Chapter 1: Broken Heart, Empty Heart

Hello! I've been waiting and waiting for someone to write a romantic non-AU Cora/Law fic for a very long time. I finally decided to just write one myself. Please review and tell me if you like it! Thank you so much. 3

*Also, here's a warning. If you haven't caught up with the manga – stayed up-to-date with the releases in Japan, then SPOILER ALERT. This is based mostly after chapter 787. There will be some flashbacks, though…

Pain. Intense pain. In his heart and his body. Law could feel each and every stitch as the dwarf reattached his arm. He grimaced and toughed it out, knowing that if he couldn't have his arm back, he wouldn't be able to help Luffy at all, anymore. The fact that the strawhat had to take over for him made him want to scream. The revenge he'd desperately desired for these 13 years had only intensified on his time in Dressrosa, and he learned that he had less self-control than he thought.

Seeing Doflamingo again today made his trauma return to the front of his mind so clearly, it was like it had happened only yesterday. The freshness of his memory and constantly aching heart spurred his resolve to kill Doflamingo himself, rather than letting Kaido do it. But he failed and now he was out of commission for the time being. His ally Strawhat Luffy was now busy fighting Law's most hated enemy, and there was nothing he could do. Except try to heal quickly.

The dwarves finished up and Law thanked them. He and Cavendish watched from afar as Luffy continued to fight Doflamingo. Law was determined to stay put and either watch Luffy win, or die with him here. A few minutes ago, he really thought that'd he'd managed to finally destroy the selfish egomaniac. His last attack was shattering. Even Luffy was shocked that the warlord was able to get up again, and that's when Law knew he couldn't do any more. He'd been fighting the bastard on and off all day!

Of course it'd felt good to deliver such devastating blows to Doffy; it'd felt so good. But the whole day had been devastating for him, as so many incidents refreshed his memories. Doflamingo's harsh words about Cora, Law seeing the family again, and most of all, the birdcage's reappearance. He was reliving that horrible day 13 years ago and his heart was about to burst out of his chest. That monster had murdered the one he loved. The only person who'd ever owned his heart, and still did to this day. The one person he'd never forget. He felt tears forming from the stirred up feelings as well as his frustration at being unable to take out Doflamingo. He'd been so close, tried so hard. How could that bastard still be alive? If his strings were really all that were holding him together, then Luffy should be able to finish him off. But that thought really didn't make Law feel any better.

It should have been him.

The blonde marine Commodore surveyed the scene around him, frustrated at the feeling that this so-called birdcage gave him. It wasn't claustrophobia; it wasn't fear of being squished to death, either. It was an uneasy nervousness in his gut. An unpleasant hint of sorrow, even. Around him, the people of Dressrosa and even his fellow marines were panicking. Screams could be heard all over as the birdcage closed in slowly. Up ahead, he could see his target; the warlord. All day he'd been heading to the palace, and all day distractions had kept him busy from reaching it.

Tired of always arriving late to the scene, like at Marineford two years ago, the Commodore of G-3 had finally been lucky in his timing. The very day he'd decided to finally confront Doflamingo after years of apathy was the day that the evil warlord had decided to show his true colors to the world.

Years ago, he'd woken up at a Marine hospital in the North Blue, grasping for his memories. His mentor had visited, telling him what'd happened, as best as he knew. He'd been on the brink of death. He'd been rescued; critically injured and dying, but they saved him. They'd saved him, yes, but he'd also lost his memory. Despite being told that his brother was the one who'd inflicted the wounds, he couldn't remember, and therefore didn't really care much.

Without memories, he became apathetic. He didn't know his brother, and he didn't remember the attempted murder. He didn't need or want something like revenge for an incident he didn't recall. So he was fine with just recuperating, re-training, and eventually being assigned to G-3. The only memory he had was a name that his mentor insisted wasn't even his real one. The blonde marine did not care; that name was his only memory, false or not, and he was going to keep it.

Throughout the following years, the indifferent marine heard news about the famous names he'd supposedly been intertwined with at one time. He trained and did his duties and didn't care when he learned of the news that his brother had become a warlord. So what. If he ever ran into him, maybe they'd have a few words, but what did it matter to him now? He was promoted eventually too, and climbed the ranks in a normal fashion, just going through the motions as an empty shell of a man. A man with no past, no family, no loved ones. Just vague feelings that haunted him, making him feel empty, like there was something missing. Like there was someone missing.

Sengoku had asserted that the blonde marine didn't have any love for his brother. He'd told him about the atrocious things he'd done, like murder their father before his eyes. Reading the newspapers, he was inclined to believe him; his brother was indeed a nasty piece of work. So who could it have been that left this gaping hole in his heart? Perhaps it was just how it felt to have no memory of the past. Sengoku could only tell him about his life as a marine, before he went for those 4 years undercover. But there just wasn't any information to explain the hollow feelings he had. Now a Commodore, the blonde marine had a little more control over his actions, and had even tried to go to Marineford to confront his brother once and for all, and perhaps ask about his past, if possible. But he arrived too late, and soon after, fell into his lethargic routine once again.

But then he'd heard of strange news out of Punk Hazard. The newly appointed warlord Trafalgar Law had started some trouble, and his actions against the Donquixote family interested the marine greatly. And when he'd received the report that Vice Admiral Vergo of G-5 had been killed, he felt a very unpleasant sensation in his stomach. The dead man's face stared up at him, disturbing and bewildering him. On top of that, his melancholy had only been getting worse and worse. That morning, he resolved to finally confront the Donquixote family or at least investigate more about his past with them.

He received intelligence that Law and the Strawhat crew were heading for Dressrosa and for once, the marine did not hesitate. He too, would confront Doflamingo, and maybe Law, too, to ask him what his relationship was with that family. Why should he have to continue to feel hollow, forlorn, like a ghost wandering around his base, not giving a shit about the world or even his own life?

Turning his attention back to the devastation happening in Dressrosa, he nonsensically smiled to himself. He could feel that his life's mystery would be solved. The answer to what or who was missing. What had happened, and why. Hopefully Strawhat Luffy wouldn't kill Doflamingo before he got a chance to talk him. He had so many questions and he was prepared to do whatever was necessary to finally get the answers. As he set off, he ordered his men to help the residents make it to the center of the birdcage.

"Yes, Commodore Cora." his subordinates replied.

Yes, he thought. I'm done with being a ghost.