Luffy opened his eyes to blue skies and the sound of seagulls. A gentle breeze blew over him and his body was well cushioned against the springy meadow grass beneath him. He sat up and slowly scanned the landscape spread in front of him. He was sat on the slope of a hill, a dark forest behind him, a seaside town ahead. The villages made him reminisce about Foosha village and he made a small smile at the memories. The horizon at the seafront was clear and the sea was a cornucopia of blues. He got up and made his way through the village.

After some time passed he finally reached the seaside. The market place was bustling with activity and at the port fishing boats bobbed up and down. Through all this, one thing caught Luffy's eye. Not the mouth-watering meat sizzling at the barbecue, not the bizarre wares at the stall from a foreign land, no, it was a boy. Sat along the sea wall, separate from the action, he seemed like the calm in the storm. People jostled with each other to get where they needed to be but he just stayed where he was, staring at the sea beyond.

Luffy found himself weaving though the crowd to stand beside the boy. His hat looked vaguely familiar but Luffy couldn't' figure out where he had seen it before. The boy's golden eyes flickered temporarily from the water to look at Luffy before focusing again on the horizon.

"What are you doing here?" The boy asked.

"Hmm, not a lot, you just looked interesting that's all." Luffy said nonchalantly.

The boy smirked. "I look interesting do I? What piqued your interest?"

Luffy thought hard before simply saying, "I don't know."

A short laugh came from the boy. "You look pretty interesting yourself."

Luffy giggled and grinned. "I'm Luffy!"

The boy pushed himself off from the wall where he had been sitting and started to leave.

"Well Luffy, let's meet again some other time."

"Wait!"

The boy turned with a bemused look.

"What's your name? I've told you mine but you haven't returned the favour."

"Law. Trafalgar Law."

Then Luffy opened his eyes again as he crashed down onto the island known as Amazon Lily and temporarily forgot his dream.

Luffy held on tightly on to Jimbei's back as they returned to the cove where Luffy had been recovering.

"Thanks for everything you've done Jimbei, you saved my life!"

Jimbei chuckled. "As much as I'd like to accept your gratitude I have to confess I was hardly your saviour."

"You were the one who carried me out weren't you?" Luffy asked, confused.

"Yes but I didn't get too far when Akainu got me. You should save your thanks for the man who saved both our lives. His name is Trafalgar Law."

Luffy came back to the camp and found Rayleigh looking at a newspaper that had been dropped off by a news coo. He didn't think there would be anything that interesting in there but he decided to pass behind Rayleigh just to sneak a peek at what he was looking at. He would have passed straight by if he hadn't caught his attention on a picture.

It was a bounty poster and Luffy definitely could recognize the hat. He vaguely remembered that weird dream from so long ago and sure enough when he looked to the bottom of the poster there in bold letters was a familiar name: Trafalgar Law.

Rayleigh turned to see why Luffy was hanging around so long behind his back and was met with a deeply contemplative face. Luffy was staring at the face.

"This is the man who saved your life Luffy." Rayleigh said simply.

"Nishishishishi, I guess I'll have to meet him in the New World then to give him my thanks."

And then Luffy waltzed off because damn his head was starting to get hot and bothered from thinking too hard about this man. He needed to cool off and train some more to get up to shape to enter the New World and reunite with his friends.

Luffy was frozen somewhere he didn't want to be. He knew it was in the past and yet why was he back in Marineford with Ace himself dying on his shoulder? He lifted his hand from where he had positioned it over the hole in Ace's back and found it saturated with blood. Ace's breathing was starting to falter and he heard the whispering he never wanted to hear. The possibility of Ace dying on him dawned on him and Ace's speech was blurred out. He only managed to hear his very last sentence.

"Thank you for loving me!"

And then Ace fell,fell to the ground and he was no longer alive.

The reaction time was slow but when the realisation hit him, it hit with a feeling similar to falling from an amazingly high cliff into the sea. The tears flooded uncontrollably down his face and he lifted his face to the sky screaming his sorrow to the smoke filled sky…

His head was whipped to the side as he received a harsh slap from someone. He looked back with tear filled eyes and was met with harsh yellow ones. He stared up at him, barely staying conscious despite the desperate need to be in a catatonic state to come to terms with the events.

"Get a grip on yourself." The boy stared back unblinkingly, arms crossed with a stern look as he glowered at Luffy. "You've already come to terms with your brother's death haven't you?"

Luffy was irritated at this boy, this boy just simply telling him to get over Ace's death. How could he know what Luffy was going through? Ace was his role model, his beloved brother; Luffy couldn't just get over his death like that.

"What would you know about what I'm going through? You wouldn't know anything." Luffy glared back.

The boy shadowed his eyes under the brim of his hat. "Unfortunately I do."

Luffy was feeling uncharacteristically sadistic and decided this boy was worth lashing out at. "What was your name again? Tra-tra-trafal… eh fuck it I'll just settle with Torao."

Law flinched at this. "Don't call me that, Law will be fine."

"Well, Torao, if you know what I'm going through then that must mean someone close to you died too right?"

Law slowly nodded.

"What a useless little kid you must be then. Who was it then? Your mother? Your father? A sibling? Your best friend?"

Law winced at all these insults but he let them slide, knowing that what he was saying was true.

Luffy was enjoying this, he could tell he was hurting the boy, so unlike he usually was but he needed something to distract him and this was perfect for the job.

And then he got yet another slap for the second time in this dream.

"Don't insult Law you little shit!" A man dressed in heart themed clothing and makeup glared at him though his appearance was so ridiculous all Luffy could do was stare. Their staring contest was it erupted by a erhem from Law.

"Thank you Cora-san but I don't need you to speak up for me." Law switched his focus from the man to Luffy. "The point is you need to move on from this, stop lingering on it."

"Hey! This isn't something I can get over easily! I fucking risked my life to go rescue him and then he di-"

"You want to go back to your nakama right?"

"Yeah of course but what I was trying to say wa-"

"You can't reunite with them if you're stuck moping around about the past. No matter how much you think of him, he's not gonna be able to do anything for you. If you're not gonna get out of this depression for your own goal then at least do it for your nakama."

Luffy looked down and he was no longer at Marineford with Ace's corpse in front of him. He was on the deck of the Thousand Sunny and he looked up to a warm sunrise and all his nakama smiling at him from behind Law.

"They need you more than Ace does. He's gone but your friends aren't."

With that, the dream once again ended.

Luffy was enjoying a ride on the weird alligator-centaur person when he spotted a familiar thing. A figure in the distance had a hat, not quite the same shape but certainly a similar pattern (why did Luffy always recognise the hat first? We'll never know). The tall figure turned and Luffy was sure it was Trafalgar Law.

He was more used to the child version but the older him was still pretty recognisable. He jumped off the alligator-centaur and started running towards him.

"Tra-tra-traf-" What was this, déjà vu? He was sure he'd done something like this before.

"Torao!" He decided to settle with the nickname (it was quite nice to him at least).

This attracted the attention of the man who turned to face Luffy as he came to a halt in front of him. He was quite tall, taller than Ace was and Luffy had to crane his neck to look at him properly in the eye.

They had a relatively short exchange, Luffy finally getting to express his gratitude and Law directing him to the back of the laboratory to find his friends. Luffy felt positive afterwards and he was sure of one thing: this guy was definitely going to be his friend one way or another. Luffy would accept nothing less than that.

Luffy shuddered as he was thrust back into the waking world. He'd had nightmares about Ace's death many times over the past two years and they were starting to come less frequently but when he did get them he still couldn't handle them well. He made use of the few seconds he had before he had a panic attack to drag himself to the storage hold. At least there he wouldn't make his friends worry.

The worst bit came then. Horrifyingly realistic flashbacks forced themselves to the forefront of his mind and he bit his lip to try and stop himself from screaming. He curled up, rolling around absent mindly. He began to shiver and sob grossly. He tried to distract himself but nothing was working.

He barely registered the quiet footsteps coming closer, he was that trapped in his waking nightmare. He was facing away when a figure peered around the crates he had been hiding around. Luffy jumped when he felt a large warm hand wrap around his shaking ones and squeeze them gently. He looked down, recognised the tattoos and looked up into Law's face. He took in a passive expression with barely concealed sympathy before another memory forced itself into his mind and he forced his head down into his arms.

Law sighed and settled on the floor beside Luffy,leaning against the wall and kept hold of his hand. Luffy greedily held on from where he lay on the floor, his hand the only lifeline he had against the mental battle in his head. At the climax of the panic attack, Law silently reached over and pulled Luffy into his lap. Luffy's ear was pressed over where Law's heart was and Law kept him clamped to his chest, trying to comfort him with his presence.

Law's wordless gestures helped to calm Luffy down and he began to come back to some semblance of normal. His beating heart was a constant mantra, something to keep Luffy sane, something constant unlike his own heart's uneven thumping. As exhaustion caught up and his eyelids began to droop, he felt Law pick him up and carry him up to the room where the Strawhats slept. He almost fell asleep but then as Law laid him on the bottom bunk and let go of him a startling fear took hold of him and he reached out for the hem of Law's navy blue shirt.

Law turned towards him with a bemused look but he understood the feeling in Luffy's fear-filled eyes.

"P-please don't leave"

Luffy didn't want to face another nightmare alone and was immensely grateful as Law settled on the bed beside him and held his hand. He was slightly comforted by the slight smile Law had on his face while he watched over Luffy, waiting for sleep to take him.

Why was Luffy here again? It was nostalgic, being in the same village that he had met Kid!Law for the first time. He idly walked around and found him in the same spot as before. This time all he got before the boy tried to move away from him was a glare. He followed behind him.

"Why are you walking away from me?"

"I'm not obligated to tell you."

They were about to turn down a side alley when he heard some noise and he tried to turn around before his shirt was grabbed and he was forced to look away.

"Don't you dare look."

"Why?"

"Just don't."

"Ok"

As soon as the kid let go and turned away, Luffy did the exact opposite of what he had promised and turned to look at what was happening.

Over at the dock, there was a yellow submarine with a small crowd gathered at its decks, waving off a lone figure. He instantly recognised the bear and when the figure turned he could see it was a grown up Law. He could vaguely make out the crew saying a range of things such as

"Be careful captain!"

"We'll miss you!"

"Don't get into too much trouble!"

"Let me know if you meet any lady bears!"

"Shut up Bepo, captain's not gonna look for bears!"

Law said something then (Luffy couldn't quite hear it as the wind picked up then) which caused the crew to burst into tears. The heart pirate captain smirked then and turned with a hand lifted in farewell as he walked away from his crew.

As soon as he disappeared down a different side alley, Luffy immediately went to go follow him. It was then that Kid!Law noticed he wasn't being followed and realised too late that Luffy was gone. He sighed and tried to find him; there was something he didn't want Luffy to see.

Luffy followed Law easily enough. The streets were quite crowded but Law was stuck out enough that Luffy could follow him quite easily. The scene looked quite idyllic but after a few turns, Law turned down a street to find it burning down. He gripped Kikoku tighter, gulped and then trudged on through the streets.

Luffy was about to follow pursuit but then he was yanked back and found the Kid!Law glaring at him.

"I thought I told you not to look."

"But I wanted to!"

"Humph,never doing what you're told. Well I'll tell you something, turn back now. Do not follow him."

"Why?"

"Why? Because you're not going to like what goes on from here on out."

"Why?"

"Goddammit stop with the whys! Fine I'll explain."

He dragged Luffy down to his level. "What you're in now is a nightmare."

"Is that so?"

"It may not seem like a nightmare for you but it is for Law."

"Wait aren't you Law?"

"We're both kinda Law but at the same time I'm not really like him. It's too complicated to explain properly."

"Then I need to go help him."

"You can't, you can't talk to him in this dream even though you technically invaded it."

"What?! I did not invade this dream."

"Whatever, you did. Point is you're only going to be able to talk to him when you both wake up."

"Well since I'm here I might as well carry on right?"

Kid!Law gave up on trying to explain then. "Fine. If you're so insistent on seeing this nightmare you might as well experience it properly." He uttered a few words under his breath and suddenly Luffy was seeing Law in front of him. He looked around and could see the surrounding area but when he looked down he couldn't see his body. It was like he was watching the scene from one of those projector den den mushi's.

"It'd be a hassle to have you behind Law all the time not being able to see his expressions but putting you inside his body isn't the best either."

"Wow this looks way cool!" Luffy marvelled at the invisibility, feeling like a ghost.

"This is the best view, you can see everything that is happening this way."

"What's this uncomfortable feeling in my chest?"

"I was getting to that. You can also tell what's going on his mind, feelings and thoughts."

Luffy watched quietly at what unfolded.

Law was wary. He recognised the setting of the ever so familiar nightmare and if he wanted to he could just turn back and stay at the idyllic port he had been at but then he'd never get out of the dream. No, he might as well let the dream take its full course. Not that that he wanted to experience this nightmare, it was tragic mix of all the negative feelings and memories he had accumulated and pushed down over the course of his life. It would be an understatement to say it would be unpleasant.

The first obstacle was seeing the corpses of his dear parents. He had a grim face set at the sight, a couple together even in death, dying by each other's sides whilst holding hands. He held back the urge to sob grossly over their bodies and with slight hesitation he moved past them.

He could definitely recognise the burning buildings. He was walking through Flevance like it had been that day everything turned upside down and his childhood pretty much ended. Because of that he recognised that the path he was taking now was to the port. He knew what would be coming yet he was still stunned when his eyes set on the numerous corpses of his old childhood friends and Sister. He took an involuntary step back and stared at the scene for an indefinite amount of time before gritting his teeth and walking away further down the dock away from the awful memory.

A few twists and turns later and he came to the worst parts of the nightmare, the parts where he couldn't hold his composure (thankfully no one could watch him fall apart in his dreams). The smoke rolled towards him, making him cough uncontrollably and he looked up to see the hospital burning. The beloved hospital where he had grown up, where he had watched his parents work, where he had begun in the medical profession. The place filled with memories was burning down to the ground, down to an absolute crisp.

A scream pierced the air and he remembered his little sister was still in there. He forgot this was a dream and panicked.

"Lamie!"

He began to run towards the gates of the hospital. He was almost there, he could get her out, oh please please don't let her be dead…

He tripped over then, falling to the ground and he looked back to see his leg chained to the Heart seat. He tugged hard but it wasn't letting. He tried to summon a room but failed.

"Damn, kairoseki…"

He turned back helplessly to the hospital, where his sister was burning alive. He kept tugging at his leg from the chair but it was useless and that was when the majority of the feelings came.

Despair, self-hatred, hopelessness, guilt, they all came at once and all he could do was resist the urge to curl up and wish he was dead. Through his tears though he couldn't deny that maybe he should have died, maybe he should have gone with his classmates and got massacred with them, maybe he should have been shot when he was in the hospital or burned with his sister.

"Fufufu"

Law knew who that was, there was only one person who appeared in his dreams who laughed like that.

"Doflamingo…"

He turned to glare at him as he was sat cockily in the heart seat, smirking at Law's discomfort.

"You want to get in there so desperately to save your sister don't you?"

Law just sent a silent smouldering glare in his direction.

"Oh I could unlock those cuffs but alas I have lost the key." Doflamingo did a dramatic swoon which only served to disgust Law.

"I guess I'll just have to cut off your leg then."

He heard some yells then and looked away as he spotted some men running towards him.

"There's one infected! Shoot him at my command."

Law looked down at his hands and gasped. White was slowly creeping over them, tainting his skin yet again.

Why? He thought he'd have gotten rid of it. A bullet grazed his arm then and he turned his attention back to the firing squad in front of him.

"You're gonna have to make your decision quickly Law. What's it going to be, death by firing squad or blood loss from losing a leg?"

Law gritted his teeth. It seemed like a hopeless decision. No way was he going to let Doflamingo have the pleasure of mutilating him but at the same time he didn't want to die like a caged rat at the hands of the World government's pawns.

He heard a snap of wood then and felt the strain on his leg loosen. Somebody picked him up then and whisked them into the closest alley. He was no longer held back by the Heart seat but he still had the kairoseki handcuff on his leg and a bit of the chair's leg attached. He looked up into a very welcome face.

"Cora-san!"

Corazon smiled back at him. Law could have run by himself but he still had the kairoseki draining his energy and the Amber lead was spreading even more over his body. The pain was starting to come and fatigue was setting over him. He didn't want to look away from his beloved Cora-san but the pull of sleep was getting harder to resist. Corazon noticed what was happening.

"Law don't fall asleep yet! Just wait a few minutes, I have the key to your cuffs then you can cut the Amber lead out and we'll be fine."

There was some gunshots then and Law flinched as Corazon stumbled but he picked up his pace again.

"Don't worry Law, they only grazed me."

They eventually reached a quiet alley and Corazon shifted around in his pockets, trying to find the key. Luckily he did and he unlocked the kairoseki cuff. He looked at Law hopefully, willing that Law still had enough energy to operate on himself. Law panted hard as he tried to summon a room before he got a fever and became incapable of coherent thought.

He managed to summon a small one and started to work on getting the Amber lead out. He had to stop halfway through when he heard the sound of guns firing and turned to see Corazon collapse at the entrance of the alley.

He moved over to him hurriedly and shook him.

"Cora-San,Cora-san! Are you still there!"

"…Not for much longer…"

"Don't say that! I'll get those bullets out of you."

Corazon grabbed Laws hand when he made to summon a room.

"Don't you silly boy, you need to save your strength for yourself."

"But Cora-"

Corazon pulled one of his grins then, saying "I love you." before falling limp.

"Cora-san? Cora-san! Don't die on me!"

Law kept shaking Corazon, hoping to get a reaction from him but none came no matter how hard he shook him. He had to accept he was dead and only then did his tears come out for the umpteenth time in this dream. He buried his face into Corazon's heart shirt, sobbing into its blood soaked fabric and gripping it hard. He breathed in the last of Corazon's scent in between sniffs and he would have stayed there if he hadn't heard footsteps.

Reluctantly he left Corazon's body and ran out of the alley, trying to stay ahead of the men chasing him. Now that his powers weren't restricted he could easily dispatch them but he'd rather fully get rid of the Amber lead first. No matter where he ran in the burning city though he couldn't shake them off, they seemed to be everywhere.

This was not good. The Amber lead was spreading even faster and his work from before was already reversed. Adrenaline was keeping the fatigue at bay but he could definitely feel a fever coming through. The first of the intense stabs of pain came through. He had to stop for a second but was forced to carry on running no matter how painful or how frequent the pains were. He was unprepared when something drove into his side and he was flung into the sea. Of all the times it could have been, it had to have been when he was running along the dock.

Now he was drowning. The cool was a sharp contrast with the heat of the fire just metres away from the waters surface and it made him feel oddly at peace. Maybe now this awful nightmare would end and his mind would stop tormenting him.

Something attached to his coat and stopped his descent. He hacked as he was pulled back out of the water and found himself being held up in the air. He looked up with a dilute hatefullness at Doflamingo's face. He'd never stop hating him but he was so so tired right now, both emotionally and physically he could only manage a half-hearted glare.

"Fufufu well what do we have here, a drowned rat and a diseased one at that."

Doflamingo flicked a finger and Law's right hand sleeve fell apart, ripped to shreds. Underneath the whole arm was white. Law knew he what stage he was at immediately as a insistent pain throbbed in him, he squeezed his eyes shut, the pain all too familiar.

"Oh dear oh dear oh dear, Law your whole arm is white. I guess I'll need to get rid of it for you."

Law's heart went into overdrive as Doflamingo fashioned a makeshift saw out of his leg and held it over his arm. He could feel the air rushing past them as Doflamingo drove them down and he screamed his lungs out as he slammed into the ground and his arm separated from his body…

Luffy shot up in bed panting. His first thought was horror at the tragedy he had just witnessed but then he began to feel concern for Law.

"Right, I need to find Torao, he needs me…"

Luffy hadn't forgotten what had happened a couple of nights ago when Law had helped him through his post-nightmare panic attack. Now it was his turn to help him.

He made his way to Law's submarine and almost ran, trying to find his room. He might not have found it if he hadn't heard the scream, an echo of the one he had heard before he woke up. That helped direct him to the correct room without much fuss and he opened the door. Luffy quickly spotted the bed where Law was lying with his back to the door and moved closer.

Law's eyes were unfocused, staring at the wall and his body seemed to be locked in a half curled up position. He was incapable of anything but forcing some air into his lungs. The only reaction Luffy managed to get from him was a shudder when he sat on the edge of the bed.

Luffy hummed, trying to think of how he should go about helping Law. He noticed he was shivering and he remembered how Law comforted him. He shifted so he was leaning against the headboard and dragged Law's blanket further up the bed from where it had been kicked off. Law wasn't wearing a shirt so maybe that was part of the reason why he was shivering but another part of Luffy knew it was also from shock.

Luffy tried to ignore the flinch from Law as he was picked up and laid him against his chest, legs perpendicular to his. He wrapped the blanket around Law and imitated his technique of pressing Law against his chest where his beating heart was. Luffy moved over so he was more comfortable and then waited for Law to calm.

Law latched onto the scent of his familiar blanket and snuggled deeper into it. His haggard breathing eventually evened out and he started to loosen up. The quiet of the room was only punctuated by Law's short breaths and they lengthened as he fell into a light snooze. He even managed to smile a little and at that Luffy let out a little nishishishi. He was glad to be able to help his friend.

AN: sorry if parts of this seemed a little bit complicated, I hope you didn't get too confused when it changed to Law's point of view. Yeah I don't know if you noticed but the title is a Law quote (surprise surprise).