W/N: I haven't been able to focus lately but I hope this story would help me get back in track. It would be just around three chapters. I really wanted to make it short! And, I'm going to update this fast (In a week or a day!). Please don't kill me OwO Happy Valentine's Day! Lots of love!
The sea looks the same just like the day before, the previous day, and even the day before that. Actually, it looks just the same, every single day.
Crystal clear kind of blue.
How does he know?
Well, he has been coming to the beach everyday. After school, early in the morning on weekends.
And why is that?
Maybe because the beautiful cerulean color gives him all the solace he needs, the strength to keep going.
Law remembers how his mother used to tell him bedtime stories, and one of them was about a mermaid exchanging her voice for a pair of legs so she could go up to the land and find the prince.
Well, not like he believes mermaids exist. But then, who knows? What if one just suddenly jumps out?
Heh, that was silly. He giggles. That is enough for today. He has thirty minutes before the shop opens. He has to go back and help with the preparation works. His clumsy guardian cannot do anything right without him.
Just when he is about to get up, his eyes catch sight of an object floating just few metres from the shore. It is a small glass bottle.
Weird. He does not remember seeing it earlier. Just how?
He takes off his shoes and rolls up his pants. Then, he slowly walks into the sea, trying not to wet his clothes.
The sea has always been clean, as far as he remembers and he will not let that one small bottle ruin his special place. Just who in the world threw that in? Just how bad their sight is? Law thinks, as he turns to look at the big signboard at the beach.
"DO NOT LITTER"
He picks up the bottle and holds it by its neck, carefully walking back to the shore. He is just going to drop it in one of those recycle bins on his way home. He then sits on the white grains of sand again, wiping his feet dry, putting his shoes back on.
And, that is when he hears a tiny voice yelling, "Help, help!"
He looks around. Besides him, there are only three other people and he is sure none of them made that sound. Maybe it was just his imagination. So, he gets back to his shoes again.
"Help, help! Over here, in here!" the voice yells again, and this time Law can hear knocking sounds.
Seriously. What is going on with him? Why is he hearing things? He subconsciously looks at the bottle next to him and ends up just staring, before he breaks into laughter.
No way, no way. That was silly.
He picks up the bottle and gets up, totally dismissing the possibility. He is probably just tired. They have started getting more customers at the shop recently, maybe because of the new office building nearby and it is not helping that he has been having trouble sleeping for few nights now. Maybe he could ask Corazon to close the shop for a day.
"HELPPPP!" the voice yells again, this time louder, followed by stronger knocks.
Law automatically let go of the bottle.
"That hurts! What if I died?" the same voice cries out.
SHIT. Seriously? From that bottle?
Law squats down, taking closer look at the bottle. Now that he is looking at it properly, the colors he saw earlier is not actually the color of the bottle. It is more like some kind of colorful mist trapped in the bottle. And, if his eyes are not playing tricks on him, he can see a silhouette, looking like it belongs to a human.
A tiny-sized human.
"Please, let me out. I won't do anything to you. I'll grant your wishes if you free me. Please!"
Is this for real? Law thinks, his eyes are still wide open.
"Why should I trust you? What if you lied?"
Wait, is that the right reaction?
"I can't lie! Dadan would be mad at me if I do!" the voice replies.
"Huh?"
"She's this scary genie back home," the voice explains. "Let me go, please! I promise I won't do anything bad! Please!"
"Genie? Did you say genie?"
"Yes, I'm a genie! I can give you whatever you want! Please! Don't leave me alone here, please!" the voice starts to break.
Law stares at the bottle, at the same time, processing the best course of action.
Heh, really? A genie? He thought that is just a bedtime story kind of thing.
To be honest, Law thinks he is being too calm in the situation. Someone else, in their right mind, would have probably freaked out and ran away. Because, let us just be real.
Genie?
But then, the voice keeps asking, keeps begging for help and Law is starting to pity the genie, or whatever it is.
Above that, he is actually kind of curious about how the so-called genie looks like.
He ends up taking the bottle back into his hand, pulling the cork out of the bottle.
Nothing happens. Nothing comes out of the bottle.
"Hmm?" Law looks into the bottle curiously. "Hey, are you in there? You can come out now, can't you? Hey-"
"NO NO NO OUT OF THE WAAAAA-"
The next thing he knows, he is already lying on the sand, and he can feel some weight on top of him. He is not sure what it is, and he is not sure if he should open his eyes but...
It feels kind of warm, and smells really good. Fruity kind of smell.
They stay like that for minutes, until Law realizes he is running late.
"Get off me, geez!" Law pushes the figure off him. Then, gets up to clean his clothes.
"Def furts..." the figure next to him groans, lying with his face on the sand. Surprisingly, it actually looks like a human being - it has a head, a pair of hands, a torso, a pair of legs.
Whoa.
And, it is actually wearing clothes - a turban, a sleeveless shirt, and a pair of puffy trousers.
Nobody wears that kind of clothing there. At least not where Law is living.
He waits until the figure finally gets up, dusting the sand off him. Then, it turns to look Law's way.
Round eyes, small nose, wide grin.
Nothing like Law imagined.
There is a scar under the left eye but it does nothing to make the figure look scary or intimidating, at all.
"I'm Luffy," the figure says with his child-like voice, innocent face beaming like the sun. "I'll grant your three wishes."