Invitation

Characters: Law, Baby 5. Rating: K. Warnings: Minor canon deviation.

"Captain, something's fallen on deck!" was the unwelcome cry Law was greeted with within minutes of surfacing. Gripping Kikoku perhaps more tightly than necessary, he stalked up to the foredeck, where Shachi's voice had come from. He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting – 'something' was not the most descriptive word Shachi could have used – and the simply-wrapped package tied neatly with a navy blue bow didn't fail to surprise him.

Where had it come from was his first concern as he ordered his crew back, away from the package. It was small, around the same size as the odd casing hearts were kept in when he removed them with Mes. That was plenty big enough for an explosive, or even a spying Den Den Mushi. There was an insignia in the corner that looked vaguely familiar – it wasn't the Marines, or a pirate flag – but Law couldn't immediately recall it.

Once satisfied that his crew had retreated far enough away from the package, Law activated a Room, encompassing just himself and the package, and performed a Scan. There was no explosive, no den den mushi, or even some organ or other. Instead, there was a small piece of stiff paper, another piece of paper folded up, and what looked a lot like an eternal pose.

Some sort of invitation, then.

Having determined that it was probably safe to open, and curious who would be inviting him anywhere, and why, he approached the package, keeping his Room active just in case he'd missed an unwelcome surprise, and tugged off the wrapping. The name inscribed on the eternal pose meant nothing to him, so he set it aside and picked up the card.

Trafalgar Law, it read in an unnecessarily cursive text. He noticed the 'L' looked wrong, as if that hadn't been their original intention. If he tilted it a certain way it almost looked like a 'D'. Curious. You are cordially invited to the wedding of Don Sai and-

He very nearly dropped the invitation in shock. First off, that was a name he hadn't heard since he was thirteen, secondly, was Baby 5 actually getting married, and thirdly, had she really invited him to her wedding? They'd got on well enough when they were both Donquixote Pirates, well, as well as he'd got on with any of them, but he was under the impression she felt betrayed by his defection. He scanned the rest of the card, noting a time and date that was probably achievable if he did decide to go, but nothing to tell him why she was even inviting him in the first place. He turned to the folded paper, the last item in the package, and opened it up, smoothing out the creases.

Law, it began in neat handwriting. I know this is a bit sudden, and we've barely spoken in thirteen years, but I wanted to ask you if you'd come to my wedding. We rarely saw eye to eye when we were children, but you and Buffalo were my only friends, even if you never saw me as anything more than a nuisance. Buffalo's gone now – I don't know if he survived Kyros' attack, but if he did he'll be in the custody of the Marines, out of my reach. I thought that, as we're both associated with the same crews, it would be nice to see you again without being on opposite sides of a war.

I know our shared past wasn't the best time for you, so I understand if this is too presumptuous of me to ask. If you'd rather sever ties, I will accept that. You don't need to reply, if you don't want to.

Baby 5

Law sat down heavily on the deck, re-reading the short letter and paying no attention to his curious crew, who were edging closer to him now that his Room had deactivated – he didn't remember doing so. The letter was out of character for the girl he knew. Baby 5 never asked for anything, except to be needed, to be used. Yet here she was, tentatively asking him to watch her marry a man he barely remembered.

That he'd failed to drive her out had been one of Cora-san's biggest regrets. Her dependency on being 'useful' had kept her firmly under Doflamingo's wing despite Cora-san's best efforts. But now… If she was asking for something, however tentatively, then someone had done some good for the girl. Law had never felt too much one way or the other regarding her dependency, beyond seeing it as a convenient method of keeping her under control, but with Doflamingo's defeat he had enough mental stability to be able to look back at his time with her and realise just how unhealthy she had been.

If she wanted some sort of closure…

"Captain?" Bepo asked, having picked up the abandoned eternal pose. Law smiled.

"Set a course for that island," he told his navigator, standing up and striding back inside the submarine, the letter still held in his hand.

He supposed there was no harm in that.

I guess this is technically AU, according to The Stories of the Self-Proclaimed Straw Hat Grand Fleet Vol. 15 but I'm definitely interested in Law and Baby 5's future interactions and so this was born.

This will be a three-part drabble; the other parts will be posted tomorrow and Friday.

Thanks for reading!
Tsari