A.N. Need to get back to writing, small step at a time... :}
Anyone
It could have been anyone.
Anyone from the crew or friends he made along the way, it could have been Hancock. It really could have, she was, after all, very much in love with Luffy and all it would have taken was a small moment for the emotions to be born of the same kind.
But that never happened. Maybe it wasn't meant to be, maybe Boa simply didn't have something Luffy's heart considered worth loving. There could have been billions variations to it, but none came to be.
Except this one.
Maybe it was an accident and all dices just somehow managed to roll all sixes or maybe it was always Law and there could never have been anyone else. Maybe it was their own doing, maybe a higher being put them like that. It was something that would never get answered...
It happened very gradually and slowly. In sea love is a rare thing. Well, love for other than sea, your nakama, your ship and your treasure. There was no time for it, not many opportunities with ships moving along, sometimes never coming back. It was a gamble. And not only of life and death but of love too, because it would not be your life lost, but a heart of somebody else too...
So, for such a thing to happen the feeling had to be mutual, it had to be an accident. It had to hit them so unexpectedly that they would not have a chance to avoid it and any possible pain it could bring them.
-II-
First came respect.
Law started feeling respect for Luffy the moment he punched the World Noble in the face.
Such action took guts, it took guts and a lot of bravery, it meant setting a bigger target on yourself then by simply being a pirate. Luffy was something else and Law could freely admit that.
Maybe that was why he decided to 'observe' the Marineford war from up close. Maybe that was why he felt compelled to give Luffy the help he did when it was the most needed. He knew. He knew Luffy was someone who could change this world and Law could not simply let this person disappear before he made the impact he supposed to make.
Luffy wasn't sure when exactly respect for Law was born.
Maybe at the fight in front of the auction house. Maybe when he woke up, finally coherent about everything that happened and realized how much that guy helped him, how much he gave him without knowing him, without asking anything in return. What an un-piraty thing to do.
But Luffy was sure of one thing. The moment he saw Law at Punk Hazard he knew that this person would not deceive him, would not betray him. He did save his life after all…
-II-
Then came compassion.
They didn't really notice, no one did, or well they didn't pay it attention, because it seemed like a bonding between two captains. But the thing was that they… got closer. They weren't friends, they weren't rivals, but between them formed this form of understanding.
Understanding each other's resolve, the need to reach their goal and get things done. Maybe it was a captain thing, who really knows? The point was that no one noticed when Law and Luffy started spending time together, little by little, once a day, there would be a moment you could find the two captains sitting not far from each other and staring into the sea. You can easily see how everybody wrote it off to be a captain thing…
-II-
It was followed by their hearts.
The reason why they never noticed it being born was probably because it was not a typical love.
There were no increasing heart beats or blushes, there were no nervousness or insecurities. They simply weren't that kind of people. They were pirates, captains, they were different from other people, they saw the world from a different angle and in different colors.
Thus, their love showed in slowing heartbeat when with each other, by calmness that flooded their mind, by a feeling of content and knowing you were right were you supposed to be. It was a love a pirate would feel for the sea. Or so they thought.
-II-
And was closed by instinct.
Knowing all of the above, it was no surprise at how surprised they were once their own bodies showed them the truth.
It's really a mystery how they knew. Knew that it was mutual, knew that the feeling was returned. Maybe their hearts gave off some mystery wave signals to inform each other. It was a mystery that never got solved, but it didn't matter. What mattered were that one evening, when the weather was so calm that no one dared to disturb it, Law and Luffy were sitting by the tree on the grass of the deck.
That alone would be no important event, but what followed was truly a surprise. While sitting their bodies moved on their own, with their minds being so relaxed they didn't register how suddenly they were sitting shoulder to shoulder, arms touching. They didn't noticed how suddenly their attention wasn't on the orange sky of the setting sun, but on each other's eyes.
They were in daze when the leaned forward and their lips met in a kiss, anyone who didn't know them would think it was a romantic action of two lovers, but it wasn't a cruise they were on. It was a pirate ship and the crew knew their captain, they thought they understood him fully until they saw him kissing the captain of another crew…
The two in question understood it the moment they broke the kiss. Their love wasn't spoken aloud or mentioned, it couldn't be explained just the way the phenomena of Grand Line wasn't. It was simply there and it accepted.
After all, love in Grand Line could only bring trouble…
A.N. Look at me, 'small drabble' my arse, I can't leave idea half-finished apparently… hope you enjoyed this piece, tell me what you thought of it, reviews are appreciated. ^-^