Worth a life

by Sharry93

"Finally," the doctor whispered after a second and the relief in his voice was unmistakable, "you woke up." "Who...?" He fell silent as he saw the other's face up close, stared into these strangely familiar grey eyes, which still stared at him glassy. Although he did not know this man, he was somehow no stranger to him, the wild black hair, those deep eyes, this scent. "Can it be?"

4. Chapter 3 - Time

Hey everybody,

so here we go, moving forward little by little ;-)

I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and we see each other next week^^

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Chapter 3 - Time

"More tea?"

"No thanks, I'm fine," he said, watching Law standing by the small stove and frying fish.

Meanwhile it had become dark outside and mosquitoes danced in front of the window, fortunately Law had been able to put the window back into its frame. It was difficult to keep a conversation going. Law avoided looking at him most of the time, and Rosinante was afraid of the answers that his questions would bring. But he knew he couldn't run away.

"So," he finally said, watching Law, as he sat on the kitchen counter, which was much more comfortable in height than any present chair, "I think it's time for us to work through the last 17 years."

The other nodded without looking up.

"What do you want to know?"

"Everything."

Now Law glanced over at him with his eyebrow raised. "You'd have to clarify it a little bit more."

Rosinante had his elbows supported on his thighs and put his heavy head on his palms.

"How did you escape from Minion? How did you escape the birdcage?"

Law refocused on his fish.

"I didn't. I waited until your brother was gone, and then I... brought us to safety; that was roughly a week later, meanwhile I hid on Minion."

"Nobody discovered us? And you took care of yourself and me by yourself?"

The other replied nothing, just nodded, and turned his fish again, although it had to be good by now.

"No wonder you had to grow up so quickly."

Now Law shrugged. He was obviously uncomfortable with the subject and Rosinante didn't want to torment him any longer, so he decided to ask another question that hadn't let him go since he knew what had happened.

"And what about my brother?"

For a moment, Law paused in lifting the fish out of the pan.

"He became a Shichibukai and took in Dress Rosa," he finally replied.

"What?" Quiet horror filled him as he realized that he could have stopped Doflamingo if Rosinante had only not thrown away his shot back then.

"Yes, but don't worry, he's in Impel Down now, level six. During the war two years ago, he tried to break out, but we were able to prevent that."

"We?" He asked as Law pulled a chair closer and sat down next to him at the counter, starting to eat.

"Well, not me, some from the alliance. I was not there at all, after all I had promised the Straw Hat to fight by his side."

Astonished, he looked down to the other.

"Okay, you've got to explain that a little bit more, Law. What war and what straw hat?"

The other looked up to him.

"In recent years, the situation has become increasingly tense. I don't have to tell you anything about the violence and the injustices in this world. The clear lines between the good Marines and the evil pirates got more and more blurred and well, at some point it escalated." Law shrugged and continued to eat. "Believe me, I had no intention of being part of the Great War, but it is as I say, the Straw Hat calls and we come."

Law nodded into the depths of the room, and Rosinante recognized a peacefully slumbering transponder snail with a straw hat on a small side table next to a sofa with a blanket and pillow.

"And how did this Great War end?"

"Well, what do you think?" Law muttered, but his voice sounded strangely hollow. "In the end we won."

"Against the Marines?"

"No, against the others. Against those who had benefited from the old-world order and did not want to have it changed. Some were Marines, others were pirates, and others were neither, just like on our side. In the end, we were stronger. We were victorious. We were the ones who could shape a new justice." For one moment, the other remained silent. "But sometimes I wonder if it was worth all the lives that died for it."

Law had stopped eating, staring at something that could not be found in this room and Rosinante knew this view, knew it far too well.

"What do you think is worth a life, Cora-san? What do you think is worth dying for?"

For a long time, he remained silent and looked at the empty pan in front of him, in which the last fat was still sizzling. Images of the people he had lost flared up in front of his inner eye. Their smiles, their deeds, their deaths. Then he thought of the people who had influenced his life and hopefully were still alive, thinking of the boy the man next to him had been until the previous day. Sadly, the truth caught up with him that he had not been able to save Law from a brutal upbringing after his terrible childhood. The other's words made it clear that Law had probably experienced worse things than Rosinante might could imagine.

"I think everyone can answer this question for only themselves," he replied honestly. "It is obvious for me that I would always protect you with my life, and I can only hope that the courageous comrades at your side have considered your motives important enough to die for this conviction."

"And what if it wasn't their conviction?"

"Then all that remains for us is the hope that they cared enough for the people, whose conviction it was, to offer their lives for it."

Slowly Law looked up to him, and again Rosinante realized that the other had suffered more in his life than he had ever wished for. Then Law turned to his food again.

"Wars are never easy," he finally said, appearing to bury the grief again, "there have been many losses on both sides, but we have entered a new era and I just hope that better people are in power now than before."

Rosinante did not respond but looked back at the little transponder snail. As he understood Law, he would probably still jump up today as soon as it would ring.

"And who is this Straw Hat?" He asked, hoping to ask for lighter memories of the other.

"He is also a pirate, now arguably the most powerful in the world. But he's a fucking fool and really stupid. Four years ago, he helped me defeat your brother, without him I probably wouldn't have made it." Quietly, Law laughed, actually seemed to forget the dark thoughts for a moment. "Oh, what do I say. I almost died. Doflamingo did tear my arm off after all, and he was trying to do much worse."

"What?! But... but you still have both?!"

Now Law looked at him with a slight eye roll.

"Op-Op fruit?" He replied, as if this statement would answer all questions, before continuing: "On my own I really wouldn't have had a chance against your brother, but our dear Mr. Straw Hat with his crew of maniacs... tze... you would like them."

Meanwhile, the other had started eating again.

"Do you like them?"

"Me? Don't be ridiculous. The captain is insane, I tell you, and his vice is just as awful, drinking like a bottomless barrel, and both are idiots who take on every stupid challenge, no matter how invincible the opponent is. And the navigator, dangerous as hell … uff... but worst of all is the cook!" Law pointed his chopsticks at Rosinante. "Feels like he doesn't make anything but bread! As if a chef couldn't do anything else."

Rosinante laughed quietly as he recalled that little dislike they both shared and which Law apparently hadn't overcome by now. At least one little thing that hadn't changed despite all the time.

"What?"

He smiled at his little, grownup Law. "It seems to be a motley crew, and you have formed an alliance with them?"

Law just nodded.

"If I had known what was coming, I probably wouldn't have done it," he grumbled, picking a little too enthusiastically into the remnants of his fish.

"But," he continued, "I can't deny that they did great things, and I can't deny that I wouldn't live today if it hadn't been for their help."

Now Law smiled a little again.

"I never thought I would befriend a bunch of idiots, but..."

"Friends? You made friends?"

Again Law rolled his eyes and got up to rinse his dishes.

"Don't be so surprised. I am..."

"Oh, my little Law actually has friends! I'm so happy!" He couldn't hold on to himself and hugged the other from behind. The relief overwhelmed him for a second. After all the terrible things that had probably happened during the last few years, he could not help but feel deep gratitude for this Straw Hat and its crew, who, despite everything, had decided against all odds to befriend Law, although he was not necessarily a sympathetic person, as Rosinante knew only too well.

"Could you stop calling me little? I'm technically older than you," the other grumbled between Rosinante's arms, confirming his quiet thoughts.

"That may be, but technically I'm still taller than you, so I can call you little," he replied with a broad grin, and decided not to let the other cloud his small delight.

"You and your giant genes," the other growled, freeing himself to continue working.

"Tell me more about them, Law," Rosinante inquisitively demanded, glad to see that the shadows had almost completely disappeared, glad to see Law showing emotion again, at least when he talked about this Straw Hat and his crew of maniacs. "Tell me more!"

"There's not much more to tell," said the other with a shrug.

"I was kind of forced to befriend the straw hats. Long story," he waved off when he saw Rosinante's questioning gaze, "and I disbanded my crew before the Great War because I didn't want them to fight."

"Why?" He hadn't known until now that Law himself had gathered people around him. It seemed almost less likely to him than that Law had generally made friends. Hopefully he would get to know them soon, these people who had willingly followed his little Law.

"Isn't that obvious?" Law swung the pan back and forth in one hand, scattering water drops and soap throughout the kitchenette. "I didn't want to lose someone again who was important to me."

Rosinante remained silent. The ease that had finally illuminated their conversation for a few minutes faded instantly. For a brief moment, Rosinante had forgotten that 17 long years had passed in which he had left Law alone. 17 years that may have passed him by without a trace, but that wasn't true for Law.

Law hadn't lost him, but he had lost him every day, every day he had not woken up. Law had to reckon every day that this was the day Rosinante would die for good, for whole 17 years, along with all the other losses he had suffered.

"And your friends agreed?"

"I didn't give them a choice. I can be very convincing if I want to," the other replied only hollow. "But it was better this way. I still have contact with them from time to time and they all lead a happy, satisfied life, just they deserved it."

Law took a wet rag and quickly wiped over the worksurfaces, the kitchen already looking clean enough to perform an operation. Rosinante, on the other hand, went back to his counter and settled on it again.

"But what about you, Law? Do you live a happy and satisfied life?"

The other paused his activity, then threw the rag into the sink and turned to Rosinante.

"What I'm going to tell you now, you won't like," he replied matter-of-factly, his arms crossed.

"All right."

For a moment, they looked at each other wordlessly, Rosinant unwilling to interrupt their eye contact. It was Law who eventually looked away.

" I spent the first 13 years after your death trying to figure out how to take revenge. I should have used it to come up with a plan for how I could put your will into action, but even if I used it as an excuse, I just wanted to kill your brother for what he had done to you."

For a moment, Rosinante remained silent. He was longing for a cigarette, but he knew he could hardly ask the doctor in front of him for one.

"But you just said he is in Impel Down. So, you didn't kill him."

Law nodded.

"I didn't, like I said, damn Straw Hat. I myself was too weak to do what I had set out to do, but the Straw Hat is no one to kill if he can somehow avoid it, and he even left Doflamingo alive." Then he sighed. "After we defeated him, things happened fast and furious and we kind of slipped from one battle into the next. I didn't have time to realize what I wanted to do with my life, now that I had fulfilled my purpose. I hadn't thought about getting out alive of the whole thing anyway."

He took a deep breath and then shrugged his shoulders.

"But in the end, I survived, despite everything, and I realized that..." He bit his lower lip and then looked away. "... that I am only alive because you protected me back then and that I couldn't just throw this life away. Not after so many have died in our name - in my name. Not after you were... almost died... and of course I realized that if I gave up, there would be no chance that you would wake up again."

By the end, Law had spoken much faster than at the beginning, but now he seemed to have caught himself again.

"After the war, I decided to turn my back on this whole world. I was just tired of these fights, all this suffering, and all the hatred," he muttered, and now he looked at Rosinante again. "I don't want to live in constant fear for the people I care about."

Then he went back to his chair at the counter and sat next to Rosinante.

"And what did you do then? After the Great War?" Rosinante asked, looking down at him. He was only too good at understanding that. He, too, had once been tired of that life of betrayal, lies, and violence, and had wished for nothing more than a peaceful life in which he could close his eyes without the fear that he might not reopen them.

Law had supported his elbows on the counter and hid mouth and chin behind folded hands.

"I traveled," he muttered, looking into the empty room, "without a real goal. Then I stumbled across these islands here by chance and so one thing came to another. They needed a doctor and I... needed a task."

For a moment, the other was silent, then he tapped slightly against the bridge of his nose with one finger and Rosinante thought to recognize a small grin in these grey eyes.

"Ninnin, the daughter of the former doctor of this practice, is a good student, but she still has little practical experience and I thought I could teach her one thing or another. I thought maybe this simple life on an island with a regular daily routine, with a regular income, with a task to help people, is exactly what I need. Just as my parents lived." Now Law tilted his head slightly and looked at Rosinante from the corners of his eyes. "Some days ago, I decided to settle here, and as if it were a foul coincidence, I knew how to wake you up."

"It was a coincidence?"

"No, of course not," Law shook his head, as if Rosinante had asked something stupid. "I assume that I have blocked my own abilities, due to a life on the run, as a pirate and so on, and when I began to find my peace here, the blockade dissolved."

"Sounds logical," muttered Rosinante, who didn't really understand much about such things and could therefore only rely on Law's words.

"Whatever. During the years of the disturbances I had hidden you safely, afterwards I went to take you with me and now you are here. This is roughly the short version of the last 17 years."

It was still hard for him to believe all this, but at the same time he had the living proof sitting in front of him. He had no choice but to acknowledge the truth.

Law got up and stretched.

"So, I know you've got a lot of questions, but if I'm honest, I'm really tired. Can we continue to talk tomorrow?"

Now Rosinante's view fell to the small clock next to the stove, it was already in the middle of the night and as he had understood the other, Law would have to work the next morning.

"Of course, you must be exhausted."

The other gave him such a precious, crooked smile and walked past him, briefly swiping his hand over Rosinante's thigh.

"I have waited 17 years for this day, Cora-san, yes, I am exhausted, but finally you are back and finally this unbearable burden seems to have fallen from my shoulders. Now that you are back, I want nothing more than to be with you more and to sleep, to finally sleep."

"But then you should sleep in a decent bed," he replied quickly as the other prepared to simply sink down on the small sofa without even changing clothes.

"Don't be ridiculous," Law said only under a yawn, "I only have the bed next door, and you'd have to fold yourself four times to fit on the sofa here, so..."

"So you get the bed, you had a hard day at work!" He interrupted the other, strode towards him and grabbed him by the arm. "Years of tension have fallen from you today, which means you will need a lot of good sleep."

"But..."

"No buts!" He decided, pulling the other into the room where he had woken up, and throwing him on the bed. "I've slept for 17 years and after what you just told me, I won't be able to fall asleep one way or another. So you sleep now, at least this one night I want to be the one who watches over you."

An unfamiliar tender smile slid over Law's face, illuminated these dark features as even the mention of the Straw Hat had not been able to, and he nodded.

"Well, as you wish." Law took off his jeans while lying down, threw them to the side without a care, and then pulled the blanket up all the way over his shirt. "But just so you know I don't have a problem sleeping now, so don't complain later."

His eyes were already heavy with fatigue and Rosinante realized that the other had probably really shed a load of 17 years today and that his body was now reclaiming what he had had to endure the last few years.

Rosinante pushed two piles of books aside and sat down cross-legged on the floor next to the head of the bed.

"Don't worry, I won't. Get some rest, my little Law."

The other dug out one hand from under the blanket and placed it briefly on Rosinante's chest, as if to make sure the heart underneath was still beating, then Law looked at him.

"Cora-san, may I kiss you..., please?"

He knew that this question was dangerous, that he had to evade it through smart words, but the longing in these eyes made him weak. He had left Law alone all this time, had let this child experience a second time what it meant to lose loved ones, to lose the protection of this love. Rosinante could perceive this longing for love, this desire for the warmth of another person so much that his heart almost broke under it.

Carefully, he took the other's hand from his chest, leaned forward, and placed his lips on Law's, only for a brief moment before leaning back.

"And now sleep, my little Law."

As if on command, the other's bright eyes closed and with a fine smile he seemed to fall asleep within seconds, Rosinante's hand firmly clasped, as if he were afraid to let him go for even a second.