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Chapter Text

Dinnertime on Thousand Sunny. It was as loud and obnoxious on Law’s ship, but it wasn’t his crew making the noise, and that made all the difference, so Law slipped outside while Luffy took everyone else’s attention away as he started a game of tug-o-war over food with Usopp. In the silence and security of the night, Law allowed himself to close his eyes for a moment, tilting his head back towards the night sky and breathing in the crisp air. The sounds of the kitchen faded to a dull roar behind him as he listened to the sounds of the ocean while he waited for peace to settle over him.

“Torao-kun…” Robin’s voice behind him, soft and amused. Did she find it funny that he’d had enough of her crew’s chaos and had had to step outside like this?

Law’s eyes snapped open. He leveled his chin, speaking before he had time to think about what he was saying: “Why don’t you call me by my name?” He turned around to face her.

She fixed her lips in a smile, blue eyes gleaming mischievously as she studied him. “Does it bother you when I call you that?”

“No,” he said. She quirked an eyebrow skeptically. He sighed, his grip tightening on his sword. “It’s just that I’d like to hear you say it,” he said, surprising himself. Robin, of course, seemed unfazed by his admission. And he hated her for that, hated seeing that haughty smile of hers, the look of someone who knew something that he didn’t and wasn’t keen on sharing. And yet he wanted to hear his name pass her lips. Law found his gaze fall to her mouth, only catching himself and forcing himself to look into her eyes when he heard her speak again.

“Very well then,” Robin said. She turned and began to ascend the steps, looking at him over her shoulder, crooking one of her slim fingers towards her in a beckoning motion. Come hither. “Law.”

Law felt a heat rush down his face to his neck upon hearing Robin speak his given name, and he resented that anyone could have that kind of effect on him, never mind someone he barely even knew. A strangled noise sounded in his throat as he watched Robin make her way up the stairs, her invitation clear. He weighed his options while she continued to make her ascent, not looking back at him to see if he followed. 

Law didn’t hate Robin, but he wasn’t sure that he liked her. She was haughty and more than a little arrogant, with the way she looked at people like a spider stared at its next meal. She was too complacent when it came to Luffy. She was very much one of the Straw Hats.

But he thought about how it would feel to press his face into the bend of her neck. He thought of the curve of her hips and how it would feel to grip them. He thought of her long black hair fanning out behind her, running his fingers through it. He thought of how it felt to hear her say his name and he wondered if he could get her to say it again. So Law went up the stairs and followed her into the women’s quarters.

Law couldn’t sleep. That wasn’t new. What was new, however, was his current surroundings: he was on a ship he didn’t know, with a crew that had its own set of dynamics and unspoken rules that Law didn’t want to learn but had to out of necessity. Luckily Law was a quick learner. It was his second night on Thousand Sunny and already he had learned that the kitchen was not always a safe bet when he couldn’t sleep. Just the other night he’d wandered into the kitchen to see about making himself coffee to keep himself company in the hours before breakfast, when he found the ship’s cook and swordsman on the kitchen floor, tucked nicely into a small futon just barely big enough for the both of them. Zoro, arm around Sanji, either unable to sleep like Law or simply roused by the sound of the door, lifted his head and glared at him. The two locked eyes for a couple tense moments before Law set his jaw and nodded at Zoro and closed the door, deciding that the caffeine was not worth the trouble of dealing with a cranky swordsman who didn’t want his lover to be disturbed.

Law asked Usopp about it later. Usopp had laughed and said Sanji and Zoro liked to sleep in the kitchen sometimes when neither of them had night watch, like that was the most natural explanation in the world. Law supposed you had to work with what you had on a ship that offered as little privacy as the Sunny, but it still irked him all the same. The kitchen was one of his favorite places to go on a ship when he couldn’t sleep. Something about it always felt perfectly still to him in the late hours, which he preferred in the moments when he was alone with nothing but his thoughts to keep him company.

Tonight he stared up at the ceiling in the men’s quarters, listening to the snoring and mumbling of the men around him, feeling his irritation simmer within him and grow hotter and hotter until it threatened to boil over. Checking that Zoro and Sanji were in their bunks, Law moved as quietly as he could through the men’s quarters, stepping carefully through a room that was unfamiliar to him, and he silently slipped out the door into the night.

Once outside Law stared across the ship, watching the way the night breeze rippled through the grass on Sunny’s lawn, and he found his irritation cooling. Exhaling, he looked up at the sky and located the moon, which peered through a part in the clouds and down at him. One of the advantages a ship had over a submarine, Law thought, was the view at night.

As he made his way to the stairs, Law spared a glance back at the door to the women’s quarters, and his thoughts drifted to Robin. Robin, laid out on her stomach, cheek resting on her crossed arms. Her blue eye watching him as he sat up in bed. They’d said nothing to each other while Law stirred. He looked at her, feeling relaxed in a way he had not experienced since he’d first stepped foot on Punk Hazard, and he pushed aside her curtain of dark hair so his fingers could gently trace the skin on her back. Robin’s eyes closed, the picture of contentment as she hummed. “Do you want to stay the night?” she asked.

Law hesitated. There were still some hours left before everyone turned in for the night. Surely everyone had noticed by now, even in the chaos that was mealtime with the Straw Hats, that they were missing. Law didn’t care and neither did Robin, he assumed. Why else would she have invited him into her bed when she had? But there was a familiarity in coming back to Robin’s bed later in the night that Law wasn’t comfortable exploring. And Robin didn’t sleep alone, Law thought, his thoughts turning to the ship’s navigator. Maybe things would have been different if Robin didn’t share a room, he thought to himself later that night as he was greeted by the sounds of male snoring when he retired to the men’s quarters. At least things were quiet in Robin’s room.

Law tore his gaze from the door to the women’s room and started down the stairs. Why had she offered? Had she noticed just how out of place Law felt on the ship? Surely not, he thought as he pressed his palm against the kitchen door and pushed it open. They hardly knew each other. It was probably as simple as wanting a warm body in her bed. Law didn’t understand Robin. He couldn’t get a read on her. And that was okay. They weren’t going to be around each other long enough for him to need to. And, as far as he knew, tonight had been a one time thing.

Putting thoughts of Robin aside, Law felt around for the light switch, flipping it on and waiting for his eyes to adjust to the change in brightness. Sanji would probably kill him if he found him messing around in his kitchen, but someone making a cup or two of coffee wasn’t going to kill the cook. Law began poking through the kitchen, digging through cabinets until he heard a voice behind him.

“Ah. Law.”

Law froze for a moment before he regained his composure, standing up straight and looking at Robin over his shoulder. She looked at him from the doorway, and he looked at her, in her pajamas, a pink satin dress that hugged her curves and didn’t even make it past her fingertips. Law was not so concerned about being discreet with the way he looked at her after the night they’d had, but he at least had to look her in the eye when he responded. “It’s late,” he said, as if he wasn’t currently foraging for coffee beans in her ship’s kitchen when everyone else was asleep.

“Yes,” Robin said, crossing her arms over her stomach comfortably. One of the tiny straps on her dress slipped down her shoulder. She didn’t move to adjust it. “It is.” 

“I couldn’t sleep,” he said. He’d gotten maybe three hours of sleep and then stared at the ceiling for another hour until he couldn’t take it any longer. “I thought I might as well make some coffee before breakfast.”

“Hm.” She smiled, though Law wasn’t sure if it was for him. He never was. She made her way through the kitchen, sounds muffled by slippers the same delicate color as her dress. “I was going to make some tea, myself,” she said, walking past him, her scent lingering as she moved to a cabinet closest to the wall. Law smelled something sweet, some kind of floral scent mixed with vanilla. He normally found such smells cloying, but felt himself being drawn in, turning his head and watching her as she bent at the waist and pulled out two small tin containers, setting one down on the countertop closer to him.

“Can’t sleep either?” he finally asked her as he popped open the tin and inspected the contents inside.

“Not tonight,” Robin said, turning on the faucet and filling a kettle with water. She turned a knob on the stove, watching the small flames spring to life. “On nights like these I like to make myself a cup of tea and finish whatever book I’m reading.”

“Mm.” He watched her as she moved around the kitchen, pulling out two cups and handing one off to Law, their fingers brushing. He looked down at his cup, running the pad of his thumb against the smooth ceramic surface. “What do you do when Blackleg-ya and Zoro-ya hog the kitchen at night?” he asked.

Robin looked at Law over her shoulder, her eyes creasing at the sides in a smile while she thought about her crewmates. She giggled behind her fingers. “I simply make do,” she said brightly. “I wouldn’t want to disturb them.” 

They took their turns with the water, making their drinks in comfortable silence. Law appreciated that. He didn’t enjoy the exhaustion that came with not being able to sleep, but something he did enjoy about these few hours at night was the quiet. For a few hours each night, Law could read, could think, could simply exist and not be bothered with the pressing matters of the outside world and the petty concerns that came with a group of people who were vacuum sealed together in a vessel at the bottom of the ocean.

Law held his cup of coffee between his hands, the flesh on his palms drinking in the warmth. He stared into the black depths of his drink, conscious of the ship moving, bringing them closer to the country of Dressrosa. He felt a shadow pass over him, felt the terrible weight of the last thirteen years of his life pressing down on his shoulders. Law said nothing as Robin spoke to him, didn’t even register what it was she was saying. He drank from his cup before the drink had had time to cool, burning the tip of his tongue and scalding the roof of his mouth.

Robin tried again. “Law.”

He looked up into her eyes, trying to swallow the discomfort he felt in his mouth.

“I don’t feel like reading tonight,” she told him. She studied him, holding her mug up to her face and blowing gently. “Would you care to keep me company?”

“Sure,” he said, his response coming to him readily and surprising him somewhat as he said it.

Robin smiled at him, and for once he didn’t feel as if she knew something he didn’t. She beckoned him to follow her, much like she had earlier that evening, and Law followed.

She led him to the ship’s private aquarium. They came to a stop before the large tank. Law stared up at the fish swimming around lazily before he looked at Robin, illuminated by the cool blue glow. “You have a lot on your mind,” she said. She took a seat at the bench located in front of the tank. Law sat down next to her.

“I always have a lot on my mind,” he responded. He thought he saw a glint of red in a dark corner of the aquarium, like light bouncing off the reflective, red surace of mirrored sunglasses. He blinked his eyes a few times until he was convinced that it was nothing more than his imagination.

“Hm…” She leaned against him and Law didn’t recoil like he normally would have with someone who wasn’t a bear Mink named Bepo. Then again, he normally wouldn’t sit close enough for someone to lean their weight against him. So Law allowed it. “Well, thank you for keeping me company.”

Law glanced at her through the corner of his eye, pausing before he took his next sip of coffee. He nodded at her. She didn’t press him to tell him what troubled him and for that he was thankful. They sat there together, sipping on their drinks, waiting for the sun to come up together. And Law, for once, didn’t mind sharing the silence and solitude of the night with someone else.

Chapter Text

Law, from his spot under the foremast, watched life proceed on Thousand Sunny, now that he’d found a moment of quiet after convincing the three youngest members of the crew that he didn’t want to wrestle or to fish or to play whatever game that popped into Luffy’s head at any given moment.

Nami was tending to her trees, Zoro was taking care of his swords, Sanji was busy in the kitchen, Brook was playing on his violin out of Law’s line of sight, Franky had announced that he would be in his workshop, and Momonosuke, under Kin’emon’s stern gaze, was trying his best not to appear interested in Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp’s roughhousing. 

It slowly dawned on him that he was looking for Robin when he did not find her keeping herself occupied along with the rest of the crew.

Law gripped his sword, standing up and walking aimlessly along Sunny’s lawn, giving himself something to do. He came to a stop before the railing, closing his eyes and turning his face up towards the sky, feeling the sun’s warmth on his skin. Law could have felt content in that moment had he been able to focus on the warmth of the sun and the sound of the wind, but his thoughts began to drift, as they did when he didn’t have enough to distract himself in the last couple of days. Standing there, Law thought he heard a malevolent chuckle in his ear. Law’s eyes slowly opened, staring up at the endless blue of the sky before he leveled his chin and stared out at the endless blue of the ocean, trying to shake off the feeling that someone was standing behind him.

He was so tired. He wanted to crawl into a dark corner and sleep until they finally reached their destination.

Law looked down at his hands, sighing, and he jumped when he saw a pair of blue eyes staring up at him from the rail. “Robin?” he said, staring down at the eyes situated between his hands.

The eyes smiled playfully at him and winked before disappearing. Before Law could think to do anything next, a set of arms sprouted from his shoulders and a pair of hands covered his eyes, like a game of “Guess who,” but there was no one behind him to whisper it in his ear.

Grumbling, Law grabbed the arms by the wrists, pulling the hands off his eyes, feeling them disappear as soon as he was able to see again. Law looked around wildly, scanning the ship until he found Robin watching him from the swing on the other side of the lawn. He approached her, seeing how her eyes gleamed mischievously as he drew nearer.

“Want me to push you?” he asked, smirking, when he came to a stop before her. He was glad for the distraction, though she didn’t need to know that. “Is that why you’re trying so hard to get my attention?”

Robin smiled up at him. “You looked like you could use the company, actually.”

“Maybe,” Law said, circling around Robin until he stood behind her. He gave her a light push, eliciting a delighted laugh from her. He didn’t know how Robin could read him as well as she did, but he wasn’t going to try to lie to her.

Law continued to push her on the swing, taken back to the times when he was a child, when one of his parents would take him and Lammy to the park near their home. Lammy always wanted to be pushed on the swing, urging him to push her higher, faster. And Law would try, but he could never get her quite as high as Father or Mother could. It had been so long ago that it might as well be another lifetime.

Law watched Robin, watched the way her hair flew behind her, the way her legs pumped as the swing moved. She tilted her head back to look at him, and she smiled. And Law, in spite of himself, smiled back. He liked seeing her smile, liked that he was the cause of it. 

Strange.

“Hey, Luffy!” Chopper’s voice. Law looked over at the little doctor. “Law and Robin are playing on the swing!”

“OIIII! I WANT A TURN, TOO, LAW!”

Law came to a stop, stiffening as he saw Chopper and Luffy running towards them, his smile disappearing into a flat line. Robin jumped off the swing as it began to slow down. “Actually, Luffy,” she said, smoothing down her skirt, “I was going to show Law the library.”

“‘Kay!” Luffy said. Robin looked at Law over her shoulder and beckoned him to follow her, while Luffy and and Chopper argued over who got to use the swing first.

Robin showed Law the way to the library, something that had been neglected in his brief tour of the ship. He realized that bringing him up here was Robin’s gracious excuse to get him away from the others, but looking up at the shelves of books, Law was glad that Robin had picked this room. He realized that he could very well spend his time up here while he waited for them to arrive at Dressrosa. He walked closer to the nearest shelf, scanning the titles and running his fingers along the spines. It wasn’t his private collection and this wasn’t his personal library, but it would do.

Law heard Robin delicately clear her throat behind him. He turned to look at her and found her sitting on the table in the center of the room, her thighs parted invitingly. The corners of Law’s mouth turned upwards. “Oh,” he said, walking towards her. “That’s what you wanted to show me.”

“What are you doing, Law?” Chopper asked, toddling up to the large blanket Robin had spread out for her and Law to lie on. He found them lying on their stomachs, propped up on their elbows and facing each other.

Robin, holding her wrist up for Law, looked at the little doctor and smiled at him, reminding Law of the way his mother used to smile at him and Lammy, or the way Sister had smiled at her students. He tried to ignore the dull ache in his chest as he looked down at Robin’s wrist and traced a slow circle where her pulse was. “Law’s telling me about the different blood vessels in the body, Chopper,” Robin said.

Chopper flopped down into a seated position next to Robin. “I could do that, Robin,” he said, voice bright and full of youthful excitement. 

“Yes, Chopper,” Robin said, the smile softening her voice. “I know you can.”

The little guy wanted to impress Robin so much, didn’t he? Law would have been much more irritated had it been anyone else on the ship, but looking at Chopper’s furry face, his round eyes, Law found that he couldn’t stay mad at the reindeer, much like he couldn’t stay mad at Bepo. Pointing out the veins in Robin’s arms had been an excuse to get handsy with her out in the open, and Robin seemed interested in gaining knowledge–and she certainly seemed to enjoy his excuse for touching her–but now he had nothing to do. Seeing that he was no longer needed, Law rolled over onto his back, pillowing the back of his head with his hands, and he stared at the sky, watching clouds drift by.

Law tuned out their conversation, looking at Robin when he heard her giggle at something Chopper said. Robin caught him looking at her once, and she smiled down at him before turning her attention back to Chopper. Law stared back up at the sky, marveling at how something as simple as a smile from her could make him feel better, lighter than he had in so long. He concentrated on the feeling of the ship moving through the water, bringing them closer to Dressrosa, and for once Law did not feel anxious to get there as soon as possible.

Law appreciated that Robin didn’t feel the need to keep things between them a secret. While he still had his reservations about spending the night in her room since Nami would be there–Law still wanted some privacy–he appreciated that Robin felt that she could come up to him and ask him if he wanted to take a bath with her, even with some of the others in earshot.

He watched her as she tested the water from the showerhead, saw the way she smiled contentedly after she adjusted the temperature to her liking. It reminded him of how she’d looked when he found her after breakfast that morning, standing barefoot in the grass on Sunny’s lawn, smiling down at the ground as she curled her toes around grass blades.

He wondered how it felt to feel so at peace with one’s life. 

He almost asked her when she invited him to step under the water with her, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him to her. But that was a conversation Law didn’t want to have tonight–not when he was so close to facing the man who had permanently ruined any chances Law had at knowing peace. So Law settled his hands on Robin’s waist and laid his mouth on hers, kissing her underneath the spray of water.

“When did you get this?” Law said, tracing the faint scar located next to Robin’s right shoulder blade. 

Robin, draped over the side of the bathtub, lifted her chin from her crossed arms and looked over at Law, her eyes dulling as she retreated into her memories. “I think I was twelve,” she said, staring past his shoulder. “Or maybe I had just turned thirteen. It was a long time ago.”

Law pushed Robin’s hair aside so he could see her back more clearly. He ran his fingertips along the bumps of her spine. Robin shivered, laying her cheek against her arm and staring up at him like she had their first night together. “I like it when you do that,” she said.

Law smirked, his gaze and fingers returning to the scar on her upper back. “How did you get it?”

Robin’s eyelids drooped. “My traveling companion and I ran into a disagreement. My solution was to leave; his was to pull out his knife.”

“Hm?” Law stared at Robin’s scar and he felt compelled to lean over and kiss the faint line in Robin’s skin.

“I can’t remember what it was about,” she said. “He became just another face.”

“There have been many of those.”

“Yes.” She continued to stare forward. “I learned how to perform light first aid on myself thanks to people like him.”

“Oh?”

She smiled at him over her shoulder. “There are many things you can learn through reading and trial and error.”

Law nodded. His Devil fruit had been nothing but trial and error in the early days. He remembered how whatever faint feelings of excitement and accomplishment he’d felt when he first figured out how to make his fruit work for him had been overtaken by the aching emptiness knowing that it had come to him too late to save Cora-san.

“You must have gotten pretty good at it, then,” Law said, bringing his attention back to Robin. He added, with a smirk, hoping she hadn’t noticed the change in his mood, “For a civilian.”

“Well, I’m no doctor,” Robin said, turning herself around to face him. She lightly tapped his nose with the tip of her finger playfully. “But I did manage to take care of myself for twenty years.” Several more sets of hands sprouted from her back, reaching out in multiple directions. Law watched Robin’s new limbs, transfixed. She spoke again, bringing his attention back: “It also helps to have more than two hands.”

Law chuckled, looking at one of the hands reaching towards him. He reached back, pressing his palm against hers and lacing their fingers together. Robin removed her extra hands except for the one holding his. “Twenty years?”

Robin nodded. “I was on my own for a long time before I met Luffy and the others,” she said, her words taking on a solemn edge that she hadn’t used around him since they’d boarded the ship after leaving Punk Hazard. But like a bank of clouds passing by, the darkness from her expression lifted. She released her hold on his hand, bringing herself closer so she could settle in close to him.

Law put his arm around her, reaching up to touch her hair, so much heavier with water. He felt several unasked questions pressing against his lips, wanting out, but Robin wasn’t offering, so Law wouldn’t pry. He rested his head against hers and breathed in deeply, inhaling the steam in the bathroom, and he allowed himself to enjoy this moment with Robin.

Robin lifted her hand out of the water, bringing it to his face, fingers following the curve of his jaw down to his chin. “Law,” she said softly.

“Yes, Robin?” he said, having a feeling of what she was going to ask him next.

“Would you like to spend the night with me?”

Law chuckled softly. “You waited until I was comfortable to ask me, didn’t you?”

“Yes, I did,” Robin said, sounding pleased with herself.

“Are you sure Nami-ya will be all right with that?” He’d rather deal with a room of snoring men than deal with Nami’s wrath.

“Nami won’t mind,” Robin said, reaching up and smoothing his hair back, the water keeping it flattened against his skull. “So long as we’re quiet.”

“Hm.” He thought of how it would feel to get into bed with Robin after drying off, to have her lying next to him in the night, and he felt all of his old excuses for not spending the night leave him. “All right, then. Sure.”

Robin smiled at him and it was almost enough to make Law forget that there was a chance that he would not be walking out of Dressrosa alive.

Chapter Text

Doflamingo had lost, but Cora-san was still dead. 

Luffy and his friends and devoted followers were in the mood to celebrate, but Law, hollow as he was, wanted the space to breathe. He removed himself from the festivities, finding solitude along the bow of the ship.

And then she showed up.

She probably meant well, commenting on how he’d gotten what he’d wanted, with Doflamingo defeated; asking him what he planned on doing next. And Law started as he realized that, yes, he’d gotten what he wanted, and yet he didn’t feel like he’d won. Instead he felt the same kind of emptiness he’d felt when he’d first gotten his fruit to work for him. Yes, it was a triumph, but it didn’t bring Cora-san back from the dead.

He’d gotten what he wanted, but Cora-san was still dead. What did he want to do now? What he wanted right now was to find a quiet corner and sleep for a day or two. But he couldn’t put that into words. Not after he’d spent the last thirteen years living so he could see Doflamingo dead–and Law hadn’t even managed that.

Law couldn’t even begin to explain it to Robin, so he told her to leave him alone and he walked away. As the distance grew between them, his thoughts turned to the time they’d shared on the trip to Dressrosa, and he hated himself for walking away, but found himself unable to stop and turn around.

She found him staring at the ocean in the dead of night and he felt her presence before he saw her. Law sighed, keeping his gaze trained on the dark mass of the water. “I didn’t think you’d come for me after…” He swallowed, tightening his grip around his sword. “After what happened this afternoon.”

“You weren’t ready to talk,” Robin said, coming to a stop beside him. “I don’t resent you for that.”

Law grunted.

Robin looped her arm around his, leaning her head against his shoulder for a moment. “What about now, Law?” Robin asked him, lifting her head up and looking at him. He looked back into her eyes. “Are you ready to talk?”

Law closed his eyes, dragging his hand along his face wearily. He was tired. He was so very tired. He leaned his weight against her. “I’ve had this recurring dream,” he said said, slowly opening his eyes and taking in the incomprehensible vastness of the ocean, “since I became a Devil fruit user.”

“Yes?”

Law remained silent long enough to blink a couple times, staring at that inky blackness so similar to what he saw when he closed his eyes at night. He’d always imagined it as a preview of oblivion. “I’m in the water,” he explained. “Drowning. Just above an underwater chasm. I always thrash my arms and kick as wildly as I can, but it’s never enough.”

“We Devil fruit users can’t swim,” Robin said. “It’s only natural that would become a concern of yours.”

Law nodded. “For years I’ve dreamt about that chasm,” he said. “Tonight I had that same dream again. And for the first time since I started having that dream, something different happened.”

“What’s that?”

“All that thrashing and kicking finally got me somewhere,” Law said. “I started moving up, away from that hole. I don’t think I was even close to the surface by the time I woke up, but…” He paused.

“But you were finally moving,” Robin said.

Law nodded.

“It is said that our dreams are our mind’s way of processing our thoughts and fears,” Robin said. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that you finally dreamed that you could swim after your greatest enemy was defeated. I think your mind is telling you that you’re ready to move on with your life.”

“But what if I can’t?” Law said, surprised with how easily the words had left his mouth. Law looked at Robin, searching her face for signs of judgment or disgust or pity, and he found none; all he saw when he looked at her was understanding. He thought about when she told him about the time she’d been stabbed as a child. He thought about how she’d let him touch her scar, let him kiss it. He thought about how she’d been looking out for him since their time on Sunny, encouraging but never smothering. Not once had he felt judged by her. So maybe he could show her his own scars. “What if I’m never going to reach the surface?”

And Law was crying–crying in front of someone else for the first time in well over a decade. But if it had to happen, Law realized that it might as well be with Robin. He leaned his weight against her, unable to hold himself upright, clinging to her as the immensity of his emotions overtook him, threatening to sweep him away. Law felt himself begin to sink to the deck, unable to support his weight even with Robin’s help, and Robin sank down with him, kneeling and allowing him to hold onto her.

Robin said nothing as Law clung to her and wept quietly. He felt a hand rubbing small circles on his back, another brushing his cheek, the fingers of a third slipping past the brim of his hat and lightly scratching his scalp. Something about that made Law want to lay his head in Robin’s lap, and he felt her gently helping him reposition himself.

“Law,” Robin said above him, her fingers still moving beneath his hat. “May I?”

Law managed a nod and Robin gingerly took off his hat, laying it beside her carefully before she continued running her fingernails against his scalp. And there was something about the tenderness in that action that made Law cry just a little bit harder. It wasn’t the wails that erupted out of him that momentous night thirteen years ago, when Law walked away from Cora-san and the Donquixote Family, his keening drowned out by the sounds of cannon fire once Cora-san’s power died with him, but to Law, it might as well be.

And it did not matter.

Law felt stripped bare before Robin on the deck of this unfamiliar ship, expressing fears that he hadn’t even known he had. He’d never asked himself what came after Doflamingo, not once in all the years of planning and ruminating and sleepless nights.

What came next when the driving force that had kept him alive throughout his teenage years and his adult life was no longer present? Law hadn’t thought that through. It had never felt necessary when he’d lived with the quiet but persistent notion in the back of his mind that he wouldn’t live long enough for it to matter. White Lead Poisoning or no, Law had lived with the suspicion that he wouldn’t live to see old age whether he defeated Doflamingo or not.

What came next? There were other enemies to face, but after that, what then? Law didn’t know. 

Feeling himself being pulled down into that hole at the bottom of the ocean, crushing darkness surrounding him, Law reached out and found Robin’s hand, the one she had in his hair as she attempted to soothe him, and he grabbed hold.

Robin let Law hold her hand, squeezing back when their fingers connected. She kept quiet while she waited it out with Law, allowing him to weep in her lap, and all Law could do was think to ask why. Why did Robin keep seeking him out? Why did she spend her free time with him?

“There’s something I don’t understand,” he said when his breathing had steadied enough for him to speak clearly.

“What, Law?”

“What do you get out of all this?” Law asked, staring at the floorboards before him, grateful that he didn’t have to look her in the eye right now. 

Robin was silent for a moment before answering. “It’s not about ‘getting’ anything, Law,” she said slowly, thoughtfully. “I choose to be around you because I care about you.”

“Why?” Law said, his breath coming out in an uncontrollable shudder. He squeezed his eyes shut, hiding his face behind the sleeve of his coat as Cora-san’s smiling, bruised face came to him in that moment.

“I love you,” Cora-san had said.

“Why?” Law now wanted to say.

A new sob passed his lips and Law was at it again. And he resented himself for it because it wasn’t just that Law hadn’t cried in front of another person in years–Law hadn’t cried at all in the last thirteen years. The last time had been when he’d figured out how his fruit worked; Law hadn’t felt much of anything at first, knowing that it was too little too late for the man he’d come to see as a father figure, until one day a few days later when Law, practicing with his new power, remembered how useless he’d felt while Cora-san lay before him, slowly bleeding out, and Law had no idea how to help. Law had felt like he could die in that instant, curled in on himself, screaming “No more no more no more please god no more” in his mind while primal sounds of pain erupted from his mouth. 

He hadn’t cried since then.  

Now, thirteen years older, Law cried in front of Robin. When he’d worn himself out, when Law finally felt that he had nothing left within him that could surprise either of them, a silence settled between them. Robin sat there with Law, maybe listening as his breathing steadied once more, and as Law let out a long exhale, wiping his face with his sleeve, Robin began to tell him a story about a lonely little girl who’d lived on the island of Ohara.

Law had heard about Ohara, but he was in the habit of disbelieving anything the World Government told its people. He’d heard about the island of evil people; he’d even heard talk of the child who’d allegedly sunk six Navy ships, but he’d rolled his eyes and put the information out of his mind, writing it off as nothing more than propaganda and tall tales. But as Robin continued to talk, telling him about a bookish little girl who had no friends growing up and who rarely saw her mother, Law remembered what she’d said about looking after herself for twenty years, how she’d been alone for a long time before she met Luffy and the Straw Hat Pirates, and Law felt himself grow cold as he realized where Robin was going with her story.

Robin told Law about the Tree of Knowledge, Jaguar D. Saul, Nico Olvia, Professor Clover and the community of archaeologists, and the community of people who lived on Ohara before a Buster Call had wiped out the island and its inhabitants. Robin told Law about the kindness of a man who wanted to see a sad little girl smile, and how that man had laughed as he died while protecting her. 

Time had passed and Robin met a group of people who had accepted her, but that hadn’t been enough at first. Robin had known a life of hardship, of loneliness, and it wasn’t until she allowed herself to accept their love that Robin had begun to believe that she was worthy of it.

Robin had begun to stroke Law’s hair again when he’d loosened his grip on her hand as he listened to her story. He couldn’t see her face, but he felt her looking at him. “No one is ever truly alone in life, Law,” Robin said softly. She moved her hand down to his face, gently cupping his cheek and directing him to look up at her. Warmth radiated from Robin to Law and it was too much for him in that instant. He turned his head and looked away, but he grabbed hold of her hand again. “Even if it may feel that way sometimes. We simply need to let others in.”

Chapter Text

Law had made sure that he got his own quarters on the Polar Tang. It was the only way he could peacefully coexist with so many other people in a pressurized tube at the bottom of the ocean. It was even more important to Law that he had a place where he could sequester himself now that he'd taken a portion of the Straw Hat Pirates with him on the trip to Wano while Luffy ran off to Whole Cake Island to pick up his cook.

Zoro spent his time skulking about the submarine like a malevolent specter after the news that his lover had left the crew with intent to marry someone else, Franky was loud, and Law didn't have much in common with Usopp. There was only one Straw Hat that Law wanted around, and he'd told her where she could find his room before he left her with her friends to explore the sub.

After catching up with the rest of the Heart Pirates, Law headed for his quarters, where he could lie down in a dark room and didn't have to deal with his crew's various updates, concerns, and complaints about something or other for at least a few hours. When his mind drifted to the prospect of Robin spending the night with him, Law felt grateful that he didn't share a room with someone who'd comment on how "cute" he and Robin were first thing in the morning when she woke up and saw them sharing a bed.

"I haven't been called cute since I was a kid," he told Robin when Nami had left the room.

"You are cute, Law," Robin said.

As soon as he closed the door to his room, Law stood for a moment and let the darkness and silence settle over him. Law breathed out slowly, rubbing at his eyes with the heels of his hands, grateful for this moment to himself. With Dressrosa far behind him and Wano now ahead of him, Law was glad to finally be back on his submarine and in his own private space.

Law left the light off and made his way to his bed, walking the same familiar path he'd walked hundreds of times in the dark, and he allowed himself to flop face down onto the bed. Law closed his eyes, intending only to give his mind a few minutes of rest, but soon his thoughts began to wander as they did before his mind crossed the threshold into true sleep, and soon Law was out.

Law opened his eyes when he heard the door opening. He lay there, working through the slight confusion that came from waking suddenly from a dreamless sleep as he heard footsteps approaching his bed. As his mind woke up with the rest of him, Law realized that Robin must have finally made her way to his room. No one on his crew would dare set foot in his quarters without announcing themselves.

Law stayed still as he listened to Robin move quietly through the dark. He smiled as he felt the mattress dip under the added weight and then shift subtly as Robin crawled over to him. Robin knelt beside him and took off his hat, something Law had neglected to do when he'd come into his room.

He reached over and turned on the lamp on his bedside table. Robin, face illuminated by the soft light, smiled back at him. "Did I wake you?" she said.

"I'm a light sleeper," he said, rolling onto his side to face her.

"Hm," Robin said, reaching over him to set his hat on the table. Watching her, Law realized just how much he liked having her in his bed, which forced him to contend with the fact that this would not, could not last much longer.

Robin lay down on her side as she said, "You have quite the interesting crew."

A low chuckle sounded in Law's throat. He grabbed her hand and pressed a kiss against the back of her fingers, welcoming this distraction. "I trust they're treating you well."

"Yes."

"Good. I'd have to have a talk with them if they weren't," Law said.

Robin picked up Law's implication, eyes lighting up. "Something tells me your talks with your crew involve misplaced body parts," she said with an enthusiasm that anyone else would find off putting.

Law chuckled again. "They can't say they never get them back."

Robin giggled. "Do you go right for the hearts or is that reserved for the worst offenses?"

"I would never do anything so cruel to my crew, Robin," Law said, smirking devilishly.

"Then what goes first?" Robin said. "The tongue, so they can't speak? The toes? They can still walk without them, but it would be difficult without the right shoes."

Law laughed softly, propping himself up on his elbow. He ran his fingers through her hair, admiring its texture as it rubbed against his skin. It was something he'd wanted to do since she'd brought him to her bed, but had always struck him as too intimate until now. "You're perfectly morbid," he said, the affection in his voice transforming his words into a compliment.

"So I've been told," Robin replied. She laid her hand on top of his, closing her eyes and smiling. "Usually with less flattering words while they beg me to stop scaring them."

The conversation lapsed into a comfortable silence, which Law enjoyed at first in spite of the feeling that something lay unsaid between them, something that Law hadn't said out of his desire to keep things simple. But things weren't simple anymore, not when Law had voiced doubts and fears to Robin he hadn't to anyone else. Minutes passed and Law's restlessness grew, unsaid words pressing against his lips.

Robin looked at Law and she waited.

Law reached over to his bedside table and turned off the light. In the cover of darkness, Law began to tell Robin about a studious little boy who'd lived with his parents and sister in the country of Flevance. Robin listened to him as he told her how that studious little boy had grown cold with hatred after seeing his family and everyone he had ever known shot down before him. She listened as told her how that angry little boy had sought out a well known criminal family, looking to cause as much harm upon the world as he could in what remained of his life. She listened as he told her about the clumsy, stubborn man who'd seen something worth saving in Law, and how he had smiled at Law moments before his brother killed him in cold blood.

"All these years I told myself Cora-san did all that he did because I have the letter D. in my name," Law said, listening to the steady rhythm of Robin's breathing next to him. "But someone close to him told me not to look for a reason for his love..." He paused, his thoughts turning to the time he asked Robin why she cared about him. He sighed. "I guess that's a lesson I'm going to have to keep learning."

Robin waited a moment before she spoke, reaching through the darkness to touch his face. "Something I've learned," she said, speaking nearly at a whisper, "is that sometimes it takes more than once for a message to properly sink in. We have to be ready to hear it."

Law laid his hand on top of Robin's, threading his fingers through the gaps between hers. "Yeah," he said. "I guess you're right."

They slipped into silence, the minutes passing slowly before Law spoke again. "There is one thing I'd like to know."

"Yes?"

"I'm not the most inviting person," Law said. He thought back to the night she'd first approached him and then he thought about the subsequent surprise he felt each time she came back to him. "So all this time I've been wondering why you kept coming back."

"I recognize parts of myself in you, Law," Robin said. Law blinked. He let go of Robin's hand so he could reach over to turn on the lamp. She stared at him calmly as they both adjusted to the change in light. She said, "I needed patience and understanding from others not very long ago. I could see that you need some as well."

Law's gaze fell as his thoughts turned to that night after they left Dressrosa, when Robin had found him when he was moments away from unraveling. Maybe Robin knew how it felt to lose her composure in front of another when it felt like that composure was all she had. Law found it comforting to have that in common with her, strange as it was. It made him feel less alone.

Law looked up into Robin's eyes again, taking in that perfect icy blue. Robin gazed back at him, waiting for him to speak again. She seemed perfectly fine with lying in his bed with him and not saying anything, whereas others would try to come up with ways to fill the silence. And maybe that was why he kept coming back to her. He'd told himself before it was his attraction to her, and while Law couldn't deny that he was drawn to her physically, what made him sorry that someday soon they'd have to go their separate ways was how he could share silence with her. A part of him missed Thousand Sunny, with its lawn where he found Robin feeling the grass beneath her feet, with its library where they passed the time between meals, with its luxurious bathtub where Robin told him the story behind the scar on her back, with the aquarium bar where Robin had sat down next to Law and pressed herself against him back when he'd been afraid of getting close.

"I never thought I'd find someone I could become so comfortable around in such a short span of time," Law admitted when he grew tired of measuring time in breaths.

Robin's eyes lit up in a smile. She moved closer to him, her hand settling on his bicep. "Well," she said. "We have fun together, don't we?"

A small smile curled Law's lips. He grabbed hold of her thigh and drew it closer to him, draping it over his leg and giving it a nice squeeze. "Yeah," he said breathlessly before their lips met.

Law lay on his stomach as he watched Robin from across the room. She stood before one of the several bookcases lining his walls. She wore nothing but his shirt–which she'd picked out of his closet–over her underwear, and Law couldn't look away as she walked around his room as if it were her own. Content to watch her peruse the titles on his shelves, Law hugged his pillow to his chest while he watched Robin's legs elongate as she stood on her toes to read the titles of the books above her head.

"It's too dark in here," Robin murmured to herself, the lamplight clearly insufficient. Remaining where she stood, an arm sprouted out of the wall and flipped the light on for her. "Ah–better," she purred, sounding so pleased that it moved Law to get up and join her.

Law rolled out of bed. He grabbed his jeans from the floor and pulled them on. Upon hearing him move, Robin said, without turning her head to look at him, "Ah, Law? Could you reach in the front left pocket of my shorts and bring me my hair tie?"

Law obliged, approaching Robin with an amused smirk. "Find anything you like?" he asked as he placed her hair tie in her waiting hand.

Robin looked at him, her eyes alight with excitement while she pulled her hair into a ponytail. "A few, yes," she said, nodding. Something told Law that "a few" was understating things. Robin looked back up at the bookshelf, running her fingers along the spines of the books on anatomy on the shelf closest to her. "It's a shame that I won't be able to get through all of them."

"There's never enough time to read everything on the list, is there?" Law said. Leaving her to his books, Law walked over to his desk, which sat across from his bed, and he pulled out the large rolling chair where he'd spent many an hour reading and researching while the Polar Tang crossed the depths of the ocean. He sat down and turned on the small desk lamp, staring at the stack of old newspapers and medical journals. It was comforting to know that they'd remained where Law had left them, a fixed point in his chaotic life.

"Yes," Robin said as she pulled out a book.

Law laid his cheek against his fist and looked at her out of the corner of his eye, saying nothing as he had to contend with the contradictory ideas at war within him. Law simultaneously felt sorry that he couldn't give Robin the time she needed to read the books that she wanted, perplexed that he could feel this sentimental about someone he hadn't known for long, and yet also accepting that their time was limited and that was okay. Perhaps that was Robin's influence. Law closed his eyes, exhaling slowly as his thoughts turned to the time he saw Robin with her toes in the grass. He could stand to be more like that, to inhabit the present moment and enjoy it for what it was.

Law left her to her search, turning his attention to the medical journal he'd left unfinished on his desk, folded along the spine and marked in his notes. Law picked up the journal in one hand and his fountain pen in the other, becoming so engrossed in his reading that he didn't notice Robin approaching his desk. He looked up when he felt her pulling on the chair's armrest, silently requesting that he make room for her. Law scooted the chair out, leaving his journal and pen on the desk as Robin set down her small stack of books. She sat on his lap, loosely wrapping her arms around his neck as she pulled him in for a kiss.

Days passed as Wano drew closer. It was easy to feel insulated from the world outside of Law's submarine when traveling at the bottom of the ocean, away from the world of the Navy and Warlords and opposing pirate ships. It was even easier when Law saw how easily his crew managed to get along with Luffy's–save for Zoro, who kept to himself, only occasionally exchanging words with his crewmates. The man obviously had a lot on his mind, and Law's crew had enough experience with Law when he was in a mood to know when to steer clear of Zoro. Barring Zoro, however, the Heart Pirates got along well with the Straw Hat Pirates–almost too well, in Law's opinion. When the mess hall grew a little too noisy, Law would send Robin a look before picking up his plate and vacating his seat. Sometimes Robin would join him in his room where they could finish their meal in peace, but sometimes she'd simply smile at him and stay put, happy to watch.

Robin always found her way back to Law, keeping herself occupied in the daytime by spending time with her friends and getting to know various members of Law's crew, then finding him on the sub later on in the day. Law of course kept himself busy with his duties as captain and catching up on his reading, looking forward to the time he got to spend with Robin. Law had forgotten what it was like to anticipate someone else's presence, but with all that happened between them, he grew more comfortable with the idea, making space for it just like he made space for Robin in his bed.

It was in his bed that he asked her to tell him more about Ohara. It hadn't come up since she'd told him about it, since both would rather discuss their fields of knowledge, but Law wanted to give Robin the chance to tell him more about the little girl who became an archaeologist at age eight.

"Tell me more about Ohara," he said to her in the dark of his room, taking in the warmth of her skin against his as they lay in his bed.

Robin remained silent at first, her breath soft against his skin with her head on his chest. "It's not a very interesting story," she said. "Or a very happy one."

Law trailed his fingers down Robin's back, touching her through the thin fabric of her shirt. "I'm interested," he said.

Robin hesitated again. "Will you tell me more about your family in Flevance?" she asked. "About Cora-san?"

Law's eyes fell closed. His fingers came to a stop along the middle of Robin's spine. What they had told each other had been the bare bones of their stories. That was how it had always been for Law. Whenever asked why they were called the Heart Pirates or why he wore Corazón's name on his jacket, Law had always remained evasive. "He was a good man," he'd say, and that was always the end of it. He hadn't told anyone other than Cora-san about his family in Flevance before Robin came along, preferring to keep his memories of them tucked away in the recesses of his mind, where they would remain safe and private. But how could he continue to do that when Robin had offered up her own memories so he didn't feel so alone? It was the least Law could do.

"Yeah," he said finally, quietly, feeling like he was giving away a part of himself that he should have let go of long ago.

Law felt Robin shift, moving herself so she sat on his hips. He opened his eyes, staring up into the darkness, Robin's form illuminated from behind by the light on Law's desk lamp. He reached up, settling his hands on her waist comfortably while he waited for her to speak.

She told Law about how, as a child, books had not only been a means of acquiring knowledge, but a respite from a family that despised her, from children her age who were scared of her and her powers. She told him how she had inherited her mother's single minded pursuit of knowledge, and it was that determination that allowed her to take and pass the archaeologist's test at such a young age. She was the youngest in their little group, but Robin had felt more at home with scholars several times older than her than she had with blood relatives that had neglected her and mistreated her when Olvia wasn't around. She told him how the archaeologists were her only friends until Jaguar D. Saul came around, and they had been her only friends until she met Luffy and his crew twenty years later.

"I would have wanted to be your friend," Law said, thinking of how his younger self would have been fascinated with Robin's Devil Fruit and would have shared her love of reading.

Robin smiled down at him. "Would you?" she asked him, the warmth in her voice softening her skepticism. She cupped his cheek in her hand. "The little boy with his nose stuck in a book?"

Law leaned his head into her touch. "My parents might have had to encourage me a little," he admitted, thinking back to the times when his mother and father had practically dragged him away from his desk so he could get some sunlight. "Go," they would say. "You've studied enough. Play with your friends!"

He grabbed her hand by the wrist, pressing a kiss into her pulse. "But I'd like to think that I'd realize that you and I had enough in common."

"I'm glad we met when we did," Robin said.

"Yeah?"

Robin laid her hand against his chest, next to the tattoo of his jolly roger. Her hand gently moved up and down with his chest as Law breathed in and out. "Yes," she said. "I think we met at the right time in our lives."

"Punk Hazard was the right time?" Law said, a tiny smile on his face. He wouldn't call the time he'd forcibly switched Robin's friends' minds and bodies ideal meeting conditions.

Robin giggled. "Of course. Our crews started working together after that." She pointed her gaze at the ceiling, smile slowly dissolving, her lips settling into a straight line. "I don't think things would have worked out as well if we'd met as children."

Ah. Law's own smile disappeared as he stared at her. That was what she meant. If he had a choice between the two, Law would choose Punk Hazard as well. Law sat up so their eyes were more level with each other's. He stared into Robin's eyes and slid his hands around her waist, wrapping his arms around her middle in a hug, unsure of what else to do to comfort her. A quiet sigh passed Robin's lips as she wrapped her arms around Law's neck. That seemed to be the right thing to do, so he prolonged their embrace as he slowly lay back down, taking her with him.

Robin lay against Law, their breathing in sync, staying still for a few moments before she gingerly changed her position against Law so she lay beside him. He wrapped his arm around her, rubbing his thumb against her shoulder while he stared up at the ceiling. "His name was Donquixote Rocinante, but his codename was Corazón," Law said when it became clear Robin was done talking. "He went by Cora-san with the kids in the Family."

He told her more about Cora-san, focusing on the good memories he had of the man who had changed his life. Though their time together was brief and riddled with heartache and frustration, Law found it easy to pick out the good times. And it was in focusing on the good, deliberately leaving out Doflamingo and his subordinates that weren't worth his time, that Law began to feel himself regaining a degree of control.

Law went on like that, telling Robin about his parents and his sister and the people he'd grown up with before the world had taken them away from him. He told her about his parents and their kindness, their drive to help others. He told her about Lammy, about his schoolmates. It had been so long since he'd thought about his childhood friends that he had to push against the images his mind presented him of the last time he'd seen them, but gradually it grew easier until Law was switching between his memories of Flevance and his memories of Cora-san when one reminded him of the other. He hadn't allowed himself to indulge in the good memories of his childhood to this extent that Law found himself unearthing memories he hadn't thought of in so long.

When Law felt that he had spoken enough, he looked at Robin, curious to know more about Jaguar D. Saul, the man who wanted to see a sad little girl smile.

"He taught me to laugh," she said, a sad smile on her face. "Even when I was sad and wanted nothing more than to cry." She laid her head down on his chest. "It seems I'd forgotten how to do that along the way."

Unable to see her face, Law stared at the wall. "I'd say I can't believe that there are people in our government who would turn a child into an outlaw," Law said, running his fingers through Robin's hair, "but that would be a lie."

"I've found that humans are capable of almost anything when they've convinced themselves their cause is righteous," Robin said softly.

Law covered his eyes with his hand, sighing. There were also humans who committed terrible acts in the name of greed or ignorance, Law thought, smoke in his lungs and fire blazing behind his closed eyes. And there were those who did what they did out of malice and a grandiose sense of entitlement. "Yeah," he said, for a lack of anything better to say. He removed his hand from his face, saying, "I see what you mean about us meeting at the right time in life. In that case, I'm glad."

Robin lifted her head so she could look into his eyes. She smiled at him. "I am, too."

She settled her head back on his chest as she told him more about Saul. Though she hadn't known him for long, the regret in her voice was palpable as she talked about the man who had helped her when she needed it most. And like wading into a body of water, the regret ran deeper as Robin told Law more about her life on Ohara. She didn't talk anymore about her aunt or the children on the island, instead making an effort to focus on what good memories she had of the other archaeologists and Saul, but Law recognized the longing in her voice as she told him more about this small group of people that had shown her kindness during such a difficult time in her life. What was it she longed for? Was it the Tree of Knowledge and the hundreds of years of knowledge that had been lost? No. These wounds were deeper than that.

"You miss them," Law said during a pause in her speech.

Robin's body stiffened against his. She'd slipped from a pause into complete silence and now she lay completely still next to him.

"And you probably don't think about them that often, if at all," Law continued. "It's how you survived all these years."

"Yes," Robin whispered.

"Does talking now help?" Law asked.

Robin hesitated before she answered. "Yes. I'm simply not used to talking about them."

"Mm."

"I'm realizing that I don't have as many memories of my mother as I do of Professor Clover and Saul and the others," Robin said. "She left me with family when I was young." Robin lifted her hand so her fingertips danced along his chest. "I did say my childhood isn't a very happy or interesting story."

"I'm glad you shared it with me," Law said, watching the path of her fingers along the black ink of his tattoos, mesmerized. "I'm, ah, not very good at all this."

"At what?"

"Sharing," Law replied.

"I think you're doing fine," Robin said, tracing the outline of the heart that took up half of his torso. The tone of her voice was lighter now, the playful amusement that he'd come to associate with her when she spoke to him having returned.

Law breathed out slowly through his nose. Since they were sharing, there was one more thing he had to tell her. "I'm going to miss this. Spending time together."

Robin perked up in Law's embrace. "And to think," she said, propping herself up so they could look at each other. "You wouldn't even share a bed with me not so long ago."

Law reflexively smirked in spite of his slight discomfort when he thought about how hesitant he'd been at the beginning.

"It's all right, Law," Robin said. She leaned in closer to him so their faces were inches apart. "There was a time when I didn't know what to do when people treated me gently."

"Yeah?"

She dipped her head. "I used to cry when someone touched me softly."

"And when I do this now?" Law said, cupping her cheek in his hand. He had a difficult time picturing a version of Robin that was so damaged that she didn't respond well when someone showed her kindness. Perhaps that's exactly what she meant when she'd told him that she recognized parts of herself in him.

Robin closed her eyes, turning her head and smiling into Law's hand. She grabbed his hand, brushing her lips against his palm. "I simply enjoy it now," she said. She laid her head back on Law's chest, draping her arm across his stomach. "But you know, I don't think our time together is coming to an end."

"Is this your way of saying you want to become a member of the Heart Pirates?" Law was joking, but he couldn't deny that a part of him would like to see Robin working alongside him.

"I'm afraid your dress code is a little too strict for my tastes," Robin said.

Law chuckled.

"I'm simply saying there's nothing stopping us from seeing each other again in the future, no matter what we do with our lives after this," Robin said.

"So you're saying you'd like for us to see each other again in the future?"

Robin looked at Law, a mischievous gleam in her eyes. "If you promise not to take it personally when I help my captain find the One Piece."

Law chuckled. "So long as you can promise the same."

Robin affectionately rubbed her cheek against Law's chest. "Deal."

The time came where their conversation naturally died off when they ran out of things that needed to be said, leaving both of them ready for sleep. "There's just one thing I want to ask," Law said, realizing that he felt completely at ease with what he was about to request from Robin.

"What, Law?"

"Is it all right if I hold you for a little bit?" he said. He hadn't asked before due to his fears of being too familiar with Robin, now he felt the need to ask because he was still learning what was within Robin's comfort zone. He hoped that he'd have time to learn it all in the future. "At least before I fall asleep."

Robin's smile was warm, as was her hand on his chest. "Yes," she said. She sat up and laid a kiss on his lips before she turned herself onto her other side, her back facing him.

Law rolled onto his side, wrapping both arms around her and pulling her to him. It still felt foreign to pull someone close to him, but he enjoyed this level of closeness with Robin. He breathed out slowly through his nose, allowing himself to become comfortable with Robin in his arms. Before he closed his eyes, Robin conjured an arm on the surface of Law's desk, and she turned out the light. Law, letting the darkness and Robin's body heat envelop him, closed his eyes and allowed himself to fall asleep.