Yeah, I'm back! Surprise!

I mean, I did say in my other fic that I'd try to continue the chapter. I didn't realize y'all like that fic so much, you guys made me feel so damn bad for stopping it and I'm very sensitive so here I am! It was tough, but I did it! I'm so glad!

Enjoy~~

Blood

Luffy opened her eyes, feeling a familiar comforting warmth around her. Law's strong arms were wrapped around her shoulders and his face was tucked in her hair, she could hear his slow breathing next to her ear. She smiled, remembering his smile and flushed cheeks when they kissed. She still couldn't believe she had done it; must've been the alcohol's influence that made her more reckless. And he had responded! They had celebrated his birthday afterwards, and he had such a large smile. It made Luffy genuinely happy, that all of Law's sadness and hatred were finally replaced by love, even if for just a short moment, and that he looked at her with truly grateful eyes. She knew friendship, and relationships in general, were hard on him, and was glad he opened up to her.

They had both been too tired to head home so Luffy had told the surgeon he could sleep with her and had led him to a guest room. He hadn't accepted, but hadn't refused either, just looked away with a blush and let her drag him. They had already slept together in the same bed before, after all, so what was there to fuss about? Though, if she was honest to herself, she just really liked seeing Law half-naked. The black lines on his chest and arms gave him a wilder look that suited him too well, making him even more beautiful. His sweet scent when he got close to her was intoxicating, and she wanted to kiss him again, but didn't, afraid of how he'd react. She knew it was stupid, but she couldn't help remembering what he'd said to Kidd when he thought she wasn't nearby. That he didn't want to care about anyone and wished he was alone because it was less painful than losing someone important to him, and that he hated the very existence of love. He'd said that love never lasted and it broke her heart that he thought like that right after she'd basically confessed her feelings to him.

Luffy felt she finally realized the truth and found that she loved Law more than anything in the world and that she'd go to Hell and back if it meant helping him. She still didn't understand these feelings, but she knew they were powerful, more so than what linked her to her brothers, and that made her also realized that a connection to Law had been created in the short time they had been together. It was what filled her with warmth and replaced Ace's presence. Law. Luffy knew there would only ever be him and nobody else and wondered, hoped that he shared her feelings.

Law stirred as she fiddled with his gold earrings. They were pretty little hoops that shone a golden color in the darkness. He had four of them, which was strange, but fascinating to look at. Her hand moved to his hair, which felt softer than silk.

"Mugiwara-ya?" Law mumbled.

"Your hair is really soft."

"O-Oh. Really. What time is it?"

"About five or six in the morning, I think." It was hard to tell with the curtains closed. "Maybe seven."

"Dammit. It's late. I gotta go to work." Law opened his eyes blearily to see Luffy's twinkling eyes right in front of his face. Thank goodness it was dark enough so she couldn't see his reddening cheeks. He still couldn't get used to her, even after the kiss. Why did she even kiss him anyway? Who could ever wish to kiss a face like his? Penguin always said he was scary, and Ikkaku told him he couldn't attract women that way, not that he actually wanted to. But Luffy… She had probably been drunk, Law told himself, looking for relief and finding none. But there had been a slight taste of alcohol in her mouth. Law found himself wanting to taste it again, that addictive blend of sweet and salty with meat and chocolate. God she had felt so good. He shook his head in an attempt to get rid of the irrational thoughts he was having. Lust wasn't a part of the surgeon Trafalgar Law and would never be, he assured himself.

"Torao? It's Sunday. And what do you even mean, it's late? It's freaking dawn."

Law snapped out of his disturbing thoughts. "I-Is it? Oh. But… There will still be patients even Sunday. And seven in the morning isn't dawn. I work at six." His sleepy mind only just registered the fact that they were in the same bed together again.

"You can take the day off."

"What? No. I never take the day off." Law worked every day of the week, enjoying his job and not having anything else to do. He never even had the idea of having a day off. It was ridiculous.

"It's your birthday."

"My birthday was yesterday. I only have one birthday."

"Please. I don't want you to leave already." She snuggled closer to his chest.

"Mugiwara-ya, you have to go home with me anyway. On the Polar Tang, remember?"

"I won't let you leave yet," she said stubbornly.

"You won't let me?" Law roll onto his back, about to stand up.

"You're really warm. It's comfortable." Luffy wrapped her arms firmly around his torso and rested her head on his chest. The man sighed in defeat. He never gave up so easily, but it was simply impossible to argue with that girl. Or that woman, since she was, what, nineteen? Didn't look like it anyway. Law tucked his arms under his head and wondered what he was going to do. Would Shachi find some lame excuse to justify his sudden absence from work? Well, Crocus probably didn't give a damn anyway. He'd always said Law needed some time off work — to which the surgeon replied he did take time off for his meals.

Well, if he was honest to himself, he really enjoyed the weight and warmth of Luffy's small body on his chest. He never liked anyone to touch him, except her, and deep down he didn't care about his work as long as she kept hugging him. She even helped him sleep. Seven in the morning! His usual wake up hour was 4am. How she changed him! But in a good way, he thought with a smirk. Who would've thought a little girl — woman — like Luffy could make him skip a workday, much less fall in love. As Corazon said, What an exceptional pretty lady she is, that little Straw Hat.

The door slammed open, blinding Law with light. It was probably 10am. Luffy had fallen asleep on him — not that it bothered him — and he was busy scrolling down his notifications because his idiotic friends just couldn't leave him alone. Anyway, he wanted to check for anything important they could've told him. It was quite unlikely there was anything worth reading, but he was a careful person and never left anything unchecked. He was actually half relieved when someone barged in the room, interrupting the endless "Are you all right" and "Pls don't get drunk" and "Did you have fun" and "If u know what I mean hehe ;P" messages he was too nice to ignore. The Supernovas were also very bothersome, but Luffy wouldn't want him to leave the conversation, so he also got "Drake you bastard where r u" (from Apoo), "Killer you gotta come Eustass is declaring WW3 to the Monk" (from Bege) and "The cooks won't let me into the kitchen imma starve to death" (from Bonney). It was strange, though, that he hadn't received any new messages from his friends in several hours, but he tried to push the thought aside as unnecessary worry.

The person — or rather, people who came in were Nami and Usopp. They both froze upon seeing Law and Luffy together. Law could sense their shock as the three individuals stared at each other. Nami blushed and muttered something unintelligible, whereas Usopp's jaw dropped open. The woman grabbed his nose and pulled him out as he was about to scream something, closing the door softly.

"Ow! Nami! Not my nose again!"

"Shhhh!" She scowled at him. "You're going to disturb Luffy!"

"But Nami, didn't you see? They were sleeping together! In the same bed! What if… What if…" Usopp's eyes widened. "OH MY GOD WHAT— GYAAHHHHHH!" Nami grabbed his jaw and clamped the mouth shut, making him bite his tongue.

"SHUT UP! Nothing happened! Law didn't do anything to Luffy, all right? Now come on, leave them alone! Go to Kaya! Where's Kaya? KAYA! Wait a second! Sanji! He's going to go berserk if he comes and sees them! SANJI!"

"You're the screaming one here."

"SHUT UP!"

Inside the room, Law sweatdropped, having heard the whole conversation. He then (only then!) realized how hungry he was and proceeded to waking Luffy up.

"Ah! L—"

"Eustass."

"What?"

"Chance of Trafalgar Law falling for you: 0%. So, shut up."

"What? D'you wanna die?"

"Hey Eustass~ I know why Hawkins is so upset about it~"

"Bonney? What are you saying? I'm not upset about anything."

"Yes you are. You're jealous when Eustass chases other dudes."

"Tch. Don't say stupid stuff like this. And I know why you are so nice to Eustass. You want Killer to—"

"SHUT UP! I do not!"

"What is it about me and Kidd?"

"It's Kidd and I, Killer."

"That's harsh, Hawkins. Bonney, are you sick? You look quite red."

"D-Do I?"

"Hey, hey! Bonney! Let's have a food contest!"

Law frowned at Luffy. "You only just woke up." He sighed and dropped down on one of the barstools of the dining hall when he was (unsurprisingly) ignored. He hadn't received anymore messages from his friends since late last night (or early this morning, depending on how you thought of it), and it somewhat worried him as they never stopped texting each other, especially in the morning before going to work when they just had to talk about that delicious croissant they had in a random café and the pretty lady who had served it with coffee. He tried to shake his fears off, telling himself nothing could possibly have happened and they may be drunk and still sleeping or being told off by Crocus for being late again even though it was Sunday — Crocus was more lenient with Law who worked much longer and better — but he still couldn't stop his pessimistic mind from thinking the worst. Especially since he had never been away from Punk Hazard and his friends since his childhood when Corazon adopted him. Plus, Corazon had seemed quite worried ever since Luffy came…

"Oi~ Torao~ You sleeping?"

Law refocused on the real world and backed away in surprise when he noticed Luffy's face a mere millimeter from his own, nearly losing his balance and falling to the floor (there was some embarrassingly comical windmilling of his arms involved, but let's not talk about that). He grabbed his hat, which had been resting on the bar next to him, and rammed it back onto his head in a failed attempt at regaining his dignity.

"Looks like the pretty boy's awake after all," Bonney commented. Law frowned at her. Pretty boy really wasn't something you used to describe him. "And he's angry," the woman noted.

"Mugiwara-ya, can't you stop doing that?"

She gave him an innocent look. "Doing what?" Law gave an exasperated sigh.

"Nevermind. Weren't you going to tell me something? Isn't that why you surprised me like that?"

"Bonney was asking if we were going home now, and I said I don't really want to, but you did, so I wanted to ask you." She wanted someone else's opinion? That was new.

"Oh, right. Fine."

Luffy frowned, feeling the anxiousness he was trying to hide. "What's wrong?" Law looked at her, startled, and shook his head.

"It's—"

"Don't say it's nothing. I can feel there's something bothering you. What's wrong?"

"I… Let's go back to Punk Hazard."

"Wow. That's one unique girlfriend you have here, Trafalgar. She looks like she's about to punch you." Kid grinned. By the way he talked so casually about Law's "girlfriend", he seemed to have given up on him, but one never knew.

"She's—"

"Luffy-chwan~ Did you miss me~ Come with us, instead of the Supernovas! Marimo and Nami-san are having a drinking contest! I surely hope she beats that idiot, too." Law and Sanji looked at each other.

"You again?" They both said at the same time.

"Sanji!"

"Yes~?"

"We're going home. Sorry."

Sanji blinked a few times, looking dumbfounded, then comically burst into tears. "Why, Luffy-chan? I thought you were going to stay the whole day? Was it my fault? Did I upset you so much? I'm sorry! I… I—"

"Torao is worried about his dad."

"Huh?" He frowned and pouted and turned to the man in question, thinking what a baby the dude was to be worried about his own father. Sanji would never give so much as an afterthought about Zeff — unless there was some real threat, in which case he'd protect his family as he could, but there wasn't. After a moment, he sighed. "Fine. That guy must be a real dumbass for his son to be so worried."

Law gave a small smile. "He is." Sanji seemed to hesitate, and hugged the surgeon, surprising everyone watching. "What the—!" the latter yelped. The cook backed away just as fast.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't've said all that about you and your father. I can see you love him a lot. I… hope he's fine." He patted Law's shoulder and headed away, leaving him dumbfounded.

"That never, ever happened, as far as I know," Killer commented.

"Yeah, good thing I got it recorded." Kidd waved his phone with a smirk. Bonney asked how he did it, to which the man replied he was "quick to react". Luffy laughed at them and grabbed the still-stunned Law's arm. The surgeon found himself hit with her contagious cheerfulness and smiled despite himself.

"Come on, let's go!"

Luffy sniffed the air as they crossed the last highway. "Torao, something feels wrong."

"I know."

She stretched her neck to catch a glimpse of his concerned face. "Don't worry, Torao. They're alright. They have to be." He sighed.

"You realize I can literally hear the lie in your voice."

"Hmph," Luffy smiled sadly and settled back between the man's strong shoulders. She too heard something in his voice; his silent thanks at the attempted reassurance. They rode in silence for a little longer, until she suddenly felt his muscles tense.

"Something is very, very wrong here." Law stopped the bike as he passed the hospital. There was a crowd around it, and many people were being brought inside. Luffy jumped down after him as he rushed to meet one of the doctors.

"Doctor Trafalgar! Thank god! We don't have enough doctors to —"

"Doctor Tristan! What happened here?" Law interrupted.

"U-Uh, there was a fight between two incredibly powerful people. They destroyed everything around them. Very careless, I must say—"

"Why was there nothing on the news?"

"Well, um, apparently, the network was hacked, and internet currently isn't working, so we can't call for reinforcements—"

"Where was the battle?"

"Around the Laboratory Streets, but—"

"I knew it!" he raged, half furious, half panicked. "That bastard!" He turned around, only to find that Luffy had disappeared. He started running, forgetting the bike and cursing foully under his breath. Tristan stared at his disappearing back.

"Does that mean I have to work more?"

The scenery grew more desolate as Luffy ran on to where she knew Law's house to be. Buildings were smashed through, slashed by some unknown force and even completely pulverized. No one was left on the streets. She could see clearly that this was the work of someone incredibly powerful.

"Doflamingo, you bastard," she growled softly.

She caught sight of a familiar construction and accelerated her pace.

"Oh, no. No way."

The street seemed to have been blown up violently. The house's windows were completely shattered, the walls were deeply lacerated, and half the roof was missing. There was a huge hole next to the door where something had hit through.

A trail of blood was leading inside.

The living room looked like a hurricane suddenly appeared. The TV was in pieces. The sofa was thrashed. The tables and chairs were smashed, rooftiles rested messily on the destroyed floor. Again, deep slashes and holes marked the walls. And again, blood, like someone had gone through the pain and effort of dragging themselves away. It led her to the kitchen. And there, sitting on the floor, leaning against a counter, she saw it.

"No. No!"

She ran towards Corazon and grabbed his limp shoulders.

"Heart-ossan!"

His eyes fluttered open weakly, and he smiled. "Hey, Straw Hat. Ya like to keep me waiting dontcha?"

"What are you doing here? Why aren't you at the hospital? You're gonna die!" Luffy barely registered the tears flowing out of her eyes. Corazon chuckled weakly. "Don't give me that! You can't die! Torao — Law needs you!"

"Calm down, Straw Hat," he whispered. "It's all right. It was my fault. I should've expected Doflamingo to attack now. Do you know how he works?"

"Heart-ossan…"

"What he wants is to weaken his prey first. Break their minds. Destroy what they love." He sighed. "I knew I wasn't strong enough. I can just be proud of the fact that I sent him home with bad injuries."

"Don't talk, don't talk. I'll bring you to the hospital. You can still be saved—"

"No, Straw Hat. Listen to me. I was weak. I could barely protect the kids. I knew I would lose, and I'm fine with that. Remember, Straw Hat. Doffy wants to break you. Both of you. You are strong, I know you are. You can resist him."

"But—"

"Law will need all the help he can. He will need you. Don't falter. Straw Hat, look at me." Luffy met his insistent brown eyes. "He's never loved anyone more than he loves you, I can see it in his eyes. Law needs you. Not me. You. Help him, Monkey D Luffy. Stay with him. Don't let my baby despair."

They heard hurried step coming towards the kitchen. Luffy turned, and saw Law in the doorway, staring at them, the girl he loved holding his adoptive father in her arms with a tear-streaked face.

"Law," Luffy moaned, shaking uncontrollably as he approached them, looking dazed.

"Law." He looked at Corazon, who was being supported by the girl. His stupefied mind was completely blank, tears wouldn't come out and he could barely see the dying man he was staring at. "No matter what happens, you will be alright." He smiled widely. "I love you."

The young man couldn't take it as the older man's body went limp in front of his eyes.

He collapsed.

Well… Hahaha… Ugh… That chapter was pure pain to write.

So, I have a few things planned for the future (*evil laugh*) but yeah, I hope you enjoyed this chapter you waited for! Hahaha that was really horrible tho *sob*

Kadek8785: I agree! Nobody wants him here! Nobody! Not even me, and I'm the author!

k. cery: How attentive of you! I wouldn't think anyone would be interested in a fortune cookie Hawkins opened. I mean, it's Hawkins. Yes, I managed to get the paper, and yes, I can tell you. For a 100,000 $ fee! (Nami) Ah, jk, jk. Hmmm, let's see… "You will fall for the person you least expected." Interesting! You know, he'll kill me if he finds out I revealed that. Fortune is private, after all!

NinjaQueen33: YOU SURPRISED ME! Wow! To think someone could love my story so much… You're making me feel so bad for giving you those bad news.

Well my dear readers, I'm again so sorry I stopped the story. Hope you're not mad about it.

Bye guys, see you! I love you all!