Chapter 1: The Little Things

The evening watch shifts on the Polar Tang were always miserable when done on your own, the absence of people moving around and the echoing and creaking that accompanies any sound you yourself made was unnerving at times. Most night shifts were done in pairs unless a punishment was being carried out or there had been a fight that day leaving fewer uninvolved and not too tired to carry out watch.

Those "lucky" enough to be on watch for either reason often were welcomed to a mostly quiet night aside the Tangs creaking and settling as it moved. Normally Shachi would bemoan the atmosphere in question, it was too boring for the energetic man and without someone to chat with he'd have to pick up wondering 'round the ship to keep awake for the whole night. Passing rooms he'd here occasional light chatter in the early hours and then mostly just the sounds of breathing, snoring, and slight movements of sleep from most of the crew.

Even in Law's quarters when he pulled his far too common all nighters there'd still only be light footsteps, the moving of books and pages being turned, or the scratching of pen against paper as he worked on one thing or another.

Not to say it was always quiet and easy going on the Tang at night of course, nightmares and terrors were not uncommon by any means on the ship, with a crew made up of mostly those who'd lived hard lives as outcasts or those with nowhere else to turn to, the types of lives lead to result in the men and woman amongst the Heart pirates weren't all nice and pretty. None to mention Jean Bart and especially their captain, men so rife with struggle and trauma yet neither willing to dare speak a word of it; one long since come to terms with himself and his life choices while the other chooses to steep in self loathing and ghosts of the past only he is acquainted with.

As such, those awake, particularly those on said night watches, were quick to hear anything out of the ordinary and just as quick to respond, whether it be to bring along a crewmate on a now sleepless night to distract or comfort or to offer a more specialized comfort for whomever needs it.

So this night as Shachi made his rounds for about the third or fourth time that evening, when he heard the clatter of wood hitting metal and a short cry of pain, he was quick to make for the source; his captain's quarters.

'Did he throw himself out of bed?' Shachi thought idly as he briskly jogged down the Tang's hallways to Law's quarters, though nothing he could've thought would have been close enough to the truth before him when he opened the door.

Law's room was separated from the few rooms shared amongst the rest of the crew but that didn't mean it was meant as nor the size of most captain's quarters on traditional ships. As the Tang was organized to prioritize the rooms of the library and most especially the operating theatres and rooms holding medical equipment and supplies, his room was roughly the same size if not slightly smaller than one of the shared rooms. In it, to the door's right was a set of tall bookcases lining the wall, to the left corner was a simple bed pushed against the walls in the corner and against the left side wall was a desk, a glass case filled with an array of random keepsakes, books, and medical tools and all about the walls, across the desk and now on the floor accompanying the fallen item having made the noise earlier, the wooden desk chair, were various paper and maps of all sorts.

At first, Shachi had to squint in disbelief, scanning the room twice over in befuddlement. The room was devoid of one thing, Law himself. Though that's not an impossibility to say Law simply used his abilities to transport himself elsewhere in the ship, Shachi was sure he'd have heard some sort of confirmation that it was so whether it be the sound of footsteps elsewhere in the ships innards echoing through the metal halls or simply the sounds of movement or speech to oneself from the captain. The Tang was submerged so there was nowhere else Law could be but inside the ship and inside this room.

"O-oi! Captain? You in here?" Shachi called awkwardly, not loud enough to wake anyone in another room, but enough to certainly call attention. He was met with only the ships hum and creaking. He sighed, shaking his head a bit, miffed at the situation, before stepping into the room proper. Moving further in gave him view to who he was looking for, though it certainly wasn't how he planned to find him.

In the small space between the desk and the bedside, a definitely familiar though unexpected by a longshot face scowled bitterly up at him. Law, now visibly about how he looked when Shachi had first met him on that fateful day back at Swallow island, sat with his knees drawn up to his chest and a palm against the back of his head while he quietly held his glare, no sign of backing down as if eye contact were a challenge of wills.

Shachi laughed nervously, stepping back to quietly shut the door behind him before turning back to stare at the man, or rather now, the child he had come to check on to begin with. He sighed, scratching at the back of his head to tug on his hair nervously in thought as he took stock of the situation.

"How do we always manage to get wrapped up in weird situations like this?"

He wasn't asking anyone in particular, though in response, Law's glare softened just a bit at seeing the confusion of the moment was mutual. The older man didn't step closer to the boy, simply squatted down to his eye level from where he was 2 yards across the room before calling out again, softer now that he knew the other was with him in the room.

"Neh, Law," at his casual address, the boy's glare returned in full force. Shachi sighed, disheartened but determined to press on best he could.

"Law, do you….know who I am? Or where you are?" His voice carried a hopeful tone, which once more soothed the boy slightly it seemed.

"I…no. If you're trying to use me for leverage or something, you made a real big mistake y'know." He didn't sound pompous exactly about his threat, simply tiredly speaking as if it was common knowledge. "Once Cora-san finds out you took me, if he doesn't come himself, Doffy will and if he comes he'll kill you for taking his things."

The boy's words put a bitter taste in Shachi's mouth, considering the implications of those words. Doffy..to call him Doffy was fairly casual, and given Law's vendetta, hell, the whole reason he made a crew beyond the initial joining by force of the boys and bear from Swallow island, it wasn't something that felt right coming from the boy. Law had never in full told them his relations with the now ex-warlord, simply that he had killed someone important to Law and that he wanted Law dead or alive because of his ope-ope no mi having been Doflamingo's property. And all that was not even touching upon the comment of Law considering himself a "thing" owned by the man.

Law had been opening up in the time since meeting back with the hearts on Zou, he had come back with scars new and old but he had seemed lighter, a bit purposeless sure, but freer. He had opened up in varying degrees about his past; his sister, Flevance, and though they knew the name 'Cora-san' they had little context to place him nor of really any of the time between fleeing Flevance and the initial meeting and fight on Swallow Island.

In all the hustle and focus for Wano, plus the strawhats having been aboard with their ninja allies in tow, there just wasn't enough time for the crew to meet with their captain uninterrupted and with the privacy of only their nakama to talk about his life to that point yet. Figures with their luck that Law had to be turned into a child and of course it was in that blank period of their captains life.

"I don't think….I don't believe they'll be a problem," Shachi pieced together slowly before quickly tacking on, "we didn't kidnap you or anything, you're perfectly safe and here of your own volition!" 'Well...sort of', though that thought didn't pass the redheads lips.

Law merely quirked an eyebrow in response, absolutely unimpressed. 'Still the same cocky little shit as always, aren't cha?' Shachi chuckled awkwardly, holding up a finger to signify a need for pause before running a hand down his face and sighing heavily. He took a moment before turning his attention back to Law.

"Look, i'm gonna explain the situation to ya and it's going to sound like a lie, a really bad one, but it's the truth I swear it."

The young boy took a moment to sigh heavily out his nose before tilting his head a bit to rest against the desk to his side before responding, seemingly getting more comfortable. "I don't have much of a choice now do I?" His tone was bored and curt, but it was good enough for Shachi to feel comfortable to go forward.

"So….where do i start...uh, well. You're not usually this age I guess is a good start." Law's eyes visibly widened slightly before he quickly returned his features to a scowl, but he didn't interrupt.

"You're supposed to be 27 years old, and you're my captain. Trafalgar D. Water Law, captain of the heart pirates, though the world government calls you the 'Surgeon of Death.'" He paused, assessing the risk of saying the next thing that came to mind. "The reason Doflamingo isn't coming for you is because..uh, well, you're the one who defeated him, he's in Impel Down right now. That was about 2 or 3 months ago."

The boy stared hard at the man before him, quick to shoot back with an odd sort of venom Shachi couldn't quite place.

"That's impossible! I'm not going to live that long! There's no way even if some stupid magic fruit or something turned me back, I couldn't have! All the hospitals couldn't help and Doffy didn't find a fruit for me either! And why would I go against Doffy? He's the one who…."

The boy stopped cold, a thought striking him for the worst.

"Wh-where's Cora-san?"

"Well, to be honest Capt'n,...i'm not sure. You never really...told us who he was yet. Until recently, you never really told us anything honestly. As for you, uhh, "making it", you removed the poison from your body yourself you said. You have a devil fruit, or at least..you did after I met you."

Law swallowed, his gaze falling to the floor as he tried to piece together what he was hearing with what he knew. For all he knew, this random guy in this place he didn't know was blowing smoke up his ass just to distract him or gain his trust. But considering what he remembered last and the fact he wasn't currently splotched with white across his already somewhat pale skin, he was inclined to try and at least attempt to apply what he was being told to the idea of it being true.

"When...when did we meet? Hold old was I?"

"I'd say 12 or 13? We met on Swallow Island, that's where i'm from as well as a couple of your other crew members."

'Swallow Island...that's next to the island Doffy was supposed to be buying the Ope Ope no Mi wasn't it?' Law silently appreciated the pause he was being given to ask and connect as he needed. The age he was told made sense, and he supposed the area did too if he had eaten the fruit Doffy was buying, but why would he eat it himself? Wasn't Doffy wanting Cora-san to eat it since he didn't know Cora had eaten the Nagi Nagi no Mi already?

Though that only raised the concern of what happened to Cora-san even further. Considering everything he'd been told was true, this guy would have met him not long after where his memories stopped and last he remembered he was with Cora-san and they were….wait, things were coming back to him a bit.

Without his notice it seemed, Law started slowly articulating his thoughts aloud as he put one thing together with the next.

"Cora-san...was going to go steal the fruit himself, he was the one who wanted me to eat the fruit. But….the Amber Lead had spread too far by then for me to have…."

Shachi felt dread creep into his stomach as he too started to connect dots while the child spoke before him.

"H-hey, Law who….who was this Cora-san guy exactly?" Shachi braved, his words hesitant, he wasn't liking where things were going but the faster they both figured out things and he gained Law's trust enough to involve the rest of the crew, the faster they could start working on a solution.

Law swallowed hard, moving to interlace his fingers of his now slightly shaking fingers.

"Cora-san is Doffy's little brother," Law breathed out.

"I'm his brother! He won't kill me, I promise. Don't you worry, I have a plan and then we'll get you better and sail the world together Law!"

The memory was small, but it served to open the floodgate for everything else that had happened on that dreadful island. Yes, it was all coming back to him: Vergo, the birdcage, being put in the chest….the gunshots…

Shachi watched in concern and worry from his place across the floor, seeing his now kid captain start shaking in earnest with his face white as a sheet. It seems the conclusion Shachi had come to was the same that Law had come to remember.

"Doffy…..Doflamingo he killed Cora-san...didn't he?"

"Neh, Law! Aishiteru-ze!~"

Law felt sick, he wanted to deny it all and simply be angry and hateful like he always had, to push it down like everything else and simply take it out on the world around him. But his body would only continue to tremble and twitch under the strain of holding it in before he could no longer hold himself back. Law sat there, in his small and now far too reminiscent corner, and wept.

As tears poured down his face, snot dribbled down his lip and as sobs wracked his thin small frame, he felt warm arms wrap around his small frame. Their owner held him tightly but gently, so warm and he heard a rush of reassurances in his ear in some unknown dialect of northern. He didn't know what the man now wrapped around him was saying exactly, but it was too kind and warm in tone after all he had been through and remembered now. It was all the encouragement he needed, he buried his face in the man's shoulder and let himself sob in earnest.