So yeah this did take a lot longer then expected... In my defence there are about 20 odd different versions of this chapter, I have post-it-notes heaven on my laptop screen with different setting, starts and well everything.
I LOVED MCM ...I NEED MORE MONEY NEXT YEAR TO BUY MORE STUFF
So you might be glad that this chapter is a longer! Plus I found a Beta and a program which will help my gramma and spelling~
Apple Bloom ~ Here's another chapter for you! :D
apple21 ~ Zoro and Nami will be BroOpt in this!And yes this chapter is a little longer for you :P
sarge1130 ~ He will slowly, slowly get better at his job and yes Luffy is so jealous of Law's apparent adventure
skypiea ~ Yay you found the fic! Lawna moment ahead don't worry!
Pairing: Honestly, if you've come for another pairing then LawNa then you're on the wrong fic, however there might be some side pairings...
Disclaimer: CAN I OWE ONE PIECE?! I WANT TO OWN ONE PIECE...
Warning: Spelling/grammar errors but I can't literally do anymore. XD
Enjoy!~
Chapter Two
"Have you seen our new mission, brother?"
"Of course."
"Hehehe, this will be easy!"
"Don't get cocky."
"I'm not!"
"Tch, I assume you heard what happened to the last guy who was sent on this mission, right?"
"Well, no…"
"He's dead."
"Oh! Really?!"
"Yes. They say that the village he was in, was destroyed by Trafalgar Law, meanwhile his targets escaped."
"But brother, what's he got to do with our mission? Maybe that other guy got in his way~"
"I also doubt that the former Shichibukai has any connection to our targets, however, there is no room for error."
"Hehehe, don't worry! We can do this; they are only children after all…"
After three days of following Law's Viva card, as per Luffy's orders, the Straw Hat Crew finally managed to catch up with The Heart Pirates. Though, none of them knew what to expect – well, besides Luffy – he was expecting an adventure! He was ready for anything; he had been waiting three days for this new adventure!
Nami though, was a bit more skeptical than her captain about the whole situation was. Sure, they all knew that Law wouldn't just go to a random village and destroy it, but there was more proof against Law at the moment, especially with pictures of his crew at the crime that she thought it was him who had done it: she just had a feeling that there was more to this situation than Luffy missing out on an adventure.
Luckily she wouldn't have to wait much longer to find out. As Law's submarine surfaced, she went onto the grass to greet him, and the other crew members started to congregate on the deck.
"Yay, Torao's here!" Luffy shouted with glee while joining Nami and the others on the grass. However, when Law boarded he deck of the Sunny, looking shattered and dishevelled with Bepo, Shachi and Penguin all standing behind him, they didn't look any better either – the crew was in shock. What was most shocking, however, was the child cradled tightly in Law's arms! For once the Straw Hat crew was at a loss for words, even Luffy, who had been ecstatic about the thought of meeting back up with their alliance crew for the last three days.
"Straw Hat-ya," Law greeted gruffly, while the child squirmed in his arms.
"Torao, who's that?!" Luffy questioned, curious as to who the kid was.
"Oh super, Law! I didn't know you had a kid!" Franky commented while doing his signature pose.
"She doesn't look much like him though," Zoro added, eyeing up the kid.
"Maybe she took her looks from her mother?" Usopp suggested with a shrug.
Law merely grunted at the comments of his alliance crew, whilst trying to keep the child from escaping his him.
Robin, who had been observing the whole scene, held a hand over her mouth as she chuckled at the scenario."Maybe it would be better if you explained over tea. I have a few questions myself."
Nami had taken the child from Law, who had fallen onto the seats of the galley in exhaustion, along with Shachi, Penguin and Bepo. The rest of the crew followed and took the remaining seats. Sanji was currently in the kitchen preparing the drinks, Robin sat down on the other side of Shachi, Chopper sat next to her, and Usopp sat next to him. Franky and Brook both leaned against the wall. Zoro sat down next to Law and put his feet up on the table but was quickly scolded by Nami, which Sanji got involved in and it quickly escalated into another one of their arguments. However with one quick glare, Nami stopped it instantly and Sanji went back to making the drinks while Zoro tried not to make eye contact with Nami, who was still holding the squirming child. Nami sat down next to Zoro while Luffy plopped himself next to her, as Sanji brought in the drinks, obviously favouring the females first with tea before giving the rest to the crew and giving Law and his crewmates a much appreciated cup of coffee.
"Thanks," Law murmured, while Sanji got nods of thanks from the others as well. After taking a couple of sips of coffee Law seemed to waken slightly, for his eyes widened and he became more aware. He took a glance around the room, his eyes staying on the child for slightly longer than the others, before sighing.
"So Torao, what happened?" Luffy questioned curiously while Sanji placed a glass of milk in front of him. The chef leaned against the counter and lit up a cigarette. "I can't wait for this new adventure; it's going to be so great!"
"Subtle as a rock," Nami commented, which gained a few hums of agreement, while the child started to gaze around the room in awe at all the new people.
"Give him a chance to breathe, Luffy," Zoro added, arms behind his head. "He looks like he's just been dragged through hell and back."
"It's fine," Law stated, putting down his mug, "What would you like to know Strawhat-ya?"
Luffy grinned, "I wanna know what happened on this island!" he exclaimed while pulling out the newspaper featuring the destroyed village, which accused Law of being the culprit. Law sighed, knowing it was only a matter of time: even if there wasn't much to tell, he knew better than to not answer it, for it would only end in more nagging, annoying pestering, and people getting the wrong idea.
"It started three days ago..."
After a rather short explanation from Law, of recent events and also the introduction of Kaede, who seemed quite content on Nami's lap, the Straw Hats had decided to satisfy their curiosity with their own questions.
"So the kid's not yours?" Luffy questioned. Law, Nami and everyone else in the room minus Robin groaned: she just smiled. Law just sipped his coffee – he wasn't even going to bother to answer, he was too tired to even try.
"For the third time Luffy: no, Law's crew picked her up on the last island they were on," Sanji explained, again. Luffy blinked and looked at the child on Nami's lap.
"So who is she?" Luffy queried, peering at Kaede who looked back at him with a tilt of her head.
"We don't know-" Shachi answered with a huff, after putting down his now empty mug, "-as we said, we found her just outside the destroyed village." Of course Luffy wasn't actually listening anymore, he was too busy staring at Kaede, who out of curiosity had grabbed Luffy's face and started to pull – she seemed shocked at first when Luffy's devil fruit powers caused him to keep stretching, but she quickly got over it and started to pull more. Kaede giggled and smiled, which made Luffy grin and laugh. He then pulled down his eyelid and stuck out his tongue, which made Kaede giggle more and spout out some happy gibberish. Nami smiled as Luffy continued to make the infant on her lap giggle. She smoothed the girl's hair out while Kaede continued to pull and stretch Luffy's face.
"However, we had to leave quickly due to the villages, who had called the Marines," Bepo added with a sigh, "They didn't even give us a chance to explain..."
"Well, whatever or whoever did this definitely had some power – that was some chaos it caused." Sanji stated, eyeing up the picture on the front of the old newspaper.
"True, and now Law's getting the blame while it's still out there," Brook agreed, "If I was against someone with that kind of power, I would be shaking in my skin... That is, if I had any! Ohohohohoohohoh! Skull-"
"Yeah, yeah, knock it off already-" Sanji interrupted, knocking Brook to the floor mid-laugh. "This is serious!"
"That's it!" Luffy exclaimed with a grin as Kaede let go of his face, causing it go back to its original shape.
Usopp blinked. "What is?"
"We have to go back to that other island to find out what destroyed it!" Luffy answered.
"Luffy, whatever was there has probably already left," Robin calmly explained to her captain.
Luffy groaned. "Aw, but I want to fight them!"
"Why?" Usopp questioned in horror, "Why would you want to not only find but fight something that could take down an entire village?!" Chopper was agreeing next to him, what or whoever attacked that village looked dangerous and powerful.
"Because!" Luffy announced, "He sounds like a cool guy to fight!"
"One, we don't know who or what destroyed the village – it could just be some kind of disastrous accident – and two, even if it was a person, a guy, why would it be in any way cool to fight them?!" Usopp replied, horrified that his captain would want to go and find someone who had destroyed an entire island just because it sounded like a cool fight – but then again this was Luffy after all; he did all sorts of strange and crazy things.
Luffy crossed his arms stubbornly, "I want to go check! You never know, he could still be around there!" Usopp groaned and slumped in his seat in defeat, knowing there was no way of changing Luffy's mind after he'd decided on something. Trust me, I've tried. A lot.
"Straw Hats-ya, the place is probably crawling with Marines now," Law stated, looking across at his alliance captain and somewhat friend, "It would be foolish to go, over a possibility of a fight."
"But Torao, you're coming too!" Luffy replied with a grin. "You've got to find that guy and clear your name, remember!"
Law scoffed, "I don't care about that, I am a pirate and I already have a dark reputation – it won't bother me in the slightest."
"But it'll be an adventure!"
"No Luffy-ya, we have to focus on Kaido and our next move."
"Come on Torao, it'll be fun!"
"No."
"Please."
"No."
"Pleaseeee!" Luffy begged, eyes pleading.
Nami rolled her eyes before catching the attention of the other captain, "You do realise that he's not going to give up, right?"
Law growled, "Okay Luffy-ya, I'll come back with you to this island, but as soon as this is done, no messing around and no more adventures until we've dealt with Kaido."
Luffy grinned. "Yay! An adventure with Torao!"
"Oh great, so now we're going back to a Marine infested island to possibly find a person who destroyed a whole village just for a fight, and then we're going to plot our attack on a Pirate Emperor, thrilling..." Usopp muttered sarcastically, mentally crying, wondering if was too late to simply go back home, where it was safe and not filled with insane people who wanted to defeat more crazy insane people.
"On that note, I think it would be a good idea to get Kaede changed into something a little more appropriate," Robin noted, causing everyone to glance at Kaede's less then fitting clothes. "Isn't that your T-shirt, Law-San?" Law nodded.
"When she got here she was covered in blood – she needed a wash and so did her clothes, however, it seemed that they were torn and her T-shirt was irreparable."
"Well, I might not be able to find her exact size but I'm sure Chopper will have something a little smaller, no?" The aerologist questioned the small doctor, who nodded.
"Of course!" Chopper exclaimed, hopping off his seat, "I'll go have a look!" And then he scurried out of the kitchen in search of some clothes for the child.
Robin stood up and smiled at the navigator. "Nami, do you mind if I take her off you while I help Chopper search for new clothes?"
Nami shook her head. "Of course not." She then rose and held out a very confused Kaede, who started to wiggle around and whine when handed over to Robin, however the older woman didn't mind and simply stroked Kaede's head a couple of times which seemed to calm her. With one last smile to the other, Robin left with Kaede in her arms.
"So what are you planning on doing with her now?" Zoro questioned after Robin had left.
Law grunted. "Take her to the next island, find someone willing to take her in. I doubt she has any family left alive if she was part of the village," he explained, looking at the swordsman, and creating a somewhat sober atmosphere within the room at the mention of the death of the former villages.
"She was so small!" Luffy commented, seemingly unaffected by the sudden gloomy atmosphere, "Can we keep her?"
"Eh?!" Was the shocked reaction of the entire room minus Law, who simply raised an eyebrow.
"Luffy, you do realize that she's just a child, right?" Sanji questioned, taking a drag out of his cigarette. Nami wondered what exactly was going through Luffy's head but decided that she didn't want to know – it probably had something to do with a huge pile of meat at the end of an adventure or something equally as ridiculous.
"Plus just look at Law," Usopp said, indicating the former Shichibukai, "He's exhausted."
"Aww, you tired, Torao~" Nami cooed with a smirked. Law sent her a glare, while a few chuckled.
"Well, I doubt he's had much practice and looking after a kid on a ship must be hard, right bro?" Franky piped up in Law's defence.
"Hey!" Bepo, Shachi and Penguin chorused, outraged, "He hardly did anything! We did most of the work!" However, they were ignored.
"The infamous Surgeon of Death, defeated by a mere infant," Nami mocked with a grin, "Just wait until this gets out."
"If you think you can deal with her then go ahead," Law offered, still glaring at the Straw Hats' navigator, who simply raised an eyebrow.
"Is this a challenge, Law?" Nami replied, eyeing him.
Law smirked. "Be my guest."
"Does that mean we get to keep Kaede?" Luffy questioned, but never got an answer...
Law leaned against back against the wood as he stared at the moon. He'd decided to stay on the Sunny instead of returning to his own ship like the rest of his crew - they had gone to get some long overdue sleep - favoring instead to watch the chaos which would ensue with the Straw Hats now in charge of Kaede.
However, it seemed that the child was much better behaved when in the hands of the Straw Hats than she was whenever with him or his crew. Well, maybe it was because after they had found some more fitting clothes for the child, Robin had spent the majority of the afternoon reading to her and could use her devil fruit power to keep Kaede from getting into trouble. After that, she had had a nap with Zoro, and after dinner Luffy had decided to entertain her with some silly game involving stuffing chopsticks up his nose and dancing around.
Now everyone was retreating for some rest. Unfortunately for Usopp, he had first watch so he was still up, and Sanji had got Kaede in the kitchen and was making her some warm milk to help her sleep, while Robin bathed. Law was still awake thanks to the coffee he had had earlier and was now just relaxing in the cool air of the night, finally glad to have a little peace and quiet.
"It's so sweet!"
Or not...
Law turned his head to see the Straw Hat navigator, who positioned herself next to him and leaned against the wall. "And what would that be Nami-ya?" Said woman smiled.
"You and Kaede of course."
Law frowned at the navigator. "What do you mean?"
Nami laughed. "Oh, you know – how you pretended not to care when you actually do."
Law scoffed at the accusation. "The only reason I allowed the child to stay on the ship was because she was injured and then the Marines appeared." Which was true – when Kaede was first brought aboard she was covered in scars, cuts, and bruises, which thanks to Law were nearly all healing without problems. However, he had a feeling that Chopper and possibly Robin would want a word with him about it in the near future.
"Yes, yes, you've already said-" she said, dismissing it, "But it's still cute." She then sent him a dazzling smile, one of which he'd never seen from the navigator before, however it was undeniably beautiful.
"Night, Torao," she called with a wave, leaving Law speechless, only able to watch as she walked away.
A few seconds later, he came back to his senses and wondered what the hell was wrong with him, but he put it down to the lack of sleep and hoped that a good night's rest would solve whatever it was.
However, unbeknownst to him, this was only the beginning...