Sadly I don't own the wonderful world of One Piece, I doubt it would be so popular if I did. One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda and all the characters used belong to him.

This fanfiction was written by me and, as I mentioned in the summary, this will be a series of oneshots about the Donquixote family because I love those psychopathic nerds.

I am calling it slightly AU because some of the characters are different ages, most notably Law is very young (around eight) and Dellinger is a couple years older than him. In canon Law is probably older than Dellinger but I am taking some artistic licenses.

Review if you have the time, I would love to hear what you think about my work.


It was hard not to like Dressrosa with its sapphire colored water, fields of swaying flowers, and pleasant sea breezes but Law liked challenges. As good as the weather may be the days were usually far too hot for the North Sea native and when there were storms they were terrifying. The storms in the North Sea might have left several feet of snow on the ground but they never flooded the streets and there wasn't any thunder. Law hated thunder. The first time Law had heard thunder he thought it was cannon fire. He cowered in a closet until Jora and Monet convinced him to leave the next morning. Now Monet let him stay with her when storms were coming in but Dellinger still made fun of him about it.

One thing that Law couldn't hate about Dressrosa was the view from palace. Law loved to sit on the balconies and stare at the city below the palace. If he squinted he could even see the shape of the ships coming and going from the harbor; trying to make out the symbols on the distant flags was something he had grown to enjoy. Law usually found himself on the balconies for one reason or another. His primary reason was to avoid the people that lived in the palace. Law only liked a few members of the Donquixote Pirates since most of them were very odd. He thought that Trebol was the oddest ever since he had gotten stuck to the giant man's sticky coat.

Today Law was relaxing in a window, reading the new book Monet had gotten him on animal anatomy. Law wasn't quite sure what all the words meant but he didn't mind flipping to the glossary in the back every couple pages. Law was ready to spend his afternoon reading with the pleasant sea breeze rustling the pages when a voice called up to him.

"Found you Law-chan~! Wait there, I am coming right up~!" Dellinger's voice carried with unnerving clarity and frightened Law. He hastily threw his book on the shelf as he scrambled out of the window and into the giving it much thought Law ran to the left, heading in the direction of the servant staircase, determined to avoid Dellinger. The servant stairs were the safest route since he knew Dellinger was probably already halfway up the master staircase.

Law had only been at the palace for a couple of weeks when Dellinger taught him about a game, which he called Hide and Go Beat. The rules were simple enough; Law had to hide somewhere really good because if Dellinger found him he would beat him up. Law misunderstood that Dellinger had meant to say 'beat' the first time he played and wound up getting pummeled. Now he took the game very seriously.

Law tried to think of another good hiding place as he raced down the narrow, spiral servant stairs. He had to stop himself from bursting through the door at the bottom of the stairs but he was glad he took the time to check the kitchen first. Through the narrow crack he could get a good view of Diamante's back as he tried to convince the chefs to give him some treats. If he saw Law he would make a big deal about it and draw Dellinger to his location. He thought Hide and Go Beat was a riot and encouraged it with Dellinger.

If Law had more time he have just waited for one of the chefs to shoo the giant man away but he knew once Dellinger found the empty bedroom he might check these stairs. As carefully and quietly as he could Law pushed the door open. One of the cooking aides saw him and for a moment he was afraid she was going to say something about it but she just winked in his direction. She placed a tray of sweets on the table Diamante was sitting at and he happily began to eat them.

Making a mental note to thank her later for the distraction Law took the opportunity and snuck out through the kitchens swinging doors. He proceeded to run up a small flight of stairs and found himself in the palace entrance hall. He briefly considered heading up the main stairs and hiding somewhere upstairs but there was no telling where Dellinger was. For all Law knew he was checking all the rooms on the upper floors; it was safer to stay on the ground floor for now. The sound of splashing and laughter echoed from the pools in the back of the palace but there was nowhere for Law to hide there. Even if there was he doubt he could sneak there without someone seeing him and the guests always helped Dellinger find him.

No the pool area was out of the question, Law quickly ran off a mental list of other options. He knew how fast Dellinger could move so he doubted he had more than a few minutes before Dellinger decided to check the lower floors if he wasn't already in the kitchen. Law began to run across the polished tile floor, heading towards the pool but taking a sharp left turn before he reached the door that led to it. He sped down the maze of corridors; mostly sure he was going the right way. As he turned the corner he slammed into someone, knocking himself to the floor. He quickly picked himself up and although he normally would have dusted himself off time was of the essence. He would have sped past the person he ran into if they didn't take up the entire narrow corridor.

"Hey-in! Be more careful Law-in. Where are you heading in such a hurry Law-in?" asked Machvise as he put his hands on his knees and bended down in a failed attempt to get closer to Law's height. Machvise was something of a mixed blessing, he wasn't upset that Law ran into him but he was a close friend with Dellinger. If Law told him that he was hiding from Dellinger he would tell Dellinger where he was.

"I am heading to the garden; Monet said that the flowers I planted should have blossomed by now," That wasn't a complete lie since Law had spent a day last Wednesday helping Monet tend to her flower garden," I want to see them."

"I never thought of you as a gardener Law-in. You know the flowers won't run away right-in?" Machvise asked with a chuckle, reaching down and patting Law's head. Law realized with a shot of panic he shouldn't have mentioned the garden but he quickly relaxed. The palace garden was huge, he would just hide away from the flower part.

"I know but I want to see them now. Can I please get by Machvise-san?" Law asked as politely as he could, jumping from foot to foot to show his eagerness.

"Of course Law-in. You have to tell me how they turned out later-in." Machivse said, turning sideways so that there was a small open space between him and the wall. A regular sized person would have had trouble fitting through the gap but it was more than enough for little Law. He passed through the gap with ease and made to run away but stopped.

"Thank you Machvise-san." He said with a little bow before turning on his heels and running away. He liked Machvise, he could tell some great stories and he was very nice to Law. He heard some happy laughter from behind him and almost forgot that he was running from Dellinger until he heard the all to familiar click of the boy's shoes.

His panic hitting high gear he covered the distance between him and the garden quickly, pushing the glass doors wide open as he ran through them. He knew he should stop to consider where he was going but he also knew there was no time for that. He ran into the hedge maze, keeping his head low as he maneuvered through it. Whenever he came to a dead end he just crawled under the hedge. It slowed him down a bit but he didn't dare back step in case Dellinger was right behind him. He knew he was leaving a trail of broken branches and leaves but he was to scared to climb over the hedges in fear that Dellinger would see him.

When he finally got out of the hedge maze he found himself in a clearing, his heart raced as he tried to find a place to hide. There was the hedge maze behind him but Dellinger was tall enough to look over the walls, which made it a bad-hiding place. To his left was the rose garden but the space between was too wide and directly in front of the garden doors. If Law tried to run across it he would likely be seen. The sound of the doors to the garden opening only made Law more panicked. He ran towards the pond, planning on climbing one of the trees that grew near it. He could hear Dellinger calling his name so despite his legs complaints he ran very quickly. He ducked behind one of the bushes near the pond; taking a moment to catch his breath and figure out which tree he was going to climb.

Law personally liked the willow tree since the leaves obscured most of the tree but there wasn't time to reach it or climb it. He quickly decided to climb the old cherry tree, mainly because it was closest to his hiding place and Dellinger was getting louder. Taking a leap of faith he ran from the bush to the tree, hoping with all his might that Dellinger hadn't seen him. If Dellinger had he didn't say anything. Law risked a glance around the corner of the tree and saw that Dellinger was checking the rose bushes.

Law carefully began to climb the tree, trying his best to keep quiet. It took Law a bit to get to the first branch since the tree didn't having many handholds on the trunk. The climb became easier once he reached the first branch. The entire time felt like hours instead of minutes. He kept expecting Dellinger to appear below him and begin climbing up after him but thankfully that didn't happen. Law sat on one of the more stable branches and leaned against the tree trunk. He was exhausted but he was too scared to relax; he had made the mistake of sleeping once during a game of Hide and Go Beat and once was enough.

Dellinger was calling for him, if Law had to estimate where he was he would say he was looking in the hedge maze for him. His voice started getting louder, indicating that he was coming closer, and Law pulled his legs close to him in an attempt to make himself smaller.

"Law-chan! You shouldn't change your hiding place a bunch of times! Not that it really matters, I am going to find you sooner or later~!" He called out in a sing-song like voice that sent shivers down Laws spine. He closed his eyes, pulled his knees to his chin, and waited. Dellinger spent almost forty-five minutes looking through the garden before Law heard him leave. Law waited another fifteen minutes before he let himself relax.

Trees were a great hiding place but they did have a downside, Law couldn't get down from them. Eventually someone came looking for him when it was time for dinner, if not sooner, so Law didn't have to worry about being stuck there all night. Still, there was at least three hours till dinner and he had nothing to do till then. This tree wasn't as comfortable but Law still found himself dozing off.

It only felt like he had closed his eyes for seconds but when he opened them the sky was turning pink from the sunset. A voice called to him from below him and he looked over the edge of the branch as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"Did you have a good nap Law-chan?" Monet called up to him as she pushed a stray piece of hair out of her eyes.

"Not really, this tree isn't very comfortable. What time is it?"

"Almost four-thirty. You are a pretty hard person to find Law-chan, I thought you said you wouldn't be climbing trees after last time?"

"I know, I know. I didn't have other options or maybe I did but I didn't realize them. Dellinger was practically on my heels." Monet covered her mouth as she laughed. She found the squabbles between Law and Dellinger to be funny.

"You made Dellinger very upset you know, he says you are cheating. He got Sugar to help him look for you." She said with a small smile as she began to climb up the tree towards him.

"If Dellinger is still looking for me I don't want to leave." Despite saying that he swung his legs over the edge of the branch so he was facing Monet. It didn't take her nearly as long to climb the tree as it had taken Law to climb the tree. She didn't even seem tired from the climb. She reached out and pulled Law into her arms as he wrapped his arms around her neck.

"Don't worry Law, I won't let him hurt you." She said sincerely as she carefully made her way down the tree. Law rested his head on her shoulder and yawned loudly.

"Don't fall asleep on me Law-chan, they made some candy in the kitchen and if we don't get to it now the others will eat it all up."

"Is that why Diamante was hanging around the kitchen?" Law asked, yawning again as he tried to wake himself up.

"Knowing his sweet tooth probably." Monet said with a smile and Law found himself smiling back. Monet was one of his new family members that he liked.