*Side Story takes place another time/period from what is currently occurring in main plot—Robin/Nami/Zoro are not included in this side story. This also takes place with Law not yet knowing about Luffy and Crocodile.

To Serve at his Command| Side Story Three| Lights Out

The air around them smelt crisp and refreshing, light rainfall settling and the sun making its descent from behind fat grey clouds. Doflamingo's mansion stood tall and proud before them, rows of pink roses and yellow sunflowers and stretches of ponds greeting them as the cars pulled up the drive.

It was Luffy's first time visiting Doflamingo's estate, and while Crocodile occasionally made the dry comment about how terrible the night would be, she found herself in pure excitement. Of course, there were times where she got to tag along with her employer on his meetings, but those were of the boring ones—this one, however, prompted a reunion with a certain friend of hers.

And Luffy just couldn't wait to meet up with Law once again.

Sitting in the servant's seating besides Usopp—who got to tag along due to Crocodile needing extra assistance in the soon to be tiring Doflamingo experience—she glanced about happily, pointing off to the flock of flamingos just north of them. "Look, Usopp," she practically gushed, admiring their fine pink feathers and healthy builds. "They're much livelier than the ones back at Crocodile's mansion," she added.

Usopp nodded, a grim expression forming. "I don't think the master cares for our birds very much. I overheard him ordering Hawkins to eliminate them as soon as possible."

Pouting, Luffy crossed her arms and shook her head. "I won't let him get rid of a single one," she determined firmly—but saying as such was much easier than actually doing it, especially in regards to opposing Crocodile's decisions. Besides, if ours grow fat enough, maybe Sanji could cook them!

"Luffy," Usopp murmured as he looked at her worriedly, "I don't like that face you're making—what are you planning?"

Shrugging, Luffy sent him a cheerful smile when the car came to a halt. "Nothing," she answered softly before hopping down, brushing her skirts flat all the while. A flash of light came to life in her eyes and mere seconds later, a loud explosion followed suit, causing her to jump. "Thunder," she observed, leaning in towards the gardener as he climbed down the car. "The storm is growing," she added, pointing up at the clouds.

Usopp nodded. "Don't worry, Luffy, I'm sure it'll pass by the time the master is finished with his visit here." He proceeded to glance about nervously before saying, "But I don't have any ideas how long that will take. Knowing the master and his history with Doflamingo, it could go from anywhere between five minutes to five hours—it just depends on how long his patience runs…"

Sniffing a little due to the cold, Luffy quickly nodded and tucked her fingers under her arms, as a way to warm herself. Standing on tip toes, she glanced towards the front of the mansion, frowning when she failed to spot anyone. "They're not going to greet us?" she questioned, arching a brow when she glanced back at Usopp.

He only shrugged in response.

"That is one of the more distasteful qualities of that idiot," an annoyed voice answered from behind them. When Luffy turned around, she caught Crocodile glaring past them at the mansion, hand tugging at the collar of his coat to bring it closer to his neck. "He'd much rather have us freeze out here than have the common decency to see us in," he went on to add, throwing a dull glance towards Daz. "Go up ahead and see if you can find anyone."

With a mute nod, the driver left them to the cars, pushing—shoving—Bon Clay aside as he went and earning an angry stare.

"Un, deux, trois," he snarled as he did a handful of spins. "Watch where you're going!" He stopped his spinning when he was in front of Luffy, placing his hand on her shoulder and pointing his toes upwards. "There's a nasty storm rolling in, don't you know?"

"Mr. Two," Crocodile calmly stated, earning the dancer's stare. "Why don't you go give a quick once-over of the mansion to make sure there are no surprises in store for us."

Bon clay leaned in while cupping his chin. "Surprises—do you mean traps? Do you not trust Doflamingo?"

Crocodile's stare dulled. "I don't trust anyone—go, now, and be quick about it."

"Of course, of course!" the man practically sang before twirling around and skipping away. "I'll find out if they're joking around or not~" And as his tall figure disappeared into the fog, Luffy found herself smiling—she so enjoyed Bon Clay's company.

Something wet struck her face.

Glancing upwards, she pouted when it began to drizzle, hands shooting up to cover her face. "It's raining," she sighed, looking over to Usopp who was frantically digging around the trunk of the car. A moment later he revealed an umbrella.

"Under here, Luffy," he softly ordered when he opened it up.

She quickly took to his side, offering him a thankful smile all the while. "You're a lifesaver, Usopp," she gushed as she wiped off the water from her face.

"Uh…" the gardener weakly responded, causing her to blink and look to him in confusion. Someone pushed against her back and the umbrella was lifted higher. Usopp's stare left hers to glance upwards, his lips forming a firm line and eyes growing blank in emotion.

Glancing upwards, Luffy found Crocodile standing behind them sporting a hard frown. He had taken the umbrella into his possession so that he too could fit underneath. "I don't like the rain," he stated after a sigh when he caught her looking his way.

They remained mute after that, awaiting for Daz's return.

When the driver did come back, he did so with a young maid following after him. She carried an umbrella to shield herself from the rain while Daz pushed forward towards the car. "Do you want me to follow you in or wait outside?" he questioned Crocodile in a quiet voice.

"It's best that you come along—Mr. Two is…" Pausing, he threw a quick glance to the maid, who was tossing a cigarette to the ground and stomping it out. Lowing her voice and leaning in towards Daz, he added, "He is checking around, so perhaps it would be best if you stayed by my side in case things get heated—we are in his territory."

And with that said, Crocodile pushed forward, leaving Luffy and Usopp out in the rain. Frowning, Usopp shook his head when she went to look to him to see if he had another umbrella. "That was it," he whispered as they took after their employer, side by side as if to create warmth.

The rainfall had hardened by that point, falling down in an unsteady pattern. Frowning, Luffy quickly linked her arm through Usopp's and lead them forward, towards the entrance of the mansion. As they neared Crocodile, she could hear Doflamingo's maid talking.

"The young master will see to you shortly," she said, opening the door for Crocodile before shaking her umbrella out and dumping it in a nearby basket. "In the meanwhile," she continued on, eyeing Luffy and Usopp for a brief second, "you can wait for him in his office, partaking in a drink and smoke if you desire."

Crocodile threw her a grim expression. "Doflamingo is not a man of fine tastes when it comes to smoking—I brought my own cigars." Pausing, he undid his umbrella and shoved it back into Luffy's hands before adding, "But I'll have a glass of red wine, if he even has any."

The maid nodded. "I'll fetch you a glass right away, sir, if you would just follow me…" she stated before gesturing off to a flight of stairs down the hallway. "As for your…servants?"

Crocodile glanced back at the group of three before cocking a brow. "How am I supposed to know where Doflamingo wants them?"

Fighting back a frown, the maid nodded and pointed down another hallway. "If you three would just continue down this way, you should come across the social room..."

Daz sent Crocodile a brief glance and after a stiff nod from the latter, he pushed past Luffy and Usopp to make his way down the hallway. After a moment, Usopp tugged Luffy along, not allowing her the chance to glance Crocodile's way.

Mid-way down the hallway, when no others were around, Usopp weakly muttered, "I don't like it here, what with that storm raging on outside and this being, well, Doflamingo's nest."

Nodding in agreement, Luffy asked, "Do you think he'll try anything while we're here…? Him and Crocodile are in an alliance, right?"

Daz—who was leading them down the hall—stopped abruptly before glancing back and revealing a blank expression. "If anything happens, I'll take care of it. Just don't get in the way." And with that, he turned his attention forward and continued on.

Sharing a frown with Usopp, Luffy leaned in to quietly ask, "Is Daz more than just a driver?"

Usopp, eyes widening, shrugged. "I've heard…rumors," he answered softly, wincing when Daz cocked his head to the side, as if he heard them whispering. The gardener didn't say anything more about him after that.

As they neared what appeared to be the social room, Luffy quickly stated, "Well, I won't worry because I have the great Usopp here to protect me, right?"

"Eh…" Usopp objected, casting his gaze aside and causing her to look to him with confusion. "You could say that…"

Before she had the chance to respond, she was greeted by the sweet smells of warm treats and a blazing fireplace. Pulling away from Usopp, she darted for the back of the room, hands shooting out for the tray of treats before the fire. Are these pastries? Cakes…? Candies?

As her fingers reached out for the first item on the platter, a brief low laugh filled the room, prompting her to cast her gaze aside towards the source. Blinking, she smiled when she caught a familiar face looking her way. Sitting on a couch with arms spread out upon the back, Law cocked a brow and simply asked, "You can never resist food, can you?"

Pulling her hand back towards her chest, she faintly said, "Law." She took a step towards him, leaving her food be and folding her hands together over her waist. "It's nice to see you again," she added, fighting back the urge to grin like a fool.

Sitting up, a frown took to his face as he looked her over. "You're soaking wet," he commented as he reached across the couch to pick up a throw blanket. Getting up, he went to drape it over her head, drawing her towards the fire. "You'll catch a cold if you don't dry yourself."

"Thank you," she responded, tugging the blanket closer around her body. While most of her body was indeed cold from the rain, her cheeks couldn't help but feel warm at that moment.

The clearing of somebody's voice drew her attention back, eyes finding Usopp's as he stared at them with interest. Picking at a treat, he went to sit besides Daz—who had his arms crossed and attention thrown out through a window—and said, "I didn't know you had, uh, friends here, Luffy?"

Blinking, she turned fully towards him and opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. After a moment, Law pulled away from her and took to the couch on the other side of the room, slouching back when somebody else entered the room.

"Brother, brother, brother Law!" the person sang as they entered, short choppy blonde hair swaying. "Is these the guests?" he asked in a high pitch voice, almost feminine. Cupping his cheeks, he leaned forward to glance Luffy's way. "Look at them all!"

"Dellinger," Law commented quietly when the younger male approached Luffy quickly. "What are you doing here?"

"Boss wants me to help you babysit!" Dellinger announced happily as he picked at the hem of Luffy's throw blanket, wide hungry eyes meeting hers. "You're a croc-o-dile, are you not?" Before she had the chance to answer, he quickly added, voice now deeper than ever before, "Don't think I'm scared of you—I'll kill you if I have to!"

From the corner of her eye, Luffy could see Daz tensing up, as if expecting something bad to happen; however, Dellinger was silenced when Law called him out.

"Sit down then and stop being a pester," he harshly ordered, prompting the young blonde to twirl around a pout.

Sticking his fists out behind him, he objected with his tone now softer, "I was just trying to make a friend, Law!" He proceeded to slip his tongue out at Law, expression his frustrations. But in the end, he took to sitting down, legs crossing and hands folding together over his lap. "They're the boring lot, aren't they?" he asked then, cocking a brow Luffy's way. "Where's the boss, the boss? I want to see the boss!"

A giggle fit escaped the Dellinger then, his hand shooting up to hide his wide grin.

Turning his attention away from the fireplace and towards the younger male, Law dully answered, "Doflamingo is meeting with him, remember?"

When Luffy took her seat beside Usopp, Dellinger glanced upwards towards the ceiling and frowned. "His office is just above this room…" His gaze widened, the wide grin forming once more. "I bet if you let me stand on your shoulders, I can listen in on what they're saying!"

Law shook his head, arms crossing. "I'm not going to have you dig your heels into my shoulders."

And as the two continued to argue on the matter, Luffy was left to look to Usopp, watching as he gazed back nervously towards the back window. "It's really pouring out there," he observed, hands snaking together to create warmth. "And it's getting darker by the second…"

"It'll pass," Daz calmly commented, eyes still glued on the two opposite of them. He stiffened in his seat when a round of thunder erupted. "All storms reach an end, eventually."

Pouting, Luffy brought the blanket in more, practically covering most of her face. While she was never one to fear thunder, she did, at that moment, find herself uneasy for some reason. Perhaps it was because they were in a different territory, or maybe it was because the storm was ever-growing. Whatever it may be, Luffy had a feeling that a rough night was in store for all of them.

Dellinger shot out of his seat, quickly running towards the light switch. "I know what we can do to pass the time!"

As he switched the power off in the room, Law sat up in his seat, throwing a fat frown Dellinger's way. "What are you doing? Turn the lights back on!"

"No, no, no!" Dellinger objected as he took to the middle of the room. The fire from the fireplace highlighted the left side of his face while his right side remained hidden in shadows. "Let's tell spooky stories, yeah?" he asked, looking directly at Luffy and Usopp.

"This is ridiculous," Daz said then, tone clearly annoyed. "We didn't come here to play games."

Dellinger gave out a whiny moan, sending a dismissing wave of his hand Daz's way. "Boring, boring!" He leaned in towards Luffy and Usopp, lifting one finger towards his cheek. "You want to tell scary stories, right? You two are fun, right?"

"Dellinger," Law stressed from his seat, "they don't want to bother with your silly games."

"Okay!" Luffy found herself stating, happily so. She did enjoy stories—Usopp's tales always brought a smile to her face, and where was the harm in sharing some tales that moment? "I like that idea."

Shocked, Law shook his head no and objected. "Luffy! Don't give into him like that!" When he went to add something else, Dellinger quickly twirled around and shook one slender finger before his face.

"Nope, not going to stop this train of fun!" Dellinger announced, happily so. "All you boring people can leave~" He proceeded to turn back around and take Luffy by the hand, drawing her away from the couch and down upon the floor beside him. "I'll start, okay?"

A deep exhale escaped Daz as he got up. "I don't want any part of this," he stated as he head for the door, not bothering to send any of them another look.

"Luffy, are you sure it's okay to be doing this?" Usopp asked after a moment, slipping down from his seat and onto the floor. "Aren't you…scared?"

"No," she objected firmly, even if it was partially a lie. "Are you, the great Usopp, scared?"

Widening his stare, he quickly shook his head and puffed out his chest. "I fear nothing!" Snapping his attention to Dellinger, he proudly added, "Give me your best shot!"

The sound of flesh slapping together filled the room, prompting Luffy to glance upwards at Law. He had his palm pressed against his forehead, eyes shut. "I can't believe you three are actually doing this," he muttered out.

Huffing, Dellinger angrily retorted, "If Brother Law finds this idea boring, he can leave!" When the blonde returned his full attention towards Usopp and Luffy, he smiled and added, "I got a good story to tell you all~"

And with the thunder rolling outside, Dellinger went on to explain an old tale about how the mansion was haunted by the spirit of a previous owner. "He lingers about the hallways every night, starting around this time," he'd explain, voice low and intimidating. "And rumor has it that if you run into him, you're as good as dead!"

A loud screech of a laugh escaped him, causing Usopp to jump up and grow pale in the face. "You're…you're joking, r-r-right?" the gardener asked, hands shaking as he clutched onto Luffy's arm.

Swallowing, Luffy nodded in agreement, clearly just as shaken up as Usopp. "There's not really a ghost, right?"

Dellinger waved a finger at them, ignoring Law when he let out a low huff. "Doflamingo once ran into him many years ago—that's why he always wears those glasses…the ghost carved out his eyes!"

"No!" Usopp gasped.

"Yes!" Dellinger screamed.

Thunder gave way and Luffy brought the blanket completely over her head. She believed him and his story—the thought of a ghost wondering about left a bone-chilling fear within her. And it's late! Just about the time Dellinger said he'd appear! "I want to go home now," she whimpered from under the blanket.

"I second this!" Usopp agreed, body jerking when a branch broke outside.

Sighing, Law arose. "You three are idiots," he declared as he went for the light switch. When he flipped it, nothing happened. A moment later, he flipped it again, yet nothing happened.

Peering out from under the blanket, she watched as he glanced down the hallway before reentering the social room with a grim expression. "I think the power is out…"

"It's the ghost!" Usopp almost screamed between chattering teeth.

"No, it's not," Law tried to explain, but stopped when the fire beside them died out quickly. That prompted Luffy to jump up and scoot back towards the window. "Stop," he told her when he met her worried stare. "There is no ghost here."

Usopp was the next to jump up, legs shaking as he glanced about frantically. "I knew coming here would be the death of me!"

Dellinger giggled in delight from his seat, wide eyes watching the scene unfold before him. "The ghost is angry at you two! He's furious that new people are here! Furious! Furious!" His hands clapped together when Usopp made a bolt for the door, crying out something about waiting out in the car.

Law tried to stop him, but failed, being pushed aside by the terrified gardener as he ran down the hallway. "Dellinger, stop it!"

Something above clattered loudly, followed by the strangest grunt of a moan. That led Dellinger to silence his laughter, standing up quickly as he glared upwards. "What…what was that?" he asked, voice soft and timid and almost scared.

Cupping her cheeks, Luffy took to the blonde's side in the middle of the room. She figured the closer she was to somebody familiar with the mansion, the lesser the ghost would be angry at her. "It's him," she whispered harshly, eyes wide as she looked Law's way. "Why didn't you mention you guys had a ghost here before!"

At least if Law had warned her, she would have come prepared.

"There isn't one," Law objected in a firm voice, pulling away from the door frame to approach the two. "Dellinger made it all up."

The howling of wind came to life.

Something loud crashed up above.

And a blinding white light filled the room.

That was enough to cause Luffy to abandon all hope and bolt for the door, blanket flutter behind her. She could hear Dellinger's shriek and Law's loud order for him to shut up, but she kept going, heading straight down the hall for whatever room she could find first.

She found the kitchen, room dark except for a few rays of moonlight sinking in through one window. It was cold inside, her body beginning to shiver as she slowed down her pace to glance around. From what she could tell, there was a mess on the floor—pots and pans and food scattered about.

Someone moved in the corner.

"You," the voice said, tone low and horrid.

Widening her stare, her mouth fell ajar as the figure stepped forth into the moonlight, face a deadly white and expression hard. It was the ghost—it had to be the ghost.

She screamed.

And ran the opposite direction into the darkness of Doflamingo's mansion.

Law's POV

It had been half an hour since the power went out and when the fiasco that followed started. Luffy's friend, whoever he was, was the first to leave the social room, screaming at the top of his lungs as he headed for the exit. Law had tried his best to stop the fool and talk some sense into him, but the man's fear made him strong—strong enough to push Law aside.

So, that left him with his idiot brother, Dellinger, and Luffy.

And it seemed that Dellinger had bought into his own story, frantically glancing about as noises from the storm and not some stupid ghost filled the mansion. It was his screaming that most likely drew Luffy into a panic, prompting her to make a run for it, no matter how loudly he called out for her.

It was Law's job to make sure everything went smoothly among those who tagged along with Crocodile, and he was failing miserably. While he was rather glad Luffy was there, he was annoyed—angry—at how everything quickly grew sour.

And he proceeded to spend the half an hour looking for everybody, but more specifically, Luffy.

Law discovered her hiding under the dining hall table, blanket wrapped around her tightly and covering the top of her head. She looked almost a child then, so fearful and small. And as he knelt down upon the floor to scoot in next to her, he could see her figure shivering.

"Luffy?" he asked, making sure to keep his tone soft.

Her wide eyes peeped out from under the blanket, searching his. "I saw him," she muttered, tone blank of emotion. "The ghost—I saw him."

Law shook his head, exhaling softly. "You couldn't have because there isn't a ghost here." His hand reached out to touch her shoulder. He was never good at comforting others, and doing that was the best he knew of. "I've lived here for many years—you'd think I'd seen this ghost by now, wouldn't you?"

A pout formed upon her lips and she ended up crossing her arms—something he noticed that she did when frustrated. "I did see him, though, in the kitchen! Are you calling me a liar?" Her once worried stare had morphed into anger.

"No, I'm not," he explained, hand drawing the blanket away from her face so he could get a better look. "I think with the storm raging on outside and Dellinger's stupid story, you've gotten spooked and are maybe seeing things because of such."

Huffing, Luffy objected by shaking his hand off her shoulder. "I'm not crazy, if that's what you're saying."

Law ran his hand up the side of his face, fingers weaving through his hair. "I'm not saying that at all, Luffy…" Before he had the chance to finish his sentence, a flash of lightning danced across the room followed by a roar. That prompted the maid to whimper out and lean in towards him, arms wrapping around his torso and face pinning against his chest.

"Law," she whined, holding him tight. While she was a tiny thing, he had to give her credit for having a strong grip.

Inhaling deeply, he pressed his hand to her back. He wasn't one for close contact as such, and while he was a bit uncomfortable due to such, he did like the feeling of her needing him like that. He gently placed his other hand over her crown, fingers tracing her soft dark hair.

"It'll be alright," he informed her, running his hand along her back. "I won't let…I won't let this ghost get you."

Luffy pulled her face away from him, her hands dropping to her lap. "You mean it?" she questioned him softly, face a bit flustered and hair a bit messy.

He liked that look.

His hand fell on top of hers, fingers wrapping around the side of her palm. "Luffy," he began only to find the rest of his words trapped in his throat. She was leaning in towards him, her eyes half fluttered shut, cheeks warming up into a shade of pink…

And as he leaned in towards her face, the sound of footsteps stopped her. Luffy—hearing them as well—pulled away and frantically glanced aside, eyes widening. She scooted back, a low whimper building in her throat.

"Who goes there?" Law called out sternly as he crawled forward to get out from under the table. He could hear Luffy's protests, but ignored them.

Luffy's POV

She watched in horror as Law crawled out from under the table to confront the ghost. It was silent after that and her eyes were glued on their feet. Law had backed up a bit but the other figure—the ghost most likely—kept still.

The lights shot back on.

And the figure knelt down and as she prepared to scream out, she found herself holding her breath when meeting a pair of familiar dull eyes.

With face covered in a white substance, Daz glared at her, expression annoyed. "There you are," he stated, tone harsh. "I've been looking for you ever since you ran out of the kitchen. What the hell is wrong with you? Didn't you recognize me?"

Exhaling, she felt her shoulders grow limp. "You're not the ghost…?"

"What ghost?" Daz shot back, standing up now. When she crawled out from the table, she noticed that Law was standing by the doorframe, a fat smirk on his lips. "Is it because of the flour?" Daz continued, voice growing annoyed. "When the power went out, I bumped into a cupboard and a bag of this stuff fell all over me…"

Chewing on her bottom lip, she glanced about nervously before looking up into his eyes and softly asking, "So there isn't a ghost?"

He rolled his eyes, but Law answered for him. "No, Luffy, there isn't a ghost."

She crossed her arms, fighting back the urge to pout. Luffy felt silly then, embarrassed almost. Lowering her brows, she went to ask, "Then how about all those other noises we heard?"

Daz shrugged briefly, turning around and glancing out the window. "The storm, most likely."

Somebody else entered the room, pushing Law aside as he glared Luffy and Daz's way. "There you two are," Crocodile practically growled, expression full of frustration and rage. "We're leaving," he informed the two as his eyes darted to Daz's face, brows lowering. "I won't even ask what happened to you."

Doflamingo's voice filled the room, prompting Crocodile to stiffen up. "Crocodile, sweetheart, no need to throw a fit like this! I told you already, it was all an accident."

Turning around and taking step back from the mass of feathers, he stuck one finger up and shook his head. "No," he stated firmly. "That wasn't an accident. None of this was an accident. You fucking planned all of this."

Cocking a brow, Luffy softly asked, "What happened?" That only earned her one hard stare from her employer and a sly one from Doflamingo.

"Listen, babe, the old man just fell over in the dark, that's it," Doflamingo explained to her, tongue slithering out across his lower lip. "And just like the kind soul I am, I went to go help him up, just in case he broke a hip or something."

Crocodile's gaze widened, lips barely falling ajar. "That wasn't helping me," he snapped back. "You practically straddled me!" His hand balled up into a fist a moment later, realizing what he just said. "I mean…no, not straddled…but…"

"Oh," Doflamingo purred, leaning in slightly and causing Crocodile to back up some more. "I did more than just that."

"I'm never coming back to this hell hole of a nest," Crocodile announced as he took Luffy's wrist tightly, tugging her after him as he went for the hallway, Daz quickly following suit. "It's some fucking coincidence that the power goes out just when I'm alone with that bastard," he muttered to himself, fingers digging into her flesh. "I'll kill him if he ever goes near me like that again!"

Luffy glanced back towards Law and offered him a weak look, knowing full well that the visit was now over. She felt bad that she wasted whatever precious time she had with him fretting over a fake ghost. Mouthing out a silent goodbye to him, she returned her attention forward and tried to keep up with Crocodile's pace so that he wasn't dragging her.

Doflamingo's voice bounced about the hallway. "What about dinner?"

"Shove it up your ass," Crocodile snapped back, not waiting for Daz to open the mansion door for him, darting outside and straight into the rain. "I should have known better than to visit that trash." When they approached the cars, Luffy found Usopp and Bon Clay waiting inside.

Crocodile released her hand and went to open the door of the car. Once inside, he flicked his attention to her and before she even had the chance to say anything, he sternly declared, "Nobody will ever mention this day again. It didn't happen." And with that, the door was slammed shut and their visit terminated.

End Short Story Three

A/N: I know not a lot happened between Law and Luffy, and while I would have loved to put more, uh, fluffy interaction between the two, I didn't want them to be closer in the side story than they ever were in the main story, if that makes sense. Trust me, if I ever do a side story again and it's beyond a certain point of LawLu's relationship, I'll have a ton more side story options ranging from fluff to smut of just LawLu. : )

I'm also sorry for taking longer than usual to update. The past two weeks have been trying in my personal life and I've had little time to write.

Thank you so much for reading and supporting this story! It really means a lot to mean that all of you readers (new and old) have stuck around to read my trainwreck! Thank you.

Cereza101: Awww, I'm with you on that. I think a Crocodile plushie would be so freaking adorable. They can all have plushies of each other to deal with all the feelers, haha. Thanks for reading! :D

Starlight555: Yes, Crocodile is messed up, and he has plans for Luffy. I'm trying to make it more psychological, where he wants to mess her up mentally in a way as the old man messed him up, but to a certain extent. Like, he'd never really physically harm her in any way (like with how the old man cut off his hand), maybe get rough in, uh, the bedroom, but he'd never do her harm just because or to teach her a lesson. And yeah, totally, Doflamingo can be very manipulative (probably more so than Crocodile could ever be). If/when Crocodile finds out, Luffy & Law will be in some serious trouble. Thanks for reading! :D

TissureCube: AHH I love your reaction! I'm glad you found it intense; that was what I was aiming for! Thank you so much for reading! :D

22: Thank you so much! :D

Stardustadventurer: Mmmm, we'll see what happens between Law and Luffy and what he has to say. And yes, of course, one of my goals is to transition Crocodile into that place of learning how to trust again, and we'll see if Luffy is the person for him to do as such. And as you said, it's clearly only sexual for him at this point in their relationship. Thank you so much for reading! :D

Askana: Aw, thank you so much! I'm happy that this chapter made this version of Crocodile more, uh, relatable? Sympathetic? I'm not sure what it made him, but I'm glad you feel this way. Thank you for reading! :D

Milkachocolate: Awwwwww, stop, you're making me blush. No no no, nothing you say comes out weird—it fuels my writer ego, haha. The compliments are like drugs to me, thank you so much. LOL that threeway idea ain't so bad—I might have to do that! (Just Kidding) Thank you so much for reading! :D

Quiet-Invisible-Bookworm: Aw, thank you! And yeah, I totally get you with her being so naïve! But she'll grow out of that by the end. And I'm really happy you mentioned that you don't board the smut-train because sometimes I get worried that the story isn't enjoyable/doesn't make sense if you take out all the M-rated scenes. But from what it appears, you're enjoying it, so thank you so much for bringing that up. :D

Son of Whitebeard: Yes! She totally is! When I was first starting this story, I was going through the list of characters of who I wanted to be the maid and then it hit me that freaking Tsuru has that cleaning/laundry like DF power and is perfect as the head maid!

Anon: OOOOOOOhhhh (O/3/O) You want to marry me? ME? *blushes* Okay~~~~ I don't want to give away too much about how Robin will feel when she finds out, but it'll be to the point where Luffy and Robin's relationship is very strained .Thank you for reading! Because of you readers, I have the motivation to write, so thank you very much for the support! :D

BrightAsNight: I'm glad you feel all these mixed emotions! One of my main goals here is to have the reader question themselves if they should hate Crocodile or feel bad for him. Yes, he had a terrible past, but does that fully excuse his actions? But thank you so much for reading this story and expression your thoughts on his past! :D

annaashiqa: Yay! I'm glad you're enjoying this story. It appears the last chapter you read was chapter 12, so I dunno when you'll get up to this point and read this, but hello and thank you so much for enjoying this story! Thank you! :D