Chapter 2

"I'm not going anywhere"

"You know, I've come up with some battle strategies and even prepared some distractions in case we need to run away. But you won't stand for it, huh?" Law asked as he looked at the far horizon, dots of black slowly getting bigger as they came closer. War ships, no doubt. Clearly the marine eager to take the head of the Pirate King.

The very one who was standing at the edge of the cliff, a wide smile plastered on his face.

"Yep. No running away" the Pirate King said, setting the strawhat on his head.

"We are no cowards," another voice said. Law looked at the far left and saw Eustass Kid cracking his knuckle—the one not made of metal, anyway—and grinning like he was about to have the best time of his life.

Law shook his head with an exasperated sigh, but slowly, a grin tugged at his lips.

"We could die though. Or our friends. For real, this time," Law warned. Over the years, the strawhats and his own crew, as well as their other allies, had grown strong, extremely so. That was part of the reasons why they could finally reach the last island on the Grand Line. But Law was no idiot. The power change in the marine was significant, too, and unfortunately, there were a lot of extremist maniac like Akainu, who didn't care about anything as long as they could destroy the 'pests' called pirates. Each side had a 50-50 percent chance of winning, if they were to have an all-out war.

And it was that, that was about to happen.

An all-out war.

The island, so peaceful with its large forests and mystic animals, would soon be a battle field. Even this very cliff they were standing on, would most likely be nothing but rubble at the end of the day.

Law, for all his experiences with death and blood, shuddered at the dark possibilities.

"Shishishishi"

Law glanced at Luffy, all thoughts fading to the back of his mind. The Pirate King still donned that wide, overly bright smile.

"Don't worry. Everything will be alright as long as we stick together," the Pirate King said, confidence dripping from every word.

None the wiser, Law believed him.


"Stick together", huh, Law thought as he stared at the starry, open sky above. It was already night, and he had spent the entirety of the day trying to catch up to what had happened recently. He also jotted down all things that would happen on both of his previous timeline, forcing his brain to remember each of them chronologically. He sincerely hoped he didn't get any of them swapped or jumbled up or something. Because that would be… messed up.

He had left many things out, though. Things that made his hand tremble too hard to even write.

Law sighed and slowly sat on the ground, his hand unconsciously fiddling with grass around him.

The first timeline was… interesting, if he had to describe. It was just like a fiction, where they went and pummeled through dozens of hardships, experienced wins and losses, only to have the happy ending in the end, surrounded by their friends and allies who had accompanied them along the way.

Except, the continuation of that ending, was a tragedy.

And, just like most tragedies, everyone died at the end.

Even Law himself.


"He hasn't moved… has he?" Bepo said, his non-existent brows knitted in worry. He, together with Shachi and Penguin, had been observing Law for a while. Well, for the whole day actually, but they had only been watching him nonstop ever since Law had gotten out 'to get some fresh air' after dinner and just… sat on the ground. He was close enough to see from the window, but far enough that the trio can't really make up whatever little things he did.

"Yeah. It's been two hours" Shachi confirmed with a frown.

They knew Law liked to ponder about things. He would look like he was spacing out, or simply enjoying the view, while in actuality many things were running a marathon in his mind. Sometimes it's about the variety of cold-blooded murder and torture he could inflict on his archenemy, and some other times things that he didn't share much.

But it usually didn't take this long, and coupled with his strange behaviour since the morning, they knew that something was up.

"Do you think he's going through… you know, a phase?" Shachi asked, eyes squinting at the small figure of his friend, who still hadn't even moved—

"Pretty sure he has gone through the emo and rebellious phase already," Penguin responded, sipping from his tea that he had taken once he realized they would be watching nothing but Law's back for some time.

"And," Penguin added, "I don't think any teenager's phases includes looking at your friends like they're ghosts"

"He didn't look at me like I'm a ghost," Shachi chided, and after a thoughtful pause, "well, maybe it's pretty close.."

"He looked terrified at Bepo, though"

The bear mink, who had been quiet and worrying in silence, squirmed "I'm sorry…"

"Don't be. Anyway, do you think we should drag him inside? It's gotta be pretty cold out there" Penguin pointed out. Even the window was starting to fog.

"And see him getting all awkward around us again?" Shachi asked rhetorically. Because, in all honesty, Law being awkward was weird. He was supposed to be a cocky, arrogant person who despite it all still cared for his friends. Not… not someone who would suddenly get too quiet and—god forbid—awkward around them.

Penguin shrugged "Well, I mean, he can just go to his room. At least it's warm there. He can… sort through whatever his problem is and hopefully tell us—oh" Penguin cut his words short at the sight of Law finally standing up.

The trio looked at each other and a silent agreement went through.

They backed out from the window and did whatever it was that crossed their minds.

"Crap. Now I'm afraid that I'm the one who doesn't act normal" Shachi said, clumsily organizing their cutlery, which, in fact, didn't need organizing at all.

"Just don't ask him directly about whatever it is. At least not now. The bastard won't tell us anything" Penguin warned, but there was no real heat in his words. Only worry.

"If this keeps up, we'll corner him tomorrow"


Law could feel the hole at the back of his head getting deeper and deeper. He could imagine quite clearly Bepo, Penguin and Shachi glaring at him from behind the window. Honestly, those three… they worried too much. Well, it was mostly his fault, but really, they would go grey much faster than him, at this rate.

That is, if they could live long enough, Law thought bitterly.

He had tried to subtly avoid his three friends all day. Obviously they noticed, though, and he was well aware that they were getting steadily more worried, what with the glances and downright stares they threw at him.

But he just couldn't look at them without grief and sadness and longing so bad he felt like he wanted to rip his heart out and burn the thing so that he could just feel… nothing.

And the red.

The striking crimson he always saw covering his friends in the nightmares, while they whispered and talked and screamed about how much they had believed in him—

Law shook his head, mentally slapping himself.

He had had enough.

He could torture himself in his own nightmares all he wanted later, but he was given another chance, and he wasn't about to waste it.

Get a grip already, he told himself, heaving a deep, calming sigh. The cold wind blowing on his face helped a little.

I should go back, Law thought as he stood up, patting his pants off some dirt. He was determined to act like himself, or as close to it as he could, anyway. He glanced back at the house only to see his friends scurrying off the window.

Law smiled. They never changed.


It won't work. Not this. This neither.

Law scratched off the words in his book one by one. He originally had 3 whole sheets of papers—that's 6 pages— full, and now it was only down to a couple of sentences.

Last night, after trying to convince his friends that nothing was wrong and that he was completely alright—and he had even shot them a smile that he hoped would alleviate their worry a little, but from the look they gave them, he knew it didn't work—he went back to his room and started to plan.

He listed all the potential actions he could work on and all the possibilities each of them could cause. Some of them were a bit far-fetched, but if he learned anything from two timeline, it was that he needed to be more than creative. Because those goddamn marines would try to find any way they could to bring them down, and those bastards weren't above petty tricks like lies and deception.

But the first action was the hardest to decide on. He just wasn't sure what to do. In the first timeline, at this time around, he could vaguely remember that he was too focused on hiding from Doflamingo and trying to survive that he didn't pay much attention to anything else. He would train his devil fruit abilities in secluded places, away from the eyes of people, and making sure to never stay in one place, in case someone did see him. He trained with Bepo, Penguin, and Shachi a lot, too. Mostly muscle and stamina training, and sometimes hand-to-hand combat when Penguin and Shachi were up to it.

Now though, Law was sure he could try to do some other things while keeping an eye out for Doflamingo and his goons. Maybe he could expand his relations, just like what Luffy unconsciously did, or maybe he could gather more money to make many things go smoothly later on, or…

He could meet his soon-to-be allies.

Law shook his head.

No, none of them were in the north blue—well, Hawkins and Drake were there, but they weren't exactly Law's allies—and there was no way Law could go all the way to their places right now. He had fortunately retained his previous ability, he had checked, but he didn't really have the other means like ship and the like.

Law scratched off the possibility.

That left a few more things to choose from, but now that he went through them again, none of them was quite right.

Law leaned back on his chair, rubbing his face in frustration.

Before, in the second timeline, he was brought back when his crew arrived at Sabaody Archipelago. It was funny, really. One second he was bleeding to death, and the next he was sitting at the very much familiar auction house, watching the insane kid in a strawhat punching a world noble.

He had thought that was a dream at first, something that his mind decided to conjure while he was dying, so he laughed and went along with the memory.

Then he had realized something was off. And after fighting together with the two other captains from the worst generation, he knew that it wasn't a dream, and he was very much awake.

And that, however much unbelievable it was, he had been sent back in time.

Just like now, before, Law also kept a list of events that would undoubtedly happen. He planned his actions, made possibilities and—

Law jerked forward, the grip on his pen tightening.

He was doing the same thing. Planning, trying to take control over every single little thing.

What did that bring him the last time?

Death.

And not just his, but everyone else's

Before, he had tried so hard to not leave a single detail. To predict the butterfly effect each of his actions took. To ensure that everything went according to his plan, even with unpredictability-personified Strawhat Luffy as his ally. And mostly, he was right.

But he was also wrong.

And he had to watch everyone die. Again. Not being able to do anything but uselessly screaming their names.

Law felt his gut twisted. He took in shuddering breath as he ripped the pages and crumpled them in his hands.

All these plans… they were useless.

He knew the core of his problem. The one he had and would always despise even after his last breath, even beyond life times.

The World Government.

The very enemy that always caused the demise of everyone he ever cared for.

Law closed his eyes. He could see the faces of his crew, the Strawhat Pirates, and even the Kid Pirates, all of them somehow smiling despite the fact that they had driven him to the brink of insanity more than once.

Law could feel something warm budding in his eyes.

.

"Let's stick together"

.

A pang in his chest.

I'm sorry.

He had made his decision.


"Alright, let's do this," Penguin said, rubbing his hands together, his voice barely a whisper.

"Do you think he's sleeping?" Bepo asked timidly behind his two friends

"That insomniac? Nah, I don't think so" Shachi answered with a wave of his hand, leading the way to Law's room. The guy had holed himself there for long enough. Now it was time he explained what exactly was going on.

"Remember, if he tries to use his devil fruit to run away—"

"We throw ourselves at him and cling on for our dear lives" Shachi and Bepo finished Penguin's sentence, who seemed satisfied with their mutual understanding.

They sneaked closer to Law's room, careful not to make a sound so Law wouldn't bolt before they even had the time to come in.

They jumped—they refused to acknowledge that they shrieked—as the door opened suddenly, revealing a teen with disheveled hair and dark circle under his eyes.

The trio looked Law up and down, not even bothering to hide their worry as they saw the red on the corner of Law's eyes, which, when they thought about it, finally looked at them instead of the floor or the air around them.

"Is… everything okay?" was what came out of Shachi's mouth first. All the other questions they had prepared to ask suddenly vanished into thin air.

Law nodded. Penguin could see Law's shoulders tensed and his hands curled into a fist so tight his knuckles became white. Penguin had to remind himself to blink, because it was the first time he ever saw Law that nervous. Not even when the teen had decided to tell them a piece of his horrible past at the White City or whatever the hell he had to go through in that one pirate crew.

"I-I think you should rest, Law," Bepo chimed in quietly from behind Penguin, his furry hands rubbing each other in anxiety.

"Yeah," Penguin was curious—curious was an understatement, he felt like he would hurt someone to know—about what was happening, but man, the guy looked horrible, Penguin had no heart to leave him like this, "come on. Come back inside and at least close your eyes and try to—"

"No"

Penguin blinked, "What?"

Law looked at him, and just like yesterday, the amber eyes looked so deep and dark and covered in so many emotions that Penguin lost his voice at the sight.

"I have to tell you guys something," Law said, and Penguin could have sworn that his voice broke at the last syllable.

"You're not… leaving, right? Law?"

Everyone snapped their heads at Bepo, who seemed so close to breaking into tears.

"No," Law quickly said, looking bewildered at the idea, "No, I'm not leaving. I'm not going anywhere," he said again to prevent the bear from crying. Bepo cried anyway.

"Then, are you hurt? Are you sick again?" the bear asked in between sobs. Penguin and Shachi rubbed his furry back frantically to calm him down.

"No." Law answered firmly, as convincing as he could. Bepo cried harder, though it seemed it was out of relief this time. Penguin and Shachi let out a breath they didn't realize they were holding. So, Law was not leaving, and he was not sick. Then what was he gonna talk about?

"Listen" Law started after they had managed to calm Bepo. Bepo, Penguin, and Shachi turned their full attention at the teen, trying to telepathically tell him that whatever he was going to say, they were going to be supportive about it.

"I've… given it a lot of thought" Law said.

Yeah, we can see that, Penguin thought.

"I know it sounds ridiculous, and I'm saying it now because I'm afraid that I might change my mind later. I just want you to understand that you can choose whether to follow me or not. I'm not gonna ask or force you guys to stay with me, because I know what I'm gonna do is… selfish"

Wow. Now, that long, roundabout explanation was a sure sign that Law was nervous.

"…And?" Shachi asked after a pretty long, tense pause. Law just stared at them, looking into their eyes one by one, as if dreading their reactions. After inhaling deeply, Law continued, and it was the last thing they expected Law to ever say.

"I'm going to be a marine"


A/N

Thank you for the reviews!

Oh, an important point, the flashback in this chapter is the ONLY one from the first timeline. For the following chapters, the flashbacks that appear will be from the second timeline. To avoid confusion.

I've written some more chapters, so maybe I'll update in a few days.

Please leave a review on your way out ^_^