Summary:Whether they're pillaging, plundering or just plain old sailing, the various pirate crews find themselves getting themselves involved in adventure after adventure. Where are they heading next? Only the Grandline knows…
Disclaimer: I own nothing from "One Piece", for if I did, then I would be much richer than I am now…
A/N: So, I've recently (read: a month ago) gotten back into the "One Piece" universe, and damn, I've missed so much. The fandom totally sucked me in and somehow convinced me to begin writing for it, on top of my other fandoms. Therefore, I've decided to embark on a collection of short stories and prompts, though I won't be following canon exactly on some key deaths… I'm sure you can figure out what I mean. If you see anyone that's terribly out of character, let me know and I'll do my best to fix it. Also, keep in mind that updates will be irregular at best; I am in graduate school right now, so don't have much time, and have maybe 5 other stories going on simultaneously. I am a glutton for punishment like that. Otherwise, enjoy!
"…" – conversations
'…' – thoughts
Sticks and Stones, Band-Aids and a Dash of Lemon for Flavor
One: A Meeting of Personalities
Grove 22, Sabaody Archipelago, 23 November, 1524 AOP – 10:30 AM GST (Grandline Standard Time)
The first time he laid eyes on her, a cold stare almost as glacial as his rammed into him. It was almost as if Bepo had decided to suddenly grow a spine and mercilessly take hundreds of lives with the same grin he himself presented when up to his elbows in a friendly "examination". Damn, but if that wasn't a nice dream…
"You are?" came the voice and Trafalgar Law looked up from his position on a wooden crate conveniently placed just inside Grove 22, his nodachi nonchalantly resting next to him. Dark eyes discreetly roved over the female in front of him, taking in the dark red and black ruffled skirt, the corset-like top, the ridiculous-looking top hat and was that… yes, an umbrella. Interesting…
"…" Law's eyes smugly observed the frown that decorated the woman's face, absently filing away more information for future use: pink hair that cascaded down her back and nicely-done makeup, such as that mascara… hmm. Kid could use a pointer or two... and a, wait. Was that… yes. Yes it was.
Law smirked as he nonchalantly flipped the woman off, morbidly enjoying her eyes as they narrowed at his attitude. Therefore, his enjoyment only rose when he succeeded in spooking her when he spoke, "What a lovely tattoo."
The woman stared at the man before her hand reflexively moved across her umbrella handle, which was propped against her shoulder much as he liked to do with his nodachi, as if to touch the dark blue tattoo emblazoned on her left forearm.
"I do hope you realize," Law continued as if the sight of a ruffled young woman was commonplace, "that it is only polite for you to offer your name first." The woman's eyes narrowed as she moved her hand away from the tattoo and propped it on her waist.
"You are quite rude, do you know that?" the woman shot back her dress slightly moving to allow Law a surreptitious look at thick, black-heeled boots.
"Pardon me, but I do believe that the pot is calling the kettle black," Law drawled eyes lidded. The woman in front of him huffed and spun on her heel, umbrella spinning as well to reveal smooth shoulders, no sign of scarring or bruising, a rarity for any pirate who made his or her way to the Grandline, much less Sabaody Archipelago. A very faint sheen of freckles was, however, present on her neck, so faint that if not for Law's keen eyes, honed from numerous "friendly" examinations of patients he'd have missed them.
Spinning around suddenly the woman smiled, tilting her head to the side for a moment before giggling. Law scowled. Females were not supposed to laugh at him unless he deliberately arranged for them to; his precision was off, and it annoyed him.
"You're cute," she remarked a gleam of some kind flashing through her eyes that Law blinked at, caught slightly off guard. Winking at a (slightly) stunned Law, the pink-haired woman blew a kiss at him before skipping off toward another Grove.
Law didn't move for a moment, his mind slowly coming back online. 'What the hell was that? Hmm... this situation needs further dissection for proper analysis…'
"Eh, Captain," came a timid voice and Law snapped out of his self-induced wondering and glanced backwards, a smirk with a hint of a genuine smile making its way onto his face.
"Yes Bepo?" Law's first mate wrung his clawed paws together for a moment before removing a scroll from a jumpsuit pocket, handing to his Captain.
"Message, from the Mugiwara," Bepo continued tone changing to acknowledge the hero of the Marineford War, who had, despite the odds stacked against him managed to rescue "Fire-Fist" Ace and get him to safety. Law would know; he'd somehow wound up treating not only ex-Shichibukai Jinbe but the Mugiwara Luffy and his adopted brother as well.
Law hummed as he broke the wax seal and scanned the notice, smirk widening just a bit. Snapping it shut, he placed it into his pocket and got to his feet, placing his nodachi on his right shoulder, supported with the palm of said hand.
"We've been invited to a soirée before we head back to the New World," Law replied to Bepo's silent question, slightly smirking. "Dress is come as we are and we are to bring the entire crew."
"Um, Captain, did the note say why?" Bepo asked walking a few feet behind and to the left of his Captain, out of range from the nodachi in case it had to be drawn quickly.
Law nonchalantly shrugged not overly worried why. "I suppose it might be in thanks for having saved Mugiwara's life two and a half years ago." Sensing what his companion wished to ask he cut him off. "I have only saved five lives, my friend. That is all."
"Right." Bepo lapsed into silence and followed Law back to their submarine, wondering at the short, snappy reply that he'd received. 'He is never like this, unless something has upset him. I did not see anything or anyone out of the ordinary, so what could have happened?'
Leaping from the dock onto the deck of his submarine, Law whistled one, twice, then three times, effectively calling the entirety of his fifteen-person crew to attention. The stamping of feet sounded and within five minutes all fifteen crew members, excluding Law and Bepo were at attention, hands behind their back and hats slanted to cover their eyes.
"At ease," Law drawled handing his nodachi to Bepo, who obediently took it. "It has come to my attention that we have been invited to a bit of a soirée two nights from now by Mugiwara-ya and his crew." Excited whispering broke out, which Law tolerated as he was still a bit off-kilter from his encounter with the pink-haired female earlier; not that he'd admit it to anyone, though.
"Captain, just why have we been invited?" Rowan, more commonly known as Penguin asked, head tilted to the side. Law smirked and shrugged.
"Unfortunately, Mr. Rowan, I have not a clue." Glancing around nonchalantly, he spotted Casquette's hand in the air and motioned for the russet-haired man to speak.
"Perhaps it is to celebrate the reuniting of Mugiwara's crew?" Casquette, real name Chiba inquired scratching his cheek absently. Law smirked but didn't respond, more than content to see if his crew was going to figure out the exact reason that Monkey D. Luffy had invited his entire crew without his having to tell them. It was more fun this way.
"Perhaps they are repaying their debt to us," Jean Bart quietly commented dark eyes slightly glowing. The former captain was leaning against a railing, arms crossed over his broad chest. The rage that had once ran throughout his body at being held a slave then fighting Bartholomew Kuma almost three years ago had dissipated, leaving behind a calm and collected man. Jean was now one of Law's powerhouses (not that the rest of the crew was weak, you understand) in terms of physical strength and, surprisingly, various karate maneuvers and schools, from Crane to plain old Tai Chi. Of course, the fact that he was a damn good navigator earned him a spot on the crew as well.
"Perhaps," Law allowed inclining his head slightly to let his crew see that Bart was on the right track. At the looks he was receiving, Law knew that his little game was up and smirked. "Fine. I suppose that I shall have to just read the message to you; lazy, the lot of you." The Heart Pirates chuckled as Law's affectionate insult made its rounds, a commonality at least once a week on board the ship.
Taking the message from his pocket he opened it and began reading:
To Trafalgar Law and the Heart Pirates:
Heya! So, as thanks for saving me, Ace and Jinbe's lives all those months ago, and to celebrate us all surviving the first half of the Grandline and all, come join us for a party! Grove 5's the place and your entire crew's invited!
Oh, and bring meat… Sanji said that he'd need, and I quote, (kinda), "Shitty captain, eating all the meats… tell all those friends of yours to bring some food so that we don't starve while you and your pig of a brother eat."
Shishishi… so, party's in two days when the rest of us Supernovas are back on the archipelago for our first, kinda, meeting, I guess of Supernovas. See you guys then!
Monkey D. Luffy, Mugiwara Captain (and his nakama)
"He's an interesting character," Jeanchuckled and a chorus of agreements met this remark.
"So, we going?" Rowan asked hands behind his head casually.
"Do we have a consensus?" Law asked knowing that it wasn't really needed, but doing it anyway. "I see. Very well, gentlemen. Two nights from now, we shall attend."
Grove 5, Sabaody Archipelago, 24 November, 1524 AOP – 8:00 PM GST (Grandline Standard Time)
As the Heart Pirates walked up to the Thousand Sunny, they noticed the festive look of the large vessel. Strings of lights were hung up everywhere, as were streamers and the delectable smell of food drifted down to swirl around Law and his crew. Bepo, in particular, looked enthusiastic at the thought of gourmet food.
"Captain, any way we can kidnap the cook?" Chiba asked mouth watering. Law smirked but didn't reply knowing instinctively that it'd be a huge issue and would be too much trouble, if the protests from Mugiwara and his crew'd be any indication.
"Do we have our offering?" Law asked and Jean hefted what looked like twenty pounds of beef and fish in each arm. Law knew that it probably wasn't going to be enough, not with Mugiwara, his brother, the pink-haired bulldozer Bonney and, possibly, other big eaters, but he only hoped that he would get to partake in the feast and not be on the sidelines catching food scraps.
"You here too?" came a voice and Law glanced to his left to spot Eustass Kid, the crimson-haired Supernova smirking in greeting. Law returned the smirk before gesturing to Jean and the food offering.
"But of course, Mr. Eustass. I assume you too have an offering?" Kid snorted and motioned with his head to his crewmate who looked like someone had taken him apart and sewn him together again. Said pirate was lugging what looked like a recently killed cow, though, mercifully, it had been gutted.
"Duh. No way in fuckin' hell am I going to be left starving." Law nodded in agreement and the two moved to board the boat while keeping an eye out for more of their Supernova brethren. Yet, despite their roving eyes, both Law and Kid were taken aback at the black and red blur that tackled first the North Blue captain, then his South Blue counterpart to the ground before resolving itself into Monkey D. Luffy.
"Man, am I glad to see you guys!" Luffy proclaimed, a grin a mile wide splitting his face. As both captains got to their feet, he continued not paying attention to the dangerous looks he was getting from his fellow Supernovas.
"Sanji kicked me out of the kitchen 'cause he said that he didn't want me touching the meat, and so I figured that I'd keep watch for everyone who's coming, and then I saw you guys, and hey, is that meat?" Faster than either Kid or Law thought possible, Luffy made to leap over the two pirates' heads for the food they'd brought, only to be brought down by another black blur, this one dragging the Straw-hat away a few feet.
"Man, sorry about that guys. He got away from me," Portages D. Ace apologized, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. The former Pirate King's son was looking well, and considering that Law had had to literally put his lower abdomen back together and keep his heart pumping by machine for weeks it was truly impressive. A large scar, stitched shut leaving a band of black around his lower body showed where Akin had punched him; luckily, he'd missed Ace's vital organs by inches and, like the good doctor he was Law had had several, er, samples of some missing organs that had gone into repairing Portages' body.
"Doesn't he have a leash or something?" Kid demanded, scowling. He did not appreciate being thrown to the ground by a flying bullet of rubber.
Ace snorted grabbing Luffy once more as he tried to go after the meat. "Don't I wish. Seems like only Nami can control him."
"You mean his navigator?" Law asked fairly interested. The orange-haired woman had personally come to thank him for taking care of Luffy and his brother and when he had subtly suggested that they get to know each other better he'd received a rather vehement negative reply. Despite that, she intrigued him.
"Yeah." Noticing the food, he motioned for the two crews to follow him and, still keeping hold of Luffy led the Heart and Kid Pirates onto the Thousand Sunny where Luffy was summarily distracted by his sniper, who was motioning him over to talk about something.
"Where do you want these?" Kid asked motioning to the meat he and Law had brought. Ace directed them towards the kitchen and then trotted off upon seeing someone that he wished to talk to; Jean and Eddie (Kid's stitched up crewmate) were sent with the offerings.
"What now?" Chiba asked receiving a shrug from Rowan.
"Pardon our manners," came a voice and the two men jumped a foot in the air at the sudden materialization of Nico Robin, who smirked. "Ace should have told you where the refreshments are, but he was… distracted."
"Yeah, I see that," Kid remarked jabbing a finger over at the Logia user, who was trying to charm Boa Hancock, the Amazon Empress not paying attention in the least.
"If you'll follow me," Robin motioned and without protest (it wasn't an order, so Law didn't feel obliged to protest) the two crews followed the dark-haired woman. Out of the corner of his eye, Law caught a flash of pink and, curious, halted. Upon seeing the questioning looks of his crew, he motioned them to continue and he'd catch up to them later. Shrugging, the Heart Pirates left their captain behind (Bepo had to be told twice to go, but he did on the promise of gourmet food) and, shouldering his nodachi Law set off after the pink flash.
'Interesting that I am this intrigued by a color,' the North Blue native mused deftly dodging what looked like a pot of some kind, aimed at the sleeping Roronoa Zoro, who without even opening an eye caught it and placed it next to him, smirking when the cursing from the kitchen increased. A dark-blue blur flew by him and, with the sound of a sword being withdrawn Roronoa was on his feet and, grinning fiercely began dueling with that Marine who tended to stalk him.
After avoiding being pulled into both conversations and fights, Law found himself in the midst of a miniature forest and, not stopping to wonder how the hell Mugiwara and his crew were able to get tropical trees to grow on a wooden vessel (it seemed as if the impossible was normal for this crew) continued moving, ducking underneath a fruit-laden branch. Spotting something on the ground, he wandered over and, kneeling, picked up what looked like a stuffed animal. Turning it around, his doctor's mind was impressed with the detailed stitching and correct placement of body parts, realizing that as a miniature bear it was quite accurate, if a bit Frankenstein-inspired.
"Now, who did this lovely piece of art?" he mused to himself, tensing at hearing footsteps behind him. Before he could move, however, a chill not unlike subzero temperatures ran through him, which caused him to reflexively hold onto the doll tighter. Looking down, his eyes widened at seeing a hand poking through his stomach, and then retracting. Leaping to his feet and spinning around, Law gripped his nodachi tighter, expecting to be attacked.
'I will not be paying for any damages that may occur in self-defense,' he told himself, eyes darting around to find what the hell had had the audacity to stick a goddamn hand through his stomach. What he didn't expect was the same pink-haired woman from two days previous to step out from behind a tree, eyes glaring at him.
"Give him back," was the brusque demand, none of the playfulness from when they'd parted present in her voice.
"Who are you talking about, Miss?" Law responded hand still gripping his nodachi tighter. Granted, he was surrounded by god knows how many powerful pirates, and his own crew was nearby, but he would not let his guard down only to regret it later.
"Kumashi." The woman moved closer, wide eyes snapping. Unfortunately for her, despite her heeled boots Law was still a few inches taller than she, which he used to his advantage.
"Excuse me?" Looking around while not taking his eyes from hers for more than a few seconds, Law continued: "There is no one else here."
"Lies." Law cocked his head to the side, honestly confused. There was no one else in the grove of trees except for himself, the pink-haired female and… oh honestly.
"This?" he held up the stuffed animal he'd found on the ground and watched with amused eyes as the toy was snatched out of his hands by the woman, who proceeded to cuddle it, whispering something to it. "A bit childish to carry around a stuffed animal at your age, don't you think?" Never let it be said that Trafalgar Law was a rude man; he merely phrased things in a manner that would not incite a female's wrath unless he deliberately desired it, in which case he had a ball.
The woman smirked and with a wave of her hand the toy seemed to suddenly grow in size, towering over Law. While admiring the skill it took to perform the piece of magic, he merely nodded in appreciation, walking around the bear and remarking sarcastically, "My, oh my, I am so scared."
All of a sudden, the bear shrunk and the female was looking at him with the same expression she'd held a few days ago. "So… Kumashi's not scary?"
"Not to me, at least." He shifted the nodachi to a more comfortable position, pausing to wonder just why he was talking to this seemingly childish woman when he was here to get free food and talk with his fellow Supernovas. "Whoever's scared of, Kumashi, right?" at the woman's nod he continued, "they're pretty much a wuss."
"So, what would you call Kumashi?" Law smirked down at the now innocent-looking woman, who was looking up at him with deep eyes that, if he listened to the voice in his head (that screamed at him half the time to exercise caution and which he blithely ignored) that was warning him that if he was not careful he'd be sucked down, down, never to return…
"Hmm… I think that I would have to say… cute." Now, Law was expecting to be insulted at calling what he had deemed some kind of weapon "cute", which was not what pirates wanted to hear, or even, if it went that far, to be physically assaulted in some manner. What he was not expecting was the woman to genuinely smile and begin humming about something that he couldn't quite hear.
"…" For the first time in a long while, Trafalgar Law was unsure of what to say. Noticing this, the woman turned to face the North Blue pirate and smiled again.
"Horohorohoro. Thank you. No one's ever understood just how cute Kumashi is, always calling him stupid and scary, though he's anything but, 'cause if he was, then he wouldn't work for me." She smiled again and extended a hand, nails done in a dark pink with black stripes. "My name is Perona."
'She likes cute, but scary things, hmm? Interesting…' Reaching out and grasping the offered hand, Law responded, "Very well, Miss Perona. My name is Trafalgar Law. Pleasure to meet you, I presume?"
"Oh yes, very much indeed." Perona proceeded to tuck Kumashi into her belt before motioning for her new friend to follow her. "I know a shortcut to the food, if you're interested? Rubber-kun so enjoys his meat, but I am famished."
Smirking, Law followed Perona, wondering all the while why he was so interested in the color pink all of a sudden.