In Trafalgar Law's eyes, today was nothing extraordinary. It was just another day sailing the New World; just another day of being a pirate. The date October 6th had long since lost its luster for him— he never celebrated his birthday anymore.

And it was. Today was his birthday. Yet he wasn't worried about any surprise parties, because his crew was usually content with just wishing him a happy birthday and moving on, namely because he preferred it that way. The theatrics of a party weren't really his cup of tea, admittedly, and the Heart Pirates understood that.

Of course, this was all before Kotone Reina had waltzed into his ranks. He should have anticipated that something was amiss when he awoke to empty blankets on her half of the bed, but thought little else of it other than she had simply woken earlier than him. Sometimes she did that; whether it was some bird instinct instilled in her Zoan fruit that caused her to rise at the crack of dawn or not, he didn't know, but he didn't bother to question it.

For a few short hours, he found sleep again, and when he woke up Reina was still missing from his side. Now he was beginning to grow suspicious.

He rose from bed and dressed in his usual attire, tucking his hands into his pockets as he made his way out into the corridor. It was empty, and the submarine sounded oddly silent. Another sign that something was going on.

His feet carried him to Reina's old room that she used to stay in before moving to Law's, but she wasn't in there either. She wasn't allowed in the control room to drive the submarine anymore, so he didn't bother to check there. The only other place she frequented often was the kitchen.

As he approached it, the sweet scent of treats and baked goods gradually began to accost his sense of smell. The aroma was pungent yet not unpleasant, and there was a warmth to the kitchen as he entered it.

Much like the other rooms, it was devoid of his subordinates; namely a particular siren. It was not devoid of other things, however. To his noticeable surprise there were streamers strung about, a buffet of food set up, and a lone cake that sat on a table by itself. A part of him should have known that the secluded cake situation was fishy, but he couldn't resist nibbling at the bait.

She was clever. She waited until he stood in front of the cake and had leaned down just slightly to inspect it, just enough, to plant her hand on the back of his head and shove his face down into it.

His limbs flailed instinctively as his visage was abruptly drowned in frosting, but the hand that had plunged his face downwards suddenly retreated, and a familiar giggle tickled his ear. He straightened up slowly then, his expression tight as he slowly wiped away the layers of icing that clung to his features, blinking away bits of cake to turn his gaze to his impish subordinate.

She bit the bottom of her lip to try and stifle her grin, but it was a poor attempt and didn't work very well. He flicked the frosting from his fingertips in her direction, and she dodged with a squeal.

"I didn't hear you come in." He remarked, brow slightly twitching in aggravation as he looked to her. She seemed extremely pleased with her little gimmick, and he would admit she had been rather stealthy about it.

"You didn't hear the others come in, either." She informed him, and suddenly he frowned, not understanding. Upon turning to glance over his shoulder, however, he noticed that most of the crew had collected near the archway of the kitchen. Shachi and Penguin stood holding a cake of large proportions and intricate design.

"Happy birthday, Captain!" They chorused, their collective shout and sound of their cheerful wishes resounding in the kitchen. For a moment, Law stood speechless, frosting dripping from his face and catching in his goatee.

The last time he had been given a proper celebration for his birthday was when...well, he could barely remember when. When he was a child, most likely, back when his parents and his sister were still alive. Corazon had tried, but while they were on the run it was hard to throw a party for someone. Then after that, he had told the Heart Pirates not to make a big deal out of his birthday. He should have known that Reina thought herself excluded from that warning.

"This was your doing." He murmured accusingly, eyeing the songstress as she clasped her hands behind her back and offered the most shit-eating grin she could muster.

"Did you expect anything else?" She laughed, entirely content with her efforts.

Law sighed heavily, but there was a small smile to be found on his features for once. Reina's eyes softened when she took note of it, and she beamed at him as the others sat the cake on the table and shuffled about.

"If you had that cake, why did you bother making the other one just to push my face into it?" He asked, arching a brow at her. She snorted in amusement, allowing one of the other crew members to collect the desolate remains of the first cake in order to carry it off to Bepo. He would eat it all on his own— besides, it wasn't good to waste food when they were so far from the next island.

"Because, it's a tradition of sorts to push someone's face into the cake on their birthday, right?" She offered with a seemingly innocent shrug, but he wasn't buying it. She just couldn't resist the prospect of messing with him, so the idea of smashing his face into food would have been far too tempting for her to resist.

"I was under the impression that the best time to do that was when they're blowing out the candles." He refuted.

"Or when their captain lets down his guard and and doesn't hear you come in." She teased, her eyes twinkling, "And besides, I wasn't going to ruin all the hard work I put into this cake by smearing your face all in those lovely decorations."

She was right; the cake was beautifully decorated. None of the others could have done something like this, and he knew as much because no one's handwriting but Reina's matched the elegant, cursive letters that spelled out "Happy birthday, Captain" on the cake's top.

She had also frosted the top with yellow and black icing beneath the birthday message, intricately painting out the Heart Pirates' jolly roger, and the sides of the cake even boasted that spotted pattern that was printed on his jeans and hat. The candles were aligned neatly on top, already lit and blazing.

"Make a wish, Captain!" Bepo urged him, his expression that of delight. The others of the crew mirrored his expression and encouragement, and Law's brows furrowed as he turned to face the three-tier cake. Reina stood close at his side, and he shot her a suspicious look just before he leaned down to blow out the candles.

This seemed to amuse her, because she laughed warmly and showed him her hands, clasping them behind her back so that they couldn't push his head down into the cake.

Then, for the first time in countless years, Trafalgar Law closed his eyes and made a wish. It felt almost surreal to blow out the candles, and it felt even more dreamlike to hear the contended shouts and cheers of his crewmates as they set to cutting the cake for everyone.

A pair of soft lips pressed against Law's cheek then, and Reina swiped her tongue across her lips as she pulled back slightly, tasting a bit of icing that remained on his face. His eyes seemed to glow beneath the lights of the kitchen as she grinned at him, and he was nearly winded with how loving she looked in that moment.

Suddenly, they weren't alone. Half of the crew smushed them in a dog-pile esque hug, each of them shouting their adoration and hugging both the siren and the surgeon. Reina laughed loudly, pressed against Law's flank and clinging onto him as Bepo squeezed the both of them before setting them back down again.

Reina laced her fingers together with Law's, pressing her forehead together against his own as the others crowded about, and Law couldn't help but to smile a bit too as his siren chuckled and whispered sweetly to him.

"Happy birthday, Law."

[A/N: I couldn't resist posting something on Law's birthday. He deserves it, the poor brooding guy. So in light of all he's been through, have this ultra fluffy update!

sarge1130: I agree! I think it would be a blast to drive a submarine, bahaha. Reina certainly agrees as well~ Writing Law being thrown around by her driving had me cracking up, so I'm glad to hear you got amusement out of it as well! Oh yeah, she was definitely punished afterwards. I mentioned in this update that she's no longer allowed in that room, ahaha. At least not with an escort that will make sure she doesn't get up to any of her usual shenanigans. Thank you for your review, dear!

Apple Bloom: Thank you, I'm so glad to hear that! Here's an update, I hope you enjoy it~ And thank you for your review! ^^

MorganLeLaw: I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed it! My cheeks were hurting as well by the time I finished writing it; I'm glad you found Reina stirring up trouble as amusing I did, ahaha. Don't feel bad! Reviews are lovely, but I adore my silent readers just as much! But thank you for dropping a word in, and I'm delighted to hear I was able to make your day with my story! That's so sweet of you to say. ^^ ]