First attempt at One Piece story, with one of the most cliche genre out there XDD

For a heads up, there would be NO romance in this story. Love is in the air, though. Friendship and familial love, that is.


Summary:

The first was a dead end. The second was hell. What would become of his third chance in life?

"I may be a marine," his eyes narrowed at the word, before a faint, wistful smile played on his lips, "but just like you guys, I'm a child of the sea."

TimeTravel!Law and Marine!Law.


Chapter 1

"This Can't be Right"

The cold was just the beginning.

The wind rumbled, the earth shook, the ocean flared.

Still, lifeless bodies laid around. A battered strawhat forgotten on the ground.

Blood kept gushing out, his vision a blur of red and black.

He gasped for more breath, only for none to be inhaled.

He failed. It was his second chance. Everything was going smoothly. And he still failed.

It was a mistake. All of it.

A high voice chuckled in the background.

"Would you like to try again?"


Law woke with a jolt. His eyes were wide, glazed with haunting look and not seeing. He coughed as he forced himself to suck in breath, his chest heaving painfully. Sweat rolled down his face, his hands holding the bedsheet trembled badly as they tried to look for something non-existent.

For excruciating seconds, he saw the battleground, turned upside down and reduced to rubbles, his friends and allies limp on the ground, the stark color of white snow and crimson blood—

He closed his eyes shut, wishing for anything but to relive it. But it was still there. The dark, gore scenery of his last breath—

Right, breath.

His lips trembled as he tried to inhale. He coughed as his sore throat fought against the action. He tried again.

The vision shifted as more oxygen got into his lungs. The dark faded away little by little, the red went away first. His vision became clear and white, until he could recognize the color of the ceiling above.

His mind went blank. Hundreds of things flashed past, but at the same time, nothing came at all.

He raised his hand, staring at it dumbly. His body felt numb, and something—or some things—ache. His heart was still beating fast, his throat dry, his eyes stung, and there was a prickling headache threatening to turn into a head-splitting pain.

But it didn't matter. Not when there was no blood in his hands.

After gathering his bearings and became aware enough, he glanced at the window at his right, its curtain opened a little, letting some of the sunlight in. He forced himself to sit up, ignoring the dull pain in his chest and the slight discomfort of his sweat-drenched shirt.

I'm alive, was the first coherent thought he had after waking up.

He could still remember, almost physically, the way he bled to death. The pain he had to endure as he saw everyone he ever cared for got taken down one by one right in front of him—

Law almost jumped as he heard a knock on the door. It was a soft, hesitant knock, as if the person on the other side wasn't sure to be polite or to just stride in. Law blinked several times, mind drawing a blank again, before finally getting a decent grasp on reality and saying, "Come in." He grimaced at his rasp, slightly high-pitched voice.

The door opened slowly and a person walked in. Law didn't immediately recognize the person—a teenager, if he had to guess from the height and built— but he came to realization as he saw the hat. A hat that no one else he knew would ever wear—

"Penguin"

He called, barely a whisper. The teen—Penguin—smiled at him, and Law's head barely registered that he was bringing a plate of food.

"Hey, Law. I thought you were still asleep. It's rare for you to sleep in, so I figured you'd like it if I came to bring your breakfast here"

Penguin grinned. He actually had planned to just leave the breakfast for Law to eat when the latter woke up, but it turned out he was already awake.

But one look at his friend, Penguin knew something was wrong.


Law was never a morning person. An early riser, sure, but not a morning person. Law would be all grumpy and preferred to have a conversation-less time early in the day, accompanied only by a nice cup of coffee. At particular times when he didn't get a decent amount of sleep at night—whether because of the haunting nightmares of his past or because he simply had to finish a goddamn book—the black circle under his eyes would be more distinct, and he would be—for lack of better terms—more of a jerk-with-a-stick-up-his-ass than usual.

But this time, something was different. Law looked tired, yes. Sweating, yes. A bit dazed, yes. Penguin would have chalked up his friend's condition as having the usual, not-exactly-normal nightmares, and went out of the room without bringing up anything because he knew just how much law hated to be seen at his worst after particularly bad dreams. Except Law's eyes looked... Hollow.

Penguin couldn't really pinpoint what, exactly, but he could see a lot of emotions in those amber eyes. Sadness, guilt, shock, and... Was that grief?

Penguin had to put in effort to grin like usual, while carefully observing his friend, trying to see and catch what was different. But except for those eyes and the way Law's hands trembled while accepting the plate, there were no other things.

Oh, and the way Law stared at him a moment longer than usual.

Honestly, if they were in normal circumstances, Penguin would think that was creepy.

Not this time, though. Not when the stare looked so shocked and empty and there was no light in it that made something in Penguin's stomach churn.

"Is… something wrong?" Penguin hesitantly asked, walking to the window and casually opening the curtain because damn, the nervousness made him feel fidgety and he didn't like it.

"No"

The reply came a bit too fast for Penguin's taste

"I mean, I just had a... Nightmare. But it's fine. Nothing out of the usual" Law added, picking with his breakfast. Penguin stared at him, trying to decide whether or not to point out that having an occasional nightmare or even a night terror was not fine, and he should talk about it with someone, but decided to just keep silent and hum softly instead. He knew that Law was one of the people who held privacy highly, so trying to force anything out of him would just end in vain and make him irritated, something they didn't need right now.

Penguin inwardly sighed, hoping that it really was 'nothing', though he made a mental note to keep a closer eye on his friend today.

"Then, I'm gonna go shopping with Bepo. We're running low on food. Shachi stays, though, so just call him if anything happens"


Penguin went out of the room after shooting a last, quick glance at Law. Law stared at him until the door closed shut.

And the panic settled in.

Law jumped out of the bed, half running to the wooden desk stationed in one corner of the room, covered in books and papers. His hand hovered for a little before grabbing what he was looking for.

A calendar.

His eyes darted to the last date that was crossed. He remembered always crossing dates before going to sleep, so the date after that should be today's.

17th of October.

He snapped to the upper left corner of the calendar.

To the written year.

He made a quick, mental calculation.

This can't be right

The calendar was dropped with a soft thud as Law rushed to the other side of the room, stopping clumsily beside a big, wooden wardrobe.

He stared at someone on the other side of the smooth, dusty mirror, who in turn stared at him in shock.

A boy—a preteen, from the looks of it—with dark hair and amber eyes. His skin was pale with faint, unnatural patches of white. He looked skinny, but there was some baby fat left that was a dead give-away of youth.

Law stared at him—at himself—reflected on the mirror. He almost stumbled back at the sheer ridiculousness of it.

He looked so... Young. And so small. The resemblance was definitely there but... He could barely recognize his face. So that's why Penguin looked so freakin' young, too.

15 years, he remembered his calculation. He went back as a 15-year-old teenager.

The time when he had to move around, being cautious and looking over his shoulders to avoid being tracked and caught by Doflamingo. The time he had to teach himself everything he would ever come to know, from everyday struggles to the power of his devil fruit. The time when he did small, seemingly harmless crimes of pickpocketing and fraud and shit, only to later plan murder of the one who caused the death of his most important person.

"Would you like to try again?"

The voice rang faintly in his head.

He had said yes. For the second time.

He knew he would be brought back to the past. But he didn't expect it to be this far into the past.

He looked up, not really focusing on anything, only realizing just how many shit could go even more wrong.

"Fuck"


A/N

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