Hiii!
Like always thank you to everyone who stopped by to read, for the likes and follows and everything else. A suuuuper special thanks to Staticy Fox Atra, BabyGhost123, sarge1130 , poyochin , SEllen23, Guest, Apple Bloom and Monkey D. Anea. for the reviews! They are always appreciated.
Bye!
"I'm bored..."
Luffy looks at his cell phone, noticing that hours had passed ever since he arrived that place. Hospitals, he hated them. Losing count of how much time he had spent on them lately, he thought he would be free of them ever since he traveled away from home to spend some time with his brother Sabo, but judging by the situation he found himself now he was mistaken. Here he was, inside one of them once again, where he was literally dragged by his brother.
He knew he had to take care of himself, since he still wasn't fully recovered from the incident that had taken place weeks ago, but he didn't want to be there. This place brought the worst possible memories the boy. It was in one of them that he ended up spending a great part of his days lately, that he stayed in a coma for days and days and almost died, that he felt the deepest despair when he learned about the death of his brother, Ace. That alone was enough for him to never even want to pass in front of one of them.
Closing his eyes, the memories of that day began to come back to his mind. He still could hear the deafening sound of the shots, of the desperate cries. He could still smell blood, and see his hands soaked with it. He could still remember the last words his brother said to him, before he left his life forever.
These were things he would never forget, memories that were embedded in his mind for the rest of his life.
Shaking his head, Luffy tried to dispel these thoughts from his mind, focusing on what was happening around him. Among the various people he could see in front of him, one caught his attention. A tall man, who by the way he was dressed was a doctor of that place, but didn't look much like one. His hands were partially covered with tattoos, which also seemed to cover a part of his arms, and his hair was pretty messy. He was surrounded by some weird people, including a man with a strange hat that looked like the head of a penguin. While they talked, he could vaguely hear what was being said, but couldn't understand much since he didn't know anything about these medical terms which they were talking about.
"Understood. Leave it to me, doctor ..." The man with the penguin hat paused, looking at the other man clothes, apparently looking for his name.
"Trafalgar Law." The other man completed, saying his name. And in that moment, Luffy feels everything stopping around him.
That name ... he recognized the name. His mind then turned to the past, more exactly to his childhood, in the days when he still lived with his adoptive mother Dadan. In the times when he met the lonely boy who lived nearby him, with whom he made a strong friendship, and whom he hadn't seen for years, not even knowing if he was still alive. The name of that boy and this man who in front of him were the same ... could it be possible that they were the same person?
Without thinking twice, Luffy got up from the seat that he occupied for some time and ran after the man, who had just left the hospital.
"Hey! Wait!" He called to the man, trying to get his attention, but not succeeding because he didn't even stopped to see who was calling him.
But Luffy wouldn't give up so easily.
Continuing to follow the man, he grabbed his arm as he reached him, preventing him from continuing to walk. The doctor turned immediately to see who had stopped him, casting an angry and intimidating look, but Luffy didn't feel bothered with it. He was too busy observing the man's face, trying to find any trace in common with the boy he had known in his childhood. Something that wasn't too hard to find.
"Take your hands off my arm now." The familiar man said to Luffy, angrier than ever, but he didn't even hear what was being said to him. He was too surprised to pay attention to anything now.
"... Y-you ... I know you ..." Luffy says, a smile starting to appear on his face, now convinced that this man who was in front of him really was his childhood friend, whom he had sought for so long.
"Really? Well, I don't know you, so take your hands off me." Law said, still angry, not having any idea of where that boy knew him, and not interested in knowing as well.
"Don't you remember me? We played together when we were kids!" Luffy insisted, trying to get Law to remember him.
It was only then, when the boy mentioned his childhood, that he began to think about who that boy could be. He was surprised when the boy said that he played with him, when in his childhood he had a disease that made everyone discriminate him and stay away from him.
Well, everyone but one person.
A boy full of energy that once appeared out of nowhere in his house, and insisted so much for him to let him come into his life. A boy who had very similar features with this boy, and that had the same bright smile which he could never forget.
"You..."
"I'm Luffy! Do you remember me, Torao?" It was then that Law's mind cleared like never before. There was only one person in his life who had called him for that strange nickname. It was exactly a boy who was called Luffy.
"I... remember you." The doctor said and Luffy smiled like he never smiled before, genuinely glad to see that Law still remembered him, even after all these years.
"I can't believe it! I thought I'd never see you again, Torao!" Shishishi! "Luffy practically jumped on the man, putting his arms around him and hugging him tightly, surprising Law. The man felt really uncomfortable, since he didn't like to be touched by anyone, even if it was for someone who was already part of his life, or at least was in the past.
He didn't like to be close to anyone, it doesn't matter who it was... or at least this was the image that he liked to pass to other people.
"Yes ... this is certainly a surprise." Law gave a small smile, which immediately disappeared when he pushed the boy away from him in a not very gentle way. Luffy looked at him, not understanding what happened, as the man took a few steps back.
When Luffy looked at the man's face, he couldn't help but notice how the expression on Law's face was contrasting with his own. While Luffy had a big smile on his face, clearly happy to see his friend again, Law continued... inexpressive, showing no sign that he was at least a little happy to see him. And that was bothering him.
"Well, it was nice to see you again, Luffy-ya, but I have to go now. Excuse me." Law said, quickly walking through Luffy without saying another word.
"What? Where are you going? We just started talking!" Luffy said, looking at the man, who was already far away from him, feeling a little disappointed. There were so many things he wanted to talk to him so much that he wanted to ask, but the other man didn't seem interested in talk to him.
"I see nothing for us to talk, Luffy-ya." Law replied coldly, not even looking at the boy who was left behind, while Luffy watched him in silence as he entered the hospital once again.
Luffy couldn't understand why the man was acting like that. When he recognized him, he thought that Law would feel the same joy he felt when he saw his friend, whom he hadn't seen for years, but he was wrong. He didn't recognize that person anymore, who seemed to have changed so much over the years.
He was cold, and distant... and he saw an emptiness in his eyes, something that was really bothering him.
But to Luffy it didn't matter how much the man had changed, he was still the person that he searched for all these years, he was still his friend, even if the other doesn't think about him in the same way, and he wouldn't give up on that person he wanted so badly to encounter for so long.
Luffy would keep insisting, until the day he could find a patch to his heart and life again.
No matter how much time it would take for him to find it.
I feel tired...
Law opens the door and enters his apartment, feeling tiredness taking over his body and his mind.
He had decided to return home earlier, not being able to stay focused on work, all because of a certain person that reappeared in his life a few hours ago.
Luffy... As much as he wanted to deny, he had never forgotten that boy, who meant so much to him in his childhood. When everyone stayed away from him in fear of a rumor that wasn't true, Luffy was the one who had the courage to approach him. He understood the loneliness that Law felt, and always stood by his side, not caring if everyone would distance themselves from him because of that.
He really was a very special person.
If it was a while ago, he would be really happy to encounter the boy, and would love to recover all the time they have lost in these years they had been away from each other. But not now.
Not when he had already decided to never have anyone special in his life again.
Giving a sigh, Law enters his bedroom, and without even changing clothes, lays down on his bed, his mind being filled with painful thoughts and memories. Memories of how everything that he loved most was taken away from him in the worst ways possible. His parents, his little sister, who adored him so much... and also the person who saved his life, the person that had taken him away from the most desperate situation, and gave him a new chance to live.
"Cora-san ..." He felt a sharp pain in his chest as he remembered that man. Remembering him, thinking in how much he loved him to the point of sacrificing his life to save his own, still caused a great pain to him, even if many years had already passed.
That person was the light of his life, but someone took him away, leaving him in complete darkness.
It was from that day on that Law decided to completely close himself to the world. He had no desire to let anyone else get close to him, not wanting to suffer or to lose anything that was important to him again.
Not that anyone had ever tried to approach him.
Perhaps realizing that he had no desire to socialize with anyone, or afraid of his apparent insensitivity and sometimes rude behavior, everyone kept their distance from him.
This at least until the present day, when that boy from his past appeared in his life again.
Insisting on following him, talking to him, invading his personal space... he was the first person shown to have some interest in him in a long time. It was like what happened in his childhood was happening once again.
Encountering Luffy really surprised him, and he was honestly glad in seeing him again, but he decided that it would be better not to show it, hiding it behind a mask of indifference.
Hiding his feelings was something that he became really good at over the years.
He wanted to sit down and talk with him, to know what happened after all these years that had passed, to be close to his friend once again, but he just couldn't do it.
He wanted him in his life again, but in the end he pushed him away.
Despite the seemingly cold and distant person he had become, and even not really liking to admit, he felt really lonely. Even though he decided not to have anyone else in his life, he missed having someone by his side, someone to share his life and his feelings. But his traumas didn't allow him to have anyone else in his life.
Tired of thinking of so many depressing things, he closed his eyes, trying to fall asleep. He knew that he needed to sleep, something that he has barely been able to do lately, but what was already difficult before became an even more difficult task now, since he couldn't stop thinking about a certain boy, and that bright smile of his, something that he had never forgotten in all these years that had passed.
"Sabo!"
Luffy enters the house he was living with his brother hastily. He wanted to tell him what had happened and maybe ask for some advice, but when he saw that he had fallen asleep, probably waiting for him to come home, he decided not to bother him. Instead, he just sat down next to him in silence, lost in his thoughts.
He couldn't stop thinking about Law, and his encounter with him. Even though this encounter wasn't much pleasant, he was very happy to find his childhood friend again, to know that he was alive and well, even if the other man didn't seem to share the same happiness as he. He understood that the distance and the time could change the way that man saw him and felt for him, so he could understand the rather cold reaction that Law had. But still, there was something that bothered him.
The man was different from the person he had known as a child, and it wasn't because of his appearance. Taking the irritation that he was feeling at times, and which by the way was clearly visible ... he couldn't see anything. His face was inexpressive most of the time, and Luffy could see the emptiness in his eyes, something that bothered him a lot.
Luffy knew that was probably due to the trauma he suffered when he lost his family in that terrible incident that happened years ago, anyone would change after going through something like that. That made him really worried about Law, but he decided not to think about it too much, since he couldn't do nothing about it now, and focus on what he would do when they see each other again. And what he would do to get close to the man.
Luffy didn't know what to do and what would happen when he see the man again, but he could feel happiness growing inside of him and a smile appearing on his face in thinking that he would see the man again.
He fell asleep with that smile on his face, as memories of his childhood alongside Law occupied his mind.
Memories of how much he liked, and still like that man, even after so much time has passed. And how much this person was, and still is, so special to him.
