carry this very same burden with him. Luffy will always carry this very same sin with him until the day he dies.
Luffy pauses for a moment, finally finding the chance to be able to fulfill the purpose of this message. He takes a deep breath before he stares at the den-den mushi once again, making sure to utter the next statements with as much conviction and reassurance as he can.
“But you don’t have to worry, Cora-san. If Torao decides to carry this burden with him all his life, then I’ll carry it all with him. If Torao decides to spend his life trying to atone for his sins, then I’ll do all the penance with him. If Torao decides to overthrow another set of people who inflicted you with pain, then I’ll fight all these people with him.
“And if Torao ever feels like he’s already lost his purpose, then I’ll find a new dream with him. No matter what it takes, no matter how long it takes.”
Luffy unconsciously places his hand against his chest once again, starting to feel this puzzling bliss as he pictures out the adventure waiting ahead of him while having Torao and his crew travelling with them, setting out into the sea to achieve the goals of each of their crewmates.
Luffy can’t help the blooming smile on his face as he pictures out his future with one Trafalgar Law standing right by his side.
“After all, I plan to spend the rest of my life with Torao, Cora-san. Shishishi!”
It’s not really asking for a permission so much as just plainly proclaiming his intention to marry Torao one day. Luffy isn’t entirely sure about all the steps that needs to be taken when it comes to marrying someone, but who cares about the right steps? Who cares about the world’s pre-conceived beliefs about what marrying someone should be like? Who cares about how it should and shouldn’t happen? Who cares about what the world will say about two captains marrying each other like lovesick fools instead of acting like terrifying monsters of the sea?
After all, they are pirates. Who cares about the rules of this world?
Ah.
He’s definitely gonna ask Shanks to officiate their marriage.
“Luffy! You there? We need to discuss tomorrow’s plans!” Nami’s voice echoes throughout the house, snapping Luffy out of his thoughts. Luffy has never liked sitting and listening to plans, but they have Sanji to bring back and Kaido to overthrow once they finish their business on Big Mom’s island.
“’Kay! Will be there!” Luffy shouts back as an answer, and when he hears the door click close, the lad finally steps closer to the camera to end his message to Cora-san.
“I need to go now, Cora-san! It was really nice telling you all these things! I really hope Buddha-ossan will get this letter to you. I’ll try to send more to you as much as I can, ‘kay?” Luffy chuckles and is about to turn the den-den mushi off before he remembers one silly little thing. Luffy leans towards the den-den mushi to whisper a small request.
“Ne, Cora-san. Don’t tell Torao about my plan yet, okay? It’s our little secret! Shishishi!”
With that, Luffy finally turns the den-den mushi off and makes sure to gently hold it as he makes his way back to his crewmates. As soon as they finish their little discussion later on, Luffy only needs to write a short letter to that granddad of Law and then he can finally go back to partying the whole night away.
After all, Luffy absolutely loves parties.
And when the time comes, Luffy will definitely hold the biggest party ever to celebrate his promise to stay with Law until the day he dies.
—
Sengoku is peacefully eating his crackers on his room in the marine base when he hears two knocks on the door. He’s expecting Garp and Tsuru to come today, but the knocks tell him that the people on the other side are not his expected visitors.
After all, Garp would have totally destroyed the wall to enter the room instead of using the door like any other normal human being.
“Come in,” Sengoku mutters as he feeds his goat with one of the crackers instead of letting it munch another one of his official documents. As soon as the words are uttered, two marines enter the room with a stiff salute.
From the way these two marines are looking at him with their pale faces like they’re about to vomit, and the beads of sweat running from their temple down to their jaw, Sengoku can only assume that trouble is coming.
“What is it?” Sengoku asks, always the straightforward one and avoiding any roundabouts when it comes to dealing with his problems.
“You’ve received a message, Sir,” one of the marines mentions and Sengoku raises his brow at the implication. Sengoku motions the marine to come forward and place the letter on top of his table. As soon as the marine does so, he motions the two of them to leave the place in case this letter needs to be absolutely confidential.
Sengoku heaves a sigh and takes a second to look at the den-den mushi which he assumes is a video recording of a message from the sender. Beside it is another letter, only this time it is a written one encased in a white envelope. Sengoku really wishes that it’s not another absurd request from the higher ups. He’s a retired official already, goddammit.
When Sengoku finally turns the envelope to see the sender of the letter, he almost feels his soul leaving his body. Really, a letter from the Five Elders is a hundred times better than the letter currently sitting on top of his desk.
What kind of trouble is Monkey D. Luffy gonna bring him once again?
With a sigh, Sengoku finally opens the envelope and fishes the paper out of it. The former fleet admiral groans in annoyance as soon as he sees the greeting on the paper, reminding him so much of the abomination that Garp calls his handwriting. It looks more like a chicken scratch rather than an actual letter, but years of dealing with Garp has already enabled him to unlock his skills of reading such tormenting handwriting.
‘Hey! Buddha-ossan!’
Sengoku can already feel his headache forming just by reading that one single greeting from the pirate. What kind of pirate doesn’t know the name of the former fleet admiral?
Well, a pirate like Monkey D. Luffy, apparently.
‘I still don’t like you for what you did to Ace!! But I’m still gonna talk to you now just because you’re Torao’s granddad.’
Sengoku feels a miscellany of emotions pour over him as he reads the message. Warmth, for being called a granddad despite his son passing away thirteen years ago after that incident back in Minion Island. Happiness, for knowing that Law has probably chosen the right ally who will not betray him. Or Pain, for remembering the events which transpired two years ago—of the war that they started, of the war that took away the grandchild of his closest friend, of the war that ended up with losses from both sides, of the war which he thought he was doing to bring the whole world a meritorious justice.
Ah. What a misplaced justice, that was.
Sengoku shakes his head lightly, trying to shoo away all the thoughts starting to fill his mind once again—thoughts which never ceased to keep him up at night ever since that fateful war. The old man adjusts his glasses instead as he continues reading.
‘Also, I have a favor to ask! Torao told me that heaven doesn’t accept letters from sinners like him. So maybe heaven won’t accept letters from me too. After all, we’re both pirates!
But I really really really wanna talk to Cora-san. He seems like a cool guy! And I really wanted to thank him for saving Torao back when he’s still a kid!
Ne, Buddha-ossan. Send the den-den mushi to heaven, ‘kay? I told Cora-san something important. Really really important stuff!! ‘Kayy??’
Sengoku stares at the paper as he reads those lines over and over again. There are a lot of things running through his mind at the moment, but the most prominent of it all is the fact that Luffy knows about Rosinante. Luffy knows about his son’s name back when he was still a spy, and there’s only one other person whom he knows is still trying to keep the memories of his son in this world.
Sengoku looks at the den-den mushi on top of his desk before he glances back at the letter, letting out a chuckle at the irony of it all. Sengoku raised that lost child as a marine, as someone who would be on the side of the weak, as someone who would provide and protect. Sengoku raised his son until he was old enough to be able to fight pirates all on his own, strong enough that Sengoku was able to trust him to be a spy under one of the most dangerous pirate groups ruling the world.
Who would have thought that the memories of his son will best be remembered by pirates, of all people?
‘Also, you don’t have to worry about Torao. You might be a marine, but you must be worried about him too sometimes, right? We’ll all take care of him. Besides, Torao is super strong and super cool and just so so soooo awesome! So, he’s gonna be fine!’
Sengoku feels the headache subsiding, replaced by this overwhelming amount of joy starting to fill him. He isn’t entirely sure if this is the path of life which Rosinante would have wanted for Law. He isn’t sure if Rosinante would have supported Law had he been alive when Law decided that he wanted to be a pirate. He isn’t sure if Rosinante, his son who has one of the kindest souls that he has ever met in his life, would have been happy seeing his adopted son fighting alongside trouble magnets like one Monkey D. Luffy.
Sengoku is uncertain about a lot of things whenever it involves Rosinante and Law. Yet, being a father himself, there’s one thing that Sengoku will always be sure about—
Rosinante would have been blissful knowing that there’s someone else in this world who cares for Law as much as Rosinante does. Someone who cares enough for him to even dare and send a letter to a marine base just to let his intentions of taking care of Law be known.
Sengoku pushes his glasses up to wipe the tears threatening to fall. Thank all heavens that this letter arrived while Garp and Tsuru are probably still on their way lest he never hears the end of it if they see him almost crying. The former fleet admiral takes a deep breath and blinks all the evidence of tears away as a thought flashes through his mind.
Maybe it isn’t always trouble whenever Monkey D. Luffy is involved.
Sengoku chuckles a little as he remembers Fujitora secretly thanking the young pirate after the events of Dressrosa. Now more than ever, he feels like he understands Fujitora and why he did what he did after the battle in the country ruled over by a self-proclaimed king for over a decade.
Now more than ever, Sengoku wants to express his gratitude to Luffy for the mere fact that he is a friend to his own grandson.
Yet, just when Sengoku is starting to think that trouble isn’t coming, Luffy’s proclamation on the last part of the letter really just has to prove him wrong.
‘Oh! Before I forget, just wanna tell you that I’ll be marrying Torao one day. Don’t worry, I informed Cora-san too, ‘kay? Will send you an invitation when the day comes!
P.S. Say hi to grandpa for me. But don’t tell him about the marriage yet!! I’ll tell him myself pretty soon! Bye!
- Monkey D. Luffy, future Pirate King and future Torao’s husband’
Sengoku stares at the letter for one, two, maybe three or more seconds until he finally processes the last part of the message. The former fleet admiral pinches the bridge of his nose and closes his eyes for a moment before he heaves out another sigh. He should have known. He really should have known, shouldn’t he?
That there’s no way two people who look at each other that way are just allies.
“Gahahaha!! Why do you look like doom is coming to you, Sengoku?!”
The former fleet admiral curses his fate as he hears Garp enter the room through the wall again. Tsuru follows quietly behind the man, immediately walking towards where the set of teapots are lounging. Sengoku just throws a glare at his long-time friend, and shouts out the one line he never thought he would utter once again even when he is already retired, goddammit.
“Garp!! It’s your damn family again!”
And if Sengoku is secretly looking forward to receiving that wedding invitation one day, then that’s nobody else’s business but his own.