of a happy ever after
rating; t
summary; "...because she is worth this lifetime and every other ones he lives in." He gives her everything and more, when all she's asked for is a lifetime.
disclaimer; applied
notes; -
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i.
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If they were to have more than one lives, he would look for her in each lives he could have.
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ii.
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His yellow submarine was anchored by a peaceful town in a small island when the Straw Hat captain had found his crew and decided that he would greet his best friend and crewmate-to-be. The Heart Pirates crew was originally there only to stock up, and had planned to leave as soon as they were done... at least until Luffy decided to bug them. But of course, the younger captain ended up running off with his long-nosed crew—no, playmate into the town right after he caught the faintest smell of local food, much to Law's relief.
The other Straw Hats had also decided to walk around and explore the small hospitable island while they were at it. Zoro mentioned that he was also going off to look for more sake to bring into the ship, and Chopper coming with him to make sure he wouldn't get lost again. Franky followed after to look for more cola as well, and Brook also went off when he'd heard that the town was known for its local musician community, and maybe in such an amicable town he could finally meet some women who were willing to show him their panties (Law managed to tell him 'good luck.' Ironically, of course.) Robin had asked Sanji to accompany her to the bookstores and curio shops, reasoning that she would want to shop quite a lot this time and she needed a gentleman to help her carry the things she brought back to their ship. Sanji didn't need her to ask twice, naturally.
All of the other Straw Hats had left to explore the town, leaving the navigator alone in the ship's library, working on a map. She had decided to stay behind to guard the ship, and also because she'd wanted to rest after their captain brought them to a very hectic and exhausting adventure last time, just about a week prior.
As she heard the faint sound of lazy footsteps coming from the door, she looked over her shoulder to see a tall figure entering the library. Seeing the other crew's captain on the door didn't seem to surprise her at all, and if anything, she now knew why Robin had needed to bring Sanji with her, leaving the navigator alone. Not to mention she didn't miss the way the older woman winked at her knowingly before she left. "Tora-o, what are you doing here?" she casually asked the man now taking a seat on the sofa beside her.
The said man perched his sword next to him and took off his hat. "Nothing," he merely grunted as he put his hat on the sofa next to his sword, "just bored. Nothing to do." Silently, he appreciated the look of her hair tied up in a ponytail and her inviting slender neck. He shook his head, dissolving the fantasies—or memories, to be exact—that had started filling his head with images.
Nami hummed. Now that she wasn't alone, she decided she would rest for a minute or two from the map she had been working on since two hours ago. She pushed back her seat, a small smile formed on her lips as she watched him curiously inspecting the maps she'd drawn. One of the oldest maps was of Cocoyashi, her hometown, and he traced the slightly torn edges with his long tattooed finger, his face thoughtful. "That one is my hometown."
Law glanced at her from the corner of his eye, his brows raising. He realised that she had once told him about her hometown, and the tragedy she went through—which reminded him of his own scarred childhood. She didn't say anything else then, her eyes moving to the maps in front of him, and they both silently looked at the old map.
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iii.
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Because she is worth this lifetime and every other ones he lives in.
And he wants to say, I will only meet a girl like her once.
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iv.
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"Say, Tora-o," she began after a moment of comfortable silence, winning back his full attention. "If you could have another life, or something like that, how would you want it to be?" she asked, her eyes meaningful and curious.
He definitely didn't expect that question from her, she was more of a realist most of the time, but he quickly understood what was on her mind. It never took long for him to understand what was occupying her mind, and it almost felt so natural, like he could read her mind. Maybe because they were similar in so many ways. And right now, he knew for sure that she was thinking about the tragic pasts both of them had as she asked that question. His finger tapped a slow rhythm on her desk as he pondered her question. "However I want it to be?"
"However you want it to be." Nami nodded as she reached up and let her hair down, her long hair falling onto her shoulders. His eyes silently admired how her long fiery hair looked against her fair complexion. He loved it when she tied her hair up for it gave him the clear view of her slender neck, but whenever she took off her ponytail to let her hair down, he couldn't help but to admire the way her hair framed her pretty face. "It's fine if you wished to have unicorns and glitters in your life, I won't judge," she teased and he snorted. "On second thought, if it's true then I will definitely judge you." She rested her arm on the desk and leant her chin against it. "Seriously, though. Like, for starters, what would you want your job to be?"
"Job?" His eyes went back to hers, appreciating her alluring and relaxed look under the dim light of the table lamp. "Even under different circumstances, I would probably still choose to be a surgeon," Law answered truthfully, his hand on the desk moving closer to hers. "Because it's quite satisfying to know that I literally have control over people's lives in my hands." He chuckled as Nami grimaced at his morbid nature. "But I might consider being a racer, or maybe even a chef."
"I can imagine that, somehow." She smiled as she started imagining him in different uniforms. What was it with men and racing? She could ask the same question to Luffy and Zoro and they would likely pick racer as one of their choices too. "Then, where would you like to live?"
Her brown orbs watched his calculating face as he thought about it for a while, her features softening, and she took the chance to coyly intertwine their fingers together. Contrary to popular belief, she was still shy when it came to touching him and showing affection, even though they had been in a committed relationship for months. His eyes watched their fingers as he answered, "maybe a small city. I think small cities tend to be peaceful and stress-free, like this one. I wouldn't mind living in a big, busy city, though. There would be far more accidents and cases wherein I would naturally have more lives to handle."
She rolled her eyes again, but truthfully she didn't really mind his dark personality... at least, not that much. Most of the time. "Alright, dark doctor, as charming as always." Yep, she didn't mind, especially when he wore that smirk. "So... there's that. What about people then? Who would you like to meet?" Nami asked again with genuine curiosity in her eyes, her head slightly lifted from her arm. "And like, what kind of people."
Law didn't hesitate to answer this one, "Cora-san. Well, assuming I'd still have my family, I would still want to meet him." He frowned then, showing utter annoyance in his face, "and definitely not Eustass-ya and his crew, if I could. They're despicable and smell like vomit, if I had complete power on how I wanted this other life to be, I wouldn't even want them to exist. Of course not Doflamingo and his men too." She hummed with an amused smile, and he continued, "as for your obnoxious captain, he's... tolerable, at the very least, but even in a different life I would still try my best and avoid him. I hope I could just throw meat to the other side of the planet to make him go away."
"Then you wouldn't be able to meet me if you kept avoiding him in that life," she stuck her tongue out. He chuckled and waited for her next question. There was a long pause and she looked quite nervous, like she wasn't sure if she wanted to know about this one or not. "Who would..." She took another pause, and somehow, he already knew what she was going to ask even before she voiced it. "Who would you want to... end up with?"
He watched intently as her gaze left him to look at her maps, but he knew her attention was still on him fully. "Well, storywise, I could possibly end up with a nurse, which would be likely." Law smirked as she bit her lip, and his eyes left her face as he watched her pulling her fingers away from his. Then he continued, "or it could be a patient I somehow took interest in. I could end up with someone I met outside the hospital, though. I wouldn't shut the possibilities."
"I see, that's true. That's possible alright," Nami said a little too quickly. She spared a quick glance at him and turned back to the map she was working on earlier, "by the way, before it gets too late, I should probably get back to—"
Before she could finish her sentence, she yelped when his hand grabbed her chin and turned her face to look at him again, she didn't even notice he had moved to kneel in front of her. "But a nurse, a patient, or anyone I met outside the hospital; I guess they wouldn't do." He watched as her face got slightly redder, "where would be the fun in it? I'd still look for you." Nami stared at his golden eyes, waiting for him to continue. He couldn't help but to grin, "maybe karma would finally hit you when you stole somebody's wallet, Nami-ya. You would trip and cry very loudly in front of my hospital, and then I would have to—"
"Shut up, Tora-o!" She glared at him hard and slapped his hand away, earning an airy laugh from him. "I wouldn't! Even if it did happen, it wouldn't be in front of your hospital, and I most definitely would never cry loudly!" He cocked a brow, and she glared harder, "even under a very very unlikely circumstances where I did trip in front of your hospital and—" she rolled her eyes, "—cry, I wouldn't need you to do anything! Like, what? Why would I need to go into a surgery from such a minor accident like tripping?"
"Is that so, Nami-ya?" He teased, ignoring her low grumble about stupid doctor. He rested his head on her lap, earning a small surprised gasp from her as his soft hair tickled the skin on her thighs. "Then we'd miss that opportunity to see each other. Does that mean, in this other life, you'd rather me end up with one of the hospital nurses than embarrass yourself in public and cry?"
Unhappy with the choices Law gave her, Nami frowned very deeply, and huffed. "Drop it, it's just what-ifs."
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v.
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I need her with me, I do.
I need
her.
But he never says.
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vi.
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"But what about you?" Law tilted his head back to look at her and asked as he smirked in arrogance. Nami slightly frowned. She wanted to smack that annoying face, or she wanted to kiss his cockiness away... or both. "I want to hear about yours too, Nami-ya. I bet it's going to be very interesting."
Nami blinked. "Me?" She stared at him for a while, then smirked as she thought of a good counter-attack. "Alright, let's hear about how I want my other life to be like. First, I'd want to live happily with Nojiko, Bellemere, Genzo, and everyone and," she sighed dreamily, "huge tangerine groves."
His index finger nonchalantly drew circles on her thigh as he listened to her intently. Law knew those names from the times Nami told him about her childhood, and his eyes slightly softened at the thought of how much she loved her family. Someday, if possible, maybe, just maybe he would like to give her a bigger family. He closed his eyes, his own train of thoughts kind of abashed him. "Huge tangerine groves? I think I can see where this is going," he said instead, to make sure she didn't take notice of his imperceptible embarrassment.
"And I will make money out of it, I will make billions," she said determinedly, casually ignoring his finger tickling her thigh. The thought of money was stronger than the tickling sensation, apparently... and it successfully prevented her from noticing his sheepishness.
"Typical of you," he remarked, which she ignored. His finger came to a stop and he rested his palm on her knee as he realised the most important thing for him and probably for the rest of the world, not excluding her own crew. "That means no more thieving and charging, then?"
"Sshhh!" Nami put her finger on his lips to shut him up, her lips pursed into a pout, "stop accusing me of bad deeds or I won't continue!" He arched a brow. Accusing? he mused, then he shrugged, letting her continue. "And maybe, I would like to be a childcare worker," she smiled at this.
Law was reminded of the time of when both of their crews started an alliance, the time when she showed her compassionate and stubborn traits by determinedly trying to save the kidnapped children in Punk Hazard. His lips curved into a small smile. "Alright, then, who would you still want to meet?"
"Everyone in my crew, of course!" She beamed, he could see her eyes almost twinkling. "Even though Luffy's obnoxious I would still want to meet him, and Zoro, Usopp, every single one of them. I couldn't even begin to imagine a lifetime without them." Nami giggled, "despite how annoying they can be sometimes, they're just that important to me now."
He hummed in understanding. Of course he understood how important they were to her, they basically gave her a new life and a way out of her misery. They were like how Cora-san was to him. A salvation, lifeline.
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vii.
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Even if she wants to fall for somebody else.
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viii.
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Nami watched as his grin turned cocky. "Then, to the interesting part." Men and their ever so starving ego, she thought to herself.
She pretended to fidget in embarrassment, causing his ego to bloat and she could see it in his eyes. Then she smirked and gently put her hand on his cheek. "Well, I think I would rather end up with some very rich and handsome businessman, or CEO. I mean, which girl wouldn't want to?"
"Very funny. Ha ha." Law's cocky grin faltered, replaced by a deep, dangerous frown. But Nami didn't change her mind. "Oi, I would suggest reconsidering. Surgeon makes good money too," he growled. "CEOs just sit on their asses and make money through manipulative methods, while surgeons cut living bodies open to save lives. But you would still choose them?"
"Hm, I wonder," she teased. "At least they're less morbid when it comes to having a heart-to-heart with their significant other."
"Nami-ya... I basically told you the cheesy part that I would always pick you over any other women, yet you..." He glowered.
"Now, big guys don't sulk." Nami shrugged, she wanted to laugh at his reaction so badly. "Well, I am just charming like that. You're not charming enough, probably, I don't know."
Law stood up and walked over to the sofa where his sword and hat were. "Just when I thought I would like to talk about making a family too," he mumbled in a low voice but just enough for her to hear him, and smirked when she couldn't see his face.
Her jaw dropped. "Wait, what? What family?" She asked a little too quickly, her cheeks getting redder. "I demand an explanation or I will charge you!"
He propped his sword on his shoulder and put on his hat, then start walking towards the door. "Whatever, I just decided that you're not charming enough, Nami-ya."
"HEY!"
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ix.
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But don't take her away, don't
take her away.
'Cause she is the light he is blind without.
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