Here is one of the parts I've been looking forward to most in this universe

Chronology: right before Dressrosa


Pirate Grandsons

Tsuru's first clue that something had gone horribly wrong came in the form of shattering porcelain. When she looked in the direction the sound had come from, she saw a very pale Sengoku with a fisted hand soaked in tea and the remnants of a cup scattered all over the table. Sengoku didn't seem to have noticed, though. His full attention was on the newspaper he was holding in his other, also fisted hand. How he could even read it bunched up like that was beyond Tsuru.

Intrigued, Tsuru reached for the newspaper she'd been ignoring so far.

A look at the cover of the paper was enough to give her a very bad feeling. Pictures of Donquixote Doflamingo, Trafalgar Law, and Monkey D. Luffy greeted her.

What has the kid done? She wondered, because she was certain whatever had happened, it must be Law's doing. He'd been quiet far too long for anyone's comfort.

Reading the article was a matter of a minute, and then she was up and dragging Sengoku out of her ship's mess hall.

Once in the privacy of a storeroom, Tsuru didn't wait for Sengoku to speak.

"Does he know about Doflamingo?" she asked bluntly.

She closed her eyes when Sengoku shook his head.

Of course not.

"I didn't think it'd change anything," Sengoku explained. He sounded calm enough to the untrained ear. Tsuru could tell he was about ready to be sick.

From what Tsuru had guessed from reading the article, Law's plan would have been pretty near perfect if Doflamingo didn't have the Tenryuubito by the balls. Law might have come up with something better if he'd had the right information.

Tsuru didn't voice this reflection.

"I thought we had more time," Sengoku said, more to himself than to her. He sounded as if he was beating himself up. He probably was.

"Your kid is too reckless," Tsuru said. She agreed with Sengoku, though; she thought there would be some chaos before Law went after Doflamingo. She had clearly been wrong.

And they were days away from Dressrosa.

Tsuru placed a hand on Sengoku's shoulder.

"Let's go to my cabin. I'll try to learn who Sakazuki has sent." Hopefully, it wouldn't be Borsalino.


Sengoku had managed to put himself back together somewhat. Things could be worse. Issho was as likely to pick a fight with Doflamingo as he was to focus solely on Law. And Law wasn't alone. Out of all people, he'd gone and allied himself with the most unpredictable crew since the Roger Pirates. Sengoku really hoped those brats' luck would make an appearance.

Tsuru had gone off to tell the navigator to set a course for Dressrosa, because she was such a good friend that she was willing to give him a ride and turn a blind eye if Sengoku had to break a dozen or so laws.

It was then that the den den mushi woke with a call. Sengoku was so out of it he didn't even realize it wasn't his den den mushi until he had answered the call.

"Sengoku here," he said, grimacing over his mistake.

A very familiar laugh greeted him.

"We're pirate-in-laws!" Garp announced over the line, guffawing.

Sengoku snorted, but he smiled despite himself.

"Unfortunately," he agreed.

Sengoku waited for Garp to be done laughing. It was no secret that Sengoku was staying at Tsuru's ship, so he wasn't surprised by the call. Still, he hoped Garp had a better reason to call than just to drop that line.

Surprisingly, he did.

"Your kid's got good taste," Garp said, and Sengoku could hear the grin in his voice.

"Of course you'd say that, it's your grandson he's working with."

"Yeah, but that's not it. Luffy won't leave him stranded, you know?"

Sengoku's mind went back to the Battle of Marineford, to a Monkey D. Luffy who against all odds ploughed through a battlefield that outmatched him to save his brother.

"I know."

"They'll be fine; they're tough kids," Garp told him.

So was Ace, the bitter, terrified part of Sengoku thought.

"I know," he repeated instead. Because he had to believe it. Because he would go insane if he let anything else take root in his mind.

Law would pull through this. He would win, and Sengoku was going to beat him into a bloody pulp for worrying him so much. He might also hug him while he was at it.


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