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It’s a testament to how poorly Law is doing right now that he doesn’t notice his newest company on approach. Despite their diminutive size, the dwarves are not easily accused of being particularly subtle.
Which makes the fact the princess of the tribe is staring up at him with bright eyes a few feet away after manifesting from nowhere all the more baffling. Law is left to blandly stare back, brain beginning to reboot from the blank state it was in ten seconds ago.
Law knows he owes her and Leo a great debt, but the unapologetically, and honestly concerning, earnest nature of the dwarves makes it hard to believe that she’s already come with demands. He straightens up from where he’s sat leaning against Kyros’s home, steadfastly ignoring the continuous pounding from his battered right. The night chilled stone at his back seeps in and subdues the nerves from where his body rests flush against it, a crisp awareness settling in.
At least Law recognized the dwarf accompanying her from the roof, Beetle-ya flew off with her after their work on his arm concluded. Noticing the attention, Beetle-ya gives a smile and thumbs up. This does not clarify things.
Law had taken the (as he is coming to find out, very rare) opportunity of all the present Straw Hats being either asleep or, in the case of Mugiwara due to injuries and Zoro from aggressively excessive indulgence, borderline comatose to get some space. Kyros was either distracted enough to not notice Law giving a cursory inspection of the Straw Hats before he left or polite enough not to comment. The samurai were alarmingly intertwined since their reunion, slumped together in the otherwise unclaimed corner. Hyena-ya was still effectively dead to the world and if Law was lucky he would stay that way until the rest of them had left this island. Doflamingo’s work is incredibly thorough.
Reliving the strings coating the sky and freshly experiencing the strings ripping through his flesh had left Law staring up at the now clear sky, stars glimmering unobstructed as the moon steadily climbed in a lazy arc. Kikou is a comforting constant that Law’s good arm can drape on and provides support. A tangible tether he firmly holds onto lest he start drifting away.
Doflamingo is done for, the kingdom he tore apart in his bloody desire to ensure it stayed his at all costs is free at last. All his businesses will either collapse without the heart of his empire or steadily crumble into shells of their former success. Maybe they’ll cannibalize each other and implode, saving everyone else the trouble of their existence. Perhaps they’ll be crushed under a frantic effort of the Navy to pretend they aren’t soulless bastards putting on anything more than empty airs and they actually give a damn.
Law isn’t sure how to feel about Fujitora, which is more than he can say about the rest of the marines. The man gave Dressrosa a chance that very few would’ve ever thought of. Now the World Government can never step into the void Doflamingo has left, neatly reclaiming their lost land. Law knows he held back. It’s easier if the Navy is all scum, but for the sake of Dressrosa, Law is willing to concede the bare minimum. Despite this, Fujitora continuing to turn a blind eye towards their presence causes Law to steadily begin assuming the worst. This peace will not last forever, it never does.
“U-uh,” the princess squeaks out, instantly drawing Law’s gaze and causing her eyes to water. Law feels his eye twitch reflexively. Her words rush out alongside her tears, “I’m… I’m sorry!”
Well. Law’s brows furrow slightly but she would be hard pressed to see anything considering the sheer volume of liquid coming from her face. Compared to her size, it is rather impressive. At Law’s quick glance, Beetle-ya looks just as upbeat as before and gives a nod. This explains nothing.
“I helped so many bad people!” Princess-ya hiccups, her voice pitching up and down with the force of her distress and she wipes at her face. “When they were hurt, I made them better. Then they hurt others again and again!!” She finishes wiping her eyes just in time for another stream to immediately begin as she pulls her hands away, but her eyes lock onto his own through the overflowing emotion. “But you’re the only one they hurt and I healed so could they hurt you again!!!”
That confirms a few things, mainly how Doflamingo managed to remove the bullet holes in the brief time Law was insensate. With every entry wound closed, he made sure there would be no removing the lead bullets as long as Law was chained. The nature of the bullets in Law’s body was something he was content to keep to himself until the time it would be cruelest to reveal. Doflamingo knows exactly what he’s doing.
He forcefully relaxes his muscles from the tense position they tried to initiate, feeling his formerly shredded arm muscles spasming from the rapid inputs. Law lets his face darken slightly in response to his own discomfort with the direction this conversation is going and his physical pain, “There’s no point in apologizing. Being wounded wouldn’t have stopped it.”
“No!” Unfortunately, this appears to be one of the instances of the tontatta’s bullheaded behavior. Though their loyalty hardly seems necessary to stick to over something this irrelevant. Clearly disagreeing, the little princess continues and her tiny hands are bundled into tight fists, “I helped hurt you!”
Law feels something inside him twist. “If I wasn’t healed, I would be dead.” He breaks eye contact, doing his best to let his brim provide cover but finding difficulty against such small targets. Something about this conversation is irritating a freshly festering wound, Law shouldn’t be aggravated this much by unreasonable guilt. “Doflamingo doesn’t need more people taking blame for his own actions.”
No words immediately follow. There’s sniffling for some time, and Law can’t help but open his mouth again, “Thanks.” Ignoring the brief noise of confused shock, Law presses on, “Reattaching an arm is a difficult operation, and not one I could do with one. Time is critical in regards to facilitating a full recovery.”
The sniffling stopped and Law looks up cautiously. Mansherry is still pouring tears but this time there is a wide smile. Beetle-ya also has suspiciously bright eyes accompanying his wider smile. Both of their massive eyes sparkle in their tiny faces. Law feels another twist inside him, grimacing reflexively and feeling vaguely played.
Mansherry breaks eye contact and frantically begins wiping her face anew while Beetle-ya ambles over, making way to Law’s remaining good side by his knee. Ignoring Law’s piercing gaze trying to pin him in place and stop whatever is next, he comments, “Princess, we’re here to help, right?”
With a disgustingly adorable noise and determined nod, Mansherry finishes recovering and turns to her tail. There’s rustling sounds and Law is briefly entertained by the potential anatomy of a dwarf. The disproportionate strength is one thing, but the tails are anomalous at best. The solidity fluctuating at a seeming whim. This is a species he has minimal knowledge on at best and some first hand experience would go a long way to improving his knowledge base.
Law gets immediately intrigued by the fact Mansherry has pulled out a crumpled flower roughly the same size of her tail from it. It glows faintly in the night, pulsating a gentle golden glow. The flower sways side to side as she quickly trots forward and takes post opposite of Beetle-ya on Law’s bad side.
“Princess-ya—“ Law makes an aborted movement when she proceeds to start climbing him, stilling at the black lash such hasty actions cost him. His injured arm awkwardly jerked forward just enough that Law can see the bandages darkening even if he can’t physically feel it yet. The lack of general sensation is not a good sign, but frankly Law has used too many rooms recently to perform the in-depth investigation the matter requires at this time.
Mansherry’s face is as serious as she can physically make it and it looks disturbingly cute. Law scowls. “Don’t worry Lawland! I grew this one specifically to help… Kabu, can you get new bandages?” There’s the flutter of activity to Law’s left but he’s busy observing what exactly the Heal-heal fruit can do.
As the flower gets closer to the active bleed it brightens. Resting back at an incline to give Mansherry a better platform, Law quietly watches as she runs her hand through the orb and plucks out a shape that vaguely looks like a single dandelion seed with the solitary sail attached. The seed glows while the sail seems more like a translucent wisp of light. Mansherry leans in, eyes crossing slightly as she holds the sail and plants it seed first into the bleeding segment. Pushing the line of light until the wisp completely disappears to make sure it reaches deeper. Law feels the sensation of warmth slowly begin working through the torn muscles and nerves, soothing the worst of the bite. He’s still taking stock of the effects when Beetle-ya returns from the inside of the house with a fresh white roll.
“Bandages received, Princess!” Law looks over to see the dwarf carrying a roll larger than himself overhead, and he holds it out for Law to grab. This ends up being a trap, as Beetle-ya takes the opportunity of Law having no working hands to scale him as well. Law watches with narrowed eyes as Beetle-ya utilizes his own devil fruit to transform partially in order to fly. “I’ll have the old ones off you in a flash, Lawland, then we can put the new ones on no problem!”
True to his word, the old bandages did not last long. The whizzing beetle zoan far outmatched them. However, Law got distracted with a different element of his word. “Lawland?”
Mansherry looks up with a smile. Every one of the dwarves is far too smiley. She makes a small noise of confusion while Beetle-ya flies over to Law’s occupied hand and drags it over. Taking the hint, Law begins to unravel the fresh bandages while the dwarf helps to hold the other end and Law rapidly applies it. The bleeding has already been halted by the princess’s flower. Law clarifies, “What is the land for?”
Beetle-ya spear heads this discussion. “When the legendary hero Usoland arrived, he said he was descended from the great hero Noland. He and his crew came here to beat Doflamingo, so you’re all Usolanders!”
Multiple problems with this statement, but it’s best to start with the most crucial. “I am not a part of their crew.”
“Usoland may not actually be descended from Noland.” Oi. “But then he showed everyone exactly what a legendary hero can do by completing Operation SOP!”
…hm. Law is going to need a full run down on what exactly he missed while violently unconscious and imprisoned at some point.
“I am not a Usolander. I am captain of another crew.”
Beetle-ya has finished giving aid just in time to hover in front of Law’s eyeline to shake his head at him and proudly declare, “Nope! You’re still a hero, Noland wasn’t on the crew either.”
“I’m a pirate.”
“So?”
“I didn’t come here to save you.”
Beetle-ya gives him a surprised look. “You took down Trebol.”
“So?” Law sardonically returns.
“You’re a genuine hero, Lawland.”
Law scowls thunderously, restrained from much else due to Mansherry’s very focused efforts on as thorough treatment as possible. Snapping at him, “I’m a pirate. You should be more suspicious of people coming and claiming to be heroes after what just happened.”
Beetle-ya doesn’t even have the decency to act scared. “But you led the Straw Hats here and then fought for us.”
“For my own reasons. You don’t know my motives.”
“Because you cared what Doflamingo was doing, right?”
“I didn’t even know dwarves were here, you weren’t in the plan.”
“And yet here we all are, alive and free.”
Law, unable to move and cornered, subsides with an ill-tempered grunt. Kabu, for his part, grins guilelessly. This is a pointless argument, if the dwarves could’ve been convinced to be more suspicious it would’ve been now but they’re just as attached to believing. If Doflamingo couldn’t disabuse them of such risky naivety then it certainly wasn’t going to be Law. A dangerous, foolish hope that the world will return their kindness.
And yet, isn’t that what Law just did?
When looking down death’s barrel, Law pronounced faith in a miracle. The most horrifying part is not even that it happened, but the fact Law believed it would.
After all this time of expecting the worst, knowing very well there’s no guarantee for a better tomorrow; Law dared to believe in hope.
What the fuck is he supposed to do with that?
Law still hears the Straw Hats at his back as the dwarves work on him. Dressrosa sleeps without the perched executioner smiling down on them. The breeze is gentle and carries the sea with it, a reminder of the world now open to them. He feels his face soften as Law relaxes into the monotony of the moment. Simply allowed to be until faced with the next insurmountable obstacle. As the fresh white bandages seem to shine in the moonlight and Law can feel prickling in his arm as sensation creeps back in, he recognizes that despite the odds, he survived. Law still has a future to look forward to, a crew he can get back to.
The dwarves chatter with each other and occasionally direct something at him but Law doesn’t say a word. They take it in stride, smiling and carrying on as he watches.
These people are part of the world Cora-san would’ve wanted. Perhaps, Law thinks wryly, not what he might’ve expected, but Cora-san would’ve tried to save them anyway. He was never afraid to tackle the odds for scrappy, helpless little things. Especially those that didn’t know better.
Feeling dangerously unmoored, Law watches Mansherry steadily strip the flower bare. Light fading as it achieves its intended purpose beneath his skin before wilting away and dying. After so many years, is this all Cora-san would’ve wanted?
As they leave with a final wave, Law gives a nod and watches their tiny forms disappear into the sky. Left alone to his own thoughts.
For a single minute.
The soft fluttering of petals heralds a new visitor, materializing to Law’s right.
“They have such big personalities for people so small.” Nico Robin comments softly, her clone similarly bundled in the blanket Law knows is resting on the real body in the house. A gentle smile plays on her face as she continues to look where they had disappeared.
Law graces her with a single glance from the corner of his eyes before softly shifting, pointedly getting comfortable and settling in. Nico’s smile widens for a moment before returning to her default demur expression.
She gives him her undivided attention, turning away from where the dwarves vanished into the sky and looking at Law’s arm. “Despite all that’s happened, they’re still so fiercely compassionate. Doflamingo couldn’t take that away from them.” Nico looks up at Law’s face and delights in the fact he refuses to look her way. “The beetle was in quite the rush to help.”
Law decides not to pick apart the fact Nico slept light enough for the tiny dwarf to disturb her yet Law’s inspection caused no response.
Annoyingly, Nico seems to derive enjoyment out of analyzing unresponsive walls. She leans forward onto her hand before opening her mouth again, “I’m glad to see you’re still here.”
“I made an alliance,” Law blandly returns, “to take down Kaido.”
“Yes,” Nico’s smile is unchanged, yet Law gets the concerning feeling she’s pleased from her tone. “That does mean we’re in this together for the foreseeable future, doesn’t it?”
Law is left to wonder which annoys him the most; the fact that Straw Hat completely ignores any reasonable boundaries for his own whims or the fact that Nico Robin knows exactly where the line is just to keep poking at it. He sends her a narrow glare just in time to see something twinkling in her eyes.
“You should come inside. There’s safety in numbers even when an emperor may come crashing on our heads.”
“Kaido would kill us all.”
“Perhaps. But isn’t the point that we’d face this together? After all,” Nico’s expression is kind, “That is what you approached us for.”
Law knows very well what he approached the Straw Hats for: to maximize the odds of achieving Cora-san’s goals, to help him rest easier knowing his brother can’t ruin even more lives, for more hands to brute force the problem because Law couldn’t stand by anymore. Kaido was a name meant to bait in the biggest force of chaos Law was willing to trust. In fact, Law suspects Nico-ya knows this already.
Nico Robin continues, “I’ve found that Luffy rests easier when not alone. My captain,” Law would have to be deaf not to hear the fondness in the word, “always has had the right of these things.” She keeps her back from touching the stone despite the proximity and Law keenly remembers the damage hidden underneath layers of fabric. How she still had put her back between himself and danger in order to argue with him. “Surely a doctor such as yourself would agree that healing inside would be more effective?”
Law feels the chill to his bones now, the warmth of the healing not from temperature but more akin to a chemical response. The wall behind him is now warmed from his body temperature and the outdoor air is slowly sucking it away from him. When Law doesn’t immediately respond, the clone’s smile is the last form visible as it disappears.
He feels his lungs expand and contract, feels his pulse underneath his skin as the blood circulates in an unending cycle. Law tightens his grip on Kikou, the white causing “DEATH” to contrast starkly against his fingers, and stands up.
Sluggish, perhaps fatigued from the recent work performed on him, Law makes it to the door and opens it. Robin gives him a knowing smile as the warmth of the home invites Law further in.
She watches as he carelessly trudges through the room, flowering an arm to close the door behind him. The activity doesn’t disturb the slumbering Straw Hats surrounding him, Law still having his spot from earlier despite the brief absence. As he gingerly works himself to the floor, moving the blanket closer with Kikou’s sheathed reach, Law notices the sudden absence of movement.
Straw Hat’s fingers stop their minuscule twitching, and the man himself lets out a large snore as he somehow appears to flatten slightly. The sniper grumbles a little and snuggles his face closer to the rubbery leg serving as a pillow.
From his sitting position, Law looks over to Robin to see her flashing him a little smile with both her eyes closed, lifting a solitary finger up to her lips.
Ridiculous.
Yet, as Law lays down himself, he doesn’t even last ten seconds before he’s fast asleep as well.