Learn

Characters: Law, Penguin, Shachi. Rating: K. Warnings: None

The atmosphere was off. Law couldn't put his finger on what, exactly, wasn't normal about it, but that didn't change the fact that clearly something had changed. Penguin and Shachi kept shooting him looks from where they were discussing something in the corner of the room. They couldn't appear more suspicious if they tried – talking in their native tongue rather than Common was a dead giveaway that whatever it was, they didn't want Law to know.

They didn't blatantly talk in their native language in front of Law very often. He'd heard it several times, often in the morning before they realised he was up and about, but for the most part when they knew he or Bepo were around, they spoke Common. It was a courtesy Law appreciated – they had attempted to teach him at least enough of the language to be conversational, but it had quickly become apparent that while they were brilliant at several things, teaching was not one of them.

It had been decided that it was less of a headache for everyone if they stuck to Common on the ship. It didn't stop Penguin and Shachi's early morning chats, but Law let those slide because he knew that his own grasp of Flevance's native tongue was fading from disuse – much to a silent panic that tried to well up if he thought about it – and had no desire to force Penguin and Shachi to forget their own native language. Still, Law would have appreciated it if they'd stuck to Common while he was in earshot.

"Law," Penguin called out after several long minutes of the lilting tongue Law wouldn't admit he found soothing to listen to. He raised an eyebrow in response, silently asking what the hell they'd been talking about, and why they couldn't have done it in Common. "We were wondering… would you teach us your language?" Beside him, Shachi nodded in agreement.

"Why?" was all Law's mouth could say, skipping denials that he didn't have a native language without his consent. He scowled as he caught sight of small relieved smiles on the faces of his nakama that said all too clearly they hadn't been certain he had a native language, until he hadn't denied it.

"You don't have to if you don't want to," Shachi said, apparently trying to make it seem like he was backtracking. Law was well aware that he was just giving him an out.

"Why?" he repeated, now less out of a shocked reflex and more a genuine question – why do you want to learn it?

"It's important to you, isn't it?" Penguin asked, although it was clear he didn't expect Law to answer. "Native languages are ones you share with family."

Law did not need the reminder that he no longer had a family, thanks to a disease that painted skin white, and the fear of the rest of the world. He turned away from them, deciding that he would be better situated in a room that didn't have two idiots callously reminding him of what he'd lost.

A hand landed on his shoulder, gentle yet enough to stop him in his tracks.

"We're nakama, aren't we?" Shachi asked, and Law turned his head to look at the taller boy, who looked earnest even through the shades.

"It's not the same," Law snapped without thinking, and stormed off.

It was only once he was out of the room, door slammed shut behind him, that he realised what he'd said.

Nakama aren't family.

Law had told many lies in his life, some more innocent than others, but right then, that felt like the worst one he could ever utter. True, it wasn't exactly the same – no-one could ever replace Lami, or his parents – but he had been around these three for long enough to realise that 'friendship' was not the right word for their relationship. He tried not to think too hard about the fact that Doflamingo's crew had been called a family, even if he was learning why that was the case.

Besides, even if his family were irreplaceable, forgetting his own language – spoken by only one person in the entire world now, as far as he knew – was unacceptable. He knew his grasp of it would continue to fade with time, and now that time was something he had, the idea terrified him.

Penguin and Shachi had offered him a way to remember, and before he'd quite realised what he was doing he was storming back into the room, slamming the door open again in a way the poor Tang had done nothing to deserve to see Penguin and Shachi sat in the corner, looking far too dejected for his liking as they murmured to each other in that sing-song tongue again.

"Ja," he snapped, making them jump and turn to him with wide eyes (at least, Penguin's eyes were wide. He assumed Shachi's were, too). "Yes, fine. Whatever. I'll teach you."

For the sake of his sanity, he pretended not to see them swipe moisture from their eyes even as Shachi ran to grab Bepo and inform the poor mink that he was going to be learning a new language.

He also pretended he wasn't surreptitiously wiping unwelcome liquid from his own cheeks, either.

Back on my language headcanons again, whoops. I don't know how many languages Ja means 'yes' in, but for Flevance's native language I've gone with German for two reasons. The first is the amount of Heart Pirate AMVs I've seen with German songs, which has given me a mental association that's proven difficult to shake, and the other is the SBS trivia that if Law lived in this world he would be German.

This one is set a little after chapter 87 - History - where Penguin and Shachi are now aware of his status as a Flevance survivor.

Thanks for reading!
Tsari