The boy stood over the grave he had just made. It was crude, just two twigs tied together and stabbed into the ground. He did not have much time and had more important matters to address yet he still felt obligated to do this trivial tribute.
He was out of the birdcage and had the means to cure his disease but things were hardly perfect. He had no idea how his new devil fruit powers worked and he had no one to turn to due to the recent death of his savior.
He'd work out how to cure his disease eventually but his heartbreak would never fade. He couldn't even go back to retrieve his body and give it a proper burial. He stood solemn over the grave then burst into tears.
Why did he always have to be the survivor?
His thirteenth birthday came around. It was a gloomy occasion, so unlike it usually was with normal children. Law felt a bitter when he saw children filled with joy at their birthday presents.
He would never be able to get what he wanted; he'd never get his family or Corazon back no matter how much he'd wish. He doubted he'd make any friends either. He didn't know if there was anyone he could trust.
All he did was trek to the coast and build a mini grave again for Corazon. This time he had time to make it (slightly) more pretty, decorating it with branches and flowers. It ended up being a repeat of before, him bursting into tears above the grave.
He was 24 now, an adult in his own right. So why did he carry on with this peculiar tradition?
He no longer built crosses, preferring to throw a bundle of symbolic flowers into the sea. A pink carnation for gratitude, a white one for remembrance; a hydrangea for perseverance; an iris for inspiration; a pink rose for admiration and appreciation for Corazon, a red one for his passionate love for his deceased family, a white one for his old friendship with his school friends and Sister; a stasis for the hope that he will eventually make Doflamingo pay for what he has done and finally, a red tulip, a declaration of love for everyone, more so for Corazon who had never got the chance to hear Law say I love you.
Only thing was he now had a crew to lead so he had to be careful with making sure everybody was asleep before proceeding to toss his tribute overboard and weep. Ever since he set his life's goal on getting revenge for Corazon, he vowed to never cry again.
After all what did crying do for you? It was a natural way of letting go of stress but it made you look weak and vulnerable. Law hardly wanted to look weak in front of his crew; if your captain falters who can you rely on?
He'd done pretty well on every night except this one. Every time his birthday came along, his body would no longer hold back and he would cry for all the people he had lost.
He was 26 and a lot of strange things happened; he became a Shichibukai; he left his crew at Zou and stayed at Punk hazard for a few months and now he was in an alliance with Straw hat Luffy.
He was growing in excitement at the increasing chance of finally crushing Doflamingo yet was also wary. He excitedly anticipated Doflamingo's downfall but scolded himself for trying to get ahead of himself. Straw hat's unpredictability and strength would be a great asset to his plan but there wasn't a 100% chance it would work.
Who knows what devious trick Doflamingo could be fabricating in the background?
He decided to do one thing in case the plan failed and he faced his death. He pulled out an incense stick from his bag. He didn't have his usual bundle of flowers but then again, it was no where near his birthday and there had been no flower shops on Punk hazard of course. If the plan failed he wouldn't be here for his 27th birthday.
An incense stick he admitted seemed a little more mature than a bundle of flowers anyway.
He (not literally) scuttled off to a secluded part of the Thousand Sunny and lit the stick. He'd lost all faith in God when Flevance was destroyed but he still liked to believe from time to time that all his loved ones were in heaven and not decomposed in the ground somewhere.
The smoke began to rise from the stick and Law closed his eyes, thinking back to all his happy memories, albeit bittersweet.
Lamie, father, mother, Sister, all his school friends and most important of all, Corazon. He thanked them all for all they had done and wished himself luck, hoping that he wasn't sending himself to a painful death. He apologized for being so reckless and driven by anger for half his life.
As the incense stick burned out, he smiled wistfully and silent tears fell down his cheeks so unlike his usual sobbing. This may be the last funeral he would ever have.
AN: a fanfic I thought of when I was at the funeral last week. When I listed the flowers in Law's tribute, I actually just started off with a chrysanthemum but then I thought it would be better if I actually looked up flowers and used appropriate meanings so it ended up becoming that list. Thanks for reading :)